Description

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First published in 1973 – and followed by Volume II in 1976 and Volume III in 1980 – this anthology has assumed classic status in the field of Egyptology and portrays the remarkable evolution of the literary forms of one of the world’s earliest civilizations.

Volume I outlines the early and gradual evolution of Egyptian literary genres, including biographical and historical inscriptions carved on stone, the various classes of literary works written with pen on papyrus, and the mortuary literature that focuses on life after death. Introduced with a new foreword by Antonio Loprieno.

Volume II shows the culmination of these literary genres within the single period known as the New Kingdom (1550-1080 B.C.). With a new foreword by Hans-W. Fischer-Elfert.

Volume III spans the last millennium of Pharaonic civilization, from the tenth century B.C. to the beginning of the Christian era. With a new foreword by Joseph G. Manning.

About the Author

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For thirty years Miriam Lichtheim was Near East Bibliographer and Lecturer at University of California, Los Angeles. She retired in 1974 to devote herself to Egyptological research and later moved to Jerusalem where she taught at Hebrew University. She died in 2004. Antonio Lopriano is Professor of Egyptology at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

Praise For…

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"Miriam Lichtheim’s three-volume set is the most complete compilation; it is accessible to the general reader and simultaneously useful to the scholar; its critical apparatus is excellent."
— World Literature Today

"This is an admirable and valuable book. For the scholar it presents thoroughly reliable translations, with commentary and documentation. For the amateur of literature it presents a comprehensive selection of prose and poetry, felicitously put into English."
— Cambridge Review of Middle East Studies

"The new collection of ancient Egyptian literary masterpieces in English translation from the pen of Miriam Lichtheim is both representative and up to date. It is a literary masterpiece in itself, a landmark in the translation of ancient texts, and a scholarly achievement of outstanding excellence."
— Journal of Near Eastern Studies