| The Elysian Fields of the Egyptians according to the Papyrus of Ani. | |
| 1. Ani adoring the gods of Sekhet-Aaru. | 3. Ani ploughing in the Other World. |
| 2. Ani reaping in the Other World. | 4. The abode of the perfect spirits, and the magical boats. |
THE
LITERATURE
OF THE
ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
BY
E.A. WALLIS BUDGE, M.A., LITT.D.
Sometime Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge, and Tyrwhitt
Hebrew Scholar; Keeper of the Department of Egyptian
and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum
1914
LONDON
J.M. DENT & SONS LIMITED
Aldine House, Bedford Street, W.C.
PREFACE
This little book is intended to serve as an elementaryintroduction to the study of Egyptian Literature. Itsobject is to present a short series of specimens of Egyptiancompositions, which represent all the great periods ofliterary activity in Egypt under the Pharaohs, to all who areinterested in the study of the mental development of ancientnations. It is not addressed to the Egyptological specialist,to whom, as a matter of course, its contents are well known,and therefore its pages are not loaded with elaborate notesand copious references. It represents, I believe, the firstattempt made to place before the public a summary of theprincipal contents of Egyptian Literature in a handy andpopular form.
The specimens of native Egyptian Literature printedherein are taken from tombs, papyri, stelæ, and othermonuments, and, with few exceptions, each specimen is completein itself. Translations of most of the texts haveappeared in learned works written by Egyptologists inEnglish, French, German, and Italian, but some appear inEnglish for the first time. In every case I have collatedmy own translations with the texts, and, thanks to theaccurate editions of texts which have appeared in recentyears, it has been found possible to make many hithertodifficult passages clear. The translations are as literal asthe difference between the Egyptian and English idiomswill permit, but it has been necessary to insert particlesand often to invert the order of the words in the originalworks in order to produce a connected meaning in English.The result of this has been in many cases to break up the[vi] short abrupt sentences in which the Egyptian author delighted,and which he used frequently with dramatic effe