Egyptian Tales

by William Matthew Flinders Petrie (Editor)

Derived from authentic papyri, these captivating stories include "The King of Joppa," recounting the capture of an enemy fortress; the ill-fated pursuit of a fair lady in "The Doomed Prince"; a quest for supernatural powers in "Setna and the Magic Book"; and others. Offers fascinating insights on each story's historical significance.

Genres: History, Mythology, Egypt, Egyptology, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Writing

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1895

About the author

Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie FRS, known as Flinders Petrie, was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology. He held the first chair of Egyptology in the United Kingdom, and excavated at many of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt, such as Naukratis, Tanis, Abydos and Amarna. Some consider his most famous discovery to be that of the Merneptah Stele. Petrie developed the system of dating layers based on pottery and ceramic findings.

Reviews

[Ebster Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of the stories are incomplete and it would be really hard to appreciate them without the commentary afterwards. He does a good job analyzing and explaining what these stories teach us about the people of ancient times.

My favorite story was the one where the guy goes to this enchanted island and meets the great serpent who insists the man tell him something he's never heard before.

My favorite of the notes/commentary portion was after the first story. This is partly because the story itself seemed so random: it's actually just a fragment of a story about this king guy and his sons who are telling him a bunch of stories at a party or something. The author did a great job setting up the historical and cultural context behind the story. And you get a glimpse of how these people moved as a culture and how they thought about the world.

Very interesting! Would like to read more!

[Scott West · Rating 2 out of 5]

The magical book and Doomed Prince have interesting premises delivering some panache through descent character arcs. Strangely all the other tales feel somewhat listless and ordinary. While piquing interest these tales struggle from fragmentation and never achieve the divine mystical aesthetic of Greek mythology. Need an updated retelling with a talented modern author like Stephen Frey or Elif Shafak to add colour. Worth a read if you like Ancient Egypt though nothing special.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie compiles an anthology of stories from early ancient Egyptian papyri (4th to 12th dynasties [or 2613BCE to 1802BCE]). In the first series, each of the four chapters ("Tales of the Magicians", "The Peasant and the Workman", "The Shipwrecked Sailor", and "The Adventures of Sanhat") begins with the core story, and each is concluded with remarks that outline a brief historical context of the tale's historical era and recent scholarship on extant copies of the story. I listened to the Livrivox reading by Timothy Ferguson. Some readers unfamiliar with Ancient Egyptian history might find the historical detail overwhelming, while other more familiar readers should be satisfied. Most memorable for me was relative sophistication of the stories, all of which vary in completion, which may evidence an even longer history of storytelling in world cultures.

[ميقات الراجحي · Rating 4 out of 5]

The importance of this was a very old story of ancient Egyptian Pharaonic era stage and history, which are numerous stories of a social life in Egypt at that time

[Abdelrahman Mustafa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Amazing ancient Egyptian literature! I think 2018 will be the year I get back to my origins.

[Richard Seltzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in preparation for trip to Egypt.

[Dennis Napier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reading regarding ancient African history

 I highly recommend this book even though it's a very short story. When you read this book it really is important for you to be aware of how the knowledge of God was prevalent and very important to individuals in their daily lives. It's unfortunate that today people are confused about how God authority and God power is seen to be present by way of the rulers of this world. Now of course gods in the ancient times were considered to be great powers that distributed their authority and Powers unto men. But it's noted also that there is one singular creator of God. That One singular Creator God is noted also along with the multiple gods. Now of course, we know that these gods in the ancient times we refer to them as angels or hosts of heaven. But nevertheless powers and authorities to give life and to take life, to be blessed by or to be cursed by is associated with the person as divine. So when you read this book which I highly recommend just take note that the usage of God or gods is a very common title that's applied even to the One singular God creator but also to the lowliest person, including a king or Pharaoh or even a person. Here's a quote that I want you to take note of that you will find within this writing.

Quote: "O wise king, the wise words which are pronounced in the wisdom of the majesty of the sovereign, thy humble servant fears to tell. It is a great thing to repeat. O great God, like unto Ra in fulfilling that to which he has set his hand, what am I that he should take thought for me? Am I among those whom he regards, and for whom he arranges? Thy majesty is as Horus, and the strength of thy arms extends to all lands.”

[William Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first and biggest complaint is that there just aren’t enough tails in this book, but that is the falt of the pitiless deserts of Egypt, and not of the translator. This book is very fun and informative, but the copy I read had some irregularities in the printing that made it a bit confusing at times.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read on the popular stories during the 5th dynasty of the Egyptian empire. Their fascination with all things magic made me think of Moses and his adventures with the Egyptian magicians.

[Mahmoud Ashour · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is very short it starts with ancient Egyptian tales that talks about mainly legends, then tales that describes adventures and lastly the most advanced form of literature which is literature that talks about characters. the writer saved the best for the end which was the story of Senhu which describes in great details the life of Senhu who left Egypt during troubling times to Palestine where was welcomed from the rolyals there and received important posts afterwards he grew very old and he wanted to get buried in his home country he returned to Egypt and was welcomed by the royals also at that time...the book is also beneficial because the writer gives after each tale a note that explains the tale and its context

[Caesar · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Egyptian Tales”
A glimpse into the social structure and belief system of people who lived thousands of years ago in one of the most advanced civilizations on this planet (at that time) through stories of myths and magic. The commentaries presented in this book are essential for a deeper understanding of these tales because they put everything in context. Who could imagine that at one time Egypt was a matriarchal society or that certain customs over time became law of the land and are practiced to this day in many countries in Africa? The reader learns all of this while being awed by stories of magic. Toy crocodiles become real, devouring your enemies and turning into toys again. Fascinating.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written towards those with more than your average history of ancient Egypt in mind, nonetheless appears to be faithful translations of some truly ancient stories. Commentaries do a great job pointing out historical trends in Egyptian storytelling, and applying these thoughts to storytelling in general. Would have preferred a little more historical context and background to the stories, and many translated passages may be too literal, and some modern interpretation to the translations (even as sides) may have made the narratives a little more palatable for discussion.

[Barry Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

These 3 tales with long commentaries by the author gives the reader a glimpse into the distant past of ancient Egypt.
The writing style is simple but deeply symbolic detailing a belief in magic and many the gods they believed in then. One story is a rags to riches account of a man who started out with nothing but got connected to a generous benefactor who gave him lands and riches and all because he was a good person. I found Petries commentaries a bit stuffy and long rambling on about the background information too much. But okay for this anyway.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

🔻 Genre: Short Ancient Egyptian tales (fiction).
✔️Published in 1913 (second edition) .
👁 Point of view: First and third persons.
🔺My review: An interesting collection of very short and authentic ancient Egyptian stories of bravery, magic, love, et cetera.

🖋 The writing style: Very formal in the analyses.
🗝 What I learned: The ancient Egyptians had some good myth-type stories, some written with true events as the inspiration.

📌 Would I read this again? Maybe not.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟
🟣 Media form: Kindle version.

[Cool]

M&D SHELVES

[Sotiris Makrygiannis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cannot say that I understood much...

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Librivox recording.
Interesting - first gives tales then a commentary on the tale. 4 tales given.