Ancient Records of Egypt: The First Through the Seventeenth Dynasties, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

James Henry Breasted (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 2001

Around the turn of the last century, James Henry Breasted took on the challenge of assembling all the available historical documents of ancient Egypt and translating them into English. This prodigious undertaking involved traveling to the monuments extant in the Nile valley and in outlying areas of Egyptian conquest, as well as to museums throughout Europe where Egyptian relics were housed. Breasted made his own copies of hundreds of Egyptian records inscribed on papyrus or leather or carved in stone and engaged in a thorough study of the published records of Egyptian history in conjunction with his own transcription of the documents themselves. This five-volume compendium is the result. Breasted's monumental work, originally published from 1906 to 1907, encompasses twenty-six dynasties spanning more than three millennia: from ca. 3050 B.C. to 525 B.C. For each document, Breasted provides information on location, condition, historical significance, and content. Beginning with the earliest known official annals of Egypt, the Palermo Stone, Breasted catalogs the realm's official activities, including royal succession, temple construction, property distribution, and foreign conquest. He tracks the careers of scores of kings, queens, government officials, military leaders, powerful statesmen, and influential courtiers, reproducing their autobiographies, letters of favor, paeans, mortuary gifts, and tomb inscriptions. Clearly annotated for the lay reader, the documents provide copious evidence of trade relations, construction activities, diplomatic envoys, foreign expeditions, and other aspects of a vigorous, highly organized, and centrally controlled society. Breasted's commentary is both rigorously documented and accessible, suffused with a contagious fascination for the events, the personalities, the cultural practices, and the sophistication these records indicate. A herculean assemblage of primary documents, many of which have deteriorated to illegibility in the intervening century, "Ancient Records of Egypt" illuminates both the incredible complexity of Egyptian society and the almost insuperable difficulties of reconstructing a lost civilization. This first paperback edition of "Ancient Records of Egypt" features a new introduction and supplementary bibliographies by Peter A. Piccione. Setting Breasted's work in the context of the development of American Egyptology, Piccione discusses Breasted's establishment of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, with corporate support by John D. Rockefeller and other benefactors, and surveys the ambitious body of publications with which Breasted laid the foundation for future Egyptian studies.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In 1906, Breasted, America's first noted Egyptologist, published this series in which he presents a history of the golden age of Egypt gleaned from its records, many of which he was the first scholar to be allowed to study. This edition, the first in paperback, offers a new introduction by historian Peter A. Piccione, who places Breasted's work in a modern context. A solid series for academic libraries and priced so that public libraries also can afford them.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"In 1906, Breasted, America's first noted Egyptologist, published this series in which he presents a history of the golden age of Egypt gleaned from its records, many of which he was the first scholar to be allowed to study. This edition, the first in paperback, offers a new introduction by historian Peter A. Piccione, who places Breasted's work in a modern context. A solid series for academic libraries and priced so that public libraries also can afford them." -- "Classic Returns," Library Journal "The republication of this seminal work after nearly a century, by the University of Illinois, is as welcome as it is unexpected." -- Josef Wegner, Odyssey

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; annotated edition edition (May 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252069900
• ISBN-13: 978-0252069901
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,768,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good place to start., August 30, 2001

By 

L. D. Bores "grumposaurus" (Scottsdale, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Records of Egypt: The First Through the Seventeenth Dynasties, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

This collection is - as Dr. Piccione points out - somewhat dated, assembled as it was - almost 100 years ago (hence only 4 stars). At the time of its original publication it was the pinnacle of its kind and collected together all extant memorials with new translations.
More material - much more - has been garnered since and some of the historical perspectives of Breasted will have - perforce - been pushed off the mark. Still and all - this series gathers togther all of that earlier material that laid the foundation for the egyptology today. Much of that material was then (and is likely still) available only in obscure articles, locations, manuscripts. Here it all is.
By all means, adjust the dates of certain epochs in the light of modern 'knowledge'; but that adjustment is just gravy. Here's the meat.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, September 15, 2001

By 

Francesca Jourdan (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Records of Egypt: The First Through the Seventeenth Dynasties, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

These volumes, written by a distinguished American Egyptologist, were first published in 1906 and 1907. In his introduction to this re-edition, Egyptologist Peter Piccione provides a short biography of the author as well as a historical account of the 5 tomes. Volume 1 discusses the First through the Seventeenth Dynasties; Volume 2, the Eighteenth Dynasty; Volume 3, the Nineteenth Dynasty; and Volume 4, the Twentieth through Twenty-Sixth Dynasties. Volume 5 contains supplementary bibliographies and indices for the previous volumes; Piccione has added a more recent bibliography that proves to be quite useful. Each book offers a description of texts along with comments on historicity and significance, before continuing onto easy-to-understand translations. Many of the texts included are never-before-seen passages, while others are quite popular: the Palermo Stone, Letter of Pepi II, Tale of Sinuhe, Tomb of Rekhmire, Capture of Kadesh, Papyrus Harris, Adoption Stela of Nitocris, and so on. This is the most complete, easy-to-consult translation of Egyptian historical texts ever available in the field of Egyptology. A highly recommended ressource for students and scholars.