Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
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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.

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.