Customer Reviews

Egypt's Legacy: The Archetypes of Western Civilization: 3000 to 30 BC

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I just finished this. Having read countless books on Jungian Psychology and Egyptology I will tell you one thing. The author proceeds to provide a synopsis of Egyptian history with only the occasional reference to how these archetypes actually influenced the world. He defines the 'archetype'and 'collective unconscious'in the introduction and then proceeds to give a history of Egypt without intertwining the ways by which these psychic processes, through culture and religion, shaped the world we live in as we know it today. When it comes to the history of Egypt, there are better books out there (Oxford History of Ancient Egypt) and the author makes many blatant mistakes one of which is mistaking the triad of Osiris, Isis and Horus for 'the king with two female divinities' and the reliefs at temple of Denderah for that of Edfu - mistakes like that are quite unforgivable at this level of scholarship. In addition, I bought the hardcover version of this which was ridiculously overpriced (100 plus dollars)

Strongly influenced by C. G. Jung, founder of analytical psychology, the author argues that Ancient Egypt was a great coherent yet primitive society. Divided in three parts, this book first outlines the main historical events of the Egyptian kingdoms through chronological sequence of the royal dinasties. The author then explains the importance of the dissemination of Egyptian history to the Western world. A refreshing concept, it is a readable and fascinating book for the open-minded.