John Ransom Phillips: A Contemporary Book of the Dead [Hardcover]

Zahi Hawass (Author), Wendy Doniger (Author), John Ransom Phillips (Painter)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 16, 2009

The ancient Egyptians were the first to examine the afterlife in a book composed between 1567 and 1085 BC. This collection of funerary texts has historically been referred to as the Book of the Dead or Book of Going Forth by Day. For the Egyptians, the Book of the Dead was a vital part of the quest for immortality. Millennia later, the second Book of the Dead, written in Tibet dating from the eighth century CE, tells a similar tale, but this journey has an entirely different end--rebirth here on earth, instead of in another world. Using watercolors on papyrus--an echo of the Book of the Dead incantations written on papyrus scrolls buried with mummies in ancient Egypt--this collection creates a contemporary interpretation of how human beings contemplate their earthly and spiritual existence. Phillips's work is a vivid visual study into universal and timeless themes of life, love, fear, hope, and sublime happiness that combine into the human experience.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Ransom Phillips is an artist whose work has been exhibited internationally at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,Washington, D.C., and the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art in Chicago. He has been a faculty member of the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Chicago. Zahi Hawass is the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and Director of Excavations at Giza, Saqqara, and the Bahariya Oasis, Egypt. Most recently, he was instrumental in sending the touring exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs to the United States. Wendy Doniger is a noted author of nearly 30 books and is the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Hudson Hills Press (July 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555953158
• ISBN-13: 978-1555953157
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,170,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine blend of modern interpretation and ancient spiritual reflection, September 15, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Ransom Phillips: A Contemporary Book of the Dead (Hardcover)

Essays by Zahi Hawass and Wendy Doniger accompany JOHN RANSOM PHILLIPS; A CONTEMPORARY BOOK OF THE DEAD, a powerful consideration of funerary texts drawn from the Book of the Dead but melded with art for modern readers. Using watercolors on papyrus, this collection of John Ransom Phillips's paintings creates a fine blend of modern interpretation and ancient spiritual reflection and is perfect for both art and spirituality collections.

5.0 out of 5 stars The magic of 'Going Forth by Day', April 21, 2010

By 

S. Maeder (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Ransom Phillips: A Contemporary Book of the Dead (Hardcover)

What a beautiful book!
John Ransom Phillips' paintings on papyrus are deliciously seductive and dreamlike. One's own creativity is stimulated by looking at his pictures. An invitation to get lost in one's own imagination and dreams. This is a book that never loses its attraction, a book that can be opened time and again, to be instantly transported into the private world of our senses and emotions.
And all along a sweet smile touches the soul.
This is truly a celebration of 'Going Forth by Day' by paying tribute to the old Egyptian Book of the Dead in a most wonderful way by imaginatively 'translating' it into modern times.

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern ancient wisdom, January 7, 2010

By 

Lisa A. Serradilla (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Ransom Phillips: A Contemporary Book of the Dead (Hardcover)

John Phillips is a scholar of life and art. He marries these two domains in an exquisitely produced book of reflections and watercolors that are modern in composition yet hail to that which is ancient and familiar. A wonderful collectors book or gift for someone special.