Customer Reviews

The Priests of Ancient Egypt: New Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had been studying ancient Egypt for over 20 years before I read Sauneron's book, and I was amazed at how little I knew about the day-to-day lives of the priests who stood near the very center of Egyptian society. The book is well-written, nicely illustrated, and easily read, mixing technical titles for the various types of priests with personal vignettes describing their lives and how their roles as priests affected and were affected thereby. I truly hope that this goes back into print, but will some future publisher PUH-LEEZE include an index and some maps?! It was difficult for me, a specialist, to track down specific bits of data, so it must surely be very hard on those who don't have a whole library of books like this at their disposal. On the plus side, however, thumbing through the book to find a particular passage can lead one down some very interesting by-ways which might otherwise be overlooked by over-particularism.

Religion, an essential key to understanding the pharaonic civilisation, tells of the importance of learning about the Ancient Egyptian priests. In this book the author informs the readers about the priestly profession, the necessity of temples, the religious texts priests had to know, the belief in magic, the gods and the clergy. Aimed at the general public, this 1957 classic originally written in French is finally made available in English, thanks to David Lorton's excellent translation. Widely illustrated in black and white, this book should be recommended reading for everyone.

This is not dry reading. The author (or the translator or both) have a droll sense of what people are really like and his descriptions of 'evil-doers' in the priesthood are a riot. In so expressing himself with these observations of human foibles, he manages to make history come alive and his subject suddenly 'more human' thereby.

A reccomended read for any student of ancient Egypt, Phd or not. This book deserves a place on every egyptophiles bookshelf.