Customer Reviews

Tales of Ancient Egypt (Puffin Classics)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Tales of Ancient Egypt is about inspiring stories that will thrill your heart. The stories are very old and very magical. The book brings you to the world of Ancient Egypt with stories of the Pharoahs and the gods. It covers all of Ancient Egypt's timeline with stories from each time period. It is about wars, and the fall of many cities in battle, and the god's magic. I suggest that if you want to read a very entertaining book than read this one. It was a great book and you will think it was great as well.

This is a book of short stories translated from Egyptian hieroglyphics. Some of the oldest stories in the world are told in the three different sections: Gods, Magic, and Adventures. The subject matter may be too confusing for grade school children; Egyptian stories either follow a different pattern of plot development than we are used to or else some of it is lost in translation.

One of the fun things to look for while reading this book is similarities in these stories to ones with which we are more familiar. I found similarities to Biblical stories, a unique take on the kidnapping of Helen by Paris, and my daughter found Ali Baba in one of the stories.

This book will also shine some light on the very complicated Egyptian religion as well as what they considered to be a virtue or a vice. For example, they often praise cunning--a virtue praised again and again within these stories. Have you children see what they can summarize about Egyptian priorities from these stories.

Summary: Highly recommended home school book for pre-teens and teens which will add depth to their study of this ancient civilization. A Landmark Books classic.

This book is a translation into English of many Egyptian myths. It is a great learning tool for kids of any age, and especially great for homeschoolers who are using Story of the World for History.

I ordered this for our homeschooled second grader, on recommendation from our curriculum company. I'm glad I read it first! There are many instances of incest and violence in the stories...which are fairly accurate renditions of Egyptian mythology, so I guess I should not have been surprised. I guess I expected it to be toned down in a book recommended for younger children. I, however, found it interesting and read the whole book in one evening. It's not challenging material for an adult, but it was interesting and I learned a few things about Ancient Egyptian culture that I can use in teaching. My kids won't be reading it until they are older. :) I give it four stars only because it was not what I expected from the recommendation. It could be that the book was not intended to be recommended to that age group and the fault may lie with the company who recommended it to me...I don't know. I do not regret the purchase and will use the book when talking about world religions with my children when they are older.

I am certainly no expert on Egyptian mythology, so I can't say whether this collection of Egyptian myths is complete, accurate or any better or worse than any other collection of Egyptian myths.

All that I can review, therefore, are the stories themselves, which is rather awkward. It's a bit like reviewing the Bible - where do you start to "critique" stories that were written thousands of years ago and which were handed down both orally and in written form for many generations? The stories are what they are. We read them not solely for the enjoyment (or lack thereof) that the stories may offer, but to understand the history and culture of our long-ago ancestors who shaped the beginnings of our civilization.

The first third of the book deals with stories of the gods, beginning with Amen-Ra, the father of all gods and his creation of the world, moving through more familiar gods such as Isis, Osiris and Horus to lesser known gods such as Khnemu and Queen Hatshepsut. These I found the least engaging of the stories as they are more like brief bios of the gods, listing their notable achievements as it were. There's not a lot of narrative development or plot building.

The latter two sections - tales of magic and tales of adventure - are more like stories as we know them - more dynamic characters interacting and intriguing against each other in ways that creates interesting, suspenseful plots which engage the reader. The stories of magic can be hard for Western readers to appreciate, as the Egyptians accepted magic as a given, much like we accept science. The concept of a "Ka" or double, for instance, is quite alien to Western readers, nor do we tend to fully comprehend the elaborate rituals and knowledge surrounding their treatment and experience of death.

Nonetheless, these stories, like all myths and legends, connect and resonate with deeper parts of ourselves which are attuned to the universal themes and archetypes in human experience. "The Book of Thoth", for instance, presents the attraction and the danger of possessing the powerful knowledge of the gods. "Se-Osiris and the Sealed Letter" is about justice and the satisfaction of defeating an enemy. "The Tale of Two Brothers" is about the love between two brothers and the power of women to corrupt that love. "The Story of the Greek Princess" is an intriguing Egyptian take on "The Iliad".

All the stories offer glimpses of Egyptian religion, government, culture, family relationships and ideas of justice and morality. As with Biblical stories, some of these views are difficult to square with Western norms and values. For instance, while there are some notable women figures - queens and goddesses - mostly women are treated as property to be bestowed as gifts of favor and/or as divisive forces who have corruptive power over men. Young readers especially need to be aware of the context of such views in the ancient world

Understanding of ancient civilizations is important for understanding our own experience in the world, as it shows us both the commonality of human experience, as well as how the world has progressed. The Egyptian empire was one of the longest lasting empires in history. Studying the best and worst of their society can help us improve our own.

A kid's review: I really liked this book because it had a lot of adventure, trickery, and sorcery. One of the stories was about a thief. He was an architect who built a treasury that was "unbreakable." Only he could get through, and when he did he stole some of the gold.

This book really inspired me every time I opened it. The charatersalways amayze me and the plot never stop's from brinnging chills up and down my body. This book writen by Roger Lancelyn Green has some thing not many books could do to me, it makes me wan't to read it over and over again. It just openeds my mind every time.
The Tales of Ancient Egypt tells you all about kings, queens , and MAGIC. It all started with the creature of the world named Ra. This book tells you about Ras creations and what happened during his century. Roger Lancelyn Green made this book full with adventure, emotion, back stabing, revenge, and love. I think you should read this book and I asure you would want to read it over and over again.

The stories are written well, in a fun-to-read and interesting tone. Read aloud with my kids, this book has been a fun AND educational experience for my family :)

This is a nice book of tales that came from ancient Egypt. It's divided into 3 sections - the Gods, tales of magic, and tales of Adventures. I think this book is a good way to explain to kids how ancient Egyptians viewed life. It's much like the mythology books about other ancient cultures, and it is interesting to see traces of our tales within those very old stories.
Well written, and well explained.

When/how did Ra become Amen-Ra?
How does it feel to travel through the Duat?
Why did the human Pharaohs marry their sisters?

The answers are in here. The major divinities all make their appearance: Amen-Ra, Isis, Osiris, Horus, Khnemu, Khonsu, Hathor, Thoth. Some of these stories deal with the cosmogony, others with enmity and jealousy between Gods; some appear to be PR attempts by certain Pharaohs, while others are simple tales of adventure and cunningness hieroglyphed by palace scribes and priests; some of these stories deliver justice according to the principle of maat (similar to the Vedic Rta or the Chinese Tao) while the others deal with their fascination with dark magic of the nights.

You simply cannot help being transported to an ancient land and ancient thoughts, to the era when pretty much our knowledge of history begins. Surely, one has to thank the author for bringing us the tales and to all who over the centuries got the hieroglyphs decoded.