The craft of a good scribe. History, narrative and meaning in the 'First tale of Setne Khaemwas' /
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In The Craft of a Good Scribe , Steve Vinson offers a comprehensive study of the Demotic Egyptian First Tale of Setne Khaemwas (Third Century BCE), the first to appear since 1900. \'First Setne\' is the most important extant Demotic literary text, and among the most important fictional compositions from any period of ancient Egypt. The tale, which is by turns lurid, tragic and ultimately comic, deals with Setne's theft of a magic book written by the god Thoth himself, and subsequently Setne's punishment through a hallucinatory encounter with the ghostly femme fatale Tabubue. Vinson provides a new textual edition and commentary, and explores the tale's cultural background, its modern reception, and approaches to its interpretation as a work of literature.
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1 online resource (xiv, 356 pages) :
9789004353107 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ancient Egyptian Letters to the Dead : The Realm of the Dead through the Voice of the Living /
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In Ancient Egyptian Letters to the Dead: the Realm of the Dead through the Voice of the Living Julia Hsieh investigates the beliefs and practices of communicating with the dead in ancient Egypt through close lexical semantic analysis of extant Letters. Hsieh shows how oral indicators, toponyms, and adverbs in these Letters signal a practice that was likely performed aloud in a tomb or necropolis, and how the senders of these Letters demonstrate a belief in the power and omniscience of their deceased relatives and enjoin them to fight malevolent entities and advocate on their behalf in the afterlife. These Letters reflect universals in beliefs and practices and how humankind, past and present, makes sense of existence beyond death.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004472327
9789004472310