The Egyptian Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends (Myths, 1)

This book is an overview whose stories have been pulled from multiple sources and sort of shaped into a more narrative form by the author. It never pretends to be anything else, and does what it says it will *very* well.Read about creation, daily life, the most epic of the myths, and more. The Egyptian Myths is worth five stars alone for the explanation about the afterlife myths. These are the most scattered and difficult to understand for various reasons, such as the heavy symbolism and the fact the ancient Egyptians had multiple "maps" for the afterlife over their 3000 year history. You'll leave this chapter feel more familiar with the probable layout of the Duat, the kinds of dangers you'd face if you were there, and what would happen if you succeeded in making your way to the Hall of Judgment...or if you failed.Chockfull of interesting facts and well-told stories, The Egyptian Myths is a great purchase of any Egyptology buff. The writing is so engaging that, even if a lot of the stories are familiar to you, they feel fresh.

honestly, this book was so great. i tend to not sit down and fully read nonfiction books-- i'll usually skim and annotate and reference them where i need to for work. but i genuinely could not put this book down. the writing style was engaging and the little sidebars with fun facts, god descriptions, and relevant cultural information was great to break up the text.if you want an easy to understand, interesting, in-depth and generally enjoyable introduction into egyptology, i would 100% recommend this book, and any other work from garry j shaw!

Good reference. Takes you behind the scenes of the beginning creation myths and places them in context.

One might think that the best way to learn about Egyptian mythology would be to read a translation of an original text. The problem with this approach is that the available texts span some three millennia. Even the earliest Egyptians often inscribed mythology in their burial chambers and the writing is still extant.Thankfully, Garry Shaw has put together an introductory text to guide neophytes into the traditions of the Egyptian gods and goddesses. Like their civilization as a whole, their are threads of continuity connecting the different eras in Egyptian mythology. Dr. Shaw expertly takes one on a tour of the panoply of myths ancient Egyptians told to one another.A recurrent theme in this book is that this mythology was the Egyptians’ way of understanding both their human society and the natural world—just as modern Westerners have a scientific outlook. I have to disagree that a system of legends, strictly imposed from birth by an elite of pharaohs and priests, is of the same nature as modern science. Perhaps, the author merely meant to suggest that the same virtues of curiosity and wonder underly both endeavors.Regardless of that issue, the book is a wonderful introductory text to Egyptian mythology and provides a sufficient background to tackle the original texts. For a book merely meant to be an overview of a topic to which one could devote a lifetime of study and still not survey the entire compass, I think that is about the highest praise that could be offered.

Fast. Cool book. Well made. Love Thames and Hudson books. Well wrapped and delivered

Shipped quickly and in great condition

This is an excellent guide to Egyptian mythology if you do not have time to pore through numerous texts and documents. This text would be useful in a class on mythology.

I bought this for my daughter who has loved all things Egypt since she was 5. She says it is well written and the chronolgical order is easy to understand.

The book explains the evolution of the belief system by detailing how the original god morphed into the vast numbers we read about. Cult centres along the Nile had their own gods or names for gods. While there are differences between local cult gods, the book explains how they follow a generally unified theme.

Excellent book, very interesting one with lots of illustrations and pictures. Paper quality of the book is also quite good. Also it's a hard bind book. Nice read.

A very detailed and adult book for those that are intellectually interested in the facts not just the stories to tell children. I was impressed with the writing and the facts are provable, to an ancient egyptologist as myself, who is only years away from being mummified herself. Well done a great read.

If you want to learn about the real Egypt this is a great guide. I especially liked the final third of the book as we are guided through death and what it means for the people of those ancient times. The author has immersed himself in the world of Egypt's ancestors and depicts what its like to live in a time and world dominated by legends, gods and the magic of life and death. Seeing more in their day to day life than we can see in the typical Egyptian monologues we are subjected to. The author knows his stuff that is clear and puts a reality on what is seemingly un-real. Its layout, the author's humour and knowledge are well presented and well written. Its size and readability make it something you can look forward to dipping back into in the future after a first read. A great book that those learning about Egyptian culture should read - it pulls together knowledge which is broad and deep and the author uses his experience and learning in this field to make it understandable to the reader without recourse to a Hammer horror mummy in swathe bandages running rampage in the mind. Great book.

Although lacking in colour, this book gives the reader a great understanding of Ancient Egypt, the evolution of the Pharoahs, and their belief mechanisms. Well worth a read for anyone embarking on a trip to Egypt and it's magnificent historical sites.