Scan barcode
funny_bunny_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
jacki_f's review against another edition
4.0
"Egypt has always been a land of mystery and magic - a land different from all others, difficult to understand, apart and alien, yet strangely fascinating. It was the most self-contained of all the countries in the ancient world; it lived its own life, practised its own religion and made up its own stories with hardly any outside influence either from or upon other civilisations. When the Ancient Greeks "discovered" it in about 500BC and began to write about it, Egyptian civilisation was drawing towards the end of its three thousand years of existence."
This is the introduction to Tales of Ancient Egypt and it sums up what a complete and isolated marvel Ancient Egypt was. The stories are divided into three sections and it was the first section which focused on the Egyptian Gods that I found most interesting. But as the author points out, all the stories can be read on papyrus scrolls or temple walls to this day which is pretty remarkable. I first read this book as a child and I was pleasantly surprised by how well its written on re-reading it.
This is the introduction to Tales of Ancient Egypt and it sums up what a complete and isolated marvel Ancient Egypt was. The stories are divided into three sections and it was the first section which focused on the Egyptian Gods that I found most interesting. But as the author points out, all the stories can be read on papyrus scrolls or temple walls to this day which is pretty remarkable. I first read this book as a child and I was pleasantly surprised by how well its written on re-reading it.
anisha_inkspill's review against another edition
4.0
Reading this is a beginning to get more familiar with Mythology of ancient Egypt.
What I know about Egyptian mythology is unconnected fragments, which I don’t think really counts, so I liked how a concise intro is included in this book. This made me aware of how old these tales are. I knew, but it just hadn’t sunk in.
This Puffin classic for children was first published in the later 1960s, and looking at a Kindle sample for very recent publications, the content seems the same.
This is not surprising as the 21 tales left me with a clear view of Egyptian mythology. It starts with the creation story and is followed by tales of magic and adventure with moral teachings. The book does not have every tale but the selection left me with a sound springboard to discover more.
What I know about Egyptian mythology is unconnected fragments, which I don’t think really counts, so I liked how a concise intro is included in this book. This made me aware of how old these tales are. I knew, but it just hadn’t sunk in.
This Puffin classic for children was first published in the later 1960s, and looking at a Kindle sample for very recent publications, the content seems the same.
This is not surprising as the 21 tales left me with a clear view of Egyptian mythology. It starts with the creation story and is followed by tales of magic and adventure with moral teachings. The book does not have every tale but the selection left me with a sound springboard to discover more.
shulovesreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
3.0
izzatiidrus's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
3.5
Just like Tales of Ancient Greek, this book is full of fantastic stories - so many characters, and so much happened! Telenovelas and cinetron had nothing on these stories. I love how the stories relate to actual places that still exist till this day, and how they actually came from preserved papyrus, scriptures and carvings on pyramids.
Despite the sexism, racism, incest and many other toxic traits within the stories, they were still an interesting look into the imaginations of Egyptians of the past. I like how the author separated the stories into Tales of Gods, Tales of Magic and Tales of Adventure. Some of the stories reminded me of Islamic sirah, some of tales of ancient Greek, one of Rumpelstiltskin and another of Cinderella.
Although the book included who's who at the back, I wish it was in form of family tree or graph to show the relations between the characters. It was pretty hard to keep track, especially since some of them have more than one name.
Despite the sexism, racism, incest and many other toxic traits within the stories, they were still an interesting look into the imaginations of Egyptians of the past. I like how the author separated the stories into Tales of Gods, Tales of Magic and Tales of Adventure. Some of the stories reminded me of Islamic sirah, some of tales of ancient Greek, one of Rumpelstiltskin and another of Cinderella.
Although the book included who's who at the back, I wish it was in form of family tree or graph to show the relations between the characters. It was pretty hard to keep track, especially since some of them have more than one name.