A brand-new Egyptian novel from the master of adventure fiction, Wilbur Smith.

In the heart of Egypt, under the watchful eye of the gods, a new power is rising.

In the city of Lahun, Hui lives an enchanted life. The favoured son of a doting father, and ruler-in-waiting of the great city, his fate is set. But behind the beautiful façades a sinister evil is plotting. Craving power and embittered by jealousy, Hui's stepmother, the great sorceress Isetnofret, and Hui's own brother Qen, orchestrate the downfall of Hui's father, condemning Hui and seizing power in the city. Cast out and alone, Hui finds himself a captive of a skilled and powerful army of outlaws, the Hyksos. Determined to seek vengeance for the death of his father and rescue his sister, Ipwet, Hui swears his allegiance to these enemies of Egypt. Through them he learns the art of war, learning how to fight and becoming an envied charioteer.

But soon Hui finds himself in an even greater battle - one for the very heart of Egypt itself. As the pieces fall into place and the Gods themselves join the fray, Hui finds himself fighting alongside the Egyptian General Tanus and renowned Mage, Taita. Now Hui must choose his path - will he be a hero in the old world, or a master in a new kingdom?

This remarkable book is the most ambitious work on mythology since that of the renowned Mircea Eliade, who all but single-handedly invented the modern study of myth and religion. Focusing on the oldest available texts, buttressed by data from archeology, comparative linguistics and human population genetics, Michael Witzel reconstructs a single original African source for our collective myths, dating back some 100,000 years. Identifying features shared by this "Out of Africa" mythology and its northern Eurasian offshoots, Witzel suggests that these common myths--recounted by the communities of the "African Eve"--are the earliest evidence of ancient spirituality. Moreover these common features, Witzel shows, survive today in all major religions. Witzel's book is an intellectual hand grenade that will doubtless generate considerable excitement--and consternation--in the scholarly community. Indeed, everyone interested in mythology will want to grapple with Witzel's extraordinary hypothesis about the spirituality of our common ancestors, and to understand what it tells us about our modern cultures and the way they are linked at the deepest level.

In The Sacred Landscape of Dra Abu el-Naga during the New Kingdom, Angeles Jimenez-Higueras offers the reconstruction of the physical, religious and cultural landscape of Dra Abu el-Naga south and its conceptual development from the 18th to the 20th Dynasties (1550-1069 BC). A wider insight into the Theban necropolis is provided, including the position played by the Dra Abu el-Naga cemetery within the Theban funerary context understood as an inseparable complex of diverse components. For this study, Angeles Jimenez-Higueras has reconciled textual and archaeological perspectives with theories relating to Landscape Archaeology, which efficiently manages to compile and to link prosopographical-genealogical, archaeological and GIS (Geographical Information System) data.

The reign of the "heretic pharaoh" Akhenaten-the so-called Amarna Period-witnessed an unprecedented attack on the cult of Amun, King of the Gods, with his cult center at ancient Thebes (modern Luxor). A program to reinstate Amun to pre-eminence in the traditional pantheon was instituted by Akhenaten's successors Tutankhamun, Ay, and Horemhab. Damaged reliefs and inscriptions were restored and new statues of Amun and his consorts Mut and Amunet commissioned to replace those destroyed under Akhenaten. In this study, over 60 statues and fragments of statues attributable to the post-Amarna Period on the basis of an inscription, physiognomy, and/or stylistic analysis are discussed, as well as others that have been incorrectly assigned to the era.

The Ancient Egyptians continue to fascinate people from all walks of life. Of all the knowledge we have of their culture, the rituals connected to death and the afterlife are the most compelling.

The diffusion of the cults of Isis is recently again intensively studied. Research on this fascinating phenomenon has traditionally been characterised by its focus on L' gypte hors d' gypte, while developments in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt itself were often seen as belonging to a different domain. This volume tries to overcome that unhealthy dichotomy by studying the cults of Isis in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt itself in relation to developments in the Mediterranean at large. The book not only presents an overview of the most important deities, often based on new or unpublished material, but also pays ample attention to the cultural processes behind Isis on Nile, like relations between style and identity, religious choice, social- and cultural memory and Egypt s view of its own past.

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.

This is a study of an anonymous ancient work, originally composed in Greek, titled Joseph and Aseneth. Although relatively unknown outside of scholarly circles, the story is remarkable because of its focus on a female character and its absence of overt misogyny. It has traditionally been viewed as an early 2nd-century C.E. conversion story of Jewish provenance. Kraemer, through her detailed examination of the texts, arrives at conclusions that disagree with previous findings with respect not only to questions of date, provenance, identity, geographic origin and textual relationships, but also to many matters of interpretation.

The Great Sphinx of Giza, painted friezes in pyramid chambers, and symbolic paintings of the eye of Horus are familiar and breathtaking works of art. Yet behind them lies a deep cosmological tapestry in which the origins of the Earth and riches brought by the Nile flood are explained through deities. As pharaohs, kingdoms and dynasties rise and fall, so the roles of gods, goddesses and myths change, making Ancient Egypt's mythology a fascinating journey that reflects shifting power, fortune and influence in the lives of Egyptians. Ancient Egyptian Myths takes a broad approach to the cosmology of Ancient Egypt, describing the function of myth to both the powerful and the powerless. It includes internal and external political and economic influences on the status of deities and their myths. The book examines iconography and texts that transported Egyptians from practical stories explaining the world around them to the mystery and magic that led them into the realm of the dead. It explains the roles of priests and the exclusiveness of temples. Finally, it reveals influences of Egypt's myths on belief systems and the arts that continue to this day. Illustrated throughout with artworks and photographs, Ancient Egyptian Myths is an engaging and highly informative exploration of a rich mythology that still fascinates today.

The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses contains one of the most comprehensive listings and descriptions of Egyptian deities. Now in its second edition, it provides:

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• a new introduction
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• updated entries and four new entries on deities
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• names of the deities as Hieroglyphs
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• a survey of gods and goddesses as they appear in classical literature
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• an expanded chronology and updated bibliography, together with a list of relevant websites
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• drawings of the gods and emblems of each district
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• a map of ancient Egypt and a time chart

Presenting a vivid picture of the complexity and richness of imagery in Egyptian mythology, students studying Ancient Egypt, travelers, visitors to museums and all those interested in mythology will find this an invaluable resource.

The famous Nile Mosaic of Palestrina, ancient Praeneste in central Italy, dating to c. 100 B.C., is one of the earliest large mosaics which have been preserved from the classical world. It presents a unique, comprehensive picture of Egypt and Nubia. The interpretation of the mosaic is disputed, suggestions ranging from an exotic decoration to a topographical picture or a religious allegory.
The present study demonstrates that the mosaic depicts rituals connected with Isis and Osiris and the yearly Nile flood. The presence of these Egyptian religious scenes at Praeneste can be explained by the assimilation of isis and Fortuna, the tutelary goddess of Praeneste, and by the interpretation of the mosaic as a symbol of divine providence.

This work, written by Egyptologist E.A. Wallis Budge, is a complete survey of the religion and mythology of the Ancient Egyptians.