Traditional Egyptian folktales have a flavour and vivacity that until now has proved impossible to render in translation. Here, Elizabeth Wickett presents a translation into English of five rich and vivid tales from Upper Egypt that accurately captures the drama, wit and vitality of Egyptian oral narrative in performance. The stories include the tale of Maimuna, the slave girl of Mecca, crucified for her beliefs, and the erotic tale of Aziza, the flamboyant daughter of the Sultan of Tunis, who attempts to seduce and capture the handsome and innocent Yunis. The author explores the broader literary and social significance of each tale, as well as the aesthetics of performance, gender issues, and parallels with other Egyptian and Near Eastern tales. It is a unique record of a disappearing and little known tradition.

The funeral laments of Upper Egypt have an elaborate and ancient history stretching back more than 5,000 years. Even the chants of modern-day lamenters, echo the words of their ancestors. Yet this ancient tradition is now under threat from social and political change. The laments - known as idid in Arabic - are composed orally in performance. Elizabeth Wickett explores the performance, motifs and meanings of the laments and reveals their relation to myth, religion, cosmology and the ancient Egyptian funerary texts. The author was given unique access to this fast disappearing tradition, and her book provides a unique cultural archive that will interest Egyptologists, archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnomusicologists and all those with an interest in the language and culture of the Middle East.

Traditional Egyptian folktales have a flavour and vivacity that until now has proved impossible to render in translation. Here, Elizabeth Wickett presents a translation into English of five rich and vivid tales from Upper Egypt that accurately captures the drama, wit and vitality of Egyptian oral narrative in performance. The stories include the tale of Maimuna, the slave girl of Mecca, crucified for her beliefs, and the erotic tale of Aziza, the flamboyant daughter of the Sultan of Tunis, who attempts to seduce and capture the handsome and innocent Yunis. The author explores the broader literary and social significance of each tale, as well as the aesthetics of performance, gender issues, and parallels with other Egyptian and Near Eastern tales. It is a unique record of a disappearing and little known tradition.