Saturday, April 18, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Egyptian
Sacred texts from ancient Egypt, including funerary literature and hymns to the gods.
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Texts
Book of the DeadThe great funerary literature of ancient Egypt — spells, hymns, and declarations to guide the dead through the underworld. Good Works Translation from the Papyrus of Ani.Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life — E. A. Wallis BudgeA comprehensive survey of ancient Egyptian beliefs about death, the afterlife, the judgment of the soul, and the nature of the blessed dead, drawing on the Pyramid Texts, the Book of the Dead, and the great funerary literature of the New Kingdom.Egyptian Magic — E. A. Wallis BudgeA study of ancient Egyptian magical practices, including the use of amulets, magical names, spells, enchantments, and wax figures, with translations of magical texts and descriptions of the role of magic in Egyptian religion and daily life.Egyptian Myth and Legend — Donald MackenzieA comprehensive retelling of Egyptian mythology and history from the earliest times through the Ptolemaic period, weaving together sacred narratives, folklore, historical chronicles, and archaeological discoveries into a continuous narrative of Egyptian civilization.Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity — Samuel SharpeA study of the connections between ancient Egyptian religious thought and early Christianity, tracing the influence of Egyptian mythology, the Osiris myth, the concept of the Trinity, and other Egyptian theological ideas on the development of Christian doctrine.Introduction to Egyptian ReligionA critical introduction to ancient Egyptian religion — three thousand years of theology that refused to choose between the one and the many, invented the moral afterlife, and produced the oldest religious texts on earth.Legends of Babylon and Egypt — L.W. KingL.W. King's 1916 Schweich Lectures comparing the legends of Babylon and Egypt with Hebrew tradition, incorporating newly discovered evidence.Legends of the Gods — E. A. Wallis BudgeTranslations of the principal Egyptian mythological texts, including the Legend of Ra and Isis, the Creation Legend of Ra, the Legend of Horus of Behutet, the Legend of the Destruction of Mankind, and other sacred narratives preserved on temple walls and papyri.The Book of Gates — E. A. Wallis BudgeAn ancient Egyptian funerary text describing the passage of the deceased through the gates of the underworld during the twelve hours of the night. Each gate is guarded by fearsome serpents and deities who must be appeased with the correct words of power. Volume II of The Egyptian Heaven and Hell.The Book of the Am-Tuat — E. A. Wallis BudgeAn ancient Egyptian cosmological treatise describing the Tuat, the underworld traversed by the boat of the Sun God Ra during the twelve hours of the night. Each chapter details the gods, demons, and landscapes encountered in one hour of the nocturnal journey. Volume I of The Egyptian Heaven and Hell.The Book of Two WaysThe Book of Two Ways — the earliest map of the underworld. Coffin Text spells 1041–1129 from the inner floors of Middle Kingdom coffins at el-Bersha. The deceased navigates gates of fire and darkness, names guardians, and travels the roads of water and land through Rosetjau to the Fields of Offerings. First English translation from ancient Egyptian.The Burden of Isis — James Teackle DennisA verse translation of the ancient Egyptian hymns and lamentations of Isis and Nephthys for the dead god Osiris, drawn from the ceremonial papyri of the Berlin Museum and the temple inscriptions at Denderah.The Coffin TextsTwenty-one spells from the Egyptian Coffin Texts — including the opening of the Book of Two Ways, the theology of Shu, and selected creation and transformation spells. Good Works Translation from Egyptian.The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden — F. Ll. Griffith and Herbert ThompsonA translation of the great Greco-Egyptian magical papyrus divided between the British Museum and the Leiden Museum, containing spells, divinations, love charms, medical prescriptions, and ritual instructions from the third century CE.The Egyptian Book of the Dead — E. A. Wallis BudgeThe ancient Egyptian guide for the deceased through the underworld, from the Papyrus of Ani. One of the most important religious documents of the ancient world, containing hymns, prayers, and spells intended to guide the dead through the dangers of the afterlife and secure their immortality among the gods.The Egyptian Heaven and Hell, Volume III — E. A. Wallis BudgeThe concluding volume of Budge's study of Egyptian afterlife texts, containing the short versions of the Am-Tuat and the Book of Gates, together with comprehensive analysis of the Egyptian conceptions of paradise, the underworld, and the judgment of the dead.The Great Hymn to the AtenThe longest and most celebrated hymn to the Aten, the sun disc — composed in the fourteenth century BCE and attributed to the pharaoh Akhenaten. Translated by James Henry Breasted, 1912.The Hieroglyphics of Horapollo — Alexander Turner CoryA translation of the Hieroglyphica of Horapollo Nilous, a late antique treatise purporting to explain the symbolic meanings of Egyptian hieroglyphic signs. Though partly fanciful, it preserves genuine knowledge of hieroglyphic symbolism and profoundly influenced Renaissance art and thought.The Instruction of AmenemhatA murdered pharaoh speaks from beyond the grave — the ghost of Amenemhat I instructs his son Senusret I on trust, betrayal, and the loneliness of kingship. Translated by A.M. Blackman from Adolf Erman, 1927.The Instruction of AmenemopeThirty chapters of Egyptian wisdom on silence, justice, and the quiet life — composed by Amenemope son of Kanakht for his youngest son, and preserved on a single papyrus scroll now in the British Museum.The Instruction of KagemniThe oldest surviving fragment of wisdom literature in human history — instructions on restraint, courtesy, and good conduct, attributed to the vizier Kagemni of the late Third Dynasty of Egypt. Translated by Battiscombe G. Gunn, 1906.The Instruction of PtahhotepThe oldest surviving book of wisdom literature in human history — thirty-seven maxims on justice, humility, and right conduct, composed by the vizier Ptahhotep in the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Translated by Battiscombe G. Gunn, 1906.The Leiden HymnsHymns to Amun from Papyrus Leiden I 350 — the theological summit of Egyptian religion, composed during the reign of Ramesses II. Good Works Translation from Egyptian.The Liturgy of Funerary Offerings — E. A. Wallis BudgeA detailed study and translation of the ancient Egyptian ritual of funerary offerings, also known as the Book of the Opening of the Mouth. The text records the elaborate sequence of offerings, prayers, and ritual acts performed during the preparation of the pharaoh's mummy for eternal life.The Pyramid TextsThe oldest religious writings in the world. Utterances from the Pyramid of Unas at Saqqara, c. 2375–2345 BCE, translated from Old Egyptian by the New Tianmu Anglican Church.The Rosetta Stone — E. A. Wallis BudgeA comprehensive study of the Rosetta Stone, including its history, discovery, and the story of its decipherment, along with the full text of the trilingual decree in English translation. Budge traces the intellectual race between Young and Champollion to unlock the hieroglyphic script.The Wisdom of the Egyptians — Brian BrownA survey of ancient Egyptian wisdom literature, religion, and culture, covering the story of Egypt, the Book of the Dead, Egyptian magic, the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian art, music, and the profound influence of Egyptian thought on the religions and philosophies of the ancient world.Tutankhamen — E. A. Wallis BudgeA study of the life, death, and tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamen, written in the immediate aftermath of Howard Carter's sensational 1922 discovery, placing the boy-king in his historical and religious context within the Eighteenth Dynasty and the aftermath of Akhenaten's monotheistic revolution.
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