Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

There is no Egyptian Hesiod or Ovid. Still less is there anything from ancient Egypt that is like the Bible or the Koran. Instead, we have certain core myths that recur in fragmentary forms (mythemes) and in countless variations, down through the centuries. Enacting these myths, we have deities who constantly get killed and reborn, who take on various animal guises and, most confusingly, often merge with one another to form composite deities. Making sense of this disparate and perplexing data, so different in flavor from the more familiar Greco-Roman or Norse myths, is a huge task. Geraldine Pinch succeeds splendidly, especially given the very restricted space she has here. Pinch has a very readable style, free from scholarly pomposity, but without any dumbing-down. She clearly knows and loves her subject, and recognizes the difficulties of getting to grips with it. This is an enjoyable and authoritative introduction to the mythology that helped sustain Earth's first great civilization for thousands of years. [PeterReeve]