23/08/2014
Coming soon from Intrinsic and Chronicle Books:
First published in 1994 and revised in 1998, this twentieth anniversary edition of The Egyptian Book of the Dead includes several important new features.
The first is an essay by Egyptological scholar J. Daniel Gunther, who presents an overview of the history of academic research in Egyptian religion and philology during the past two hundred years. The decipherment of the Rosetta Stone in the 1820s began to open the mysteries of ancient Egypt to a world hungry for understanding. Gunther has brought to life some of the trials and passions of scholars who dared journey into a territory that had been wrapped in darkness for millennia.
The second is a critical contribution by Dr. Ogden Goelet, who supervised the original publication; he has compiled an annotated bibliography that replaces and expands upon his twenty-year-old original. It is a state-of-the-art survey of academic sources, especially those created in the past two decades. Dr. Goelet has divided the bibliographical materials into separate categories that include: general studies of Egyptian Afterlife literature; Book of the Dead studies and bibliographies; production techniques of Book of the Dead manuscripts; comprehensive commentaries and translations; suggestions for a program of self-study for the interested amateur; and a selection of online resources. Each section is preceded by a brief introduction that explains its parameters.
The third is a series of improvements to the color images of the Papyrus itself. Some of these were done with reference to the 1979 portfolio of photographs from the British Museum. Other adjustments to the presentation of the scroll were noted during the electronic conversion from its 1993 manual format. All are detailed in a new introduction by James Wasserman, which also includes some observations on the continuing contemporary relevance of ancient Egypt in Western culture.
