A retelling of traditional tales from the Sudan and Egypt.

In this book Hasan M. El-Shamy has gathered the first authentic new collection of modern Egyptian folk narratives to appear in nearly a century. El-Shamy's English translations of these orally presented stories not only preserve their spirit, but give Middle Eastern lore the scholarly attention it has long deserved. "This collection of seventy recently collected Egyptian tales is a major contribution to African studies and to international distribution studies of folktales. In the face of the recent anthropological trend to use folkloric materials for extra-folkloric purposes, the preeminence of the text must be asserted once more, and these are obviously authentic, straightforwardly translated, fully documented as to date of collection and social category of informant, and for all that . . . readable."—Daniel J. Crowley, Research in African Literatures "Western knowledge of virtually all facets of contemporary Egyptian culture, much less the roots of that culture, is woefully inadequate. By providing an interesting, varied, and readable collection of Egyptian folktales and offering clear and sensible accounts of their background and meaning, this book renders a valuable service indeed."—Kenneth J. Perkins, International Journal of Oral History

Six colorful stories adapted from the oral tradition of Egypt.

The only demographically oriented tale-type index for folktales of the Arab world

Within this small book you will find six distinctive folk tales from the ancient land of Egypt translated and edited by that giant of Egyptology – W. M. Flinders Petrie (1853 – 1942). Petrie was a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and preservation of artefacts, so we can be sure when he was translating these tales he took care to arrive at the correct translation. Herein you will find the Tales Of The Magicians, Baufra's Tale, Hordedef's Tale, The Peasant And The Workman, The Shipwrecked Sailor and The Adventures Of Sanehat - each with their own set of explanatory remarks and notes appended to the story. Prior to this volume being published in 1899, the tales of ancient Egypt had appeared collectively only in French. The aim of the 22 BnW illustrations, by Tristram Ellis, has been to give a correct picture of the character of each of the various ages to which these tales belong, for there is a definite period assigned to each tale. For each drawing Flinders Petrie searched for the material among the monuments and remains of the age in question – no easy task. The details of the dresses, the architecture, and the utensils, are all in accord with the period of each tale. In the tale of Setnau two different styles are introduced. Ahura is probably of the time of Amenhotep III., whereas Setnau is a son of Ramessu II.; and the change of fashion between the two different dynasties has been followed as distinctive of the two persons, one a ka or double of the deceased, the other a living man. So, whether you’re an academic or someone simply interested in the ancient stories of Egypt, sit back and enjoy this excellent volume of tales.