Texts from the Pyramid Age
Overview
Ancient Egypt is well known for its towering monuments and magnificent statuary, but other aspects of its civilization are less well known, especially its written texts. Now Texts from the Pyramid Age provides ready access to new translations of a representative selection of texts ranging from the historically significant to the repetitive formulae of the tomb inscriptions from Old Kingdom Egypt (ca. 2700-2170 B.C.). These royal and private inscriptions, coming from both the secular and religious milieus and from all kinds of physical contexts, not only shed light on the administration, foreign expeditions, and funerary beliefs of the period but also bring to life the Egyptians themselves, revealing how they saw the world and how they wanted the world to see them. Strudwick's helpful introduction to the history and literature of this seminal period provides important background for reading and understanding these historical texts.
This solid volume contains a splendidly extensive corpus of translations of Egyptian inscriptions (on stone and clay) and documents (on papyrus and sherds) from the Old Kingdom (‘Pyramid Age’) of the third millennium BCE. To the translations are prefaced introductions to the range of items presented, to third millennium Egyptian history and dating, Egyptian grammatical profile of the period, and on formal titles of officialdom, use of offering-formulae, etc., plus a survey of the range of texts drawn upon (excluding the magical/ritual ‘Pyramid Texts’, and wisdom literature). … A valuable source-book making Egypt’s Old Kingdom period much more accessible to a wider readership than hitherto.
—Kenneth A. Kitchen, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
- Title: Texts from the Pyramid Age
- Author: Nigel Strudwick
- Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature
- Publication Date: 2005
- Pages: 522
Nigel Strudwick is Assistant Keeper, Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, at The British Museum. He began his work in Egypt in 1979, and has been involved in the "Tombs of the Nobles" at Luxor since 1984. He is the co-author, with Helen Strudwick, of Thebes in Egypt: A Guide to the Tombs and Temples of Ancient Luxor, and co-editor, with Helen Strudwick, of The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture.