1. Ani adoring the gods of Sekhet-Aaru.
2. Ani reaping in the Other World.
3. Ani ploughing in the Other World.
4. The abode of the perfect spirits, and the magical boats.]




PREFACE


This little book is intended to serve as an elementary introduction to
the study of Egyptian Literature. Its object is to present a short
series of specimens of Egyptian compositions, which represent all the
great periods of literary activity in Egypt under the Pharaohs, to all
who are interested in the study of the mental development of ancient
nations. It is not addressed to the Egyptological specialist, to whom,
as a matter of course, its contents are well known, and therefore its
pages are not loaded with elaborate notes and copious references. It
represents, I believe, the first attempt made to place before the public
a summary of the principal contents of Egyptian Literature in a handy
and popular form.

The specimens of native Egyptian Literature printed herein are taken
from tombs, papyri, stelæ, and other monuments, and, with few
exceptions, each specimen is complete in itself. Translations of most of
the texts have appeared in learned works written by Egyptologists in
English, French, German, and Italian, but some appear in English for the
first time. In every case I have collated my own translations with the
texts, and, thanks to the accurate editions of texts which have appeared