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  • Published: 7 October 2011
  • ISBN: 9780141021768
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $32.00

The Penguin Book of Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt



'As panoramic a survey as one could hope to read' Observer

'This readable anthology is a good introduction to a civilization that fascinates like few others ... in this book there are animals who talk, princesses who are locked up at the top of towers, wicked stepmothers and many other themes ... An enjoyable book by a skilled author' Financial Times

The civilization we know as Ancient Egypt stretched over three thousand years. What was life like for ancient Egyptians? What were their beliefs - and how different were they from ours? Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt uses Egypt's vivid narratives to create a panorama of its history, from the earliest settlers to the time of Cleopatra.

Gathered from pyramid texts, archaeological finds and contemporary documents, these stories cover everything from why the Nile flooded annually to Egyptian beliefs about childbirth and what happened after death. They show us what life was really like for rich and poor, man and woman, farmer and pharaoh.

Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt brings a long-dead culture back to life.

  • Published: 7 October 2011
  • ISBN: 9780141021768
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $32.00

About the author

Joyce Tyldesley

Joyce Tyldesley is Honorary Research fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies at Liverpool University, and a freelance writer and lecturer on Egyptian archaeology. She has extensive excavation experience, has made regular radio broadcasts, and has acted as consultant on several television projects. Her previous books include Daughters of Isis, Hatchesput:The Female Pharaoh, Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen, Ramesses: Egypt's Greatest Pharaoh, Judgement of the Pharaoh and Crime and Punishment in Ancient Egypt. Joyce lives in Lancashire and is married to the well-known Egyptologist Steven Snape. She has two children.

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Praise for The Penguin Book of Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt

Tyldesley, by painstakingly analysing the myths and therefore the beliefs, of the ancient population, endeavours to get under the skin of Egyptian life ... befuddling myth-stories are clarified

Bettany Hughes, The Times

Required reading for Egypt's imaginative tour guides

The Sunday Times

her great strength is her story-telling

Sunday Telegraph