Egyptian Myths

The World's Greatest Myths and Legends

by Jake Jackson (Editor)

The Myths of Ancient Egypt are tied intimately to the presence and natural rhythms of the Nile. With their inventive mythology, the Egyptians explained the effects of famine, harvest, floods and death by creating a pantheon of gods that still holds our fascination today. This new book of classic tales brings the stories of the ancients to life, from the birth of creation by Ra, the sun god, to the murder of Osiris, and the revenge of Horus. We gain glimpses of the underworld and the afterlife, as the rulers of Egypt claimed lineage from the Gods both worshipped and fashioned by the people of Egypt, at a time when humankind had begun to shape the world around it.

FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and myth, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, Religion, Research, Folklore, Collections, History

256 pages, Paperback

Published August 26, 2018

About the author

SF and dark fantasy author but also a writer/creator of practical music books - Beginner's Guide to Reading Music, Guitar Chords, Piano Chords, Songwriter’s Rhyming Dictionary and How to Play Guitar. Other publications include Advanced Guitar Chords, Advanced Piano Chords, Chords for Kids, How to Play the Electric Guitar, Piano & Keyboard Chords, Scales and Modes and Play Flamenco. Also editor of Mythology books 

Released EP Jakesongs on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, LastFM, etc and on CDBaby. Lifelong passion for fantastic worlds of any kind, from movies to fiction, art to music, posters, album and paperback book covers.

Jake Jackson is the artist name for Nick Wells, Publisher of Flame Tree Press / Flame Tree Publishing.

Reviews

[KO Masombuka · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed at the missed opportunity. The book title was entirely misleading: it is basically click bait. Instead of being a book about Egyptian myths and how they shaped the ancient Egyptian worldview and its social structures, we got a couple of samples of various Egyptian texts with no central theme linking them together.

[Jenna Starkey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two and a half stars. My copy seems to have some find and replace errors in the beginning. I do wish there were scholarly citations or at the very least a "further reading" section to indicate where the information/translations were coming from. However, this is primarily a (translated) collection of primary sources rather than just an overview of Egyptian mythology, so we get actual documents rather than modern interpretations of a large period of history.

[J.D. Estrada · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok so I got this book as research for future projects and at least partially it helped, but the editing, formatting, and flow of this book is nonexistent. It reads sometimes like stereo instructions and other times like a low effort copy paste job.

did I find out stuff I didn't know? Yes.

Were there occasional parts that were interesting? yes.

Are there completely skippable parts, typos galore, formatting errors, and sections that are dull as dishwater? Yes as well. So if you pick this up, set your expectations low and keep your highlighter handy so it's worth your time.

[Julie Hartley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book massively helped me as I brainstormed and wrote The Rockwell Chronicles. I used it as reference quite a bit.

I have always been interested in Egyptian mythology and their various Gods. I have been to Egypt, climbed to the top of Mount Sinai to see the greatest sunrise in the world, and I still want to learn more about Egypt and hopefully I can continue to learn as I go.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really weird formatting, no citations.

Not sure how such interesting mythology is made to read so boring...

[Shawn Durham · Rating 2 out of 5]

The 1st chapter was amazing. After that, it went completely downhill. I was expecting an overview of each of the gods/goddesses of Egyptian mythology.

[Jambean8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Wish it had more actual myths. It's more of a sampler of different Egyptian texts, everything from the mythology to historical documents and poems and passages from The Book of the Dead.

[Conrad · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst of the series so far. I was hoping to read tales of Osiris, Isis, Set, Anubis, and Amen-Ra and all the others I heard of on Prince of Egypt or Moon Knight. Instead 90% is boring hymn, scripture, and autobiography of soldiers and nobles.

[catthebookworm]

This will, probably, be an indefinite dnf. The writing is dry and you need to be completely focused to read and absorb the details. I'll probably unhaul this book and the rest of the series to be honest. I've been reading it since March and only got 120 pages in.

[Izabela Raittila · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the Slavic Myths from the same series so I picked this up hoping to expand my knowledge of
Egyptian mythology. Sadly, this book isn't a collection of myths. It's a hastily compiled introduction to Egyptian culture, history and mythology. It features very few myths. Most of it is translated samples of various types of Egyptian literature including prayers, poetry and historical documents. While it works reasonably well as an introduction to Egyptian culture, it lacks the depth of a good history book. Some of the writing was so dry I struggled to finish it.

[Hope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was interesting but I clearly did not research this book whatsoever before I acquired it. I was expecting more information about the ancient gods of Egypt and their myths, but this book did not really have much of those contents. It did contain a plethora of other interesting texts and information which I enjoyed reading but it was not exactly what I thought it would be based on the title of the book.

[mrsunshine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a nice description of the life, mythology and readings of Egyptian life, but I feel like it focused far too much on translations and transcriptions than just being about Egyptian myths - aka the title. All in all was pretty good, learnt some new things, some reiterated, but also very rigid in its descriptions, even though there are many different interpretations.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was using this book for my mythology unit for my language arts class. To be honest it’s an okay book, the language is kinda hard for the class I work with. Also some of the stories are written with some commentaries from the author which was annoying. Plus it takes you away from the myths.

[Diego Gutierrez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.2
I found interesting bits and pieces, which is what I was expecting from the book. Of course not every story is fascinating, some even are boring, but ancient Egyptians were not necessarily the best story tellers. All in all is a good compendium of rites, chants, myths, stories...

[Linda Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scholarly text telling stories from Egyptian mythology. Would have liked more analysis. Interesting.

[Missberet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ancient Egypt goes back seven thousand years at least where they believed they derived from Nun that had elevated from the waters. Horus, Ra, Ra-as-sun, Osiris and other gods and creatures are explained.
The gods and myths also filled a void for escapism from daily life. There is also the belief of Isis, to become the equal of Ra, she poisoned him and refused to heal him until he gave her his secret name.
Death and spells also played a role in life that is explained with excerpts from the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
Papyrus scrolls are also an interesting part of Egypt that is described and was a vast part of scrolls which stories were written and are still kept in British, Egyptian and Russian museums to veiw. Some of the stories are shared entitled Tales of Travel and Adventure and Fairy Tales. Moral and philosophical literature are tales of moral value tell of a depressed man in Memphis. A man diminishing with age who is guided by Ptah-hetep to not commit suicide by giving him lessons such as to converse "with the ignorant and teach them to understand fine speech, do not be haughty because of your knowledge" and " I shall reap advantage, having knowledge."
This book is just a drop in the well of knowledge and belief of Egypt.
There is an Egyptian museum in San Jose CA that I visited a time ago that is a must see for all interested in Egyptian Culture.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this slightly confusing with multiple gods and goddesses. A good overall book.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

[airy xie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather than Egyptian myths, this book is more into Egyptian ancient literature.

[Avanni · Rating 1 out of 5]

So insanely difficult to get through and was largely NOT about Egyptian myths. Would not recommend unless you have a colossal amount of background about Egyptian deltas and Egyptology in general

[Whitney · Rating 1 out of 5]

As someone who has a keen interest in mythology, I was excited to dive into this book and expand my knowledge. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what I hoped. The prose is dry and uninspired, making it difficult to stay engaged with the story. The writing feels more like a monotonous recitation of facts. Very disappointing given the vibrant nature of Egyptian mythology, which should be anything but boring.

The book also suffers from a lack of depth. Many of the myths are presented in a very superficial manner, with little to no exploration of their cultural or historical significance. This noticeable absence leaves the reader feeling disconnected from the material. Furthermore, there are no citations to suggest further reading on any subject. There were quite a few illustrations, but no captions or footnotes which defeated the purpose of having the pictures at all. For someone looking to gain a deeper understanding of Egyptian mythology, this book offers very little.

While the text did provide a background section, it was incredibly hard to follow and didn’t give any context as to why the chosen myths were included. In addition, only two sections of the book actually included myths, while the other twelve were summaries/excerpts from ancient texts. This structure disrupts the flow and further diminishes the focus of the myths themselves. Instead of weaving a coherent narrative or providing insightful commentary, the book meanders through disconnected pieces, leaving readers wanting more of the promised mythological content.

Lastly, the book would have greatly benefited from a glossary or at least quick descriptions of the gods mentioned. As it stands, readers unfamiliar with Egyptian deities might find themselves lost and unable to fully appreciate the references made throughout the text. Such additions would provide much needed context and make the reading experience much more enriching.

[1.5 stars, hardcopy read]
[#2 of 2024 New Reads]