Egyptian Myth: A Very Short Introduction

Pretty good book for what I wanted. It was fairly objective, neither 'glorifying' nor 'bashing' the Egyptian beliefs and customs. Also, it put forward the current but opposing views of archaeologists/anthropologists/etc (different sides of the story) on various myths and customs, while trying to highlight the pros and cons of each view.I learned what I needed to hold my own in conversations where Egyptian myth comes up, as it has profound influence in popular culture, and to better recognise the symbolism that has been 'hidden in plain sight'. Well worth the read for the curious.I noticed one slight problem in my Kindle version: The remaining time in each chapter would increase the further I read, until the chapter suddenly finished. Also, I read like 150 pages to make it to 73%, then 20 pages later the book was finished.

There is no Egyptian Hesiod or Ovid. Still less is there anything from ancient Egypt that is like the Bible or the Koran. Instead, we have certain core myths that recur in fragmentary forms (mythemes) and in countless variations, down through the centuries. Enacting these myths, we have deities who constantly get killed and reborn, who take on various animal guises and, most confusingly, often merge with one another to form composite deities.Making sense of this disparate and perplexing data, so different in flavor from the more familiar Greco-Roman or Norse myths, is a huge task. Geraldine Pinch succeeds splendidly, especially given the very restricted space she has here.Pinch has a very readable style, free from scholarly pomposity, but without any dumbing-down. She clearly knows and loves her subject, and recognizes the difficulties of getting to grips with it. This is an enjoyable and authoritative introduction to the mythology that helped sustain Earth's first great civilization for thousands of years.[PeterReeve]

A short scholarly but highly readable tour of a complicated and absorbing discipline, and a superb introduction to one of the great formative chapters of world culture.

This is an extraordinary book, showing the depth of the author's knowledge and her ability to tell the reader most everything they could want to know about Egyptian myths, gods and goddesses, views of death, and the afterlife in a mere 122 pages. Fortunately I already have but have not yet read her larger book on Egyptian Mythology. This 'very short introduction' goes way beyond what I expected.

I hate to leave a bad review, but trying to read this book was a struggle for me. Many of the sentences don't flow together well or are worded poorly. Sometimes the author seems to change subject halfway through a paragraph and begin telling a story, leaving me to wonder what is going on. This is sad because it's such a fascinating topic and the author clearly knows a lot about the subject.Overall I think that there is wonderful information in here, it just needed to be edited a little more.

Purchased for a class.

Always amazing, this edition is fascinating, and well-made, especially for the price. I would recommend this series to everyone that loves learning new things.

👍

It feels like the author pulls their punches in terms of what they really believe; the result is something interesting, but rather directionless.

Concise, rich and enjoyable. Ms Pinch makes Egyptian mythology and religion easy for everyone. It's also a nice recap for university students too.

I use these books as an intense primer when I need to get up to speed.Some topics seem less well presented than others but this is one of the better ones. A lucid and well organised trot through of Egyptian mythology with concise context setting and good subject organisation.

short and spicy

was told to get this ifor university by my lecturers, is a very good book for student use, great book in its area,