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Distributed for Museum Tusculanum Press

Narrative Literature from the Tebtunis Temple Library

Centuries before the Library of Alexandria, ancient Egypt was home to numerous temple libraries, but only a single large-scale one has survived: the Tebtunis Temple library. Abandoned around 200 CE—but rediscovered by archaeologists in 1900—the library’s contents include an array of scientific, religious, and narrative literature from the first centuries of the Common Era. This collection offers some of the narrative literature found there, translated into English— much for the first time. This book contains ten narratives in total—from stories of Prince Inaros to a new version of the mythological “The Contendings of Horus and Seth.”


273 pages | 8 3/8 x 11 1/2 | © 2012

The Carlsberg Papyri

History: Ancient and Classical History

Literature and Literary Criticism:


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Table of Contents

Introduction
Abbreviations, symbols, and conventions
Concordance of fragments
List of plates

1. The Story of Hareus son of Pahat
2. A Story about the Living Prince Inaros
3. King Wenamun and the Kingdom of Lihyan
4. The Contest for Inaros’ Armor: New Fragments
5. The Contest for Inaros’ Diadem and Lance
6. A Story featuring King Necho Merneith
7. A Story featuring King Nechepsos
8. Pharaoh and Persians
9. A Sequel to the Prophecy of Petesis
10. The Contendings of Horus and Seth

Appendices: Select Demotic Literary Formulae
    1. Royal Dating Introduction
    2. Conception, Birth, and Rearing of Children
    3. Dreams and Visions
Index of texts cited
Bibliography
Plates

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