
Imagining the Past
Historical Fiction in New Kingdom Egypt
Colleen Manassa(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 9. January 2014
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-0-19-998222-6 (ISBN)
Description
Five hundred years before Homer immortalized the Trojan Horse, the ancient Egyptians had already composed a tale of soldiers hiding Ali Baba-like in baskets to capture a besieged city. Shortly after the rise to power of the warrior pharaoh Ramesses II ("the Great"), Egyptian authors began to write stories about battles and conquest. However, these stories were not set in the present, but in the past--they were the world's first works of historical fiction. These literary recreations of past events, which preserve fascinating mixtures of fact and fiction, provide unparalleled information about topics as diverse as ancient Egyptian historiography, religion, and notions of humor and wit. Imagining the Past is the first volume to provide complete translations and commentary for the historical fiction composed during Egypt's New Kingdom.
The four tales included here represent a multifaceted approach to history and its actors. The Quarrel of Apepi and Seqenenere, set at the end of the Second Intermediate Period, preserves details of political history and taxation that are attested in contemporaneous sources. In The Capture of Joppa, a historically-attested general Djehuty from the reign of Thutmose III successfully defeats the ruler of Joppa through one of the first attested stratagems in world military history. Royalty takes center stage with Thutmose III in Asia, whose fragmentary narrative may be a fictional presentation of the Battle of Megiddo. The Libyan Battle Story, composed only a generation after the Battle of Perire, contains abundant historical details attested in hieroglyphic and hieratic sources and borders on fictionalized history. A concluding analysis summarizes the audience and function of historical fiction as well as theology and historiography within the tales. An appendix of the hieroglyphic texts, all transliterated with philological commentary, make these texts accessible to a wide audience, while representing the first critical scholarly edition of them available. Colleen Manassa's thorough research into the literary, political, and social context of each tale will further stimulate current discussions of genres and the transmission of texts in Egyptolology and comparative literature studies.
The four tales included here represent a multifaceted approach to history and its actors. The Quarrel of Apepi and Seqenenere, set at the end of the Second Intermediate Period, preserves details of political history and taxation that are attested in contemporaneous sources. In The Capture of Joppa, a historically-attested general Djehuty from the reign of Thutmose III successfully defeats the ruler of Joppa through one of the first attested stratagems in world military history. Royalty takes center stage with Thutmose III in Asia, whose fragmentary narrative may be a fictional presentation of the Battle of Megiddo. The Libyan Battle Story, composed only a generation after the Battle of Perire, contains abundant historical details attested in hieroglyphic and hieratic sources and borders on fictionalized history. A concluding analysis summarizes the audience and function of historical fiction as well as theology and historiography within the tales. An appendix of the hieroglyphic texts, all transliterated with philological commentary, make these texts accessible to a wide audience, while representing the first critical scholarly edition of them available. Colleen Manassa's thorough research into the literary, political, and social context of each tale will further stimulate current discussions of genres and the transmission of texts in Egyptolology and comparative literature studies.
Reviews / Votes
Just when we think everything has been written about a particular topic, along comes a book with a strikingly fresh approach that helps us look at the topic anew. Such is Imagining the Past, which examines four well known so-called Late Egyptian Stories. Through a judicious combination of philological, literary, historical, religious, and archaeological analyses, the author explores ancient Egyptian story-telling and its use in propagandizing Pharaoh's might. Erudite, exhaustive, as well as accessible, the book is a major contribution that is sure to have a wide readership for many years. * Ronald J. Leprohon, University of Toronto *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
34 illus.
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
771 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-998222-6 (9780199982226)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2013
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€43.49
Available for download
Person
Colleen Manassa is William K. and Marilyn M. Simpson Associate Professor of Egyptology at Yale University.
Author
William K. and Marilyn M. Simpson Associate Professor of EgyptologyWilliam K. and Marilyn M. Simpson Associate Professor of Egyptology, Yale University
Content
Preface ; List of Figures and Plates ; List of Abbreviations ; Note to the Translations ; Chronology ; 1. Intimations of an Earlier Age: History and Fiction in New Kingdom Egypt ; 2. The Quarrel of Apepi and Seqenenre ; 3. The Capture of Joppa ; 4. Thutmose III in Asia ; 5. The Libyan Battle Story ; 6. A Thematic Survey of New Kingdom Historical Fiction ; Appendix 1: P. Sallier I (BM EA 10185) ; Appendix 2: P. Harris 500 (BM EA 10060) ; Appendix 3: P. Turin 1940+1941 ; Appendix 4: P. Louvre N3136 ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index ; Plates