How to Read the Egyptian Book of the Dead (American)

A slim book -- 100 pages or so -- but filled with solidly researched information. Barry Kemp is a practicing Egyptologist (working in Amarna), as well as a Cambridge University professor and scholar. I appreciate the fact that he gives not only his own carefully thought out opinions but mentions other scientists' opinions as well. He is a good writer, though he has a dense style. It has taken me a while to get through this book, but well worth the effort. There is more information in this small book than in many large books on Ancient Egypt that I have read. I have learned so much about The Book of the Dead from reading it, including the fact that it was never called that by the Ancient Egyptians, but called The Going Forth by Day. Kemp cites and examines many of the spells that make up the work, and the information he conveys along the way is illuminating. This book is well worth adding to your library of books on Ancient Egypt.