In this book I have retold the legends of the Gods of ancient Egypt,
legends, which were current in the "morning of the world," preserved
to the present day engraved on stone and written on papyri. I have
told them in my own way, adhering strictly to the story, but
arranging the words and phrases according to the English method;
retaining, however, as far as possible the expressions and metaphors
of the Egyptian. In some cases I have inserted whole sentences in
order to make the sense clear; these are in places where the story
divides naturally into several parts, as in "The Battles of Horus,"
and "The Regions of Night and Thick Darkness"; where each incident,
so like the one preceding and the one following, is kept distinct in
the mind of the reader by this means. This repetition is quite in
accordance with the style of Egyptian literature.
The book is intended entirely for the general public, who are
increasingly interested in the religion and civilisation of ancient
Egypt, but whose only means of obtaining knowledge of that country is
apparently through magazine stories in which a mummy is the principal
character. It may be worth noting that in these legends of ancient
Egypt mummies are not mentioned, except in the Duat, the home of the
dead, where one naturally expects to find them.
Though the book is intended for the unscientific reader, I have made
some provision for the more serious student, in the Notes at the end.
In these I have given the origin of the legend, the book or books in
which that original is published, and the book where the translation
into a modern language by one of the great scholars of the day can be
found. Other translations there are in plenty, which can be seen in
specialist libraries; many of these, however, are of use only to a
student of Egyptian literature and language.
I have arranged the sequence of the stories according to my own
ideas: first, the legends of various, one might almost say
miscellaneous, gods; then the legends of Osiris and the deities
connected with him; lastly, the legends of Ra. At the very end are
Notes on the legends, and a short index of all the gods mentioned.