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.”