The Ancient Egyptian Book of Thoth

This again two-volume work (text and plates) is the continuation and supplement of the editio princeps from 2005, which is reissued as a reprint*. With all four volumes, a comprehensive edition of all so far known fragments of the Book of Thoth is now available. Since the publication of the first edition, some 89 "new" fragments have been identified, which are edited in this work. Richard Jasnow and Karl-Theodor Zauzich have also made great progress in the reconstruction of the Book of Thoth and gained a deeper understanding of ist composition. Their research results led to partly new or alternative readings, which have been incorporated into this work as well as the interpretations of other scholars. A glossary contains digital facsimiles of the Demotic and hieratic words in the Book of Thoth. The plate volume publishes digital handcopies of all manuscript witnesses and photographic images of the 89 "new" fragments. The authors' goal is to provide a firm basis for future research on the Book of Thoth.Structured as a dialogue between "master" and "disciple", the composition is associated with the House of Life, the intellectual center of the Egyptian temple. The Book of Thoth may be understood as an initiation text in which the master questions the disciple, who must prove himself worthy of entering the institution. The writer engages with the theology of Egyptian scribal practice; he thus covers many topics, such as sacred geography, the underworld, and animal knowledge.