The Egyptology Shelf

The Oldest Book in the World
Bill Manley
Thames & Hudson, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110-0017
www.thamesandhudsonusa.com
9780500252321, $39.95, HC, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Oldest-Book-World-Philosophy-Pyramids/dp/0500252327

Synopsis: With the publication of "The Oldest Book in the World: Philosophy=
in the Age of the Pyramids", archaeologist and Egyptologist Bill Manley of= fers a new translation of a philosophical and practical advice classic of t=
he ancient world, 'The Teaching of Ptahhatp', written in Egypt four thousan=
d years ago and still relevant for modern readers today.

Bill Manley renders into approachable modern English for the first time the=
oldest surviving statement of philosophy from the ancient world: the thirt= y-seven teachings and twelve conclusions of The Teaching of Ptahhatp, -- wh=
o was the vizier, or chief minister, to the Old Kingdom pharaoh Izezi (2390= -2350 BCE). Manley's expert commentary elucidates Ptahhatp's profound yet p= ractical philosophy, which covers such topics as ambition, fame, confrontat= ion, sex, and wisdom, and offers a unique window onto ancient Egyptian life=
and society.

The Teaching of Ptahhatp ought to begin the list of the world's classics of=
philosophy, yet it has been largely forgotten since its rediscovery in the=
nineteenth century. Manley's new translation corrects this oversight, maki=
ng accessible for the first time the Old Kingdom vizier Ptahhatp's concise,=
helpful insights into the human condition.

New translations of two further texts ('The Dialogue Between a Man and His = Soul', in which a man asks himself, "What is the point of living?," and 'Wh=
y Things Happen', the oldest surviving account of creation from anywhere in=
the world), demonstrate how Ptahhatp's philosophy was founded in ancient E= gyptian beliefs about truth and reality.

Manley also introduces the vizier and the world within which he operated, a=
s well as the significance of the "oldest book of the world," preserved in =
a scroll now known as the Papyrus Prisse in the Bibliotheque Nationale de F= rance. Together these works by Ptahhatp provide a new perspective on the Py= ramid Age and overturn traditional stereotypes about the origins of Western=
philosophy.

Critique: Enhanced for the reader with 74 B/W and 25 full color illustratio= ns, an eight page Bibliography, eight pages of Notes, and an eight page Ind= ex, "The Oldest Book in the World: Philosophy in the Age of the Pyramids" i=
s an extraordinary and exemplary work of seminal scholarship and a core add= ition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library=
Egyptology collections and supplemental History of Philosophy curriculum s= tudies lists.

Editorial Note: Bill Manley (https://learnforpleasure.com/tutors/bill-manle=
y) has been working with archaeological projects in Egypt for three decades=
.. He taught the ancient Egyptian and Coptic languages for more than thirty = years at the Universities of London, Glasgow, and Liverpool, and was senior=
curator for ancient Egypt at National Museums Scotland. His books include = Egyptian Art in the World of Art series and Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Comple=
te Beginners.

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