E. A. Wallis Budge (1857–1934)

In 1923, six months after the opening of the virtually unmolested tomb of King Tut, Sir E. A. Wallis Budge published this small collection of scholarly monographs to counter the spate of misinformation that had sprung up in the wake of Howard Carter's spectacular discovery.

Both excited scholars and the popular press seem to have overstated and indeed romanticized the role of youthful King Tutankhamen among the pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty (1580-1350 BC). Budge's work places his reign show more in the historical and cultural context of his predecessor Amenhotep IV. That antitraditionalist king, also known as Aakhunaten, rejected Egypt's established religion and devoted himself and all his resources to the cult of the Sun-God (Aten) alone, neglecting both his subject people and his nation’s allies in his single-minded fanaticism. It was Tutankhamen, following the brief reign of an insignificant intervening ruler, who reinstated the older religion, with Amen-Ra as its supreme lord. He restored the forms and customs of worship to which the people had remained covertly loyal. This, and not the happenstance of having a well-concealed burial place, constitutes King Tut's historical importance.

As keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities in the British Museum, Budge had a lifelong commitment to faithful, detailed scholarship. He published numerous books and articles in his field, including primers in Egyptian hieroglyphics, one of which I studied assiduously back in the 1960s. His work is amply illustrated with careful, handsomely styled renderings of lengthy passages of hieroglyphics, translated word for word in accompanying text. They look a lot like this example, although this is taken from a different source.

This volume was a gift to me from my husband on our first ("paper") wedding anniversary in 1979. I reread it just now not only for sentimental reasons but as research for a plot element in a story I'm working on. A bonus was its interesting resonance with chapter 2 of Camille Paglia's luminous Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, "The Birth of the Western Eye," which I read just a couple of weeks ago. Paglia credits Egyptian art, and its apex the iconic painted sculpture of Akhenaten's sublimely beautiful queen, as the origin of the Western aesthetic sensibility. Budge's work of nearly a century ago locates it in history.

Of little likely appeal to the casual reader, Tutānkhamen, Amenism, Atenism and Egyptian Monotheism satisfies an interest that goes beyond glamour and fad. Budge's volume of Egyptological research and interpretation exhibits the intense dedication of a scholar to his subject that I admire as I admire the work of any whose life is exalted by a defining passion. show less

In the film, "Stargate," Daniel Jackson said, "Someone must have been using Budge. I don't know why they still print it." He was, of course, referring to Budge's Dictionaries of Ancient Egyptian, but the same might be said for his translation of Ani's "Book of the Dead."

In his time, Budge was an important Egyptologist, and no one can deny that he advanced the study of Ancient Egypt significantly. But his time was 100 years ago, and enormous strides have been made in the study of the Ancient show more Egyptian language. If you're interested in seeing the current state of the art, then I suggest that you get a copy of Gardiner's translation. It is based on the Budge's unsurpassed photographs of Papyrus Ani; however, today, Gardiner's grammar of Ancient Egyptian is what almost all modern, English-speaking Egyptologists use, together with Faulkner's Dictionary of Middle Egyptian.

Why do I have this book? Easy. Once upon a time, before I studied Ancient Egyptian (which happened before Stargate was released), I thought Budge was the only game in town. I keep it around to remind me that there was once a time when we didn't know what we do now, and in memory of the man who helped create and maintain the British Museum's splendid collection. show less

I expected something different. I was not prepared for the amount of biblical quotes. I enjoyed the author's recounting of meetings with Jamaicans, and their take on Rastafarianism more than I enjoyed the actual excerpts from that book. Now I'll have to borrow a friend's Torah to see if the chapters about the Ethiopian queen that we are told were deliberately omitted from the Christian Bible are in the Torah, which I believe to be the source for the Old Testament.

I've been wanting to read the so called 'Book of the Dead' for quite some time and was pleased with this copy. For my personal use/study I wanted to make sure I didn't get a translation/volume that was aimed at the crowd believing this collection of funerary texts has power. Simply put I wanted a historical approach/translation.

Budge does a good job at translating the text, the old school thee's, and thou's take some getting used to for me at least, but honestly given the time period and show more the origin it grew on me and fit. The illustrations are excellent throughout.

It's key to understanding Ancient Egyptian Mythology and their outlook on life/death and I am glad I read it. It was best digested in chapters, almost like a daily devotional. Read a chapter or 2 and meditate/cogitate on what the text was saying to those that believed it. In larger portions it could be fairly dry. show less