The Pharaoh and the Priest: An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt

Prus, Bolesław, 1847-1912Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.4
Word count
1.4M words
Chapters
141

Tags

English Originals Historical Fiction Fate and FortunePower GamePower GamesHuman NatureMoral DilemmaPopular NarrativeAncient CivilizationExotic Culture

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Pharaoh and the Priest: An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt by Bolesław PrusAuthor: Prus, Bolesław, 1847-1912,Language: English, Class: PG: Language and Literatures: Slavic (including Russian), Languages and Literature, Release Date: Nov 28, 2007

Editor's review

This historical novel by Polish writer Bolesław Prus is set in the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, centering on the power struggle between the pharaoh and the priestly caste while interweaving the coming-of-age and romantic storylines of a young protagonist. Prus is known for his realist craft; though the subject is historical, the book attends closely to social structure, religious power, and the details of daily life, letting readers see Egyptian society at the levels of court, temple, and common people. The novel is long and multi-stranded, so readers unfamiliar with ancient Egyptian history may at first find the names and titles dense; precisely for this reason, it can also be read as a story-driven panorama of ancient Egyptian society. This is a public-domain English translation, suited to readers interested in both ancient civilizations and historical fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Before reading, learn how the pharaoh and the priestly caste related in the New Kingdom to enter the power-struggle main line more quickly.
  2. Make a list of main characters with their identities and factions to avoid confusion over titles and forms of address.
  3. Read the chapters on religious ritual and common life as social history rather than rushing to follow the plot.
  4. The book is long; you can read it in batches along the three lines of pharaoh's court, temple, and common people, taking brief notes.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

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FAQ

What is this novel mainly about? Set in the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, the novel revolves around the power struggle between the pharaoh and the priestly caste, while also depicting the young protagonist's growth, loves, and career. It presents both the contest between court politics and religious power and the life of different social strata in ancient Egypt.
What kind of writer was Prus? Prus was one of the representative Polish realist writers of the nineteenth century, known for novels that focus on social structure and human destiny. This book is his historical novel on an ancient Egyptian subject, reflecting his attention to detail and social layers rather than being a mere adventure tale.
Is the English translation difficult to read? This is an earlier public-domain English translation with a fairly formal, literary style and many ancient Egyptian proper names and titles, so it requires some patience. It is advisable to familiarize yourself with the main characters and basic historical background before starting the text, which can noticeably reduce the difficulty.
Is it suitable as an introduction to ancient Egyptian history? It is a novel, not a work of history; the plot and characters involve fictional elements and cannot replace a history textbook. Still, its depictions of court, temple, and common life have some reference value and make it a useful auxiliary read for beginners, best accompanied by a reliable general history.

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About the author

Prus, Bolesław, 1847-1912 Author

Bolesław Prus (1847–1912) was a Polish writer known for his novels. His work The Pharaoh and the Priest: An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt is set in ancient Egypt and uses historical narrative to explore tensions among power, religion, and society; another work, O odkryciach i wynalazkach, deals with discoveries and inventions, showing that his writing was not limited to fiction. The library holds three of his works, including a duplicate record of The Pharaoh and the Priest. Information in the library on his nationality, dates, and biographical details is limited, and such details fall within the range of common public knowledge, so they are not elaborated here. Overall, his historical novels are notable for their attention to setting and human circumstance and combine popular appeal with intellectual substance, giving him a degree of influence in Polish literature.