The Way to Eternity

Fergus Fleming, Alan Lothian
Duncan Baird Publishers
Time Life
Time Warner Inc.
London
1997
ISBN: 0 7054 3503 2

After the last book I reviewed, I needed something a little easier to read, and this child-friendly read seems like a possible pleasant choice, though, having said that, it must be acknowledged that Egyptian mythology is not actually a child-friendly topic. The book should be good with Dr. Joanne Fletcher as a consultant on this project. A quick glance through this one hundred and thirty-seven-page publication reveals the book contains several images of objects that are new to this reader and, of course, many pictures of the usual bric-a-brac, including King Tutankhamun's treasures.

The book opens with a slightly confused telling of Napoleon and his men conquering Egypt in 1798, with his soldiers at Thebes in awe of the monuments there, then switches to Napoleon at Giza. A nice half-page map gives a good outline of Egypt and its ancient cities. The dawn of Egyptian civilization and the river Nile molded the Egyptian people into sustaining agriculture according to the seasons of the river. The politics of the country are directly related to the various competing theologies, with the power of literacy determining a person's station in life.

A brief but nice timeline is set down for the young reader as the author takes us into the afterlife and on to the later dynasties. A two-page spread of jewelry and amulets is a lovely display with several pieces I have not seen elsewhere with two fish. The authors move on to the creation myths, complete with the many tales of the sun god Re, including the famous legend of Re siccing the lioness goddess Sekhmet to destroy humankind. The many apparitions of Re include the orb of the Aten worshipped by the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten. A section on the houses of the gods is a pretty layout with a number of images of interest.

The book is filled with sub-articles that occupy large portions of the book, and which can be a little confusing, as I have lost my place several times. In the next chapter, we are on to astronomy and the Egyptian calendar. The pantheon of gods and goddesses now moves on the list to the gods of war and others for fertility. It is hard to review the list of gods and not think of Isis, who may be ancient Egypt's most successful god, being revered well into Roman times and worshipped as far away as Great Britain.

The worship of animal gods led to huge quantities of animal mummies to fill sacred catacombs with offerings from ancient pilgrims to those gods. The author quotes Herodotus on a house fire:

     "Nobody takes the least trouble to put out the blaze, for it is only the cats that matter. Everyone stands in a row...to protect the cats, which nevertheless slip through the line, or jump over it, and hurl themselves into the flames. This causes the Egyptians deep distress."1

After the murder of Osiris's son, Horus set out to gain his throne from his uncle Seth, who had murdered his father and stolen the throne for himself. These never-ending battles eventually frustrated the gods, though, in the end, Isis managed to convince Seth to agree that the rightful heir to the throne was Horus. The numerous color pictures include an unusual statue of Seth and a fragment from the Book of the Dead of Hirweben depicting the god of chaos fighting Apophis on the sun god's journey through the underworld.

The power of earthly kings and the turmoils the pharaohs endured brought heavy burdens on the ruler who is responsible for his people's being and happiness.

 "Beware of subjects who are nobodies,
Of whose plotting one is not aware.
Trust not a brother, know not a friend,
Make no intimates, it is worthless.
When you lie down, guard your heart yourself,
For no man has adherents on the day of woe.
I gave to the beggar, I raised the orphan, I gave success to the poor as to the wealthy;
But he who ate my food raised opposition, He to whom I gave my trust used it to plot"2

From here, the author moves on to the varied myths attached to kingships, such as the divine birth of Hatshepsut and the dream a prince named Thutmosis had in which the great Sphinx at Giza promised Thutmosis the throne if he had the sand cleared from around the Sphinx.

The religious texts of the times determined the evolving practices of burial, including the art of mummification and the insertion of magical items in the tomb and mummy to help on its journey through the afterlife to reanimate in the heavenly Field of Reeds. The legend is told of a son of Rameses II who vied for a book of magic by the God Toth that was discovered in an ancient tomb.

The subject of magic cannot be mentioned without the tales of the ultimate magician, the Goddess Isis, and though the God Toth was its inventor, nobody rivaled Isis, whose worship took place before recorded time up to late Roman times, long after her fellow gods had been forgotten. The book closes with several fascinating and well-told ancient tales that have come down to our generation.

I do not think that I have reviewed a Time Life book before. I guess it was because I expected that Time Life stood for a quality presentation for a growing family's budget, making my instincts right on with The Way to Eternity.

Notes:

1. Herotodus: page 67
2. The Instructions of King Amenemhat: page 85