I bought this book looking for a fairly comprehensive collection of Ancient Egypt's major deities. Ancient Egypt had some 2000 plus gods/demi-gods/supernatural beings so a true comprehensive list in a single book is nigh on impossible.
With that in mind this book is comprehensive as is sanely possible. I have known the major gods well enough (Anubis, Amun, Re, Thoth, Seth, Horus, to name a few examples) but wanted to know about much more minor gods which this book definitely delivered, it also includes those few foreign gods who became excepted into the Egyptian pantheon.
It has a great deal of information on Egyptian religious concepts (such as the underworld, the relationship between the king and the gods, the combination of gods into composite deities etc) and mythology but anyone buying this hoping to read complete mythological tales may be disappointed though relevant tales are alluded to for the appropriate deity. The books main concern is listing the gods.
Gods are listed into different categories based on their most common appearance. It is broken into Male Anthropomorphic gods, Female Anthropomorphic gods, Mammalian gods (cats, dogs, etc), Avian god, Reptile/amphibian/fish gods, invertebrate gods and finally inanimate objects. It also briefly talks about "demi-gods" such as "demons" and (as mentioned earlier) composite gods (Eg. Amun-re).
The book is lavishly illustrated with beautiful photos and drawings though I often found the minor gods were not usually illustrated which was my main frustration, luckily google usually helps out in that regard though even a small drawing of each would have been nice, though, I understand the need for space on the page.
If I were to have any complaints it would be the author's preference for Greek names of Pharaohs (Amenophis rather than Amenhotep) and some gods (Mnevis bull rather than Mer-Wer) if I am learning about Egyptian gods then I would rather know the Egyptian name than the Greek. Luckily Wilkinson does usually give the Egyptian name as well though I personally would have preferred it being the dominant reference.
Other than that I loved the book, it has opened up my understanding of Ancient Egypt even further. I still have far more questions than answers, such is the depth of Ancient Egyptian history and religion. I would recommend it to anyone with a sincere interest in the subject though for those whose interest is more casual they may find much of it overwhelming especially with no prior knowledge of Egyptian history.
I shall be referring to this book thoroughly in the future, I'm certain of that.
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Steve Hammond
A manageable listing of the gods.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 18 April 2018Verified Purchase
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