Books with author Ernest A. Wallis Budge

This volume contains a complete English translation of the famous Ethiopian work, The "Kebra Nagast", i.e. the "Glory of the Kings [of Ethiopia]". This work has been held in peculiar honour in Abyssinia for several centuries, and throughout that country it has been, and still is, venerated by the people as containing the final proof of their descent from the Hebrew Patriarchs, and of the kinship of their kings of the Solomonic line with Christ, the Son of God. The Kebra Nagast is a great storehouse of legends and traditions, some historical and some of a purely folk-lore character, derived from the Old Testament and the later Rabbinic writings, and from Egyptian (both pagan and Christian), Arabian, and Ethiopian sources.

A vulture tied to the neck of a mummy gave it the strength of the goddess Isis … Women in Central Africa ate a frog to have large families … A serpent head amulet could ward off venomous snakes … Ethiopians wore stones to keep the Evil Eye away … Abracdabra healed a man suffering from fever … Hebrew women wore stones to prevent miscarriage … Emeralds cured diseases of the eye … Garnets protected man from terrifying dreams and skin diseases … Melitites warded off infantile diseases … Moonstones protected men against epilepsy … Rubies protected men from witchcraft, plague, and famine …By far the most thorough, most fascinating coverage of amulets and superstitions is the present book by Dr. E. Wallis Budge. In it he presents a wealth of information on the origins of amulets and talismans of many cultures and traditions: Arab, Persian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Gnostic, Hebrew, Mandaean, Phoenician, Samaritan, and Syriac. He discusses ring amulets, terra cotta devil-traps; stones and their prophylactic and therapeutic qualities; the importance of color, shape, and form in amulets; the Swastika; the cross; the crucifix; the evil eye; the Kabbalah; astrology; the seven astrological planets; theories about numbers (good and bad luck numbers, sequences, magic squares); divination by water, earth, or sand; lucky and unlucky days; the hand of Fatimah; contracts with the devil and envoûtement. The text is profusely illustrated, with many reproductions of amulets, stones, prayers, crosses, numbers, seals, gods, rings, signs of the zodiac, and much more.Dr. Budge of the British Museum was one of the foremost Egyptologists of the twentieth century. Dover also published many of his other works: The Dwellers on the Nile, Egyptian Magic, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, and The Gods of the Egyptians.

A study of the remains of the native religious literature of ancient Egypt which have come down to us has revealed the fact that the belief in magic, that is to say, in the power of magical names, and spells, and enchantments, and formulæ, and pictures, and figures, and amulets, and in the performance of ceremonies accompanied by the utterance of words of power, to produce supernatural results.

A How does a gold ring with a frog bezel heightens fertility? . Why will aA farmer will wear an amulet of moss-agate to ensure a plentiful harvest, while brown agate will protect a man from every kind of poisonous reptile?. The Who believed the number 7 is to be the most sacred, perfect, and mystic.mystic? In sharp contrast to today, people in the Middle Ages considered , Monday was considered to be a day of peace and happiness, while Saturday brought danger and death. Distinguished Egyptologist Dr. Budge offers the a leading guide to amulets and superstitions throughout human history. Reaching as far back as the third millennium B.C., this book explains explores the origin of such powerful and everlasting symbols as the crucifix, the swastika, and the cross. Where did these symbols come from? Who were their originators, and what was their purpose? Within theThe answers to these questions is represent the fascinating epic story of the evolution of human thought on magic, supernatural power, religion, and deities. Photographs of amuletic stones, seals, jewelry, etc. are plentiful throughout.The author examines Arab, Persian, Babylonian, Coptic, Egyptian, Gnostic, Hebrew, Mandaean, Phoenician, Samaritan, and Syriac amulets. Other topics include Kabbalah, astrology, the zodiac, water divination, lucky and unlucky days, and the Evil Eye.

THIS volume contains a complete English translation of the famous Ethiopian work, The "Kebra Nagast," i.e. the "Glory of the Kings [of Ethiopia]." This work has been held in peculiar honour in Abyssinia for several centuries, and throughout that country it has been, and still is, venerated by the people as containing the final proof of their descent from the Hebrew Patriarchs, and of the kinship of their kings of the Solomonic line with Christ, the Son of God. The importance of the book, both for the kings and the people of Abyssinia, is clearly shown by the letter that King John of Ethiopia wrote to the late Lord Granville in August, 1872. The king says: "There is a book called 'Kivera Negust' which contains the Law of the whole of Ethiopia, and the names of the Shûms [i.e. Chiefs], and Churches, and Provinces are in this book. I pray you find out who has got this book, and send it to me, for in my country my people will not obey my orders without it." (See infra, p. xxvii.) The first summary of the contents of the Kebra Nagast was published by Bruce as far back as 1813, but little interest was roused by his somewhat bald précis. And, in spite of the labours of Prætorius, Bezold, and Hugues le Roux, the contents of the work are still practically unknown to the general reader in England. It is hoped that the translation given in the following pages will be of use to those who have not the time or opportunity for perusing the Ethiopic original.The Kebra Nagast is a great storehouse of legends and traditions, some historical and some of a purely folk-lore character, derived from the Old Testament and the later Rabbinic writings, and from Egyptian (both pagan and Christian), Arabian, and Ethiopian sources. Of the early history of the compilation and its maker, and of its subsequent editors we know nothing, but the principal groundwork of its earliest form was the traditions that were current in Syria, Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt during the first four centuries of the Christian era. Weighing carefully all that has been written by Dillmann, Trump, Zotenberg, Wright, and Bezold, and taking into account the probabilities of the matter, it seems to me that we shall not be far wrong if we assign the composition of the earliest form of the Kebra Nagast to the sixth century A.D. Its compiler was probably a Coptic priest, for the books he used were writings that were accepted by the Coptic Church. Whether he lived in Egypt, or in Aksûm, or in some other part of Ethiopia matters little, but the colophons of the extant Ethiopic MSS. of the Kebra Nagast suggest that he wrote in Coptic.

First published in 1912, E.A Wallis Budge's book is about Egyptian myths. He worked at the British Museum, and often traveled to Iraq, and Egypt to collect tablets, manuscripts, and the Book of the Dead, to bring back to the museum's Ancient Egyptian department. Additional images added by Charlie O'Brien.I. THE LEGEND OF THE CREATIONII. THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKINDIII. THE LEGEND OF RA AND THE SNAKE-BITEIV. THE LEGEND OF HORUS OF EDFU AND THE WINGED DISKV. THE LEGEND OF THE ORIGIN OF HORUSVI. A LEGEND OF KHENSU NEFER-HETEP AND THE PRINCESS OF BEKHTENVII. THE LEGEND OF KHNEMU AND A SEVEN YEARS' FAMINEVIII. THE LEGEND OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF HORUSIX. THE LEGEND OF ISIS AND OSIRIS ACCORDING TO CLASSICAL WRITERS

What did Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley and Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia have in common? A love for the Kebra Negast, holy book of Ethiopian Christians and Jamaican Rastafarians. Contemporary scholars date the Kebra Negast to the 14th century, but it retells the stories of much earlier Biblical times, one very important story in particular. According to the Kebra Negast, the Israelites' Ark of the Covenant was spirited away to the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia by wise King Solomon's own son, offspring of the union between Solomon and the exotic Queen Makeda of Ethiopia (a.k.a. the Queen of Sheba). Gerald Hausman, a consummate storyteller of native traditions, presents the core narrative of the Kebra Negast, from Adam to the rise of the Ethiopian Solomonid dynasty. On top of this, he injects his own encounters with Rastafarians during his travels in Jamaica--dreadlocked Rastas as modern-day Samsons, their unwavering faith in Jah, and a rare outsider's glimpse at the Nyabinghi ceremony. The Kebra Nagast, or the Book of the Glory of Kings, is an account written in Ge'ez of the origins of the Solomonic line of the Emperors of Ethiopia. The text, in its existing form, is at least seven hundred years old, and is considered by many Ethiopian Christians and Rastafarians to be an inspired and a reliable account. Not only does it contain an account of how the Queen of Sheba met Solomon, and about how the Ark of the Covenant came to Ethiopia with Menelik I, but contains an account of the conversion of the Ethiopians from the worship of the sun, moon, and stars to that of the "Lord God of Israel". As Edward Ullendorff explained in the 1967 Schweich Lectures, "The Kebra Nagast is not merely a literary work, but it is the repository of Ethiopian national and religious feelings." According to the colophon attached to most of the existing copies, the Kebra Nagast originally was written in Coptic, then translated into Arabic in the Year of Mercy 409 (dated to AD 1225) by a team of Ethiopian clerics during the office of Abuna Abba Giyorgis, and finally into Ge'ez at the command of the governor of Enderta province Ya'ibika Igzi'. Based on the testimony of this colophon, "Conti Rossini, Littmann, and Cerulli, inter alios, have marked off the period 1314 to 1321-1322 for the composition of the book.". Marcus, (1994), indicated that the religious epic story was conflated in the fourteenth century by six Tigrayan scribes. Other sources put it as a work of the fourteenth century Nebura’ed Yeshaq of Aksum. Careful study of the text has revealed traces of Arabic, possibly pointing to an Arabic vorlage, but no clear evidence of a previous Coptic version. Many scholars doubt that a Coptic version ever existed, and that the history of the text goes back no further than the Arabic vorlage. On the other hand, the numerous quotations in the text from the Bible were not translated from this hypothetical Arabic vorlage, but were copied from the Ethiopian translation of the Bible, either directly or from memory, and in their use and interpretation shows the influence of patristic sources such as Gregory of Nyssa. Hubbard details the many sources that the compiler of the Kebra Nagast drew on in creating this work. They include not only both Testaments of the Bible (although heavier use is made of the Old Testament than the New), but he detects evidence of Rabbinical sources, influence from apocryphal works (especially the Book of Enoch and Book of Jubilees, and such Syriac works as the Book of the Cave of Treasures, and its derivatives the Book of Adam and Eve and the Book of the Bee. Marcus thus describes it as "a pastiche of legends ... [that] blended local and regional oral traditions and style and substance derived from the Old and New Testaments, various apocryphal texts, Jewish and Islamic commentaries, and Patristic writings"

A STUDY of the remains of the native religious literature of ancient Egypt which have come down to us has revealed the fact that the belief in magic, that is to say, in the power of magical names, and spells, and enchantments, and formulæ, and pictures, and figures, and amulets, and in the performance of ceremonies accompanied by the utterance of words of power, to produce supernatural results, formed a large and important part of the Egyptian religion. And it is certain that, notwithstanding the continuous progress which the Egyptians made in civilization, and the high intellectual development to which they eventually attained, this belief influenced their minds and, from the earliest to the latest period of their history, shaped their views concerning things temporal as well as spiritual in a manner which, at this stage in the history of the world, is very difficult to understand. The scrupulous care with which they performed their innumerable religious ceremonies, and carried out the rules which they had formulated concerning the worship of the divine Power or powers, and their devotion to religious magic, gained for them among the nations with whom they came in contact the reputation of being at once the most religious and the most superstitious of men. That this reputation was, on the whole, well deserved, is the object of this little book to shew.

THIS volume contains a complete English translation of the famous Ethiopian work, The "Kebra Nagast," i.e. the "Glory of the Kings [of Ethiopia]." This work has been held in peculiar honour in Abyssinia for several centuries, and throughout that country it has been, and still is, venerated by the people as containing the final proof of their descent from the Hebrew Patriarchs, and of the kinship of their kings of the Solomonic line with Christ, the Son of God.

In this classic work, first published in 1899, one of the most prolific Egyptologists of the Victorian era offers his renowned insight into the magical power names, spells, and talismans held for the ancient Egyptians. How did beliefs that predated the worship of deities come to become associated with controlling gods and goddesses? How did magical amulets ward off evil spirits? What role did scarabs serve in bestowing immortality? The writings of Sir Ernest A. Wallis Budge are considered somewhat controversial today because of his use of an archaic system of translation, but useful illustrations and an abundance of information make them necessary works for students of ancient civilizations as well as those of the evolution of historical study. This entertaining overview of the connection between religion and magic in ancient Egypt remain a vital resource today. SIR ERNEST ALFRED THOMPSON WALLIS BUDGE (1857-1934) was born in Bodmin, Cornwall in the UK and discovered an interest in languages at a very early age. Budge spent all his free time learning and discovering Semitic languages, including Assyrian, Syriac, and Hebrew. Eventually, through a close contact, he was able to acquire a job working with Egyptian and Iraqi artifacts at the British Museum. Budge excavated and deciphered numerous cuneiform and hieroglyphic documents, contributing vastly to the museum's collection. Eventually, he became the Keeper of his department, specializing in Egyptology. Budge wrote many books during his lifetime, most specializing in Egyptian life, religion, and language.

A STUDY of the remains of the native religious literature of ancient Egypt which have come down to us has revealed the fact that the belief in magic, that is to say, in the power of magical names, and spells, and enchantments, and formulæ, and pictures, and figures, and amulets, and in the performance of ceremonies accompanied by the utterance of words of power, to produce supernatural results, formed a large and important part of the Egyptian religion. And it is certain that, notwithstanding the continuous progress which the Egyptians made in civilization, and the high intellectual development to which they eventually attained, this belief influenced their minds and, from the earliest to the latest period of their history, shaped their views concerning things temporal as well as spiritual in a manner which, at this stage in the history of the world, is very difficult to understand. The scrupulous care with which they performed their innumerable religious ceremonies, and carried out the rules which they had formulated concerning the worship of the divine Power or powers, and their devotion to religious magic, gained for them among the nations with whom they came in contact the reputation of being at once the most religious and the most superstitious of men. That this reputation was, on the whole, well deserved, is the object of this little book to shew.Egyptian magic dates from the time when the predynastic and prehistoric dwellers in Egypt believed that the earth, and the underworld, and the air, and the sky were peopled with countless beings, visible and invisible, which were held to be friendly or unfriendly to man according as the operations of nature, which they were supposed to direct, were favourable or unfavourable to him. In -nature and attributes these beings were thought by primitive man to closely resemble himself and to possess all human passions, and emotions, and weaknesses, and defects; and the chief object of magic was to give man the pre-eminence over such beings.

This is a book in the series of books on Egypt and Chaldaea. This book includes five chapters as follows: (1) The Belief in God Almighty, (2) Osiris, the God of the Resurrection, (3) The “gods” of the Egyptians, (4) The Judgment of the Dead, and (5) The Resurrection and Immortality. This edition is amply illustrated. It is a pleasure to publish this new, high quality, and affordable edition of this timeless book.