Joyce Tyldesley, whose book, Egypt: How a Lost Civilization was Rediscovered, inspired a recent exciting BBC series (see Oxford Times, 20 January 2006), now takes us further into that fascinating land, writes Gertrud Seidmann.

Tales From Ancient Egypt (Rutherford Press, £8.50) and Stories From Ancient Egypt (Rutherford Press, £4.50) relate narratives once told and retold by the ancient Egyptians, from an early Creation myth and other Tales of the Gods, to popular fiction of derring-do, and to professedly 'realistic' accounts of Ramesses II's victorious battle against the Hittites in 1274 BC.

The Tales conclude with the Great Hymn to the Aten, a prayer to the sun god, perhaps composed by the so-called 'heretic' Pharaoh, who re-named himself Akhenaten, the husband of Nefertiti and father of Tutankhamen.

Rather than offering literal translations of the texts (a list, with suggestions for further reading, can be found in the bibliography), Tyldesley retells them in an accessible modern style; and, what is most valuable, follows each with a commentary based on modern scholarship. A chronological table and a map of the area opens the volume.

The Book of Stories is a delightful offshoot from the other, with some of the tales retold for children, illustrated by line-drawings and followed by questions and quizzes.

It seems a wonderful introduction to such legends as that of Isis and Osiris, which deserve to be as familiar as the exploits of the Greek gods if only as an introduction to the opera Aida.

Gertrud Seidmann