Modern Analysis of the Tale of Sinuhe

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/719/he1.htm
Article about Miroslav Barta's newly published study, entitled Sinuhe, the Bible, and the Patriarchs, is based on the famous ancient Egyptian fictional account, the Story of Sinuhe. The tale only survives in fragments, and has been pieced together over the years. Al Ahram discusses the orginal tale, looks at how Barta went about studying it, and describes Barta's book as follows: "The book begins with a full translation of the Story of Sinuhe based on the hieroglyphic translations of two papyri in Berlin, which were acquired in Egypt by Karl Lepsuis in 1842-45. This is followed by a commentary on the story. The next two chapters explain the political history of Egypt and Syria-Palestine so as to elucidate the background to Sinuhe's flight. Further chapters set out the latest developments in archaeological exploration in these regions -- including contemporary epigraphic sources -- and their interpretation by various scholarly disciplines, including Egyptology, cuneiform studies, the archaeology of the Ancient Near East, and the anthropology of nomadic populations."