Records of the Past, Volume II

What It's About

This is the second volume in A. H. Sayce's five-volume series presenting English translations of ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern texts. The Egyptian material includes the Inscription of Uni, one of the earliest detailed accounts of a military campaign in recorded history; the Adventures of Sinuhit, an ancient Egyptian narrative poem; the Legend of the Expulsion of the Hyksos; and a selection of the Tel El-Amarna letters — the famous cuneiform diplomatic archive discovered in Upper Egypt, comprising correspondence between Amenophis III and rulers across the ancient Near East. From Mesopotamia come the Inscription of Assur-natsir-pal, notable for its graphic accounts of military brutality; the Moabite Stone, recording the victories of King Mesha of Moab and significant for its bearing on Old Testament history; an Akkadian Hymn to the Setting Sun; and detailed king lists and chronologies.

Key Concepts

The volume reflects the Victorian scholarly project of recovering the ancient world through its own written records — royal propaganda, religious hymn, diplomatic correspondence, and administrative chronicle sit alongside one another. The Tel El-Amarna letters are particularly significant: written in Akkadian, the diplomatic lingua franca of the ancient Near East, they offer a window into the political relationships of the fourteenth century BC. The Moabite Stone remains one of the most debated inscriptions in ancient Near Eastern scholarship, touching on Israelite history and the historicity of biblical accounts. Readers should be aware that translations of this period reflect nineteenth-century scholarly assumptions and that some readings have since been revised.

About the Author

Archibald Henry Sayce (1845–1933) was a British Assyriologist and linguist, and a professor at the University of Oxford. He was a leading figure in the early development of Near Eastern studies as an academic discipline, and was known for his ability to communicate scholarly findings to a wider public audience.