Both the Greek translations of 1ˢᵗ and 2ⁿᵈ Ezra, and the Hebrew translation of Ezra (2ⁿᵈ Ezra), contain relics of an Aramaic source-text, unfortunately, the Aramaic Book of Ezra-Nehemiah is lost. The difference in the surviving Aramaic words within the Greek 1ˢᵗ Ezra, and Hebrew Ezra (Greek 2ⁿᵈ Ezra), it appears that the two versions of Ezra already existed in the Aramaic versions. The differences between 2ⁿᵈ Ezra and Masoretic...

The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor is the earliest known surviving story of a shipwrecked sailor, and as such is the forerunner of many stories of nautical adventure encountering strange magical creatures, from Homer's Odyssey to Sinbad the Sailor. In a broader sense, it is generally considered the oldest piece of Egyptian fiction to survive to the present. Only one copy has been found to date, a single papyrus manuscript that resides at the Hermitage...

In the mid-3rd century BC, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt ordered a translation of the ancient Hebrew scriptures for the Library of Alexandria, which resulted in the creation of the Septuagint. It is generally accepted that there were several versions of the ancient Hebrew and Samaritan scriptures before the translation of the Septuagint. The two books of Ezra were translated into Greek and added to the Septuagint before 200 BC when a large...

“The Tale of Sinuhe”, also called “The Story of Sanhat”, is one of the most popular stories that has survived to the present from the Egyptian Middle Kingdom. Dozens of fragments of copies have been found, which is unusual and speaks volumes of how popular it was in the Middle Kingdom. Egyptologists are divided on how much of it is fictional, with some claiming it is a historical text, while others claim it is entirely fictional. The copies...

In the mid-3rd century BC, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt ordered a translation of the ancient Hebrew scriptures for the Library of Alexandria, which resulted in the creation of the Septuagint. The original version, published circa 250 BC, only included the Torah, or in Greek terms, the Pentateuch. The Torah is the five books traditionally credited to Moses, circa 1500 BC: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The first edition...

The life of Weni, also called Uni, is one of the best-documented lives from the era of the Old Kingdom era of Egyptian history. Weni experienced significant upward mobility during the reigns of kings Teti, Userkare, Pepi I, and Merenre I, and as a result had a second tomb prepared for himself later in life, resulting in two of his tombs surviving to the present. His tombs were not extravagant like the king's pyramids of the era, and seem to have generally...

The book of Ruth appears to be part of a Samaritan story designed to splice the Moabites into the royal genealogy. The Book of Deuteronomy, which was likely written in Samaria, uses Moabite names of locations instead of Judahite names, indicating that a Moabite priesthood was active in Samaria before the kingdom fell to the Assyrians. The Book of Judges refers to King Abimelech as the bastard son of Gideon by a prostitute, which speaks volumes about...

"The Amarna Letters" are a collection of clay tablets found in the ruins of El Amarna, Egypt, in the 1880s. The city of El Amarna was built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten, during his religious reforms in the 1340s BC, but was then abandoned after he died, and Egypt reverted to worshiping the old gods. These letters provide a unique glimpse into a period of Egyptian history, that the Egyptians themselves attempted to erase. After Akhenaten's heir Tutankhamen...

Ahmose pen-Nekhbet was a major figure during the early years of the New Kingdom, who, like his contemporary Ahmose pen-Ebana, appears to have been from the city of El Kab, where his tomb was found. His autobiography is much shorter than pen-Ebana's autobiography, however, is also far more damaged. This translation follows the general reconstruction that most Egyptologists agree on, however, sections of the original text may have been lost entirely...

The Book of Tobit is generally viewed as fiction by most scholars for a variety of reasons. One major reason it is viewed as fiction is the presence of Tobit's cousin Ahikar, who is the protagonist of the Words of Ahikar, a book set in the same era, which is also considered fiction. It is quite clear from the text of Tobit, that it is the same Ahikar, and not just someone with the name, as Ahikar's betrayal by his nephew is mentioned, which is part...