Talking with the Soul: A Dialogue about Life and Death
In this Ancient Egyptian poem, a man talks with his own soul about whether it is better to live or die. Read by Barbara Ewing. Translated by Richard Bruce Parkinson. The poem is known from a single copy, c. 1800 BC, whose beginning is lost. It is a dialogue between a man and his ...Show more
The Life of Sinuhe
An ancient Egyptian tells his life-story from the walls of his tomb, c. 1850 BC. Read by Barbara Ewing. Translated by Richard Bruce Parkinson Composed around 1850 BC, Sinuhe is the supreme masterpiece of ancient Egyptian poetry. The poem is a fictional official’s autobiography, s ...Show more
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Soul. In his poem ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ WB Yeats wrote:An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick, unlessSoul clap its hands and sing, and louder singFor every tatter in its mortal dress. For Plato it was the immortal seat ...Show more
In this lecture, w explore the journey of the soul from its creation to the afterlife, its meanings in the Qur’an, its connections and what happens before, during and after death.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the text and context of The Book of the Dead, also known as the Book of Coming Forth by Day, the ancient Egyptian collections of spells which were intended to help the recently deceased navigate the underworld. They flourished under the New Kingdom ...Show more
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the text and context of The Book of the Dead, also known as the Book of Coming Forth by Day, the ancient Egyptian collections of spells which were intended to help the recently deceased navigate the underworld. They flourished under the New Kingdom ...Show more