''Khufu's Wisdom'' ( ar, حكمة خوفو, Hikmat Khufu) is the first novel by the

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

writer

Naguib Mahfouz Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha ( arz, نجيب محفوظ عبد العزيز ابراهيم احمد الباشا, ; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...

. It was originally published in 1939 in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Salama Moussa Salama Moussa (or Musa; 1887 – 4 August 1958) ( ar, سلامه موسى , ) was an Egyptian journalist, writer and political theorist. Salama Moussa was an avowed secularist, he introduced the writings of Darwin, Nietzsche, and Freud to ...

, who renamed it '''' (), as a separate issue of the magazine ''

Al Majalla Al Jadida ''Al Majalla Al Jadida'' (Arabic: الجديدة المجلة; ''The New Magazine'') was an Arabic language socialist and avant-garde cultural and literary magazine which existed between 1929 and 1944 with a two-year interruption. Being an early ...

''. It is Mahfouz's first novel and the first of what would later be referred to as his pharaonic trilogy, which also includes ''Rhadopis'' and ''

Thebes at War ''Thebes at War'' (''Kefah Teba''; ar, كفاح طيبة) is an early novel by the Egyptians, Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz. It was originally published in Arabic in 1944. An English language, English translation by Humphrey T. Davies, Humphrey ...

''.

History

After beginning his literary career in the mid-1930s writing short stories published in ''

Arrissalah ''Arrissalah'' ( ar, الرسالة ''Ar-Risala'': the message, or ''Ar-Risala Magazine'') was an Arabic weekly cultural magazine for literature, science, and art published in Cairo from 1933 to 1953. It has been described as "the most import ...

'', Mahfouz made his foray into writing novels in 1939 with . It is one of several novels that Mahfouz wrote at the beginning of his career with Pharaonic Egypt as the setting, employing what would become his signature historical realism. '' Rhadopis of Nubia'' (1943) and ''

'' (1944) completed Mahfouz's pharaonic trilogy.

Translations

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translation of by

Raymond Stock Raymond T. Stock is an American academic, writer and translator. He has a BA in Mass Media/Foreign Affairs from Grand Valley State University (1980), and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (1983). He compl ...

published an English translation under the title ''Khufu's Wisdom'' in 2003. The complete pharaonic trilogy was published in English in one volume under the title ''Three Novels of Ancient Egypt'' (

Everyman's Library Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division of Weidenfeld & Ni ...

, 2007).

References

Arabic-language novels Novels by Naguib Mahfouz Egyptian historical novels 1939 novels Novels set in the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Novels set in the 26th century BC Cultural depictions of Khufu {{1930s-hist-novel-stub