E. A. Wallis Budge
British Museum Egyptologist and prolific translator
- Born
- 1857, Bodmin, Cornwall
- Died
- 1934, London
- Post
- Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, British Museum, 1894–1924
- Knighted
- 1920
- Translations
- Book of the Dead; Kebra Nagast (1922); Cave of Treasures (1927)
A British Museum keeper whose many cheap translations, from the Book of the Dead to the Kebra Nagast, are still widely read though now outdated.
What is E. A. Wallis Budge known for?
Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge joined the British Museum in 1883 and was keeper of its Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities from 1894 to 1924. He was knighted in 1920 and wrote or edited over a hundred books.
His translations brought many ancient and medieval texts to English readers, including the Egyptian Book of the Dead (1895), the Ethiopian Kebra Nagast (1922), which tells how the Ark of the Covenant came to Ethiopia, and the Syriac Cave of Treasures (1927). Because they are out of copyright, his versions circulate widely online.
He was also a controversial collector who brought large numbers of objects to the museum by methods that historians such as Brian Fagan have described as looting. Modern Egyptologists consider his translations unreliable by current standards and use newer editions.
Translated the Kebra Nagast and the Cave of Treasures that the site quotes.
Mentioned on these pages
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'E. A. Wallis Budge'Reference
- Budge, The Kebra Nagast (1922; 1932 edition), at sacred-texts.comPrimary text
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