O „Faraonie” Bolesława Prusa – starożytny Egipt i kontekst polski
Bolesław Prus’ “Faraon” (“Pharaoh”)–Ancient Egypt and Polish Context

Summary/Abstract: Bolesław Prus’ novel “Faraon (Pharaoh)”, published in the year 1895, is based on political events in ancient Egypt in the 11th century BC, at the end of the Twentieth Dynasty. Prus was not a historian and apart from “Pharaoh” wrote no other historical novels. From the available sources he gathered information on Egypt of the pharaohs and inserted it into his masterpiece of literary fiction. His novel is superior to any other novel on ancient Egypt ever written. Regardless of numerous anachronisms and errors in description of the realities of ancient Egypt, the novel stood the test of time. Regrettably, it is little known in the world in spite of numerous translations into many languages. In Poland the book was subject to critical assessment by some reviewers for excessive didacticism and historical inconsistencies. A new edition of “Pharaoh” with commentary was issued in 2014. It was prepared by Andrzej Niwiński, a professor of Egyptian archaeology at the University of Warsaw. The advantage of the edition is that it includes a collection of rare illustrations made 100 years ago by a famous painter Edward Okuń (1872–1945). Niwiński’s edition contains many explanatory footnotes and appendices by the editor and by other contributors. These supplementary studies mainly refer to the origin of the novel and to Prus’ readings. The volume also comprises a historical essay on the real history of the Egypt under the Twentieth Dynasty and an interesting text on the illustrations and their author. The footnotes and annexes are rich in valuable pieces of information. Nevertheless, they are not devoid of disputable matters. An important issue in Adam Łukaszewicz’s article is a polemics with the editor’s theory about “Pharaoh” being an allegorical novel which actually refers to Polish matters. The author of the present paper who works in the field of Egyptian archaeology adds to Niwiński’s commentaries some own observations on the realities described in the novel under discussion.

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