The Mysteries of the Ancient Egyptian Underworld: The Book of Am-Tuat, a Book on The Ancient Egyptian Underworld

The book of Am-Tuat, which literary means the ‘underworld’ forms as a part of the important funerary texts of the ancient Egyptians, from the time of the New Kingdom and was first found on the inside of the Pharaoh’s tomb and was in fact a text that was reserved for the Pharoah’s until at least the time of the 21st Dynasty. It contains the story of the ancient Egyptian sun god, Ra who goes on his travels through the underworld from, starting at the time of sunset on the west and then rises again on the east – during the dark of the night. This journey took place for attaining immortality. Each of the 12 parts of the night, which it is divided into, there are allies and enemies encountered, and the Am-Tuat names these monsters and gods to the soul of the dead pharaoh in order that hey may call upon them for help. The illustrations of these scriptures shows the various different scenes of the underworld and the earliest completed version of the Am-Tuat was found in the tomb of Thutmose III located in the Valley of the Kings. The book of Am-Tuat is a part of a short series of three books, called ‘Egyptian Heaven and Hell’ and you can purchase an exclusive illustrated book of the Am-Tuat on Amazon here!

A Journey Into the Compilation of the Quran

Oriental Publisher, being a niche UK based e-Publisher, is currently building its digital collection of eBooks in the Islamic genre, fulfilling the needs of easy digital access to literature of interest to Muslims all over the world.



As part of their efforts, Oriental Publishing has published an eBook exclusively available on Amazon's Kindle, titled 'The Hijrah To Medina And The Revelation of The Holy Quran: The Makki And Madani Surah's'. The whole purpose of this wonderfully educational eBook, is to provide a basic introduction to the Holy Quran, looking at its construction, and the specifics of it, including a background to the Madani and Meccan Surah's and how important and histrocial events such as the Hijrah, had an effect on the construction of the Quran. It is a perfect starting point for those wanting to learn about the Quran, for both Muslims and non-Muslims, allowing you to build on existing knowledge or to start of the learning process. It is a perfect reference book!

It is available on Amazon in the following countries: United States, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Australia and India.  




Want to know more about our eBooks? Click Here.

One of our BESTSELLERS – The history of our Food, by Shaneela Rowah Al-Qamar

Food: The History of Food in Arabian and Islamic History, is a beautifully Illustrated eBook, which is the second part of a short series of eBooks, called ‘The Origins of Modern Western Society in Islamic History’ written by Shaneela Rowah Al-Qamar, a writer and fine fragrance enthusiast.

This eBook looks into the journey of food and how the Arab and the Islamic worlds have contributed its journey towards the West, within the context of important points in history and how lifestyles in certain periods of time affected our use and relationship with food. We go on a journey from the East, the Middle East, towards Europe and then eventually to the Americas.

Join us on our food journey! As a special promotion, the eBook is available on SPECIAL OFFER from and will be available at £2.99 instead of £5.54. The promotion starts from 14th November 2016 midnight, until midnight 20th November 2016 ONLY! It is available on Amazon in the following countries: United States, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Australia and India.

Want to know more about our eBooks? Click Here.

A Floral Bouquet In Words - The Rose Garden of Persia's Saadi of Shirazi

Saadi Shirazi, arguably one of the most popular poets of his time, created a masterpiece of literature, called the Gulistan or ‘The Rose Garden’. It is a recognised as one of the greatest pieces of literal works to come out of Persia during medieval times. Apart from being so influential in the region, it has also been quite an influential piece of work in the western world and this is mainly due to such wisdom found in the work. The intricacies of the language used is quite deep, as are the philosophies and the ideas found within it. It covers issues that generally affect mankind as well as providing advice to rulers and those in authority whilst also focusing on the aspects of Sufi thought and teachings.

In fact, The Gulistan is seen like a Bible, and in this treasured works, Saadi crosses boundaries of nations and thoughts, creating a profound affect through his use of words, all around the world. The words of The Gulistan have been compared to the Bible, in that the words are set out like parables, being food for thought for many from different cultural background and way of life. The general theme of The Gulistan lies in the sound advice that is given to a ruler of his people – where Saadi pushes forward the message that an unjust King would bring a troubled life to his citizens and consequently bringing a nation into instability. The helps to reinforce the need for a just king or ruler – paving way for a peaceful nation and its people, placing faith in their king. This masterpiece is like a bouquet of flowers presented in the form of words – a must read for those enthusiasts of Middle Eastern or Persian regional literature.

The Gulistan is available through Amazon in eBook format, here.

The Mystery of the Ancient Book of the Dead

The Mystery of the Ancient Book of the Dead

The world famous Egyptian Book of the Dead, which is a collection of magic spells and guidance was to be used by the deceased to guide them during the afterlife and the title the ‘Book of the Dead’ was actually a title that was given to the book by western scholars themselves. The ancient Egyptians called the book by the name ‘The Book of Coming Forth by Day’ or by another name, ‘Spells for Going Forth by Day’, but generally, it is referred to at the ancient Egyptian equivalent of the Bible. The texts themselves were written and compiled at different times and was eventually gathered today to form a book, however there was never any codification of the texts and no 2 copies were the same. They were tailor made texts made for the purpose of each individual, with spells and guidance according to their needs, and was a product created specifically and mainly for those who were able to afford to purchase one. The afterlife was seen as a continuation of the earthly life and after going through a series of obstacles, including judgement and difficulties which took place in the Hall of Truth, they would enter a paradise which was seen as a mirror image of their life on earth. After the trials and tribulations that they went through in the Hall of Truth, they passed through to the Lily Lake to rest in the Field of Reed and all that things that they lost and yearned for in life would return there and would be enjoyed eternally. But in order to reach that point of paradise, the deceased needed to know where to go and how to address different gods and what things to say at different times during their journey. There was also the need to know how to compose oneself and how to present themselves whilst being in the land of the dead, and it was for these purposes that the ancient Egyptians found the Book of the Dead as a useful tool of guidance.

Depictions on tomb paintings from the time period of the

Third Dynasty of Egypt (between 2670-2613 BC) were sources of the text of the Book of the Dead, and they were written on papyrus, along with illustrations, in the tombs and graves alongside the dead. Instructions in the Book of the Dead also included instructions on how to take on the form of mythical creatures, as well as details of passwords to enable them to get through to the different stages of the underworld. In the time period before the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, the Book of the Dead was something that was only available to the elite and royalty and the popularity of the Osiris myth during the period of the New Kingdom, meant that people thought that the spells were indispensable because of the fact that Osiris was featured constantly during the souls journey in the afterlife. Because the book eventually was in such demand by all peoples of ancient Egypt, book scribes then made them available to anyone and spells in the book could have been tailor made, according to the budget of the scribes’ customers.


It wasn't until 650 BC, when the Book of the Dead was fixed

at a 190 spells per book, but it was common that people would add or remove certain spells as they saw fit but its seemed like the most common spell, was Spell 125, which was a spell which talks about the judging of the heart of the deceased by the god Osiris in the Hall of Truth. PICTUREIt was important the soul passed the test, in order to gain paradise and knowing what to say and act when being presented before Osiris, Thoth, Anubis and the 42 judges was the most important piece of information that the deceased would need to move through the paradise.
On the event of death, it is said that the soul was guided by Anubis to the Hall of Truth where a declaration of innocence would be made, also called the Negative Confession. Once this was made, gods Osiris, Thoth, Anubis and the 42 judges would confer and if the confession was one of acceptance, then the heart of the deceased was weighed against the white feather of Ma’at, which was referred to at the feather of truth and of the heart weighed in lighter than the feather, then this meant that the soul has passed the judgement and was allowed to go into paradise. But on the other side of the scale, if they heart was heavier than the feather, is was thrown onto the floor where goddess Ammit would eat it and the soul of the deceased would disappear.


Take a look at the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead yourself, available here.

A Tale of the One Thousand and One Nights

A Tale of the One Thousand and One Nights

The One Thousand and One Arabian Nights stories were originally oral folk tales from the Arabian and Asian regions, transmitted orally throughout the communities, leaving a mysterious origin. Travelers and merchants who passed via the Silk Route also passed along these stories during stops at various towns along their journey and told them to each other for entertainment purposes. In the 17th century, French Orientalist, Antoine Galland had come across these mythical tales in Syria and translated them from their original Arabic into French. Interestingly, the most famous of these tales, Aladdin and Ali Baba actually have no original Arabic manuscript, reinforcing the fact that these cultures and societies worked mostly on an oral basis as opposed to written.

On the turn of the 19th century, more versions of these tales appeared, namely the Calcutta I and Calcutta II versions and the Bulag text, which contained more stories and forming mostly of what we know today as the One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. In 1885, the British orientalist Richard Francis Burton translated the Arabian Nights stories into English from the Calcutta II manuscript, which was quite vast in terms of volume and it proved to be a hard project to work on which took may years to complete – and until this date, it is known as one of the best translations of the tales. However, Burton’s efforts were also highly criticised due to people’s opinion that his translations were too elaborate or used too much exaggeration in his language. In fact, it was Burton’s translation of the tales, which helped to fuel the fantasies and imagery of those who went onto reproduce those tales for film.
The characters of the tales are Persian with Arabic names, and the framing and style of the stories are very Indian – giving the stories a large geographical coverage, appealing to all societies from India to Persia and Iraq, through to Turkey and Egypt where these stories have formed as an important part of deep cultural heritage. What really set these stories apart, were their zest and zeal for the imagination, romance, adventure and enchantment which were back dropped on culturally significant cities of Baghdad, Cairo and Damascus. A lot of these tales are poetic, in line with the literal richness of the Arabic and Persian languages and the stories were historical as well, some being set in historical regions and palaces of Kings and Queens.
The most famous story of them all, from which the whole volume of the stories of the One Thousand and One Night got its title from, is the story of Queen Scheherazade who was sentenced to execution by her husband the King. In a desperate bid to save her life, she would relate stories to her King on a nightly basis leaving off her stories on a cliff hanger, consequently forcing the King to wait until the next night to hear the rest of the story under suspense and this continued for one thousand nights. This and other stories have been adapted and edited for use by various film production houses, such as Disney, who famously released Aladdin – based off the original story found in the Arabian Nights.
Want to get hold of a copy of Richard Burton’s most famous and magical translation of the Arabian Nights? Grab your copy here!

The Mysteries of The Gospel of Barnabas

The Mysteries of the The Gospel of Barnabas

Turkey, an important crossroads between Asia and the West, is also significant for its historical religious heritage and an important region for both Christianity and Islam. It is not so surprising then, that it was in Turkey where the ancient Gospel of Barnabas was discovered recently. Barnabas was an important disciple of Christ. What is so intriguing about this Gospel, is that it portrays Jesus as a Prophet of God, as oppose to the son of God, very much in line with the teaching of Islam.

The Gospel, which was discovered in the year 2000, is seen as an original and authentic scripture, by Iranian and Turkish authorities which itself is written in gold text on leather in the Aramaic language, which was the language spoken by Jesus. The Gospel was seized during a raid, when Turkish police had come across smugglers of antique goods all over the Mediterranean region. What is so controversial about the Gospel of Barnabas, is that that the scripture goes against the teachings of the New Testament in particular, in that it predicts the coming of the Prophet Muhammad and even goes to the extent of specifically naming him. This poses a serious dilemma in regards to the Christian doctrine and belief, in the position of Jesus as the son of God. During the Council of Nicea meeting which was arranged by Constantine and attended by representatives of the Church of the Roman Empire at the time, the Gospel’s that currently form as a part of the modern day Bible where handpicked, leaving out the controversial Gospel of Barnabas. Over the passage of time, other scriptures have come to surface. These include the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gnostic Gospels which are referred to as the secret Gospel’s, however it is the Gospel of Barnabas which is a cause for concern for the Vatican and there have been claims that the Gospel is indeed a fake.

According to a Vatican newspaper, La Stampa, the Gospel of

Barnabas is actually a forgery and was written by a Jewish scholar during the Middle Ages and they also claim that there are linguistic and grammatical errors, which help to highlight the fact that the text is a fake. However, given the fact that a Jewish scholar would have no motive in penning a text claiming the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, it can be said that these claims by the Vatican press are very weak whilst also highlighting the fact that these texts are contradictory to Islamic teaching from the Quran.

In 2012, the Gospel of Barnabas was transferred by police escort to the Ethnography Museum of Ankara, in Turkey, where it is on display. Currently the Gospel itself is worth around $1.7 Million, but fret not!

If you would like to have a read of what these texts say, then Oriental Publishing has recently published an e-Book version of the Gospels, available exclusively through Amazon!

Want to take a peek at what all the controversy is about?

Grab your copy of the Gospel of Barnabas here!