Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Professor Richard Bruce Parkinson is a prominent Egyptologist at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of The Queen's College, widely recognized for his work on Middle Kingdom poetry.
Composed around 1850 BC, Sinuhe is the supreme masterpiece of ancient Egyptian poetry. The poem is a fictional official’s autobiography, supposedly carved on the walls of his tomb, and his story forms a passionate probing of his culture’s ideals and anxieties. In a moment of panic Sinuhe flees Egypt at this death of his king. His adventures bring wealth and power, but his failure to find a meaningful life abroad is only redeemed by the new king’s mercy, and he finally returns home to be buried.
This video features a reading by Barbara Ewing, of a translation by Richard Bruce Parkinson: podcasts.ox.ac.uk/life-sinuhe'
Professor Richard Bruce Parkinson is a prominent Egyptologist at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of The Queen's College, widely recognized for his work on Middle Kingdom poetry.
Composed around 1850 BC, Sinuhe is the supreme masterpiece of ancient Egyptian poetry. The poem is a fictional official’s autobiography, supposedly carved on the walls of his tomb, and his story forms a passionate probing of his culture’s ideals and anxieties. In a moment of panic Sinuhe flees Egypt at this death of his king. His adventures bring wealth and power, but his failure to find a meaningful life abroad is only redeemed by the new king’s mercy, and he finally returns home to be buried.
This video features a reading by Barbara Ewing, of a translation by Richard Bruce Parkinson: podcasts.ox.ac.uk/life-sinuhe'
