i picked up a couple more translations of the pert em heru.
my biggest issue with ashby is that while his copy is easily readable and understandable, he doesn't always provide the original hieroglyphics; so it is impossible to tell what words were actually used. i also would like to see the context.
especially if you wish to speak a particular "spell" in the original kemetic tongue.
i picked up:
the egyptian book of life - ramses seleem
a) he introduces his own philosophy and interpretation into the religion
b) he darkens in the glyphs, so many look "inverted" as they are shaded in as opposed to being outlines
c) he tries to preserve original names as best as possibly, and includes the glyphs for every text he translates
ancient egyptian book of the dead - raymond faulkner
a) this book is beautiful and includes numerous full color illustrations of the original papyrus.
b) the original kemetic names are not preserved, neither for names nor places.
c) the text can only be read out of the illustrations, which is possible; and the illustrations are beautiful.
the egyptian book of the dead - wallis budge
a) budge is always criticized for having the worst translations; however, for my purposes budge's copy serves me well. budge includes the hieroglyphs as they would be written, a phonetic transliteration and the english translation. so if you wish the say a "prayer" or "spell" in the original kemetic tongue, budge has given you a head start in terms of knowing the original pronunciation, and finding a glyph to double check his pronunciation.
b) budge's english includes the fake greek names, but the phonetic reveals the original kemetic name
i maintain that ashby's copy is very readable and easy to understand. however, i don't think he provides a complete translation of the entire papyrus of ani, only selected chapters/plates.
faulkner's translation is also very easy to read, and this looks to be a complete translation.
budge provides the phonetic transliteration which i find very useful.
seleem introduces his own interesting philosophy which i need to study closer.