Anth.446 Ppt. lecture-6: Religion of the living in Ancient Egypt (by G. Mumford; 2014 Anth.446/646)

ANTH. 446 / 646: FALL 2019

Explorers / Mummies / Hieroglyphs:A thematic coverage of Ancient Egypt

Notes & images compiled by Gregory Mumford (2019)

Lect.-6: Religion of the living

Contents:

(1). State Religion 5

(2). Gods and goddesses 13

(3). Temples and temple art 24

(4). Priests 66

(5). Religious rituals 69

(6). Religious artefacts 75

(7). Creation Myths 83

1.(a). Heliopolitan Creation Myth 85

1.(b). Memphite Creation Myth 92

1.(c). Hermopolitan Myth: 96

1.(d). Thebes as the Place of Creation 99

1.(e). The Creation of Humanity 101

2. Primordial Mound of Creation (see Heliopolitan myth) 106

3. Myths relating to the “destruction” of civilization/world … 108

(8). Household Deities and Domestic Worship 111

(9). Magic 127

(10). Personal Piety, Ethics and Morals 138

(11). Links with Other Religions 173

(12). Sources on religion in daily life: 184

12.(a). Ancient Egyptian religion, myths, temples, priests, rituals, deities 185

12.(b). Ancient Egyptian deities, state religion, household religion, esp. DEM 206

12.(c). Selected sources on Akhenaten’s reign –particularly religion 215

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RELIGION OF THE LIVING:

Background:

• In order to comprehend Anc. Egypt,

it is essential to grasp the diverse

aspects of their religious beliefs.

• Religion & religious beliefs appear

throughout all aspects of Anc. Egypt

(a). The king & the populace;

(b). State-private art & architecture;

(c). Interactions between individuals

and different groups;

(d). State-private policy, law, etc.;

(e). Medicine, magic, superstitions, etc.

(f). Funerary architecture & beliefs;

(g). Economy, etc.;

• Religion & religious beliefs & practices

also changed over time …

(1). STATE

RELIGION:

STATE RELIGION:

Background:

• Early religion in Predynastic Egypt is

less well understood owing to fewer

material remains and no textual

evidence (other than later texts)

• However, some early shrines have

been found at:

(a). Hierakonpolis

(b). Coptos / Koptos

(c). Buto

(d). Tell Farkha

• Such sites and their findings yield

evidence for the foundations of

pharaonic temples, shrines, cults,

deities, rituals, and related practices.

• Such materials continue into the

Early Dynastic period (Dyns.1-2),

with growing textual-pictorial evidence

STATE RELIGION:

Early Animal Cults:

• Predynastic Egypt appears to have

been subdivided into multiple city

states (communities) with different

local patron deities.

• Many Predynastic deities had the form

of …

(a). Animals (many): e.g., Horus-falcon

(b). Humans (some): e.g., Ptah

(c). Anthropomorphized animal (some)

• Various wrapped animal burials:

- Dogs

- Jackals

- Sheep/goats

- Cows

• Animal amulets appear in human

burials:

- Protecting human owners

- Nourishing human owners

STATE RELIGION:

Early Animal Cults:

• Animal representations in graves:

- Painted on pottery (Naqada II)

- Animal figurines / statuettes

- Animal outline palettes

• The significance of such animal figures

remains unclear in Predynastic Egypt:

- Catering to deities beneficial(?)

to humanity: e.g., cows

- Placating various deities inimical(?)

to humanity: e.g., jackals

- Symbolizing an aspect/power of

various deities

• In Early Dynastic times, many animal

forms become anthropomorphized,

and even fully human by Dyn.2

(animal forms still retained as variants)

STATE RELIGION:

Cosmic deities:

• Various “cosmic” deities also appear

during the Predynastic period.

• These deities are found more widely

in Egypt:

i.e., They are not local tribal deities.

• Such “cosmic” deities might have

arrived from abroad via increasing

international relations:

E.g., Syro-Mesopotamian & Levantine

deities.

• Some syncretism took place in which

different deities merged in essence,

with “cosmic” deities adopting various

traits from local tribal deities.

• Anc. Egyptian religion was very

flexible in adopting foreign deities

throughout Predyn.-pharaonic history

and later …

STATE RELIGION:

Pantheon of deities:

• The gradual process of social and

political unification in Predynastic

Egypt began incorporating more

local tribal deities into a broadening

socio-political framework:

• The deities of areas becoming

subordinate to other polities in-turn

= absorbed by the dominant polities

and their cults:

• The deities of dominant polities in-turn

began to dominate the cults in

subordinate and subjugated areas:

e.g., Rise of Amun in MK-NK periods.

• i.e., = a process of syncretism

• Other deities might become a servant

or helper in the emerging state religion

• Egypt as a whole had 1000s of deities,

but many were locally based.

STATE RELIGION:


• By the Old Kingdom, Egypt’s emerging

professional priesthood appear to

have begun efforts to explain the

divergent local religions:

• Clustering different deities into:

(a). Families (triads)

(b). Non-familial, albeit related groups:

Ogdoad: eight deities

Ennead: nine deities

• The priesthood(s) also adapted

various creation myths (cosmogonies)

& other myths to explain the different

relationships between such deities.

• Most deities retained only a local

importance within a town or province.

• Some deities rose in importance as

the patron of an emerging power:

e.g., Amun of Thebes; etc.

STATE RELIGION:


• The most important state deities

appear closely linked with the king:

E.g., Re (sun-god)

E.g., Osiris (ruler of the dead)

E.g., Horus (ruler of the living)

E.g., Deities related to these gods:

(Isis; Nephthys; Hathor; etc.)

• Local patron deities for royal families

that become prominent are also

elevated:

E.g., Amun-Re (with Mut & Khonsu)

E.g., Seth (in Ramesside period)

E.g., Aten (in Amarna period)

E.g., Ptah (patron of capital: Memphis)

Etc.

(2). THE GODS

& GODDESSES:

Gods and Goddesses: State deities

Deities of the elements:

• The Heliopolitan creation myth

(cosmogony) contains a series of

deities who are linked with various

elements in nature & = an Ennead:

(a). Atum: “the Complete One” appears

in the primordial waters (Nun)

i.e., son of Nun, or self-created.

i.e., later equated with Re (sun-god)

(b). He creates an “Island of Creation”

i.e., equated with site of Heliopolis

(c). He spits → Shu (“air”-deity)

He vomits Tefnut (mositure-deity)

(d). They create Geb (earth-deity)

Nut (sky-deity)

(e). They create Osiris (ruler of dead)

Isis (sister-wife)

Seth (deity of chaos)

Nephthys (sister-wife)


Osiris:

• Osiris becomes one of Egypt’s most

important deities (MK-NK & later)

• Details about him & his mythology

appear in snippets from OK-Late Per.

with the complete myth preserved

much later in Plutarch’s De Iside et

Osiride, which describes …

• Osiris represents an early human king

• Introduced agriculture & civilization

• Murdered & dismembered by Seth

• Seth seizes the throne

• Osiris reassembled/resurrected by Isis

• Isis bears his son Horus

• Horus contests Seth’s usurpation/rule

• Horus eventually wins → ruler of living

• Osiris rules the dead; Seth = banished


Osiris:

• Cult of Osiris becomes prominent in

the Middle Kingdom: i.e., rising middle

class & everyone can be an “Osiris.”

• A state-wide religion offering rebirth

in the afterlife to ALL who had led a

good/just life (= judgment in death).

• Osiris cult is based primarily at

Abydos (central Egypt).

• Another major Osiris cult centre lay at

Busiris (in the delta).

• Both places received pilgrims, but

Abydos seems to be the more

important of these two cult places.

• Osiris = married to Isis; son = Horus.

• Horus & Osiris = linked with kingship

• Isis = great mother-goddess figure.


Deities of Memphis:

• Ptah represents the patron deity of

Memphis, at the apex of the delta

(administrative capital of Anci. Egypt

throughout much of its history).

• Ptah was credited with having created

the universe and planned all life.

• The Memphite theology attributes him

(a). with diverse properties (other gods);

(b). founding ethics & morals;

(c). introducing sustenance;

(d). urban life and structures;

(e). Morphology & cult images of deities

• Ptah shown as mummiform human

• Associated with Osiris & Sokar (latter =

hawk-guardian of Memphis cemetery)

• Manifested as Apis bull: special marks

• Wife = Sekhmet; son = Nefertem.


Theban triad:

• Amun became the prime deity at

Thebes in MK, and appears within the

Ennead of Hermopolis (Ashmunein).

• The victory of the Theban rulers over

the Hyksos-controlled delta (SIP)

launched the ascendancy of Amun

in the New Kingdom empire (D.18-20)

• Amun is soon syncretized with Re of

Heliopolis (→ Amun-Re).

• Called “Father of the Gods”

• Considered ruler of Egypt & empire

• The king occasionally fought with the

priesthood of Amun over power

(e.g., late Dyn.18 Aten; late Dyn.20).

• Amun’s wife = Mut;

• Amun’s son = Khonsu (moon-deity);

Egyptian Temples:

Egyptian gods and their cults

• Triad -Amun-Re (chief deity)

-Mut (wife)

-Khonsu (offspring)

Montu

Theban war-god


Cult of the Aten:

•Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) elevated

the sun-disk (“Aten”) to the prime &

essentially sole state diety in late

Dyn.18: essentially like “monotheism.”

• He closed all other state temples to

other deities –especially Amun-(Re)

(main rival of the king & the Aten).

• He founded a new capital and cult

centre for the Aten in central Egypt

at Tell el-Amarna: called Akhetaten.

• He drew upon many existing beliefs:

(a). Aten’s role across the world

(b). Aten establishing all life

• He introduced new forms:

(a). Sun-disk with rays-and-hands

(b). Aten’s name in a cartouche

(c). Temples open to sun: prob. like Re


Assistant deities:

• Some significant deities appear as

secondary characters in various myths

• Thoth = depicted as a baboon, ibis, or

an ibis-headed human.

• Thoth = ascribed with being a deity of

wisdom, writing, etc. (at Hermopolis).

• He appears in

(a). Memphite theology of Ptah;

(b). Heliopolitan myth of Re

(c). Osiris myth

• He acts as the scribe recording the

judgment in the Osirian judgment hall.

• Anubis = a jackal-headed deity assoc.

with cemeteries, embalming, and in

guiding the dead to the Underworld.

• Anubis assists in weighing of the heart

Gods and Goddesses: Local deities

Local deities:

• Various deities only appear at local

cult centres:

• Sobek = a crocodile deity and also a

manifestation of Seth.

• He had a few cult temples:

(a). In the Fayoum

(b). At Kom Ombo (Southern Egypt).

• Montu = a falcon-headed deity based

at a cult centre at Armant, south of

Thebes (also important in Thebes).

• Montu becomes an important deity in

Dyn.11, being the patron of the early

Middle Kingdom rulers.

Gods and Goddesses: House-deities

Household deities:

• Other deities never had temple cult

centres, but appear commonly as

household-level deities in domestic

shrines amongst the general populace:

• Bes = a dwarf-deity with a feathered-

headdress.

• He generally protects children and

also women during childbirth.

• He also functions as a deity of

marriage and merry-making.

• Tauert = a hippopotamus-deity who

protects all women during childbirth:

i.e., poor to royal & divine females.

• She is a consort of Bes

• She is often armed with knives.

(3).

TEMPLES &

TEMPLE ART:

TEMPLES & TEMPLE ART:

Background:

• Egyptian temples can be subdivided

into two main, broad types:

(a). More common closed temples:

e.g., Predynastic – Roman shrines

& temples with hidden interiors

(b). Less common open solar temples:

e.g., Dyn.5 (Re); Late Dyn.18 (Aten)

Closed shrines/temples:

• These structures vary widely from the

Predynastic timber frame & matting

to more substantial mud brick & also

stone structures (pharaonic-Roman).

• Cult temples for village-city deities

• Cult temples for private-royal persons

Open shrines/temples:

• Their plans varied widely in detail from

open courts with altars to open temples

Rituals: similar offering rituals on altars


Various types of temples:

• Early Egyptologists artificially

separated Egyptian temples into

two types:

(a). “divine” / “cultus” (i.e., for deities)

(b). “mortuary” (for deceased humans)

• In contrast, the Anc. Egyptians did

not make this distinction in name,

concept, design, or function.

• Most Egyptologists try to use “cult

complex” and a modifier to indicate

whether they are discussing

(a). Royal cult complex (vs. mortuary),

(b). Divine cult complex (may incl. royal)

• Of note, private individuals could be

deified and have a cult complex.

• Private (non-royal) persons also had

their own mortuary cult complex that

had similar features to divine/royal …



• Divine cult complexes contained:

- Focal point of worship of 1+ deities

- Often had the cult of the (living) king

- 1+ naos/naoi (shrines) for cult image

(placed within inner sanctuary)

- The priest/king & attendant specialists

would maintain the earthly household

of and offer before the various deities

- In essence, the complexes functioned

as earthly homes for the deities and

interfaces between the gods & their

servants: i.e., king & priests.

- In exchange for many services, food,

products, etc., the deities would thus

grant the king, Egyptians, and Egypt:

life, prosperity, and health: i.e., = a

relationship based upon exchange(!)



• Royal cult complexes contained:

- A further function in its aim …

- The priesthood (and crown prince/

new ruler) conducted daily offerings

and other maintenance for the spirit

of the divine deceased king.

- During the Old-Middle Kingdoms,

such temples lay beside the pyramid

- In the New Kingdom, these temples

became larger, more complex, and

were separated from the hidden tomb.

- They also had cults for local+ deities

(Amun; Re; Osiris; etc.)

- In the post-New Kingdom, the cult

temples (for deities) absorbed this

function and royal tombs are placed

in cult temple complexes.


Temple architecture & design:

• In their design, temples replicated a

variety of mythological features …

(a). “Mansion of the God”: i.e., the

residence of a deity/group of deities.

(b). “Island of Creation”: i.e., the place

equated with the location where the

deity had brought into being upon the

“first occasion” the universe & all life.

(c). It acted as a microcosm of the

known universe, or the heavens:

i.e., the temple features incorporated

diverse aspects of the Anc. Egyptians’

perceptions of their cosmos and how

it functioned.



(a). “Mansion of the God”:

• The cult complex contained all the

elements found within an elite home:

a. Inner dwelling room & storerooms

b. Surrounding rooms, etc., for family

members: consort & child deities.

c. Guest suites: other deities

d. Servants: i.e., priests, musicians,

etc. in various ranks & applications.

e. Provision of food, drink, clothing, etc.

f. Supporting workshops & diverse

facilities: maintenance, repair, etc.

g. Country estates providing all sorts

of materials & products to support

the cult complex.

h. Etc.



(a). “Island of Creation”:

• The enclosure wall contained brick

courses laid along an undulating plane

perhaps replicating “primordial waters”

• The temple floor progressively rose in

height, replicating climbing the mound

of creation until reaching its top where

sanctuary lay: = focal point of creation.

• Stone columns in inner hypostyle hall

replicated vegetation sprouting forth

from primordial mound: birth of life

(palmiform, lotiform, papyriform columns).

• The dado (wall base) had a frieze of

vegetation emphasizing this aspect.

• The ceiling underside bore depictions

of stars, replicating the starry heavens


Wall scenes:

• Each chamber within a temple has a

specific set of scenes and texts that

reflect the room’s function: 2-3+ reg.

E.g., Rituals carried out in the chamber

such as offering to a deity / deities.

E.g., Some areas depict such things as

- the foundation of the temple,

- the coronation of the king,

• The king is shown leading the rituals

acting as the divine son of a given

deity (priests may attend the king

in-turn, but are always secondary

[with a few exceptions: upstart priests])

• The texts indicate the title of a specific

ritual & speeches by the king & deities

• Most scenes represent portions of a

much longer set of rituals recorded on

papyri (diff. selections in diff. temples).

New Kingdom

Temple economy.

-Temples had their

own estates:

Farmland, crops,

livestock, & agri.-

by-products.

Egyptian Temples:

Egyptian gods and their cults

• Temples essentially = “homes”

• Triad -Amun-Re (chief deity)

-Mut (wife)

-Khonsu (offspring)

Montu

Theban war-god

New Kingdom temples (with continuity into Greco-Roman period):

• Now kings focusing on being patrons for building cult temples (esp. → stone)

• “Standard plan” appears (Thebes): Pylon, courtyard, hypostyle hall, sanctuary.

• BUT, many variants, and far fewer NK temples survive in northern Egypt.

• Decoration within each chamber reflects function: e.g., treasury; sanctuary, etc.

• King provides bulk wealth to Amun-Re: syncretism of “hidden one” & solar deity

Pylon

CourtyardHypostyle hall:

(raised centre

columns) Sanctuary

Ground rises & ceiling lowers towards sanctuary:i.e., represents primordial mound & increasing mystery

Egyptian Temples:

Landing “quay”

-Most important entry:

(T-shaped; large ships).

- Placement of cult statues

to greet & observe other

deities traversing Nile.

- Quays accommodated

low-high floods (4 m)

- Visit/return of cult images

- Public area (e.g., oracles)

Egyptian Temples:

Sphinxes and divine images.

Statuary often appears along

paved roadways & entrances

as markers & protective

elements.

-Sphinxes = guardian figures

a. human-headed (king)

b. ram-headed (Amun)

c. hawk-headed (Re)

-Seated figures of

goddess Sekhmet

-2 km. road between

Karnak and Luxor

Temples lined by

protective sphinxes

(temp. Nectanebo I).

Egyptian Temples:

Way-stations.

-Way-stations appear along

roadways to house

portable barques

carrying the cult figures of

deities.

- Especially for processions

public festivals & oracles.

Egyptian Temples:

Enclosure walls.

a. separate divine from non-divine

b. protection from civil war/invasion

-Mud brick walls, beams, matting.

-Early NK word sebty for walls

around towns and temples.

-Temple walls up to 10 m wide

-Often crenellated battlements &

stone gateways.

-Sometimes bastions/towers.

-Brick courses in concave &

convex sections → a wave-like

pattern (primordial waters of

chaos → mound of life).

-During high floods, the temple

re-enacted creation myth with

temple rising from waters of chaos.

Egyptian Temples:

Obelisks.

-Solar cult symbol

(benben stone)

-Sometimes singly along

temple axis

-Often in pairs flanking

pylon entryways

-Gifts to gods

commemorating …

-royal festivals

-military victories

-other major events

-Pyramidion gilded to

catch the sun's rays

at dawn and sunset.

-Middle Kingdom+

examples are known

Egyptian Temples:

Colossi and statues.-Protective functions at temple

entryways & along routes.

-Representing:

a. link between kings & gods

b. king's spirit (ka)

c. public access (mediator)

-Statues had individual names:

e.g., "Amenhotep Sun of Rulers"

worshipped by populace.

Egyptian

Temples

Pylon entry.

East – West axis

Sun appears

between pylon

“horizon” symbol

Entry pylon symbolism in decoration. • king smites foes → victory of Maat (order) over chaosTemple entry guarded from evil by the king.

Egyptian Temples: The Cosmic Role of the king.

• Themes: King maintaining Maat - Smiting enemies (chaos)

- Hunting hippopotamus (chaos)

- King & gods netting wild birds (chaos)

White Crown

(Upper Egypt)

Red Crown

(Lower Egypt)

“South”

Emblematic plant of UE“North”

Emblematic plant of LE

WEST

EAST

AXIS

Nekhbet

(Desert vulture)

Wadjet

(Delta cobra)

SOUTH SIDE NORTH SIDE

Egyptian Temples:

Outer Courts.

• Interface between outer

public area and inner

sacred chambers.

• Public access to outer

courtyard only on various

occasions & festivals.

• Egyptian glyph rekhyt

designating public area

(Ptolemaic: “court of the

multitudes”): Old theory!!!

• Special areas for public

worship & communication

with deities.

Egyptian Temples: Outer Courts. Royal & private statues.

Royal statues intermediaries, guardians, & commemorative figures.

Egyptian Temples: The Outer Courts / Forecourt (“Court of the People”).

Private statues:

• memorial for deceased

• Allows deceased to participate

in rituals

• Texts request people to say

the deceased’s name and

recite offering formula on

his/her behalf.

• Received magical reversion

of offerings.

• NK+ statues of men (< women)

• Made to be unobtrusive and

humble.

• Traces of piety? (touching)

Egyptian Temples: Outer Courts.

Private statues:

• Some famous private persons, such as

Amenhotep son of Hapu, formed an

intermediary between the populace and

the deceased.

• Text: “People of Karnak who wish to see

Amun: come to me and I will

translate your petitions”

• This would be done in exchange for

saying his name and reciting the

offering formua on his behalf.

• Wall & statue bases worn smooth by

petitioners touching certain areas.

As courtyards became filled with statues

overtime, periodically a large pit would be

dug and the statues placed under the floor.

E.g., 1903 Legrain’s Karnak cachette →

over 900 statues & statuettes.

Egyptian Temples: Doorways/Barriers.

• Protect inner sacred areas

• Symbolic thresholds in progression of rituals.

• Some metals doors; other wooden doors

• Names: “The doorway Menkheperre, Amun-great-of

-strength, whom-the-people-praise”

ARCHITECTURE: Symbolism in temple interior.

Hypostyle columned hall

• Symbolizing marsh and plants

• Column capitals = aquatic plants

Column bases = base of plants.

• Architraves & ceiling portray stars

• Lowest register portrays aquatic

plants around room.

• Wall scenes: Room function …

- king making offerings

to deities/deity

-King participating in

various rituals.

-King’s offering bearers

bringing produce

• Raised floor level (= mound of creation)

• Nile flood waters entered halls,

recreating creation myth each year.

Clerestory lighting

• Flowering higher columns → light

• Closed budded columns lower down

Egyptian Temples: Chambers, storerooms, crypts.

• Housing statues of visiting deities

• Suite of rooms for visiting deities

• Storerooms for cultic equipment

(clothes; incense; etc. for cult figures)

• Chambers for priests to prepare themselves for

attending cult figures.

• Chambers related to daily ritual.

• Crypts: hidden within walls & below floors

Hiding priests giving oracles through walls

Secret storerooms for valuable cult items.

Egyptian Temples: Stairs.

• In pylons and within temples.

• E.g., Dendera Temple: for the New

Year festival the image of Hathor

is taken to the roof top to await

the first sunrise “uniting with the

sun”

• Scenes of processions leading up

the stairs.

• Priestly star watch in night hours.

Egyptian Temples:

Barque chapel.

• Room near sanctuary

• Sanctuary with shrine

for the barque.

• Depictions of sun-god

traversing sky in boat

“Primordial

mound”

Egyptian Temples:

Sanctuary and shrine.

• At the back of the main axis

• Shrine (naos) built of hard stone

with bronze or gold plated doors

• Each shrine bore its own name

e.g., “favourite of the god”

• Sanctuary restricted to king and

the highest ranking priests.

• Strict purification rituals required

before entering temple (“heaven

on earth”)

• Cult images of different materials,

sizes and forms.

Egyptian Temples:

Back wall of some temples.

Chapel of the “hearing ear”

• Usually a niche with a cult statue

of a deity.

• Sometimes a pair of carved ears

(NK to Roman period)

• “Hearing chapels” behind Karnak

Temple near city of Thebes (T.III)

• For petitioners in poor health

• Sometimes “priest holes” lie

behind “hearing ear” chapels for

priests to hear petitions and give

oracles on god’s behalf.

Egyptian Temples:

Barque chapels and

barque processions.

• Public festivals, etc.,

in which barque = carried

on shoulders of priests

• Public oracles to receive

judgements of deities

(“yes” and “no” answers)

• Barque moves / nods to

indicate response.

• Usually no appeal once

verdict is given, but a

second opinion can be

obtained from another

deity.

Egyptian Temples: Sacred lakes.• Found in most temples: rectangular, stone-lined with stairway access.

• Water filled via local water table (varies throughout the year)

• Provided with names

• Function: water supply for rituals & offerings; bathing place for priests at dawn

• Symbolism: Birth place of sun-god who arose from primordial waters

Karnak Temple, geese (manifestation of Amun) swim in Lake.

Egyptian Temples: Nilometers.

• Built to measure annual Nile flood

levels and predict crop yields.

• E.g., Elephantine.

• Note: many wells are mislabelled

“Nilometers”

NK temples:

Birth Room:

• Divine conception

and birth of ruler

E.g., Hatshepsut (etc.)

-forerunner to

distinct Birth-house

Deir el-Bahari

Hatshepsut

House of Life:

Scriptorium:

• Composition, copying, editing &

storage of religious and mythical texts

E.g., new texts for transference to walls

Book of the Dead

Archive:

• Temple accounts, contracts, letters, etc.

Learning centre:

• Teaching priests scribal skills, art,

theology (proto-libraries)

Royal resources:

• R.IV boasts of having read all texts in

the “House of Life” (secrets of the gods)

General resource (library):

• Psamtik II expedition to Syria had a

scribe from the House of Life who was

said to know all things.

Egyptian Temples:

Magazines, storerooms,

and granaries.

• The vast magazines for

grain sacks, wine, and

many other supplies are

located within the enclosure

walls of the cult temples

and mortuary temples.

• Some storage complexes

have remnants of scribal

podiums where all incoming

and outgoing items would

be tallied by scribes.

New Kingdom Temples:Kitchens and bakeries

• Temples required many bakeries

and kitchens.

• Food needed for priesthood,

workers, and vast personnel

employed by temples estates.

• Many items provided as offerings

upon altars of deity / deities of the

temple, eventually reverting to the

priests & others as provisions.

Slaughter houses: Butchers’ yard

Egyptian Temples: Workshops, and studios.

Workshops: e.g., producing linen for garments, etc.

e.g., producing & repairing cult items (statues; furniture; gifts;

floral bouquets; etc.)

(4). PRIESTS:

Egyptian Temples:

Priests and personnel:

High Priest

(Hem-netjer tepy).

• Highest rank in temple

• Larger temple

complexes had up to

four high priests

(ranks 1-4)

• Normally appointed by

the king.

• Position tended to

become hereditary

• Dyn.18 military officers

sometimes appointed

as high priest

(king attempting to

assert control).

Late Ramesside high priests:

Amenhotep, Herihor, etc.Dyn.

25+

Egyptian Temples:

Priests and personnel: Other personnel:

a. Serfs; herdsmen; fishermen; fowlers;

beekeepers,

b. Carpenters; builders,

c. Bakers; brewers; butchers; weavers;

other workers,

d. Scribes of all types,

e. Artisans of many types,

f. Entertainers.

(5). RELIGIOUS

RITUALS:

Temples and the king’s

Role: serving the gods.• Priests performing rituals on

king’s behalf throughout Egypt

• Twice/day (morning; evening)

• Daily ritual:

1. Enter sanctuary

2. Break seal on shrine door

3. Unveil cult image

4. Prostrate himself before image

5. Recite hymns

6. Cense around image with

aromatics, present Maat

7. Cleansing cult image

8. Line statue’s eyes with kohl

9. Anoint statue with fine oil

10.Dress statue in clean clothes

11.Offer elaborate meals on altar

(menu on sanctuary walls)

12.Reversion of offerings (salary)

13.Sweeping out footprints.

Egyptian Temples: The Cosmic Role of the king.

• Themes: King maintaining Maat - Smiting enemies (chaos)

(status quo; truth; justice; etc.) - Hunting hippopotamus (chaos)

- King & gods netting wild birds (chaos)

Note: this = Greco-Roman

Daily ritual repulsing Apophis

in Karnak temple:

• 310 BC text written in language

resembling Old Kingdom:

Title:

“The beginning of the Book of

Overthrowing Apophis,

the enemy of Re and the enemy

of King Wen-nofer (Osiris),

l.p.h., the justified,

performed in the course of every day

in the Temple of Amon-Re,

Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands,

presiding over Karnak.”

See text readings for more details.

Dyn.18: Amenhotep II’s tomb

D.18: T.III tomb

Egyptian Temples: many

Feasts and Festivals, e.g.,

“Opet Festival”• Late August (flood)

• 2-4 week festival

• Ritual procession of cult

images: Karnak to Luxor

• Ritual re-enactment of the

sacred marriage between

Amun & the queen mother.

→ divine kingship.

• Kings claimed divine relationship with

Amun.

• Kings represented Amun on earth

• During this procession, people could

petition deities for judgements (yes/no)

INTERCONNECTING COMPONENTS:

Egyptian Temples:

Feasts and Festivals, another example …

“Beautiful Feast of the Valley”• Early summer festival involving

(1) procession of cult figures of

Amun, Mut and Khonsu

(2) departing Karnak Temple in

portable barques

(3) Crossing Nile westwards to

visit shrines & temples of deified

kings

(4) Festival included remembering

the deceased

(5) Festival contained aspects of

fertility, rebirth/renewal, and

rejuvination.

(6). RELIGIOUS

ARTIFACTS:

RELIGIOUS ARTIFACTS:

Background:

• Ancient Egyptians lived in a world that

was –to them-- indivisible from diverse

supernatural forces, beings, and other

influences.

• Magic played a role in affecting their

lives in many ways, & could be used

in many ways to assist in daily life.

• E.g., Should one’s descendants or

mortuary priesthood neglect to provide

funerary offerings, spells, depictions &

models could form effective magical

substitutes in place of real provisions.

• Hence, inanimate objects, etc., could

be imbued with magical powers,

whether as a symbolic substitute,

or a more active tool:

• E.g., Priestly implements used in the

Opening of the Mouth ceremony.


Amulets:

• Various artifacts used in daily life,

religious rituals, & as funerary items,

were designed & believed to benefit

the owner, be they living or deceased.

• Jewelry represents a significant

category of artifact that contained

amulets designed as beneficial aids

for both the living and deceased in

all age, gender, and social categories.

• Arabic hamulet = “something that is

borne or carried.”

• Most Anc. Egyptian jewelry acted as

protective devices –especially funerary

jewelry, but also items for the living.

• E.g., Protection against wild animals,

reptiles, insects, disease, starvation,

accidents, natural disasters, etc.

• E.g.,Sympathetic magic:attracting good


Amulets:

• Amulets varied widely:

• E.g., Various amulets represented

commonly recognized aids for all:

ankh-symbol for “life”

• E.g., Other amulets represented

specific aids for particular persons:

name-beads for protecting 1 person.

• Amulets are found in a wide range of

types, materials, and time periods:

- E.g., Small crowns = power

Sceptres = power

Staffs of office = power

- E.g., Deities = assistance

- E.g., Animals = assistance

- E.g., Body parts = healing

- E.g., Provisions = sustenance

- E.g., Possessions = comfort

• Etc.


Amulets:

• Some amulet types become very

popular and are found throughout

Egypt and outside Egypt:

• Sacred Eye-of-Horus (Wadjet):

→ representing completeness/intact

• The ankh-sign:

→ symbolizing “life”

• The tit-symbol:

→ indicating “fertility”

• The scarab-beetle amulet:

→ signifying eternal renewal of life

(based upon observations in nature)

• Such amulets increase over time,

being much more limited in the

Old Kingdom, but become increasingly

popular from the Middle Kingdom to

the Late Period, etc.


Amulets:

• The efficacy of many amulets

combined their form, colour, materials,

and sometimes personalized spells.

• E.g., Carnelian, turquoise, and lapis

lazuli were especially favoured stones

for amulets: i.e., = exotic imports.

• E.g., Colours, such as red, often were

popular via symbolizing “blood” and

thereby one’s life force and hence a

very powerful colour …

• Gold was especially powerful via its

imperishable nature (i.e., it did not

tarnish), its relative scarcity (i.e, high

value), and its association with the

flesh of deities (i.e., divine assoc.).

• Gold finger & toe stalls were placed

on mummified bodies to aid in the

preservation of these vulnerable digits.


Divine possessions:

• Temples also owned many items

associated with their deities’ cult

image:

- E.g., Clothing

Crowns

Jewellery

Regalia

Etc.

• Any items associated with a deity’s

cult image thereby gained a sacred

status via close association.

• Other more mundane implements

thus also gained a sacred association:

E.g., Items used in preparing meals

and making offerings.

• Such items would be stored within

specially safeguarded temple

storerooms. Ritual vessels used in offerings


Divine possessions:

• Hence, any items that gained an

especially sacred association with

a given deity, or cult image, would

in-turn become restricted:

• Only certain priests had access to

handling various sacred implements

and items associated with deities:

E.g., Lector priest, sem-priest.

• In handling such sacred items, priests

would be required to be ritually “pure”

i.e., A strict listing of purification

requirements would be followed by

various priests whilst on duty,

or in advance preparation for duty.

• Many temple doorways reminded

the priests about being pure, and

even about who could enter various

parts of the temple: i.e., deity’s home.

(7). CREATION

MYTHS:

EGYPTIAN CREATION MYTHS :

• Many different creation myths

and variants within and between

different cult centres through time:

• Different cities claim to be site of

primordial mound.

• Priestly syncretization of different myths

reveals a belief in their symbolism

rather than a literal meaning.

• Over time they admitted the existence

of multiple divine beings, but attempted

to explain the act of creation via

a single creative force or divinity.

• Their observations & creation myths revealed

a. An underlying “order” in the universe

b. Continuity (nat. cycle) in the universe

c. A balance between “order” & “chaos”

d. Optimism regarding maat vs. isfet Primordial mound

Heliopolis

Memphis

ThebesCoptos

Amarna

Hermopolis

- 1.a -

Heliopolitan

Creation Myth.

SUMMARY: Heliopolitan creation myth:• Before creation nothing existed in a dark mass of water (nun)

• Creator god Atum began moving within dark water.

• Atum created a mud hill, which emerged from the water.

• Atum created Shu (air = life).

Tefnut (moisture/rain

/dew = order).

• Shu-Tefnut produced Geb (earth)

Nut (sky)

• Geb-Nut bore 4/5 deities:Osiris (vegetation & cultivation)

Isis (throne; goddess of magic)

Seth (storms, desert, & intense heat)

Nephthys (goddess of the house)

• *Son/grandson Elder-Horus (falcon god) [variant myth]

Alternate version: Nut Bore the sun, stars, and planets.

• Shu separated Geb and Nut to allow more space on a now crowded earth.

Variant creation myths substitute Sun-god Re as creating Shu, Tefnut, etc.

-other gods & pantheons (e.g., Neith).

Early links between a Creation Myth (“the primordial mound”)

and augmenting rebirth in the afterlife via symbolic architecture.

Arms of Geb (earth deity)

and Horus (kingship deity)

lifting up & supporting mound

Lotus, = “rebirth”

Horus falcon (kingship deity)

perched on lotus.

Maat-feather of truth

(symbolizing order in universe)

IMAGE: Dyn.25 King Taharqa: NK rites of the

mound of Jemme = creation myth.

primordial mound

Links with the

beginnings of

kingship:

Osiris + Isis:

→Horus Earthly king

Osiris:

deceased

king &

Lord of

the Dead

Isis:

-Wife of Osiris

-Mother of Horus

-Protector of the

Dead

B. The Osiris Myth:→ King of Dead …

Old Kingdom and later:

• Explains origin of mummification & bandaging corpses.

• Seth’s battle against Osiris

(to win Osiris’ earthly throne & his wife Isis)

• Osiris’ departs on a long trip

• Seth makes a beautiful box the exact size of Osiris.

• Osiris returns

• Seth promises the box to whomever it fits perfectly.

• Osiris enters the box

• Seth seals it with lead and tosses it in the Nile.

• Osiris suffocates & dies.

• The box eventually gets stranded on a sandbar

• Osiris’ wife, Isis, finds the box and goes for help.

• Seth relocates the box and cuts up Osiris

• He throws the pieces into the Nile (to prevent resurrection).

• Isis, Nephthys, & Anubis (god of dead) locate most of Osiris.

• They piece Osiris back together with bandages.

• Isis and Nephthys force air into Osiris’ lungs, reviving him.

• Osiris and Isis conceived a child: Horus.

• Having died, Osiris cannot resume his rule of the living.

MYTH: The conflict of Horus & Seth:• Horus grows up & challenges Seth

for his father’s throne.

• Seth refuses to yield.

• Horus & Seth battle for decades.

• Issue remains unresolved.

• They finally submit the case

before Sun-god Re & jury of gods.

• Gods decide Horus has rightful claim,

but make him share throne with Seth.

→ explains imagery of Horus & Seth

crowning kings.

• Re later modifies his judgment to allow

Horus to inherit fully Osiris’ throne.

• This ruling reflects hereditary kingship

Osiris, Horus, and kingship:• How do these myths fit into

ancient Egyptian life?

• They justify

- crown prince’s

inheritance of the throne.

- his existence as a living god

on earth (Horus),

- his continuation as a god

in the afterlife (Osiris).

• Horus-the-Younger intervenes

on behalf of the dead,

pleading for mercy at their trial

before Osiris.

• Four Sons of Horus guard 4 canopic jars

of the mummified deceased

(Stomach, lungs, liver, intestines in jars).

• NOTE: Crown prince must bury father!

- 1.b -

Memphite

Creation Myth.

3100 BC

E.Dyn:

D.1-2

2700 BC

O.K.:

D.3-6

2200 BC

F.I.P.:

D.7-11

2040 BC

M.K.:

D.11-13

1700 BC

2.I.P.:

D.14-17

1550 BC

N.K.:

D.18-20

1070 BC

3.I.P.:

D.21-25

715 BC

L.P.:

D.26-31

332 BC

Memphite creation myth:

• Dyn.25 composition / “copy”

• Abstract & more sophisticated

Creator deity Ptah of Memphis:

• Usually a mummiform figure

• Creator deity

• Portrayed as chief deity

dominating other deities

• Associated with Earth

• Ptah Tatenen “Ptah of the

Primeval Mound”

• Equated with

a. Nun (father of Atum)

b. Naunet (mother of Atum)

c. Heart = “intelligence”

d. Tongue = creative forcePtah: patron god of Memphis

Ptah as a creator deity:

• Initiated creation using

his mind and speech

“Every word of the god

came into being through

what the heart mediated &

the tongue commanded.”

• Note: “heart” = mind

Ptah = linked with Atum:

• Heart = designated Atum

• Tongue = termed Atum

“The one who had made all things

And who created the gods.

He is Tatenen,

the one who begat the gods

and from whom all things proceeded …

He is the most powerful of the gods.”

Ib, h3ty =

“heart” =seat

of emotions &

the intellect!

Ptah is said to have …

a. Created all things,

b. Created the deities

c. Founded cities,

d. Made the provinces,

e. Assigned deities to

shrines,

f. Established offerings,

Ptah is linked with Horus,

providing a connection

with divine kingship.

Memphite theology:

• Spans mythology & theology,

• Contains abstract concepts,

• May be commissioned by

Nubian pharaohs to revitalize

Late Period Egypt.

- 1.c -

Hermopolitan

Myth.

CREATION MYTHS:

Hermopolitan Myth:

• Based at the cult centre for Thoth,

a deity of writing & wisdom.

• This creation myth has yielded several

variants: All focus upon emphasizing

this temple’s central role in creation

(i.e., temples competing for primacy).

In 1 version: Hermopolitan Ogdoad:

- Nun (primordial waters) + Naunet

- Huh (eternity) + Hauhet

- Kuk (darkness) + Kauket

- Amun (air) + Amaunet

• Frog-headed males;

• snake-headed females

• They are described creating the world

upon the “First Occasion”

• After they die, they dwell in the

Underworld ensuring the Nile flows

and the sun rises → maintaining life.

CREATION MYTHS:

Hermopolitan Myth:

In another version: the cosmic egg.

• Life began via a goose (“the great

cackler”), or ibis (Thoth), which laid an

egg on an island (primordial mound):

• Upon opening, the egg emitted air

→ life

• In another variant: The sun-deity Re

emerges as a bird and then creates

the world.

• A further variant describes a lotus

flower rising from the “sea of knives”

and blossoming, yielding:

- Re as a child

- A scarab that changes into a boy

from whose tears humanity emerges.

• Etc.

- 1.d -

Thebes

as the place

of creation.

Thebes as the place of creation:Dynasty 19 text (temp. Ramesses II)

“Thebes is normal beyond every other city.

The water and land were in her

from the first times.

(Then) sand came to delimit the fields

and to create her ground on the hillock;

thus earth came into being.

Then men came into being in her,

to found every city with her real name,

for their name is called “city” (only) under

the oversight of Thebes, the Eye of Re.

…

“How rich she is,” they say about her,

“in her name of Thebes!”

…

“Every other city is under (her) shadow,

To magnify themselves through Thebes.

She is the norm.”

Thebes

- 1.e -

The creation

of Humanity.(and related components)

Sun-god Re (All-Lord):

Middle Kingdom text.

“I made the four winds

that every man might breathe

thereof like his fellow in his time.…

I made the inundation

that the poor man might have rights

like the great man.…

I made every man like his fellow.

I did not command that they do evil,

(but) it was their hearts which

Violated what I had said.…

I made their hearts to cease

from forgetting the West (= death),

in order that divine offerings might be

given to the gods of the nomes.”

West = “Land of the Dead”

The creation of humanity:

Re-Atum variant:

• Shu and Tefnut become lost

in the waters of chaos

• Re-Atum dispatches his Eye

to search for them.

• Shu and Tefnut return

• Re-Atum’s tears of joy

become humanity

→ In this myth:

a. Humanity is a by-product.

b. Humanity is semi-divine

in origin.Rekhyt = “humanity”

Myth of Neith & Re in Esna Temple:• Relates a myth of

goddess Neith creating

-Egypt,

-30 gods,

-Re (who brings light).

• Neith’s son is born

from an egg.

• He creates

a light powerful

enough to blind

even Re.

• Re cries since

he cannot see

his mother Neith.

• Re’s tears become

men & women.

(Rekhyet)

• Re subsequently

rules Egypt.

Esna

NK Dyn.18:

Khnum fashions

Hatshepsut & Ka

(spirit double)

“The Potter god” Ptol.: Philae Temple, mammisi

Khnum as a creator-deity at

Elephantine (Southern Egypt):

• One of the oldest gods

• Ram/ram-headed man

• Ram = procreative powers

• Khnum = creator of life

• Modelling people on potter’s wheel

• Each person assigned life-span shay

(“That-which-is-ordained” → “fate”)

Aswan

- 2 -

Primordial mound

of creation

associated with tombs

and resurrection.

Early links between a Creation Myth (“the primordial mound”)

and augmenting rebirth in the afterlife via symbolic architecture.

Arms of Geb (earth deity)

and Horus (kingship deity)

lifting up & supporting mound

Lotus, = “rebirth”

Horus falcon (kingship deity)

perched on lotus.

Maat-feather of truth

(symbolizing order in universe)

IMAGE: Dyn.25 King Taharqa: NK rites of the

mound of Jemme = creation myth.

primordial mound

- 3 -

Myths relating to the

Destruction of Civilization:

“The Destruction of

Mankind”

Myth: destruction of humankind by the Eye-of-Re (Hathor/Sekhmet)• Re has become elderly.

• Humankind tired of his rule;

neglecting his worship.

• Re consulted other deities.

• Nun advised him to dispatch

his fierce Eye to destroy humankind.

• Eye-of-Re has persona of

Hathor: cow deity of beauty & love

Sekhmet: lioness deity of hunting & war

• Eye-of-Re slaughters humankind

in her persona of Sekhmet

• Blood fills the desert up to her ankles.

• Sekhmet disobeys Re’s command to stop.

• Council of gods advise Re to

cover ground with red-coloured beer

(to entice and incapacitate Sekhmet: Eye-of-Re).

• Sekhmet drinks the beer, gets drunk,

falls asleep, and humankind is saved.

• Drunken festivals held annually at

Hathor’s temple in Dendera (celebrating event).

New Kingdom: 1550-1069 BC

Chapter 175 Book of the Dead:

Creator god Atum speaking:

• In response to a question

about one’s lifespan …

“Thou art (destined) for millions

(of years), a lifetime of millions.→

I have caused that he send out

the great ones.

Further, I shall destroy all that

I have made, and this land

will return into Nun,

into the floodwaters,

as (in) the first state.

I (alone) am a survivor,

together with Osiris,

when I have made my form in another state,

serpents which men do not know and gods do not see.”

NUN

(8). HOUSEHOLD

DEITIES &

DOMESTIC

WORSHIP:

HOUSEHOLD DEITIES & WORSHIP:

Background:

• The Egyptian populace had limited

interactions with the main state cults:

- Witnessing public processions:

E.g., Beautiful Feast of the Valley

E.g., Opet Festival

E.g., Divine oracle (Deir el-Medineh)

- Participating in Abydos pilgrimage:

E.g., Establishing a shrine at Abydos

E.g., Portraying a pilgrimage there

- Interacting in outer court of temple

E.g., During special public festivals

E.g., Placing spirit-statue/gift in court

- Accessing deities via public chapel:

E.g., “Chapel of the hearing ear”

E.g., Village shrine dedicated to deities

- Cult figures in most state temples had

> restricted access to priests & elite.


Background:

• The Egyptian populace mostly relied

upon daily access to “household,”

community, etc., deities of var. types:

- Household shrines:

E.g., Venerated ancestors (DEM),

E.g., Various deities: Bes, Tauert, etc.

- Community shrines:

E.g., Meretseger (Lady of the Peak)

E.g., Patron deity of occupation or

community (Amenhotep I: DEM)

- External & peripheral shrines:

E.g., Mining shrines (Hathor in Sinai)

E.g., Way-stations, +, outside temples

E.g., Intermediaries (public statuary)

- Mortuary contexts (living-dead):

E.g., Various mortuary deities noted

within tomb chapels, burial chambers,

etc.


Background:

• Unlike the king who aimed at gaining

life, prosperity, and health for Egypt

(and himself) in both life and death,

→ The populace interacted at a lower

level with the supernatural / deities,

scaled according to their rank&status:

• Advice on daily issues:

E.g., Problems, health, illness, etc.

•Providing gifts/offerings in exchange

for some resolution regarding such

problems.

• Applying magic via supernatural

elements for either a good or an evil

outcome:

E.g., Removing hostile spirit forces

E.g., Assassination of the king (R.III)

• Various towns contain evidence …


Deir el-Medina / Medineh:

• This New Kingdom village housed the

workmen who cut & decorated the

royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings

(& Valley of the Queens).

• Despite their somewhat greater than

normal wealth, status & literacy (i.e.,

for privileged highly skilled workmen),

it is evident that religion represented

a major component in their daily lives.

- Their community deities included:

Amun-Re (otherwise = state deity),

who protected them.

- They also worshipped their village

founder: deified King Amenhotep I &

his mother: Queen Ahmose-Nefertari.

- DEM may be somewhat unusual,

however, owing to its special status

and more direct links with the king.



• The two main household deities at

Deir el-Medineh (and elsewhere) =

Bes and Tauert.

Bes:

• A lion-headed dwarf, usually with a

feathered headdress.

• Possibly of early foreign derivation:

i.e., Asiatic; Nubian.

• Often found associated with love,

marriage, music, dancing, child birth,

circumcision ceremonies, general

celebrations, & protection against evil.

• He appears as a painted or modeled

figure, often in an area of protection:

e.g., amulet, on a headrest, furniture,

• He often has a musical instrument

(tambourine), weaponry (knife), etc.



Tauert:

• Tauert represents a female deity who

protected women during childbirth.

• i.e., Female hippopotami are well-

known for their ferocity in protecting

their young (became a popular motif).

• She is the consort of Bes.

• She is portrayed as a female hippo

standing upright (on her hind legs).

• She is often featured in

a. wall-paintings (e.g., birthing boxes),

b. in carvings (e.g., on furniture),

c. in figurines (e.g., amulets).

• She is often armed with a knife

(i.e., protecting against potential evil).



Meretseger:

• A more local deity worshipped by the

villagers at Deir el-Medineh.

•She is found depicted on stelae in

the village shrines –alongside other

deities.

• Meretseger is worshipped in the form

of a female cobra.

• She is linked with inhabiting the

Sacred Peak above Deir el-Medineh

and Deir el-Bahri.

• She is a physical manifestation

of the “Peak of the West,” which lies

south of the Valley of the Kings.

• She is by extension also a goddess of

the adjacent Theban necropolis

(i.e., mentioned in funerary texts).

Meretseger: snake deity of the Peak (a nearby pyramidal Mt.)

The “Peak”



Hathor:

• The villagers also venerated Hathor,

who is portrayed in the Deir el-Bahri

mortuary temple of Hatshepsut as

a cow emerging from the mountain.

• Hathor is a goddess of love, music,

etc.

• In the Ptolemaic period, after the

village at Deir el-Medineh had been

abandoned, a stone temple was built

to Hathor beside the old settlement

& shrines (i.e., sacred place retained).

Other deities:

• Other deities are known from the

shrines at Deir el-Medineh:

- Asiatic deities (e.g., Resheph).



Divine oracles:

• The village priests participated in

carrying an image of the village deity

(e.g., a deified Amenhotep I), which

would be used to answer YES / NO

questions asked by var. petitioners.

• In theory, the spirit/will of the deity

entered the priestly barque-bearers,

making them move forwards (= YES),

or backwards (= NO).

• Other texts note the barque becoming

heavy, forcing a particular response

by its bearers.

• Such oracles were applied to all sorts

of things: resolving minor-major

disputes, var. enquiries, law suits, etc.

• Priests also held local village festivals

with procession of cult images.



Shrines for household deities:

• The household deities at DEM had

a special location with a small

wall-mounted, or inset shrine:

• The cult image was portrayed on a

vertical slab (stela).

• An offering table at the base of a stela

would receive the various offerings:

libations, food, products, incense,

recited spells & prayers, etc.

• Other ritual equipment included:

a. Water amphorae / jars

b. Braziers (i.e., burning incense)

c. Ritual equipment: pouring, etc.

• Some household stelae portray

females offering before the household

deity: symbolizing the actual rites that

would take place before the same stela



Evidence for personal piety:

• Various communal shrines near the

village contained stone slabs (stelae):

requesting aid, etc., from deities;

• Var. stelae contain humble admissions

of guilt, punishment, & redemption via

a deity: e.g., Meretseger.

• The list of sins include: blasphemy

(swearing falsely in a deity’s name),

neglecting to worship a deity/deities,

and other transgressions / sins.

• Range of presumed divine punishments

included various illnesses, problems,

etc.: e.g., blindness was believed to

be a particular punishment for sinning.

• This odd expression of piety has been

debated as reflecting Syrian influence,

or a rare preservation of popular piety.

Genre of a penitential hymn:

Neferabu’s votive stela to Mertseger (Turin Museum 102 [Stela 50058])

An affluent draftsman from Deir el-Medineh.

“Giving praise to the Peak of the West,

Kissing the ground to her ka (=spirit-double).

I give praise, hear (my) call,

I was a truthful man on earth!

Made by the servant in the Place-of-Truth,

Neferabu, justified.

(I was) an ignorant man and foolish,

Who knew not good from evil;

I did the transgression against the Peak,

And she taught a lesson to me.

I was in her hand by night as by day,

I sat on bricks like the woman in labor,

I called to the wind, it came not to me,

I libated to the Peak of the West,

great of strength,

And to every god and goddess.”

NB: Libated = pouring a liquid offering.

The Peak


Tell el-Amarna:

• During Akhenaten’s reign, the villagers

of Deir el-Medineh shifted to the new

royal capital at Tell el-Amarna: 10 yrs.

• Despite a state prohibition of worship

regarding Amun-Re and other deities,

& promotion of the Aten as sole god,

the village homes & mortuary shrines

display continued, tolerated?, worship

of Bes, Tauert, and even Amun(!).

• It is possible that the state: …

(a). Remained unaware of the villagers

transgressions,

(b). Realized but did not care about

household level religion: i.e., A-IV

had closed state-level temples.

• Of note: Akhenaten’s henchmen had

erased the names of var. deities from

private statuary elsewhere! (= private!)


Kahun / Lahun:

• The Middle Kingdom pyramid town of

Senwosret II (Dyn.12) initially served

the mortuary/divine cult of this ruler.

• This community, however, develops

into a less specialized town with a

broader spectrum of occupations and

religious worship.

• A typical range of household deities

appear in homes: e.g., Bes, Tauert.

• Other foreign deities may attest to

foreigners dwelling within the town

(noted in texts from Lahun / Kahun).

• These various household deities had

small shrines & received food offerings

in the home: e.g., stone dish stands

for offerings (1 = dec. with Bes-figures)

• Infant burials in boxes below floors

may represent a Levantine custom.

(9). MAGIC:

MAGIC:

Background:

• The O.E.D. defines “magic” as the …

“supposed art of influencing course of

events by occult control of nature or

of spirits,” and as “witchcraft.”

• In Ancient Egyptian belief, magic could

be used to obtain wisdom.

• Ancient Egypt did not make a real

distinction between religion and magic:

i.e., both found along same spectrum.

• Magic and magicians played a major

and respected role in Anc. Egy. society

(it was a respected discipline/learning).

• The deities had applied “magic” in the

creation of the world, etc.

• The Egyptian term for “magic” (heka)

also contains the sense of “to control

powers.”

MAGIC:

Background:

• Magic is used in private through state

temple and related contexts.

• Although the specific goals of these

applicants might have differed, their

methods overlapped: i.e., magic spells.

Temple magic:

• By applying various daily rites & spells,

the priesthood aimed to maintain Maat

(i.e., truth, order, balance, status quo)

within Egypt, the world, & cosmos.

• Likewise, such magic fought against

the elements of isfet (chaos, falsehood)

• Priestly maintenance of daily offerings

aimed at placating the deities, and

reinitiating the process of creation, &

providing eternal life, prosperity and

health for both the king & Egypt itself.

• Only specialized priests learned magic.

MAGIC:

Background:

Temple magic:

• The very design & decoration of Egy.

temples incorporated symbolic features

intended to bolster the temple’s aim:

i.e., Maintaining rebirth of creation and

associated emergent powers …

• The “Island of Creation” (primordial

mound) & ensuing vegetative growth

= replicated by the rising floor level &

the vegetative columns & decoration.

• The “Opening of the Mouth” rituals

activated the efficacy of the cult statues

& var. scenes throughout the temple:

i.e., enabling deities’ spirits to dwell &

interact with offerings, priests, etc.

• Replicating diverse rites & spells on

the temple walls enabled their rebirth

and efficacy: e.g., foundation scenes,

warding off evil, offerings, etc.

MAGIC:

Background:

Private magic:

• Private-level magic was used for var.

objectives:

- Protection against illness, accidents,

dangerous animals & people, etc.

• Sometimes aggression against a foe:

including attempts to assassinate the

king (e.g., magic used against R.III).

• Magicians’ services = also retained

for combating perceived supernatural

powers: e.g., Malevolent spirits.

• Magicians also applied various spells

and remedies for healing.

• Magic and medicine overlap, with the

Ancient Egyptians trying all forms of

cures for diverse ailments.

• Priests = magicians

MAGIC:

Background:

Medical magic:

• Most straightforward ailments could be

treated by more scientific medicine:

e.g., Setting a broken limb, etc.

• Doctors would take note of the

patient’s symptoms and would then

apply a variety of proven treatments.

• For illnesses and ailments that defied

more conventional medicines, patients

often turned to magic.

• Persistent ailments would often be

attributed to a malevolent spirit (dead),

spell cast by an enemy, or divine anger.

• Counteractive magic included spells

& rituals incorporating music, dancing,

shaped figurines (i.e., voodoo), water,

wine, oils, aromatics, etc.

MAGIC:

Background:

Daily magic:

• Many beliefs & superstitions governed

most Anc. Egyptians daily lives, which

incorporated various levels of magic:

• Certain colours were considered

lucky/beneficial: e.g., green for fertility.

• Written spells were adopted to guard

against harmful entities: e.g., scorpions

• Particular materials had efficacious

properties: e.g., gold = everlasting.

• Various protective amulets were worn:

e.g., amulets against snake bites.

• Combining many/all of these elements

would be considered to make a

particularly effective protection: i.e.,

using a colour, spell, material, & form

that addressed a specific-general issue

MAGIC:

Background:

Funerary magic:

• The “Opening of the Mouth” ceremony

was also applied in funerary settings

to activate magically the efficacy of …

a. Tomb scenes: e.g. symbolic offerings

b. Tomb models: e.g., sustenance, etc.

c. Spirit statues: e.g., substitute house

for the spirit (ka) of the deceased.

d. Mummified corpse: e.g., housing the

spirit (ka) of the deceased.

• Special amuletic jewelry provided

protection for the hazards en-route to

the afterlife: e.g., heart scarab; etc.

MAGIC:

Priest-magician:

• Priest-magicians required much study

to master an immense quantity of

spells, rituals, and related lore to aid

in protection or counteracting harm.

• Ancient Egyptian texts reveal much

respect for magician-priests in society.

• They could read & write, and spent

many years studying in var. schools

and temples: i.e., apprentice-training.

• Temples had a “House of Life,” which

contained large libraries of diverse lore

including magic & religious texts:

E.g., Books of Magic (in royal archive)

• Magicians = attributed with knowing

a broad range of knowledge & secrets.

• Despite a belief in preordained fate,

magicians were thought to have some

influence over such things.

MAGIC:

Magical tools and objects:

• Anc. Egypt has yielded at least two

magicians’ sets of implements:

Kahun/Lahun-magician:

• A Middle Kingdom house at Lahun has

produced a magician’s kit placed in a

hole in the floor of one room.

• The kit contained a wooden figurine

of a “masked magician” wearing a

garment with a tail (poss. = just Bes).

• It was accompanied by a pair of ivory

clappers: often used to drive off evil

(Bes is depicted using similar ones).

• An adjacent room also held a full-scale

cartonnage mask (of Bes).

• Presumably the magician dressed-up

as Bes and carried out var. rituals

assuming the powers of Bes … (he

probably was a community magician).

MAGIC:

Magical tools and objects:

West Bank-magician:

• A Dyn.12 tomb near the Ramesseum

produced a temple magician’s kit:

• A wooden chest yielded:

- Papyri: i.e., spells & rituals.

- Diverse figurines of glazed faience,

metal, wood, and stone: i.e., possibly

acting like voodoo-figures, but being

used to protect or to counteract evil.

- Ivory wands bearing a design with

concentric circles: i.e., some form of

implement to drive of evil, etc.

- Ivory plaques with incised animal

figures: i.e., presumably used in

repelling various dangerous forces,

and in assuming a specific animal’s

powers to counteract evil, etc.

(10). PERSONAL

PIETY, ETHICS,

and MORALS:

Personal piety, ethics & morals:

Background:

• Anc. Egyptian religious texts omit

details regarding ethics, morals, and

personal piety (but do have negative

confessions, etc, providing some data:

see Book of the Dead).

•Various funerary texts reveal different

modes of ideal behaviour:

e.g., Clothing the naked

e.g., Feeding the hungry

e.g., Sheltering the destitute

• The main sources for understanding

Anc. Egyptian concepts of morality,

include:

a. Wisdom Literature: i.e., instructions,

b. Schoolboy Texts: i.e., diverse items,

c. Pious prayers from Deir el-Medineh,


Wisdom Literature / Texts:

• This genre of literature portrays an

older wise individual, or a king,

imparting advice to a son, or student.

• The advice normally focuses on

how to comport oneself and behave in

personal & professional relationships.

• The earliest known wisdom text dates

from the Old Kingdom, but reflects an

already established code of conduct

(theoretically introduced by the gods).

Dynasty 4: Prince Hardedef.

• A son of King Khufu (Greek = Cheops)

• Later venerated as a wise man.

• Instructing his son, Au-ib-re, how to

act in life, develop his career, & thus

obtain a secure & prosperous future.


Dynasty 5: Ptah-hotep’s Instruction:

• A major Wisdom Text containing 37

chapters describing how one should …

a. Obey one’s parents;

b. Obey one’s superiors;

c. Behave modestly;

d. Be humble;

e. Exhibit self-control (calm-tempered);

f. Be truthful;

g. Apply tact in delicate situations;

h. Be well-mannered;

i. Deal fairly with all persons

(regardless of lower-higher rank);

• This text also incorporated particularly

excellent writing & was copied often.

Dyn.6(?): Instruction for Kagemni.

• Set in Dyn.3, portraying King Huni

asking his vizier to record his wisdom

for the benefit of his children …


New Kingdom Wisdom Texts:

• Changes in New Kingdom society

are reflected in NK Wisdom Texts

–now emphasizing middle-class values!

E.g., NK Instruction of Any:

• In Any’s instruction to his son, his son

is portrayed as questioning his father’s

advice (a technique not seen before,

but used to increase the dialogue).

• The text concludes with the son

accepting his father’s advice.

E.g., Ramesside Wisdom Texts:

• Culmination of Wisdom Text genre,

with much greater emphasis upon

modesty & humility, which = promoted

as being superior to wealth & success.

E.g., Ptolemaic Wisdom Texts:

• Instruction of Ankhsheshonqy who

is falsely accused & advises his son.


Famous wise men / sages:

• Various Anc. Egyptians later became

venerated for their code of conduct

and wisdom, often being deified:

E.g., Amenhotep son of Hapu:

• He served under Amenhotep III (D.18)

as a master builder, constructing

Luxor Temple, royal mortuary temple,

& many other things.

• His many great achievements earned

him the honour of his own massive

mortuary temple amongst royal ones,

supplied by a royal endowment.

• He is deified and sought out by the

general populace after his death.

• His statues appear at several temples,

& at Deir el-Bahri he was worshipped

as a deity of healing (his shrine was

visited by those seeking cures).


Summary:

• The textual and material evidence

to-date reveals that Ancient Egyptians

were generally quite religious.

• The middle through upper classes

display a desire to follow a code of

conduct, albeit admitting var. failures.

• In contrast, fluctuating periods of

hardship and decline also reveal

increasing cases of corruption, theft,

etc., at all levels of society.

• Frequent cases of tomb robbery from

Predynastic through Roman periods

demonstrate that the tomb robbers’

desires far outstripped any fears they

might have regarding divine retribution

• Hence, personal piety, ethics & morals

fluctuated in good-bad times, from the

upper to lower classes & by individuals


Monotheism & cult of the Aten:

• The Aten is known as an aspect of the

sun-god Re in the MK, and emerges

as a solar deity under T-IV and A-III.

• The Hymn to the Aten is the best

surviving evidence for the new religion.

• Akhenaten drew upon some existing

concepts in re-designing his religion,

and attempted to return the kingship

to the OK status of sole rep. of deities.

• He did, however, promote the Aten as

a “sole” state deity–closing down the

cults of Amun-Re and all other gods,

erasing names & even the word “gods”

• He introduced a new art, architecture,

religion, capital, etc., but it did not

appeal to most Egyptians: i.e., =

no formulated afterlife (e.g., Osiris) …

• His motives remain in question …

Amenhotep IV:

Form of Sun-disk (Aten):

- Falcon-headed form of Aten disappears

- Aten → shown as sun-disk with rays

projecting downwards ending in hands

extending life (ankh) & dominion (w3s)

to A-IV & Qn. Nefertiti.

- Aten's name now in 2 cartouches

- Aten celebrates sed-festival like king.

Years 2-4 building program:

- Builds temples to Aten at Thebes in years:

2: Gemet-pa-aten “The Aten is found”

3: Rwd-menu “Enduring in monuments”

3: Teni-menu “Exalted in monuments”

4: Hwt-Benben “Mansion of the benben-stone”

Amenhotep IV:



- Aten shown as sun-disk with rays







- Builds temples to Aten at Thebes in years:




4: Hwt-Benben “Mansion of the benben-stone” Years 6-9 cartouches of the Aten

Amenhotep IV:



- Aten shown as sun-disk with rays







- Builds temples to Aten at Thebes in years …:




4: Hwt-Benben “Mansion of the benben-stone”

The Aten also receives

a royal uraeus:i.e., a protective cobra

placed below the sun-disk

Uraeus (protective cobra)

Amenhotep IV

→ Akhenaten:

No later than Year-5:

Royal-name change:

- Amenhotep IV changes

his name to Akhenaten:

“He who is effective

on the Aten's behalf”

Akhenaten now

serves Aten as

a. “Chief of seers

of the Aten”

b. “High Priest.”

- Akhenaten =

now officially

the sole earthly

representative

of the Aten.

Some argue that Amenhotep III may have died in yr 2

prior to sed-festival & introduction of radical reforms

Akhenaten:

New solar triad:

(1)Aten,

(2) Akhenaten,

(3) Nefertiti.

- Duplicates Heliopolitan

solar religion triad

based upon …

a. creator-god Nefertum

(now = Aten), who begat

b. Shu (= Akhenaten)

c. Tefnut (= Nefertiti).

d. 4 daughters → Ennead of nine deities?

- New emphasis upon Maat ("truth", "order")

(now NOT usually a deity [det. = removed];

= more of a abstract concept).

- Great Hymn to Aten emphasises

all men equal regardless of race

(similarities to Psalm 104).

Akhenaten:

Selection of new

residence & capital:

- Year-5: Akhenaten

decides to abandon …

a. administrative capital

of Memphis

b. religious, economic,

& royal residence

centre of Thebes.

- Selects a new site at

Tell el-Amarna,

a. 320 km. south of Memphis

b. 400 km. north of Thebes

- Named Akhetaten:

“Horizon of the Aten”

(dedicated solely to the Aten).

Akhenaten’s inspired location of

an ideal site for city of Akhet-Aten,

plus an Eastern wadi for royal tomb

Akhenaten:

Years 8-12:

- Aten’s name = modified to include

references only to sun-god Re:

“Long live Re, ruler of the two horizons,

he who rejoices in the horizon

in his name as Re the father

who returns as Aten.” (= year 9)

- Akhenaten represented as sole

intermediary between Aten & Egypt

- All access to Aten, its cult, the cult's

income and estates = via Akhenaten.

Note:

- Although Amun cult is “destroyed”,

Akhenaten does not make adequate

provision for his successor.

- He makes too many enemies for his

religion to survive his reign.

Akhenaten:

Year 9: Aten receives modified name:

“Re, horizon ruler, who rejoices

on the horizon in his name of

Re the father, who has returned

as the sun-disk.”

Post-year-9: Akhenaten

1. closes down other cult centres,

2. all cultic estates & revenues → Aten

3. begins erasing name of Amun from

all monuments & items in Egypt,

4. erasing plural word (3 lines = plural)

for “gods” (ntjrw): is this monotheism?

5. Akhenaten did tolerate non-Atenistic

elements & other deities in new cult

(e.g., Hathor; Mnevis bull; Re; etc.)

→ Hence, his cult = henotheism

(i.e., worship of mainly one deity,

without denying existence of others).

If a co-regency occurred and

Lasted to years 8/9,

this would represent the best

point to make such a radical

move …

Akhenaten:





as the sun-disk.”














Hieroglyphic

determinative

often added

to netjer

(for “god”)

Hieroglyph netjerw: “gods”

Akhenaten:





as the sun-disk.”














Hathor-sistra

Ancestral jackal deities in scene with Aten

Akhenaten:

Tolerating traditional cults of poor:

- In contrast, material culture

evidence from poorer population,

at Amarna and elsewhere,

reveal traditional domestic cults.

- Some scholars interpret this

as signifying that Akhenaten's

motives were more political?

and not purely intellectual,

religious, or monotheistic.

- BUT the poorer populace

would have noticed …

a. cessation of major festivities

and processions,

b. loss of income of persons,

relatives, or friends

(employed by cults of

non-Aten complexes).

Various traditional deities continue at Amarna during the core period of Atenism:

E.g., Hathor, goddess of music, appears in sistra throughout A-IV’s reign

This particular example

illustrates a Hathor-sistrum

held by a more traditionally

depicted Queen Nefertiti.

Retention at Amarna of A-III period menat-necklace counter weight, depicting Isis

Akhenaten:

Yrs 9+ prohibits name of Amun & gods:

- Stelophorous statue of Hednakht

with traditional deities erased from

line 4.

- Saqqara tomb of Merneith: altered

his name in year 9 to Meritre in

2 places, but missed a third place

(i.e., where it remained in original

form). = overlooked / …

Tolerance of non-Atenist traditional Egyptian deities in private sphere:

i.e., Moulds for deities and statuettes of deities in city of Amarna

Nile deity Hapy Hippopotamus

Deity Taweret

(childbirth deity)

Cobra (Meretseger?)

Protecting household

City of Amarna: minor non-Atenist

household deities = state toleration

Bes-figure

moulds

Worship of Taweret:

Protectress of women

in labour/child birth

Bes

from

Amarna

Unfinished limestone statuette from Amarna of a couchant ram:

= Traditional animal manifestation of the god Amun-Re(!)From household setting: i.e.,post-year 9 → tolerance for minor household cults?

Private (elite) garden shrines: Akhenaten = mediator to the Aten

Private household cults of the royal family and the Aten:

Main Shrine in Workmen’s Village at Amarna:

reconstruction of fragmentary painted walls.

Funerary banquet scene in Main Chapel

Surprises in Main Shrine (and others) in

the workmen’s village at Tell el-Amarna:

• Some Tomb Chapels surprisingly

yielded painted decoration & frags.

bearing the names of Amun-Re,

Shed, Isis & Aten: Chapels 525, 529, R19.

• The Main Chapel has also yielded

an ex-situ painted plaster frag. with

the name of Amun-Re (& the Aten).

• The initial investigators presumed

the chapels in question reflected

the late Amarna shift back to the

cult of Amun: Sakere & Tutankhamun

• The art in the chapels also reflects

> traditional Theban art (NOT the

new Amarna-style found in the

elite rock-cut tombs & city paintings)

• A few minor influences of Amarna

art appear in chapels: elongated chins

Amarna Workmen’s Village,

Chapel 525, square R19:

Painted plaster fragment bearing the

name Amun-Re

See F. Weatherhead and B. J. Kemp, 2007. The Main Chapel

at the Amarna Workmen’s Village and its Wall Paintings.

Tell el-Amarna: Royal Tomb of Akhenaten.

Amarna Royal tomb decoration:

• Different decorative scheme in Akhenaten’s tomb vs. other NK royal tombs:

- Numerous fragmentary wall scenes, which focus on portraying

a. Akhenaten and his family’s public & private life (Window of Appearance).

b. Rewarding officials; travelling through city in chariot; playing with daughters

c. Akhenaten offering before Aten

d. Akhenaten and Nefertiti mourning death of Mekitaten

- Omits traditional journey of the sun through the Underworld alongside

the diverse traditional funerary deities

Tell el-Amarna:

Royal Tomb.

Reconstructed

fragments from

Akhenaten’s granite

Sarcophagus

(yr.9+ forms of name).

Dominated by the Aten

-disk on all four sides

(& addressed by king)

King & queen

receiving “life” etc.

held out by Aten rays

Innovation: figure of

Qn. Nefertiti occurs at

each corner;

Later replaced by the

traditional protectors

Isis, Nephthys, Neith,

and Selkis (King Tut+).

The Aten & mortuary cults:

Rock-cut Ka-spirit statues continue

- The Amarna elite tombs yield the

remains of rock-cut Ka-spirit statues

suggesting a continuation in some

mortuary beliefs regarding the spirit.

- The banquet scene & htp-di-nsw

offering formula also continues …

MORTUARY RELIGION:

Aten cult fails to fill certain needs:

a. No ethical teachings

b. No judgement in the afterlife

c. No description of afterlife

other than the sun keeping

deceased's Ba (soul) near

the temple altar.

d. No details concerning

nocturnal cycle.

Ka-spirit statue of Ahmose (at Amarna)

The Aten & mortuary cults:

Rock-cut Ka-spirit statues continue

- The Amarna elite tombs yield the

remains of rock-cut Ka-spirit statues

suggesting a continuation in some

mortuary beliefs regarding the spirit.

- The banquet scene and htp-di-nsw

offering formula also continues …

MORTUARY RELIGION:

Aten cult fails to fill certain needs:

a. No ethical teachings

b. No judgement in the afterlife

c. No description of afterlife

other than the sun keeping

deceased's Ba (soul) near

the temple altar.

d. No details concerning

nocturnal cycle.

?

Akhenaten:

Controlling the elite:

- Officially elite throughout Egypt

could no longer call on Osiris,

god of the Dead,

to assist them to the afterlife.

- Instead, they had to rely

solely upon Akhenaten

for access to the Aten,

a deity much more abstract

and separated from the

traditional and more human

deities of Egypt.

- Akhenaten sought, effectively,

via the Aten, to control his elite

subjects entirely, in life & death.Note: The shabti spell from the

Book of the Dead= mostly omitted

from shabtis in the Amarna period

BUT there still are some references

to the DUAT (Underworld) elsewhere

Shabti-figurine of Shabti-figurine of

Isis, chantress of Aten Chantress of Aten

?

Akhenaten:

Controlling the elite:

- Officially elite throughout Egypt

could no longer call on Osiris,

god of the Dead,

to assist them to the afterlife.

- Instead, they had to rely

“solely” upon Akhenaten

for access to the Aten,

= a deity much more abstract

and separated from the

traditional and more human

deities of Egypt.

- Akhenaten sought, effectively?,

via the Aten, to ‘control’ his

elite subjects in life & death.

BUT yet we also see variance in individual burials, rites, furnishings, etc.

→ See further below …

(11). LINKS WITH

OTHER

RELIGIONS:

Links with other religions & deities

Foreign deities:

• Anc. Egypt adopted foreign deities

into its pantheon beginning in the

Predynastic and continuing through

the Ptolemaic-Roman period.

Osiris:

• A deity of growing vegetation (re-birth);

• Becomes king of the Underworld;

• Theorized as possibly having entered

Egypt as a human king from: Nubia,

Libya, Syria, or Anatolia in Predyn.

Horus:

• Horus falcon later intimately tied with

Kingship (& linked with Osiris).

• Theorized also as having entered

Egypt in Predynastic from Punt,

Arabia, or Mesopotamia (via trade).

Sun-god Re:

• Possibly from SW Asia, Arabia, Crete.


Libyan & Nubian deities:

• In earlier times in the pharaonic period

Egypt encountered peoples & religions

from Nubia, Libya, E. Desert, and

Southwest Asia.

• Egyptian religion & pantheon may

have been influenced by these areas:

Libya:

• Neith –goddess of hunting (W. Delta)

• Ash(?) –deity representing the desert.

Nubia:

• Dedun –a Nubian bird-deity entered

the Egy. Pantheon (linked with Horus).

E. Desert:

• Sopdu –Lord of the East, worshipped

in South Sinai at MK-NK Hathor shrine

may be an Eastern Desert Bedu-deity.


Asiatic deities:

• Egypt had increasing contact with

SW Asia from the Middle Kingdom +,

and especially during the NK empire.

• Although various Egyptian deities

(e.g., Amun-Re) and the king, as a

protector of his peoples & territories,

expand into imperial-controlled lands,

foreign deities, religions, & influence

enter Egypt alongside 1000s of POWs

• E.g., Levantine deities worshipped in

Egypt by foreign captives & residents.

• Many of these deities = Egyptianized:

- Egyptian garments & regalia

- Egyptian attributes

- Egyptian-style temples

• Cults of Ba‘al/Seth, Ba’alat, Astarte,

Reshep, ‘Anat, Harun, & Qudshu rise

at Memphis, Pi-Ramesse, Giza,

Fayoum and Deir el-Medineh (Thebes). Astarte


Asiatic deities:

• These deities can be subdivided into

various types:

Fertility goddesses:

- Qudshu, ‘Anat, and Astarte.

War deity:

- Reshep.

Healing deity:

• Ishtar of Nineveh (sent to Egypt).

Other deities:

• Ba’al, Ba’alat, Hurun, etc.

Worship:

• By foreigners in household shrines

• By Egyptians in temples dedicated to,

or incorporating, such deities.


Asiatic deities:

• It remains uncertain whether Egyptian

deities entered the Canaanite pantheon

• The New Kingdom policy of taking

young Canaanite princes, etc., hostage

and Egyptianizing them in the Egy. Kap

(i.e., educational institution in palace)

suggests Egyptian religion & deities

would have influenced the Canaanite

elite over time (hostages → Canaan).

• However, various local Canaanite

deities were equated with an Egyptian

equivalent deity:

E.g., The “Great Chief of Ashkelon” =

equated with “Ptah-south-of-his-Wall.”

E.g., Byblos had a temple to “Hathor,”

who served as the “Lady of Byblos.”

E.g., Gaza had an Egy-temple to Amun

E.g., Egy. erected stelae at Ugarit & BS


Asiatic deities:

•Egypto-Levantine relations intensified

during the New Kingdom empire,

with many Levantines entering Egypt,

& many Egyptians entering the Levant.

• Egyptians are known to settle+reside

in various parts of Syria-Palestine:

E.g., Merchants at Ugarit (Lebanon)

• Cross-cultural marriages occurred

• Egyptianizing influences appear in

varying degrees at different settlements

E.g., Major trading partners: Byblos

E.g., Garrison bases: e.g., Beth Shan

E.g., Elite Egyptianized Canaanite

rulers (former hostages in Egypt)

• Egyptian influences do appear in some

Egy. NK garrison temples in Canaan, &

later in the Iron Age (Egy. Late Period).


Egyptian texts & the Bible:

• Egyptian religion, which is founded

on diverse cultic beliefs and rituals,

differs markedly from Judaism and

later Christianity, which were founded

on scripture: i.e., a “divine revelation.”

• More parallels occur between Anc.

Egyptian religion & Canaanite religion.

• However, some Egyptian influence is

present in the Old & New Testaments.

• Egy.Wisdom Texts display similarities

with texts in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,

the Song of Solomon, Psalms, & Job.

E.g.,1250 BC Instruction of Amenemope

has more direct parallels with Proverbs.

E.g.,1340 BC Great Hymn to the Aten

has close parallels with Psalm 104.


Nubia:

• Egypt had increasingly focused on

exploiting & later annexing Nubia

from the Old through New Kingdoms.

• This intensifying Egyptian contact

& presence, including Nubians who

migrated to Egypt for employment

(e.g., military service), introduced

many aspects of Egy. culture to Nubia

• Egyptian influence becomes especially

evident in Dynasty 25 (Kushite period)

when a Kushite kingdom emerges

in Southern Nubia under the patronage

of Amun-Re (an Egyptian deity).

•Egyptian religion & culture continued

to influence Nubian art, architecture,

religion, etc. in subsequent periods:

E.g., Meroitic period: 6th cent. BC to

4th cent. AD.


Hellenistic & Roman Worlds:

• Alexander the Great liberated Egypt

from the Persian empire in ca. 332 BC

• Egypt fell under the control of the

Macedonians, Ptolemies, & later the

Roman empire.

• The Isis cult, including Osiris, spread

throughout the Roman empire, and

vied with early Christianity.

• Anc. Egyptian concepts & motifs may

have influenced early Christianity:

- E.g., Death, rebirth & resurrection

(making Christianity more palatable

to Egyptian & other converts).

- E.g., The Egyptian Osiris Myth has

a Judgment Day for the deceased,

which may have influenced early

Christianity.


Surviving traditions:

• Other Anc. Egyptian beliefs survive in

altered forms in modern Egypt:

Festival of Sham el-Nessim:

• Exchanging painted eggs to celebrate

Spring: re-birth of vegetation & life.

i.e., = Anc. Festival of Khoiakh.

Festival of Awru el-Nil:

• Flowers are tossed into the Nile in

celebration of the annual inundation.

i.e., Anc. Egy. festival celebrated this.

Festival of el-Arbeiyin:

• Family brings food offerings to the

burial place 40 days after interment,

& later distribute the food to the poor.

i.e., Funerary banquets in Anc. Egypt

waited until mummification = complete.

Festival of Oars (Abu Hagig):

• Reflects anc. Opet festival in Luxor.

(12).

Selected sources

on Ancient Egyptian

religion of the Living

Selected sources for

Ancient Egyptian

religion, myths,

temples, priests,

rituals & deities …

Important studies on Ancient Egyptian myths, temples and deities

2002 2002


1991 2001


1998 1992


1959 1986


1990 1988


2013 1996


1997 2000


1997 1984


2008 1999


2000 2009


2000 2005


2013 2011


1997 1985


2016 2003


2003 1986


2004 1996


2001 1984


1992 1999

Studies on Levantine & Levantine affiliated deities in New Kingdom Egypt

2009 2013: See pp. 65-67 for Levantine links

Documentary (Age of Gold) on Second Intermediate Period to early Dyn.18+

Late 1990s –Ancient Egypt Uncovered:

episode 4: Deities and Demons.

episode 5: Postmortem.

Selected sources for

Ancient Egyptian

deities, state religion,

& household religion

especially the Village

of Deir el-Medineh

Important studies on Ancient Egyptian religion, temples and deities

2003 1986

Important studies on NK private religion in households, tombs, etc.

19901984


19992002


20111999


19941982


1991 1984

Documentary series (Ancient Lives) on New Kingdom Deir el-Medineh …

1984: Ancient Lives, episodes 1-2

Still a top favourite of mine …

Documentary series (Ancient Lives) on New Kingdom Deir el-Medineh …

1984: Ancient Lives, episodes 3-4

Still a top favourite of mine …

Note: bonus program on making pharaonic

beer (23 mins.) –1994.

Selected

SOURCES ON

AKHENATEN’S

REIGN …

Important studies on the reign of Akhenaten and related matters

19841988


19991988


20142001


20151995


20002006


1988 (D. B. Redford): E. Karnak1976 (D. B. Redford): E. Karnak

Anth.446 Ppt. lecture-6: Religion of the living in Ancient Egypt (by G. Mumford; 2014 Anth.446/646)

Documents

Transcript of Anth.446 Ppt. lecture-6: Religion of the living in Ancient Egypt (by G. Mumford; 2014 Anth.446/646)