Egyptian Solar Religion in the New Kingdom

Egyptian Solar Religion in the New Kingdom PDF Author: Jan Assmann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 071030465X
Category : Amon (Egyptian deity).
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
First Published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Egyptian Solar Religion in the New Kingdom

Egyptian Solar Religion in the New Kingdom PDF Author: Jan Assmann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 071030465X
Category : Amon (Egyptian deity).
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Get Book Here

Book Description
First Published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Egyptian Solar Religion in the New Kingdom

Egyptian Solar Religion in the New Kingdom PDF Author: Jan Assmann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136159061
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
Revised and expanded, this volume deals with the religious traditions of ancient Egypt, which have come down to us in a state which is both extremely fragmentary and complex. New material - especially hymns collected in Theban tombs - now allows a much more precise allocation of religious texts and ideas in terms of time, place and social context. Within the field of solar religion, no less than five different traditions have to be distinguished: 1) the liturgical traditions of the royal solar cult, which for their secrecy and exclusivity are labelled the "mysteries" of the sun cult; 2) the traditional mythology of the solar course expressed in hymns and pictorial representations; 3) the revolutionary process culminating in the Amarna period, which discards the mythic images and gives a monotheistic construction of the solar course, a process which starts before Akhenaten's revolution; 4) the theology of Amun-Re, the God of Thebes, before the Amarna Period, a theology of primacy where one god acts as chief of a pantheon; and 5) the quite different theology of this same Amun-Re after Amarna, a theology which answers the monotheistic experience by developing a kind of pantheism - the concept of the hidden god - who is both cosmic god and personal saviour.

Akhenaten and the Origins of Monotheism

Akhenaten and the Origins of Monotheism PDF Author: James K. Hoffmeier
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199792143
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
Pharaoh Akhenaten, who reigned for seventeen years in the fourteenth century B.C.E, is one of the most intriguing rulers of ancient Egypt. His odd appearance and his preoccupation with worshiping the sun disc Aten have stimulated academic discussion and controversy for more than a century. Despite the numerous books and articles about this enigmatic figure, many questions about Akhenaten and the Atenism religion remain unanswered. In Akhenaten and the Origins of Monotheism, James K. Hoffmeier argues that Akhenaten was not, as is often said, a radical advocating a new religion, but rather a primitivist: that is, one who reaches back to a golden age and emulates it. Akhenaten's inspiration was the Old Kingdom (2650-2400 B.C.E.), when the sun-god Re/Atum ruled as the unrivaled head of the Egyptian pantheon. Hoffmeier finds that Akhenaten was a genuine convert to the worship of Aten, the sole creator God, based on the Pharoah's own testimony of a theophany, a divine encounter that launched his monotheistic religious odyssey. The book also explores the Atenist religion's possible relationship to Israel's religion, offering a close comparison of the hymn to the Aten to Psalm 104, which has been identified by scholars as influenced by the Egyptian hymn. Through a careful reading of key texts, artworks, and archaeological studies, Hoffmeier provides compelling new insights into a religion that predated Moses and Hebrew monotheism, the impact of Atenism on Egyptian religion and politics, and the aftermath of Akhenaten's reign.

Temple of the World

Temple of the World PDF Author: Miroslav Verner
Publisher:
ISBN: 9774165632
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 625

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Book Description
Despite the prominence of ancient temples in the landscape of Egypt, books about them are surprisingly rare; this new and essential publication from a prominent Czech scholar answers the need for a study that goes beyond temple architecture to examine the spiritual, economic and political aspects of these specific institutions and the dominant roles they played. Miroslav Verner presents a deeper and more complex study of major ancient Egyptian religious centers, their principal temples, their rise and decline, their religious doctrines, cults, rituals, feasts, and mysteries. Also discussed are the various categories of priests, the organization of the priesthood, and its daily services and customs. Each chapter offers the reader essential and up-to-date information about temple complexes and the history of their archaeological exploration, in the context of the spiritual dimension and cultural legacy of ancient Egypt.

The Search for God in Ancient Egypt

The Search for God in Ancient Egypt PDF Author: Jan Assmann
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801487293
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
First English-language edition, with revisions and additions by the author.This classic work by one of the world's most distinguished Egyptologists was first published in German in 1984. The Search for God in Ancient Egypt offers a distillation of Jan Assmann's views on ancient Egyptian religion, with special emphasis on theology and piety. Deeply rooted in the texts of ancient Egypt and thoroughly informed by comparative religion, theology, anthropology, and semiotic analysis, Assmann's interpretations reveal the complexity of Egyptian thought in a new way.Assmann takes special care to distinguish between the "implicit" theology of Egyptian polytheism and the "explicit" theology that is concerned with exploring the problem of the divine. His discussion of polytheism and mythology addresses aspects of ritual, the universe, and myth; his consideration of explicit theology deals with theodicy and the specifics of Amarna religion.

From Akhenaten to Moses

From Akhenaten to Moses PDF Author: Jan Assmann
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9774166310
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Book Description
The shift from polytheism to monotheism changed the world radically. Akhenaten and Moses--a figure of history and a figure of tradition--symbolize this shift in its incipient, revolutionary stages and represent two civilizations that were brought into the closest connection as early as the Book of Exodus, where Egypt stands for the old world to be rejected and abandoned in order to enter the new one. The seven chapters of this seminal study shed light on the great transformation from different angles. Between Egypt in the first chapter and monotheism in the last, five chapters deal in various ways with the transition from one to the other, analyzing the Exodus myth, understanding the shift in terms of evolution and revolution, confronting Akhenaten and Moses in a new way, discussing Karl Jaspers' theory of the Axial Age, and dealing with the eighteenth-century view of the Egyptian mysteries as a cultural model.

Egyptian Myth: A Very Short Introduction

Egyptian Myth: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Geraldine Pinch
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0192803468
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
This text explains the cultural and historical background to the fascinating and complex world of Egyptian myth, with each chapter dealing with a particular theme.

Architecture, Astronomy and Sacred Landscape in Ancient Egypt

Architecture, Astronomy and Sacred Landscape in Ancient Egypt PDF Author: Giulio Magli
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107032083
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
Most of the "wonders" of our ancient past have come down to us unencumbered by written information. In particular, this is the case of the Great Pyramid of Giza and of many other ancient Egyptian monuments. However, there is no doubt as to the interest of their builders in the celestial cycles: the "cosmic order" was indeed the true basis of the pharaoh's power. This book takes the reader on a chronological journey through ancient Egypt to explore the relationship between astronomy, landscape, and power during the most flourishing periods of ancient Egyptian civilization. Using the lens of archaeoastronomy, Giulio Magli reexamines the key monuments and turning points of Egyptian architecture and history, such as the solar deification of King Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid, the Hatshepsut reign, and the Amarna revolution.

Art and Immortality in the Ancient Near East

Art and Immortality in the Ancient Near East PDF Author: Mehmet-Ali AtaƧ
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107154952
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
Far from being a Judeo-Christian invention, apocalyptic thought had its roots in the ancient Near East and was expressed in its art.

Akhenaten and the Religion of Light

Akhenaten and the Religion of Light PDF Author: Erik Hornung
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801487255
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
Akhenaten, also known as Amenhotep IV, was king of Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty and reigned from 1375 to 1358 B.C. E. Called the "religious revolutionary," he is the earliest known creator of a new religion. The cult he founded broke with Egypt's traditional polytheism and focused its worship on a single deity, the sun god Aten. Erik Hornung, one of the world's preeminent Egyptologists, here offers a concise and accessible account of Akhenaten and his religion of light.Hornung begins with a discussion of the nineteenth-century scholars who laid the foundation for our knowledge of Akhenaten's period and extends to the most recent archaeological finds. He emphasizes that Akhenaten's monotheistic theology represented the first attempt in history to explain the entire natural and human world on the basis of a single principle. "Akhenaten made light the absolute reference point," Hornung writes, "and it is astonishing how clearly and consistently he pursued this concept." Hornung also addresses such topics as the origins of the new religion; pro-found changes in beliefs regarding the afterlife; and the new Egyptian capital at Akhetaten which was devoted to the service of Aten, his prophet Akhenaten, and the latter's family.