Ancient Egyptian Religion - Development
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Fisher Library’s Digital Content place.asburyseminary.edu Asbury Theological Seminary 205 North Lexington Avenue 800.2ASBURY Wilmore, Kentucky 40390 asburyseminary.edu Ammm Momun muQiou by miim f^wgy Busiliims El ^g�r k 7hftsi� Preaentad to tha Faculty In Partial Fulflllmant �f fha Raquiramenta for tha Dagraa af MASTEB' OF TSBOLOQY Appr�ved : tii charge of Major Work Aabury fhaolagieal Samlnary 105$ ANCIEST EOYFTIAN BELIQIOK Th� FaeuXtjy of Asbury Theological aaminarjr In Partial FulfillMant Of tba HaquiramentiS for the Dagraa MASTER OF THEOLOGY Halim Faway Basilioua El Nagar Beir al Garnous, lagbagha Egypt Auguat, 1955 D�dleftted T� My Wif� foz mm MLiM fmzY Th� cheis� �f ay youth, ay lif � p�rtn�r and helper^ whoa� zaaX, oouiwge and aaorifioe anahlod me to con- tlna� my atudiea in Aoiarioa^ X gratefully d�dicat� thia huabX� work* TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Chapter I The Pr-rblem and Egyptian Backgrovurids : Statement of the problem 1 Importance of the study 1 The location of Egypt 1 The division of Egypt 2 The geography of Egypt 3 Origin of the name Egypt 9 Origin of the ancient Egyptians 10 The Ancient civilization of Egypt 12 Outline of Egyptian chronology 18 Outline of Egyptian history 19 The old kingdom 20 The first Intermediate period 22 The middle kingdom 23 The second Intermediate period 24 The new kingdom 25 The decline 28 Chapter II Ancient Egyptian Religion - Development Conditions and results 30 Sources 35 Religious character of the ancient Egyptians and of their gods 36 Gods of Egypt 41 Animal gods 41 Animal headed gods with human bodies 44 PAGE human gods 44 Cosmic gods 45 Abstract gods 47 Gods of foreign origin 47 Nature of gods 48 Chapter III Ancient Egyptian Religion - Theology Priests 51 The official religion 52 Popular religion; sources 53 Elements of conceptions 54 Funerary Religion 55 House of the dead 57 Chief doctrines - Schools of Theology 57 Mythological accounts 61 Cosmo logical myths 62 Osiris myth 64 Antropological myths 65 The imperishable parts of man 65 Ka 65 The underworld 67 The Ba 67 The judgment 71 The influence of Egyptian religion 73 Influences on Israel 76 Chapter IV Summary and Recommendation Summary 81 Areas of study 84 PAGE Conclusions and recoimnendat ions 87 The development of ancient Egyptian religion 88 Theology Qf AscAent Egyptian religion 93 Bibliography Books 95 Encyclopedia 97 Periodicals and miscellaneous 97 CHAP1ER I Problem and Egyptian Baokgroonda For many yeara a difference of opinion has existed regard- Ing the real origin of the ancient Egyptians and the relative effectivenesa of their religion. The majority of the claims made by different autliorities have been baaed upon limited observation* Statement of the Problem. It will be the purpose of this study a) to make cursery study of the origin of the name Egypt, the origin of the Bgyptians and their various religious beliefa; b) to compare the different opinions of authorities and histo rians; c) to show the effect of th&t religion on the ancient Egyptiana; d) to present facts from iririich the reader can declare the vanity and vileness of that religion. Importance of the Study. Ancient as well as modern Egypt haa frequently been straased as one of the moat important seats of oivilization in ancient history. General recognition by historians, and professors of the philosophy of religion, of the importance of Egypt, has been little and inadequate. In thia atudy, although it ia limited and presented as vitamins in small capsules, an attempt will be made to employ new tech niques, aiming to discover a new wealth of material covering the davelepxaent of that religion. The Location of Egypt . Egypt is that country which is located at the corner, where Asia, ]Jurope, and Africa meet. Suoh a location is one of the most important and strategic 2 points in the world; the gateway between East and West; the battlefield of brain and brawn. Add to thia the project of the Suez Canal which connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and it becaaae a point of change in the history of navi gation. Thj?oughout the report of this investigation, the term Eglnpt ahall be interpreted as meaning that country whose recent boundaries are �oa^osed of the Mediterranean in the north, Wadi Haifa in the south on the second cataract, Suez Canal on the Hed Sea in the east, and to an indefinite line in the desert in the west. Out of four hundred thousand square miles, about thirteen thousand square miles are inhabited by about twenty-two million ^gyp^Xans. The Divisions of Egypt. Ancient Egypt was divided into three sections. The first was Thebes or Upper Egypt (abydos). Its most famous cities are Karnak, Luxor and Thebes. The second section was Ileptanomis, or the Middle Egypt (Mamph) or (Saropolis). Th� third B�ction waa Delta, or Lowar Egypt (Helliopolis) . There were 80uthem:DK>st parte such a� Elephantine laland in the Kile, and Nubia, or anciant Ethiopia. Egypt now is divided into two distinct parts under one government. Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt. Upper Egypt begins with the south of Cairo, the capital, and ex tends to the south of Hubia. Its inhabitants claim that they are the true representatives of the ancient pharaohs. They are agrl- culturlsts. Because of language dialects and different skin colours, this part may be divided in th� realm of civilization into first, middle and far upper Egypt. Lower Egypt (Delta) ex tends from the north of Cairo, the capital, to the Mediterranean 3 in the north, Bmqz Canal in the eaat, and Western Desert in the west* In Lower Kgypt people work as artisans, money changers, and employers* That country, Egypt, with suoh a location and boundaries, includes in the present a strip of Arabia in the east of Suea Canal and Alnubia and to an uncertain section in the Sudan. The Geography of Egypt . The phyeical formation of Egypt would cover some centuries, before Egypt ordained its first king Menes* Some modem geologists declare that the l!?ile naist have worked at the formation of Egyestuary seventy-four thousand years. But this is certainly exaggerated, for the alluvixam deposit would gain in the shallow of the ancient gulf far more rapidly than its gain upon the depths of the Mediterranean. Professor Maspero says, "But even though we reduce that period, we must still admit that the Egyptians little suspected the true age of their country. Again he says, "Not only the Delta long preceded the coming of Menes, but its plan was entii^ly cojs^ileted before their first arrival."^ Some historians say that the Mediterranean once reached to the foot of the sand plateau, on which stand the pyramids,and formed a wide gulf iidiere now stretches plain beyond plain of the Delta. Some still believe that there were three chiefloutie ts of the Nile. The Conoplc branch flowed westward and fell into the Mediterranean near Cap Abu-Kir coast line. The Pelusio� branch was following the length of the Arabian desert chain and flowed forth at the other extremity. The Sebennytic stream bi- 1. map&ro, G., Dawn of Civilization (the Nil� and Egypt), p. 9 � S. Ibid. 4 sec ted the triangle contained between the two former channels. Two thouaand years ago they were separated from the main river at the city called Cirkasorea, nearly four miles north of the Site where Cairo now stands. As the land rises toward the south, this web contracts and is less confused, while black mould and cultivation alike dwindle and th� fawn-colored line of the desert comes into sight. The lAbyan and Arabian hills appear above the plain, draw nearer to each other and gradually shut in the horizon until it seems as though they would unite. And there the Delta enda and Egypt proper has begun. It is only a strip of vegatabl� mould strstching north and south b�tw�en regions of drought and desolation, a prolonged oasis on the banks of the river, made by the Nile and sustained by the Nile. The iribiole length of the land is shut in between two rat^ges of hills, roughly parallel at a mean distance of about twelv� miles. The Nile, which created the valley home of the early Bigyptians, rises thre� d�gr��s south of the equator and flows into the Medi- terranaan at over three degrees and a half north latitude.