Egyptian Temples

First published in 2005. Written by a well-respected Professor of Egyptology at University College, London in the latter half of the nineteenth century, this is a scholarly but readable account of the temples of Ancient Egypt. The work, which rests comfortably between well informed guidebook and specialist tome, surveys the architecture, history and distinguishing characteristics of every important temple. Helpful illustrations are included.

Five distinguished scholars here summarize the state of current knowledge about ancient Egyptian temples and the rituals associated with their use. The first volume in English to survey the major types of Egyptian temples from the Old Kingdom to the Roman period, it offers a unique perspective on ritual and its cultural significance. The authors perceive temples as loci for the creative interplay of sacred space and sacred time. They regard as unacceptable the traditional division of the temples into the categories of "mortuary" and "divine", believing that their functions and symbolic representations were, at once, too varied and too intertwined. Both informative to scholars and accessible to students, the book combines descriptions of specific temples with new insights into their development and purposes.

First Published in 1984. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

First published in 2005. Written by a well-respected Professor of Egyptology at University College, London in the latter half of the nineteenth century, this is a scholarly but readable account of the temples of Ancient Egypt. The work, which rests comfortably between well informed guidebook and specialist tome, surveys the architecture, history and distinguishing characteristics of every important temple. Helpful illustrations are included.

Large state temples in ancient Egypt were vast agricultural estates, with interests in mining, trading, and other economic activities. The temple itself served as the mansion or palace of the deity to whom the estate belonged, and much of the ritual in temples was devoted to offering a representative sample of goods to the gods. After ritual performances, produce was paid as wages to priests and temple staff and presented as offerings to private mortuary establishments. This redistribution became a daily ritual in which many basic necessities of life for elite Egyptians were produced. This book evaluates the influence of common temple rituals not only on the day to day lives of ancient Egyptians, but also on their special events, economics, and politics. Author Katherine Eaton argues that a study of these daily rites ought to be the first step in analyzing the structure of more complex societal processes.

Colossal stone temples are one of the most immediately recognisable products of ancient Egyptian civilisation: distinctive in appearance, striking in sheer size and impressive in the skill shown in the carving and painting of their walls. This book looks at what is known about Egyptian temples, their chronological development, and the range of different religious structures referred to under the general heading of temples. Different chapters explain, with illustrations, the nature of Egyptian gods and why they needed temples to be built for them, what went on within the buildings, and how priests, acting on behalf of the king, served the god on a daily basis and in regular festivals which involved the population as a whole. It also explains the underlying ideas which result in Egyptian temples developing such a particular and peculiar appearance and why both architecture and decoration in Egyptian temples reflect different periods of temple building and different types of temple. About the author Steven Snape studied Archaeology, specialising in Egyptology, at the University of Liverpool. He was awarded a PhD in 1985 for a study of the cemeteries at Abydos. He has directed archaeological fieldwork for Liverpool University, the Egypt Exploration Society and the University of Pennsylvania in both the eastern and western Delta, northern Sinai and at the temple sites of Abydos, Shanhur (near Luxor) and in the Ramesside fortress at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham.llege London, and has since published much of the inscribed material in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology.

Kings and gods adorn the walls of Egyptian temples in face-to-face meetings, and for two millennia these depictions have united the king and the divine. The king, the son of the god, presents his ancestors an offering or performs a ritual. Over two hundred offerings are divided into broad categories: purification, beverages, foods, produce from the fields, fabrics, ointments and adornments; rituals for goddesses and gods; symbolic, cosmic, funerary and defensive rituals; and royal cult rituals. All are explained, from their simple action (e.g. offering beer as a daily drink) to their symbolic meaning (beer is also a sacred drink that induces ecstasy of a divine nature which annihilates the destructive force of the daughter of Ra). A drawing and photographs illustrate each offering. The title of the offering is given in hieroglyphs to enable everyone to locate the words on the temple walls. Translations of the most significant texts accompany each of the offerings. Most of the texts in this book date to the last period of Egyptian history (Graeco-Roman period, 300 B.C. to A.D. 300) where the decoration is enriched with complex inscriptions, written in so-called "Ptolemaic" that very few Egyptologists are able to translate.

Survey of the architectural styles and histories of Egyptian temples built thousands of years ago. Over 120 photographs and diagrams depict exteriors, interiors of many sacred structures, including the ruins of the Temple of the Sphinx, and the remarkable structures at Karnak; the Temple of Luxor; the great temples at Abu Simbel; more.