Following Osiris

Osiris, god of the dead, was one of ancient Egypt's most important deities. This volume is concerned with ancient Egyptian conceptions of the relationship between Osiris and the deceased, focusing on five distinct periods over four millennia to trace changes in aspirations for the Osirian afterlife and explore when and why they occurred

Osiris, god of the dead, was one of ancient Egypt's most important deities. This volume is concerned with ancient Egyptian conceptions of the relationship between Osiris and the deceased, focusing on five distinct periods over four millennia to trace changes in aspirations for the Osirian afterlife and explore when and why they occurred

Osiris, god of the dead, was one of ancient Egypt's most important deities. The earliest secure evidence for belief in him dates back to the fifth dynasty (c.2494-2345BC), but he continued to be worshipped until the fifth century AD. Following Osiris is concerned with ancient Egyptian conceptions of the relationship between Osiris and the deceased, or what might be called the Osirian afterlife, asking what the nature of this relationship was and what the prerequisites were for enjoying its benefits. It does not seek to provide a continuous or comprehensive account of Egyptian ideas on this subject, but rather focuses on five distinct periods in their development, spread over four millennia. The periods in question are ones in which significant changes in Egyptian ideas about Osiris and the dead are known to have occurred or where it has been argued that they did, as Egyptian aspirations for the Osirian afterlife took time to coalesce and reach their fullest form of expression. An important aim of the book is to investigate when and why such changes happened, treating religious belief as a dynamic rather than a static phenomenon and tracing the key stages in the development of these aspirations, from their origin to their demise, while illustrating how they are reflected in the textual and archaeological records. In doing so, it opens up broader issues for exploration and draws meaningful cross-cultural comparisons to ask, for instance, how different societies regard death and the dead, why people convert from one religion to another, and why they abandon belief in a god or gods altogether.

In the House of Heqanakht: Text and Context in Ancient Egypt gathers Egyptological articles in honor of James P. Allen, Charles Edwin Wilbour Professor of Egyptology at Brown University.

The wish to affiliate with a specific cultural, social, or ethnical group is as important today as it was in past societies, such as that of the ancient Egyptians. The same significance applies to the self-presentation of an individual within such a group. Although it is inevitable that we perceive ancient cultures through the lens of our time, place, and value systems, we can certainly try to look beyond these limitations. Questions of how the ancient Egyptians saw themselves and how individuals tried to establish and thus present themselves in society are central pieces of the puzzle of how we interpret this ancient culture. This volume focuses on the topic of identity and self-presentation, tackling the subject from many different angles: the ways in which social and personal identities are constructed and maintained; the manipulations of culture by individuals to reflect real or aspirational identities; and the methods modern scholars use to attempt to say something about ancient persons. Building on the work of Ronald J. Leprohon, to whom this volume is dedicated, contributions in this volume present an overview of our current state of understanding of patterns of identity and self-presentation in ancient Egypt. The contributions approach various aspects of identity and self-presentation through studies of gender, literature, material culture, mythology, names, and officialdom.

And therefore the desire of truth, especially in what relates to the Gods, is a sort of grasping after divinity, it using learning and enquiry for a kind of resumption of things sacred, a work doubtless of more religion than any ritual purgation or charge of temples whatever, and especially most acceptable to the Goddess you serve, since she is more eminently wise and speculative, and since knowledge and science (as her very name seems to import) appertain more peculiarly to her than any other thing. For the name of Isis is Greek, and so is that of her adversary Typhon, who, being puffed up through ignorance and mistake, pulls in pieces and destroys that holy doctrine, which she on the contrary collects, compiles, and delivers down to such as are regularly advanced unto the deified state; which, by constancy of sober diet, and abstaining from sundry meats and the use of women, both restrains the intemperate and voluptuous part, and habituates them to austere and hard services in the temples, the end of which is the knowledge of the original, supreme, and mental being, which the Goddess would have them enquire for, as near to herself and as dwelling with her.

The Eighth Annual Current Research in Egyptology Symposium (CRE 2007) was held at Swansea University on the 19th-21st April. The conference brought together graduate and postgraduate students of Egyptology from ten different countries, contributing to a total of 40 presentations. The range of topics included art and architecture, archaeology, literature and language, history and society as well as scientific analysis spanning the entire epoch of Egyptian history from the Predynastic to the Coptic era. The papers presented in the following volume represent a diverse range of topics and multidisciplinary approaches.

Egyptian roots of Christianity, both historically and spiritually. This book reveals the Ancient Egyptian roots of Christianity, both historically and spiritually. This Expanded Version of the book consists of three parts to coincide with the terms of trinity. The first part demonstrates that the major biblical ancestors of the biblical Jesus are all Ancient Egyptian prominent characters. The second part demonstrates that the accounts of the “historical Jesus” are based entirely on the life and death of the Egyptian Pharaoh, Twt/Tut-Ankh-Amen. The third part demonstrates that the “Jesus of Faith” and the Christian tenets are all Egyptian in origin—such as the essence of the teachings/message, the creation of the universe and man (according to the Book of Genesis), as well as the religious holidays. The very thing that is now called the Christian religion was already in existence in Ancient Egypt, long before the adoption of the New Testament. The British Egyptologist, Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, wrote in his book, The Gods of the Egyptians [1969], The new religion (Christianity) which was preached there by St. Mark and his immediate followers, in all essentials so closely resembled that which was the outcome of the worship of Osiris, Isis, and Horus. The similarities, noted by Budge and everyone who has compared the Egyptian Osiris/Isis/ Horus allegory to the Gospel story, are striking. Both accounts are practically the same, e.g. the supernatural conception, the divine birth, the struggles against the enemy in the wilderness, and the resurrection from the dead to eternal life. The main difference between the “two versions”, is that the Gospel tale is considered historical and the Osiris/Isis/Horus cycle is an allegory. The spiritual message of the Ancient Egyptian Osiris/Isis/Horus allegory and the Christian revelation is exactly the same. The British scholar A.N. Wilson pointed out in his book, Jesus: The Jesus of History and the Christ of Faith are two separate beings, with very different stories. It is difficult enough to reconstruct the first, and in the attempt we are likely to do irreparable harm to the second. This book will demonstrate that the “Jesus of History”, the ”Jesus of Faith”, and the tenets of Christianity are all Ancient Egyptian. This will be done without causing any “irreparable harm” as per A.N. Wilson’s concern, for two main reasons: Firstly, the truth must be told. Secondly, explaining Christian tenets via their original Ancient Egyptian contexts will enhance the idealism of Christianity. This Expanded Version of the book consists of three parts to coincide with the terms of trinity—the Three that are Two that are One. The first part demonstrates that the major biblical ancestors of the biblical Jesus are all Ancient Egyptian prominent individuals. The second part demonstrates that the accounts of the “historical Jesus” are based entirely on the life and death of the Egyptian Pharaoh, Twt/Tut- Ankh-Amen. The third part demonstrates that the “Jesus of Faith” and the Christian tenets are all Egyptian in origin—such as the essence of the teachings/message, the creation of the universe and man (according to the Book of Genesis), as well as the religious holidays. There is an undeniable irony and a profound, deep, undeniable truth in Hosea’s prophetic saying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son. A deep irony indeed. Let us open our minds and review the available evidence. For the truth is a composite of different and complementary pieces of a puzzle. Let us put the pieces in the right location, time and order.