Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1773132 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Synopsis
A highly illustrated introduction to Egyptian religion which traces the origins of each of the major deities, and explains the significance of the religious artefacts of ancient Egypt. Includes sections on personal religion and temple ceremony.

Customer Reviews

A MUST for everyone interested in Egyptology!!!
There isn't much more to say about this fantastic book. I bought this book knowing hardly nothing about any of the Egyptian gods and goddesses, but from reading it, I now know everything there is possibly to know about the 'main' gods such as the Sun God: Re, Khepri, Atum etc, to the falcon god Montu, as well as the 'main' goddesses: Tefnut to Bastet.

The book starts off by explaining how important it is to know the different dynasties involved, which is shown in great detail in an easy to comprehend table, throughout 6 pages! It might take some time to get used to the dates etc, but you really do need to know them before you read on, as the book does refer to particular events in Egyptian history when describing the many deities.

Before going straight into information on the gods and goddesses, the book explains various factors such as: nomes; state gods and merging deities; king as god; and temples & priests. You're probably thinking - 'what's the point in knowing this stuff?!?' As this is what I thought! However, once I had read these few chapters, I again realised how important this imformation is. You see, all the book is trying to do, is to get the reader to understand how things were like then. I suppose if you already know information on this subject, then it's no use..., but if like me, you'll come to realise how little aspects can change your whole perspective. For example; the meaning of 'priest' as we know it today, has a total different meaning in Ancient Egyptian times. Even when the book has finished discussing the 30 main gods and goddesses (as well as introducing other deities here and there!) in superb style, it finishes off by explaining personal peity and popular religion - which basically just sums up the whole idea of worshipping deities, eliminating any confusion.

Overall, this book was definitely worth the wait, and was a superb buy! The information was sometimes hard to understand due to the 'jargon' used - but this was easily solved with the trusty dictionary. Oh..., even the numerous amount of line drawings and photo's help towards an easy and enjoyable reading - a MUST for everyone interested in Egyptology!!!

the definitive egyptian god info
this book is brilliant. It really does what it says on the label, but it does it really well and with extras. No need to look any further for clear concise information on Egyptian Gods and Goddesses and their heirarchies, families etc.