Exploring Religion in Ancient Egypt (Blackwell Ancient Religions)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 144433199X ISBN 13: 9781444331998

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014

Exploring Religion in Ancient Egypt offers a stimulating overview of the study of ancient Egyptian religion by examining research drawn from beyond the customary boundaries of Egyptology and shedding new light on entrenched assumptions.

• Discusses the evolution of religion in ancient Egypt – a belief system that endured for 3,000 years
• Dispels several modern preconceptions about ancient Egyptian religious practices
• Reveals how people in ancient Egypt struggled to secure well-being in the present life and the afterlife

From the Back Cover:

Exploring Religion in Ancient Egypt presents an overview of the beliefs, sacred rituals, and religious practices of the people of Kemet – literally, “the Black Land” – whose Nile Valley population stretched from Aswan to the Mediterranean coast beginning from circa 3100 B.C.

Dispelling some of the dominant modern preconceptions about ancient Egyptian religion, author Stephen Quirke considers the evidence for ancient patterns of marking sacred space and time, and the verbal and visual imagery on creation and Ma`at – the expression of truth and balance, or “what is good,” in the language of Kemet. Within these frameworks, Quirke reveals how people in ancient Egypt struggled to secure well-being in the present life as they prepared for the afterlife. Exploring Religion in Ancient Egypt offers illuminating insights into an ancient civilization whose complex series of religious beliefs and practices remain unique in the history of human religion.

About the Author:

Stephen Quirke is Professor of Egyptology in the Institute for Archaeology at University College London, and Curator at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. His books include The Cult of Ra: Sun-Worship in Ancient Egypt (2001), Egyptian Literature 1800 BC: Questions and Readings (2004), and Lahun: A Town in Egypt 1800 BC, and the History of its Landscape (2005).