The Search for God in Ancient Egypt

"What, for the ancient Egyptians, was the nature of the world's governing spirits'... With the evidence of ancient texts, Assmann considers Egyptian theology,... and cults and rites.... This deep, analytic book is of the greatest interest not only for specialists in matters Egyptian but also for comparative studies."―Antiquity 

First English-language edition, with revisions and additions by the author. This classic work by one of the world's most distinguished Egyptologists was first published in German in 1984. The Search for God in Ancient Egypt offers a distillation of Jan Assmann's views on ancient Egyptian religion, with special emphasis on theology and piety.

Deeply rooted in the texts of ancient Egypt and thoroughly informed by comparative religion, theology, anthropology, and semiotic analysis, Assmann's interpretations reveal the complexity of Egyptian thought in a new way. Assmann takes special care to distinguish between the "implicit" theology of Egyptian polytheism and the "explicit" theology that is concerned with exploring the problem of the divine. His discussion of polytheism and mythology addresses aspects of ritual, the universe, and myth; his consideration of explicit theology deals with theodicy and the specifics of Amarna religion.

Jan Assmann is Professor of Egyptology at Heidelberg University and the 1998 winner of the prestigious Deutsche Historikerpreis (German History Prize). David Lorton, an Egyptologist, has translated other Cornell books, including The Twilight of Ancient Egypt: First Millennium B.C.E. by Karol Mysliwiec and The Priests of Ancient Egypt, New Edition by Serge Sauneron.