From Akhenaten to Moses

Jan Assmann is a German Egyptologist widely known for his work on the origins of monotheism. Formerly professor of Egyptology at the University of Heidelberg, he is now honorary professor of cultural studies at the University of Constance. He is the author of Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism (1998), and The Price of Monotheism (2009).

Chapter 1: Structure and Change in Ancient Egyptian Religion
Cult
Theology
The Guidance of Life
Chapter 2: Myth and History of the Exodus: Triumph and Trauma
The Mnemohistory of the Exodus
Narrative Structure
Remember the Exodus
The Seder Liturgy
Exodus and Utopia
Chapter 3: From Poly- to Monotheism: Evolution or Revolution
Evolution in Nature and Culture
From Monolatry to Monotheism
Egypt and Religious Change
Chapter 4: Moses and Akhenaten: Memory and History
Moses and Akhenaten
Akhenaten
The Egyptian Trauma
The Legend of the ‘Lepers’
The Reinterpretation of the Pyramids
Exodus and Trauma
Chapter 5: Ancient Egypt and the Theory of the Axial Age
The Theory of the Axial Age
Writing as an Agent of Change
Literacy and Cultural Memory
Secondary Canonization and the Rise of Exegesis
Chapter 6: Egyptian Mysteries and Secret Societies in the Age of Enlightenment
The ‘Mystery Fever’ in the Late Eighteenth Century
The Imagined ‘Egyptian Mysteries’ and their Grammatological and Topological Basis
The Magic Flute and the Egyptian Mysteries
Chapter 7: Total Religion: Politics, Monotheism, and Violence
The Concept of Ernstfall
The Religious Ernstfall
The Maccabean Wars: An Early Case of Religious Violence
Depoliticizing Religion