Exploring Religion in Ancient Egypt (eBook)

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).

Preface vi

1 Belief without a Book 1

2 Finding the Sacred in Space and Time 38

3 Creating Sacred Space and Time: Temple Architecture and Festival 80

4 Chaos and Life: Forces of Creation and Destruction 110

5 Being Good: Doing, Saying, and Making Good Possible 150

6 Being Well 177

7 Attaining Eternal Life: Sustenance and Transformation 201

Bibliography 238

Index 256

"This book provides a new and rather different view of religious practice amongst the ancient Egyptians, drawing on an extensive range of texts, artefacts, contextual information, and anthropological approaches from outside Egypt." (Ancient Egypt, 1 April 2015)

"Quirke tells the story of Ancient Egyptian Religion as a mode
of life and a reflective philosophy. A book rich in evidence,
thoughtful and fresh in interpretation, courageous enough to give
up the claim of answering every question--but eager to pose
it." -Martin Fitzenreiter, Bonn University

".....a uniquely comprehensive integration of archaeological and
written evidence about Egyptian beliefs and practices; energized by
ethnographic and anthropological perspectives, Quirke's book
clarifies, yet queries key debates about Egyptian religion."
-David O'Connor, New York University

"Quirke's unique approach to Egyptian beliefs about
creation, life, death, etc., uses the written and archaeological
evidence to reveal the logic of ancient thought as it acquaints us
with its 'nuts and bolts.'" -Betsy
Bryan, Johns Hopkins University