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Part of a series on the Ancient Egyptian religion
Main Beliefs
Paganism · Pantheism · Polytheism · Emanationism · Soul · Duat Mythology · Numerology
Practises
Offering formula · Funerals
Deities
Amun · Amunet · Anubis · Anuket Apep · Apis · Aten · Atum Bastet · Bat · Bes Four sons of Horus Geb · Hapy · Hathor · Heka · Heqet Horus · Isis · Khepri  · Khnum Khonsu · Kuk · Maahes  · Ma'at Mafdet · Menhit · Meretseger Meskhenet · Monthu · Min · Mnevis Mut · Naunet · Neith · Nekhbet Nephthys · Nut · Osiris · Pakhet Ptah · Ra · Ra-Horakhty · Reshep Satis · Sekhmet · Seker · Selket Sobek · Sopdu · Set · Seshat · Shu Taweret · Tefnut · Thoth Wadjet · Wadj-wer · Wepwawet · Wosret
Texts
Amduat · Books of Breathing Book of Caverns · Book of the Dead Book of the Earth · Book of Gates Book of the Netherworld
Other
Atenism · Curse of the Pharaohs Ancient Egypt Portal

Ancient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Egypt over more than 3,000 years, from the predynastic period until the adoption of Christianity in the early centuries C.E. Initially these beliefs centered on the worship of multiple deities who represented various forces of nature. By the time of the 18th dynasty they began to be viewed as aspects of a single deity who existed apart from nature, similar to trinitarian concepts also found in Christianity: the belief that one god can exist in more than one person.^[1] These deities were worshipped with offerings and prayers, in local and household shrines as well as in formal temples managed by priests. Different gods were prominent at different periods of Egyptian history, and the myths associated with them changed over time, so Egypt never had a coherent hierarchy of deities or a unified mythology. However, the religion contained many overarching beliefs. Among these were the divinity of the pharaoh, which helped to politically unify the country,^[2] and complex beliefs about an afterlife, which gave rise to the Egyptians' elaborate burial customs.

Contents 1 Theology 1.1 Polytheism 1.2 Atenism 2 Other important concepts 2.1 Cosmology 2.2 Ma'at 2.3 Divine pharaoh 3 Writings 3.1 Mythology 3.2 Devotional Writings 3.3 Funerary Texts 4 Religious practices 4.1 Temples 4.2 Priests 4.3 Magic 4.4 Death, burial and afterlife 5 History 5.1 Old Kingdom 5.2 Middle Kingdom 5.3 New Kingdom 5.3.1 Amarna Period 5.4 Late period 5.5 Decline 5.6 Revival 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

[edit] Theology

[edit] Polytheism

The Egyptian gods were deifications of various natural phenomena. These could be animals, as with Sekhmet, who represented the ferocity of lions, or inanimate elements, such as Shu, the deification of air. They could also represent more abstract things, as Horus represented the power of kingship. Egyptian myths about the gods were intended to explain the origins and behavior of these forces of nature. Similarly, the hymns, prayers and offerings given to the gods were efforts to placate these forces and turn them to human advantage.^[3] However, some deities had multiple mythological roles, and many natural forces, such as the sun, were associated with multiple deities.^[4] Deceased pharaohs were also regarded as divine,^[5] and occasionally, distinguished commoners such as Imhotep also became deified.^[6]

In addition to the major gods, there were also other, less-powerful supernatural beings. These included the spirits of deceased humans, which were believed to exist on the same plane as the gods,^[7] and could affect the world of the living in similar ways.^[8] There were also a multitude of minor gods, which are sometimes called "demons". They tended to be less universal than the major gods, and were often defined by specific behaviors or tied to particular locations. Some of them were localized guardian deities, while others were servants of greater gods who performed specific actions on demand. Most of these were inhabitants of the Duat, the Egyptian underworld, although many others were present in the world of the living.^[9]

In art, many of the gods were shown as animals, or as humans with the heads of animals. These depictions were not intended literally, but were instead symbolic of each god's role in nature.^[10] Thus, the funerary god Anubis was portrayed as a jackal because of jackals' habit of scavenging in cemeteries, while his black skin was derived from the color of mummified flesh.^[11]

Many gods were associated with particular localities within Egypt where their cults were most important. However, these associations changed over time, and they did not necessarily mean that the god associated with a place had originated there. For instance, the god Monthu was the original patron of the city of Thebes. Over the course of the Middle Kingdom, however, he was displaced in that role by Amun, who had originated elsewhere. ^[12] The national popularity and importance of individual gods fluctuated in a similar way.

[edit] Atenism

There was a period in the 14th century BCE when the pharaoh Akhenaten promoted the worship of the sun-disk Aten over the other deities. Eventually he prohibited the worship of the other gods, converting the official religion of Egypt into true monotheism.^[13] However, Akhenaten's changes contrasted with the syncretic tradition of earlier Egyptian belief, and this exclusivity alienated ordinary Egyptians.^[14] Thus, under Akhenaten's successors Egypt reverted to its traditional religion.^[15]

[edit] Other important concepts

[edit] Cosmology

In Egyptian belief, the world was surrounded by the infinite expanse of water from which it had originally arisen. This water was personified as the god Nu. The earth was envisioned as a flat plate of land, represented by the god Geb. Above him arched the body of the sky goddess Nut, who represented the surface of the primordial water. Shu, the air, stood between Geb and Nut and separated them. Beneath Geb lay another space equivalent to the living world: the Duat, or underworld. The sky beneath the Duat was formed by the feminine counterpart of Nu, Naunet. During the day, the sun god Ra traveled over the earth, across the surface of Nut, and at night he traveled over the Duat, across the surface of Naunet.^[16]

[edit] Ma'at

The Egyptian word Ma'at encompasses several concepts in English, including "truth," "justice," and "order." It referred to the divine order of the universe, both in nature and in human society. In nature, Ma'at included the structure of the world that kept each element in its place, and the cyclical patterns of time; it meant all the forces of nature existing in balance. Among humans, Ma'at meant that all people and all classes of society lived in harmony. The Egyptians considered any disruption of Ma'at inherently harmful, so all people were expected to behave in accordance with it. Ma'at was the most fundamental of all natural forces, believed to have existed from the creation of the universe, and as a force of nature it was often personified as a goddess.^[17]

[edit] Divine pharaoh

Egyptians viewed kingship itself as a force of nature; thus, the pharaoh, or king of Egypt, was both human and divine.^[18] He therefore acted as intermediary between Egypt's people and the gods.^[19] He was key to upholding Maat in society, by defending the country from enemies, appointing fair officials, settling disputes between his people, managing the food supply, and appeasing the gods with temples and offerings.^[20] Thus, temple reliefs often depict the pharaoh presenting an emblem of Maat to the gods, representing his maintenance of the divine order.^[21] Such was his importance that the Egyptian word for "king" referred only to the pharaoh; any foreign ruler, no matter how powerful, was simply called "great chief."^[22]

The king was also associated with several specific deities. While alive, a pharaoh was identified with Horus, and given the title "Son of Ra." The goddesses Isis, Hathor, and Mut were all seen as the mother of the pharaoh.^[23] A deceased king was viewed as fully divine, and identified with Osiris (the father of Horus) and with Ra.^[24]

[edit] Writings

In Egypt there was no single religious scripture. However, there were many religious texts for various purposes. These include devotional writings, funerary texts,^[25] and texts relating various myths.

[edit] Mythology

The Egyptians had a great number of separate myths, found in various places and often existing in different versions. Some mythological information is found in temples; however, temples were meant to celebrate the eternal power and benevolence of the gods, and the turbulent events often found in myths conflicted with this purpose. In addition, Egyptians believed that to write or depict negative mythological events, especially in a medium as permanent as stone, risked giving power to the forces of chaos. Thus, temples contain surprisingly few myths. Mythological information can be found on devotional statues and stelae offered to the gods by individuals, and much more is found in funerary texts.^[26] Even so, complete mythical narratives can only be found in Greek and Roman sources.^[27]

Among the most important Egyptian myths were the creation myths. While there were several different creation myths, they all shared common elements: an infinite, lifeless ocean which preceded the creation, and a pyramidal mound of land which was the first thing to emerge from this ocean.^[28] However, the creation accounts differ in focusing on different gods. One creation myth describes the Ogdoad, the group of eight gods who embodied the primeval waters, and how their meeting resulted in the creation and emergence of the mound.^[29] Another myth relates the actions of Atum, said to be the first god to appear on the mound, who gave rise to the Ennead, nine gods representing the natural forces of the world. A third myth says that the god Ptah, who was associated with the mound, created the world simply by envisioning and naming all things in it.^[30] To some degree these myths represent competing theologies, but they can also be seen as representing different aspects of the process of creation.^[31]

Another story central to Egyptian belief was the myth of Osiris and Isis.^[32] It tells of the fertility god Osiris, ruler of the world, who was murdered and dismembered by his jealous brother Set,^[33] a god often associated with chaos.^[34] Osiris' sister and wife Isis then reassembled Osiris' body and resurrected him so that he could conceive an heir to take back the throne from Set.^[35] Osiris then entered the underworld and became the ruler of the dead,^[36] while Isis eventually gave birth to his son Horus. Once grown, Horus fought and defeated Set to become king himself. Set's association with chaos, and the identification of Osiris and Horus as the rightful rulers, provided a rationale for pharaonic succession and portrayed the pharaohs as the upholders of order.^[37] At the same time, Osiris' death and rebirth were related to the Egyptian agricultural cycle, in which crops grew in the wake of the Nile inundation,^[38][39] and provided a template for the resurrection of human souls after death.^[40]

The sun god Ra was essential to life on earth, and was thus among the most important gods.^[41] In myth, the movement of the sun across the sky was explained as Ra traveling in a barque, and the setting of the sun was regarded as Ra's entry into the underworld, through which he journeyed during the night.^[42] While in the underworld, Ra met with Osiris, who again acted as a god of resurrection, so that his life was renewed. He also fought each night with Apep, a serpentine god representing chaos. The defeat of Apep and the meeting with Osiris insured the rising of the sun the next morning, an event that represented rebirth and the victory of order over chaos.^[43]

[edit] Devotional Writings

Like many cultures, the Egyptians prayed to their gods for help, although there are few written prayers that predate the Nineteenth Dynasty. There are also many formal hymns praising particular deities or the pharaoh. These poems consist of short lines organized into couplets or triplets, and were probably recited, or possibly even sung, during religious ceremonies. They often included mention of many different aspects of the deity whom they addressed, and expounded on his or her nature and mythological function. Thus, they are important sources of information on Egyptian theology.^[44]

[edit] Funerary Texts

Among the most significant and extensively preserved Egyptian writings are funerary texts designed to insure that deceased souls reached a pleasant afterlife.^[45] The earliest of these are the Pyramid Texts, the oldest religious writings in the world.^[46] They consisted of almost a thousand spells, or "utterances," which were inscribed on the walls of royal pyramids during the Old Kingdom. During the First Intermediate Period, a new body of funerary spells, which included material from the Pyramid Texts, began appearing in coffins and on tomb walls. This collection of writings is known as the Coffin Texts, and was not reserved for royalty, but also appeared in the tombs of nonroyal officials. The Coffin Texts in turn were major sources for a number of New Kingdom writings, including the Book of the Dead^[47], which were copied on papyrus and sold to ordinary citizens, to be placed in their tombs.^[48]

The Coffin Texts were also the first texts to include detailed descriptions of the Egyptian underworld and instructions on how to overcome its hazards.^[49] The writings on this subject seem to have developed from earlier "Underworld Books" kept in temple libraries.^[50] In the New Kingdom several separate texts of this type developed, including the Book of Gates, the Book of Caverns and the Amduat, which were placed in royal tombs.^[51][52]

[edit] Religious practices

[edit] Temples

Temples to the gods existed from the earliest periods of Egyptian history, and at the height of the civilization were present in almost every town.^[53] These included both mortuary temples to serve the spirits of deceased pharaohs and temples dedicated to patron gods.^[54] However, not all gods had temples dedicated to them, as there were many cosmic deities that did not receive widespread worship, and many household gods who were the focus of popular veneration rather than temple worship.^[55]

Temples were central to Egyptian society,^[56] and vast resources were devoted to their upkeep. Pharaohs often added to temples as part of their obligation to honor the gods, so that many temples grew to be huge^[57]– the Temple of Karnak, for instance, is the largest religious structure in the world.^[58]

Most temples generally followed a common plan.^[59] Temples built along the Nile were typically oriented on an east-west axis, although as this axis was usually aligned at 90 degrees from the flow of the river, local variations in the Nile's course meant that the orientation did not always conform to true directions.^[60] The major entrance to such temples was usually the nearby landing quay on the Nile, from which a processional way ran through the walls of the temple enclosure. Beyond this, there were usually one or more pylon gateways, followed by a courtyard enclosed by a colonnade. This courtyard was likely where commoners delivered offerings and met with the priests. Further in was the covered hypostyle hall, and beyond this was the sanctuary, surrounded by subsidiary rooms related to the daily business of temple ritual. The outdoor areas of the temple were decorated with obelisks and statues, and walls and columns were inscribed with reliefs.^[61]

The entire journey from the temple entrance to the sanctuary was seen as a journey from the human world to the divine realm; thus, the sanctuary was the most sacred part of the temple, and contained a shrine with the image of the temple's god.^[62] Access to the sanctuary was usually restricted to the pharaoh and the highest-ranking priests.^[63] Ritual offerings were typically performed in the morning and evening, either by the pharaoh or, more commonly, the priest acting as his surrogate. In them, the god's statue was washed, anointed, and elaborately dressed, before food offerings were placed before it or in an offering hall outside the sanctuary. Afterward, when the god had consumed the spiritual essence of the offerings, the items themselves were taken to be distributed among the priests.^[64][65]

Temple complexes also included many subsidiary buildings. Among these was the "House of Life," where the temple's sacred writings and mundane records were kept, and which also served as a center of learning on a multitude of subjects. Many temples probably included sanatoria where sick people came to seek healing by the gods. Larger temples also included kitchens and workshops to produce food and goods for offering to the gods or for the practical needs of the temple, along with storage buildings to keep these industries supplied. Outside the temple proper, there were also large farm lands, quarries, and mines that were owned by the temple and used to support its miniature economy.^[66]

[edit] Priests

The pharaoh was Egypt's intermediary with the gods, so in theory, all priests merely acted on his behalf.^[67] In fact, during the Old and Middle Kingdoms, there was no separate class of priests; instead, many government officials served in this capacity for several months out of the year before returning to their secular duties. Only in the New Kingdom did professional priesthood become widespread, although most lower-ranking priests were still part-time.^[68] However, as the wealth of the temples grew, the influence of the priesthoods increased, until it rivaled that of the pharaoh.^[69] In the political fragmentation of the Third Intermediate Period, the high priests of Amun even became the effective rulers of Upper Egypt.^[70]

Priests were usually male. During the Old Kingdom, many women from wealthy families held important priestly roles, mainly in temples to female deities. However, during the Middle Kingdom women became less prominent in public life, and afterward most of the women involved in temple activities seem to have been in less-important roles, such as singer or musician in religious ceremonies.^[71]

Priests were divided into several different classes. One of the most important divisions was between the "god's servants," who were permitted in the temple sanctuary, and the "purifiers," who were not. Purifiers' duties often entailed non-ritual tasks, and government officials often nominally held this role. There were also several specialized roles in the priesthood, such as that of the lector priest, who recited the formulas to which rituals were performed. At the top of the hierarchy in each temple was the high priest, or "first servant of the god." High priests were often appointed by the pharaoh, although the office was frequently passed from father to son and tended to become hereditary. All priests were paid with allotments of land out of the temple's possessions, and with portions of the daily food offerings. There were also many more people in the employ of the temple, including farmers and artisans to supply its needs, and musicians and chanters who assisted in temple rituals. All were paid with portions of the temple's income.^[72]

While actively serving the temple, priests adhered to strict standards of ritual purity. They were required to shave their heads and bodies, wash several times a day, and wear only clean linen clothing. In the service of some specific gods, there were also particular behaviors, such as eating certain foods, from which priests had to refrain. They were not required to be celibate, but sexual intercourse rendered them unclean until they underwent further purification.^[73]

[edit] Magic

Sometimes rituals designed to induce sorcery or witchcraft were performed. This was called heka, and was overseen by a god that was also called "Heka".

[edit] Death, burial and afterlife

Egypt had a highly developed view of the afterlife with elaborate rituals for preparing the body and soul for an eternal life after death. Beliefs about the soul and afterlife focused heavily on preservation of the body. The Egyptians believed the ka aspect of the soul needed to be reunited with the ba, to support the akh, the part of each being which ascends to the heavens to take its place among the stars.^[74] This meant that embalming and mummification were practised, in order to preserve the individual's identity in the afterlife.

Bodies of the dead were coated inside and out with resin to preserve them, then wrapped with linen bandages, embedded with religious amulets and talismans. In the case of royalty, the mummy was usually placed inside a series of nested coffins, the outermost of which was a stone sarcophagus. The intestines, lungs, liver, and stomach were preserved separately and stored in canopic jars protected by the four sons of Horus.^[75] The heart was left in place because it was thought to be the home of the soul. The standard length of the mummification process was seventy days.^[76]

Embalmment was reserved for a selected few in the Old Kingdom, but it became available to wider sections of society in later periods. Animals were also mummified, sometimes thought to have been pets of Egyptian families, but more frequently or more likely, they were the representations of deities. The ibis, crocodile, cat, Nile perch, falcon, and baboon can be found in perfect mummified forms. During the Ptolemaic Period, animals were especially bred for the purpose.

After a person dies their soul is led into a hall of judgment in Duat by Anubis (god of mummification) and the deceased's heart, which was the record of the morality of the owner, is weighed against a single feather representing Ma'at (the concept of truth and order). If the outcome is favorable, the deceased is taken to Osiris, god of the afterlife, in Aaru, but the demon Ammit (Eater of Hearts) – part crocodile, part lion, and part hippopotamus – destroys those hearts whom the verdict is against, leaving the owner to remain in Duat. A heart that weighed less than the feather was considered a pure heart, not weighed down by the guilt or sins of one's actions in life, resulting in a favorable verdict; a heart heavy with guilt and sin from one's life weighed more than the feather, and so the heart would be eaten by Ammit. An individual without a heart in the afterlife in essence, did not exist as Egyptians believed the heart to be the center of reason and emotion as opposed to the brain which was removed and discarded during mummification. Many times a person would be buried with a "surrogate" heart to replace their own for the weighing of the heart ceremony.

[edit] History

[edit] Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom period is most commonly regarded as spanning the period of time when Egypt was ruled by the Third Dynasty through to the Sixth Dynasty, from 2686 BC to 2134 BCE. It was the beginning of the highest level of cultural development achieved by the ancient Egyptians, whose cultural roots extend six thousand years earlier, into prehistory.

Old Kingdom deities:

• the Ennead of Heliopolis, whose chief god was Atum, later Atum-Ra^[77]
• the Ogdoad of Hermopolis,^[78] where the chief god was Thoth
• the Khnum-Satis-Anuket triad of Elephantine, whose chief god was Khnum
• the Amun-Mut-Chons triad of Thebes, whose chief god was Amun^[79]
• the Ptah-Sekhmet-Nefertem triad of Memphis, unusual in that the gods were unconnected before the triad was formalized, where the chief god was Ptah^[77]

The Pyramid Texts (roughly 25th to 23nd century BCE) contain spells, or "utterances" primarily concerned with protecting the pharaoh's remains, reanimating his body after death, and helping him ascend to the heavens. As such, they qualify as the oldest known religious texts worldwide, slightly predating the Sumerian hyms of Enheduanna. The "Coffin Texts" are funerary spells related to the Pyramid texts dating to the First Intermediate Period.

[edit] Middle Kingdom

The cult of Amun grew during the Middle Kingdom. Senusret III (1878 BC – 1839 BCE) built a fine religious temple at Abydos; while it is now destroyed, surviving reliefs show the high quality of the decorations. He was deified at the end of the Middle Kingdom and worshipped by the pharaohs of the New Kingdom.

[edit] New Kingdom

By the New Kingdom, the Ogdoad and the Ennead were merged into a single syncretized cosmology. In the Ennead, Osiris is the husband of Isis, and sibling of Seth, all of whom are the great-grandchildren of the creator god Atum, and Horus is not present within the system. In the Ogdoad, Osiris is not present within the system, and Horus is son of Atum, the creator god. When the Ennead and Ogdoad merged, Ra and Amun were identified as one, becoming Amun-Ra, and Horus was initially considered the fifth sibling of Osiris, Isis, Nephthys and Set. However, Horus' mother, Hathor, gradually became identified as a form of Isis, leading Horus to be Isis' son, and therefore the son of Osiris.

[edit] Amarna Period

A short interval of monotheism (Atenism) occurred under the reign of Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) (1350s to 1330s BCE), focused on the Egyptian sun deity Aten. The Aten is typically shown as a sun disk with rays coming out of all sides. Akhenaten built a new capital at Amarna with temples for the Aten. This was a symbolic act as Akhenaten wanted a place of worship for the Aten that was not tainted by the visage of other deities. The religious change survived only until the death of Akhenaten, and the old religion was quickly restored during the reign of Tutankhamun, however an effort was made to erase Akhenaten's name from history for his heretical actions.

[edit] Late period

After the fall of the Amarna dynasty, the New Kingdom pantheon survived as the dominant religion, until the Achaemenid conquests. The Egyptian Book of the Dead was standardized (the "Saite Recension") during this time. Herodotus presents us a bleak portrait of Cambyses' rule, describing the king as mad, ungodly, and cruel. Herodotus may have drawn on an indigenous tradition that reflected the Egyptians' resentment, especially of the clergy, of Cambyses' decree^[80] curtailing royal grants made to Egyptian temples under Amasis. In order to regain the support of the powerful priestly class, Darius I (522–486 BC) revoked Cambyses' decree. Shortly before 486 BCE, a revolt broke out in Egypt, subdued by Xerxes I only in 484 BCE. The province was subjected to harsh punishment for the revolt, and especially its satrap Achaemenes administered the country without regard for the opinion of his subjects.

[edit] Decline

When Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, he went on pilgrimage to the oracle of Amun at the Siwa Oasis. The oracle declared him to be the son of Amun-Re.^[81] Egyptian religion continued to thrive during the Ptolemaic period; some cults were syncretized with Greek mystery traditions, exerting influence on Hellenistic magic. Under Roman rule (from 30 BCE), the situation remained largely unchanged. The Romans like the Ptolemies respected and protected Egyptian religion and customs, although the imperial cult of the Roman state and of the Emperor was gradually introduced. Egyptian religion entered a period of decline following the Egyptians' adoption of Christianity in the first centuries of the common era. Remnants of native traditions lingered in traditionalist pockets such as temple hierarchies, free from persecution but gradually ousted by Early Christianity. The last vestiges of Egyptian religious traditions may have persisted into the 5th century, as reflected in the Hieroglyphica.

[edit] Revival

With the neopagan emergence in the 20th century, a form of reconstructed ancient Egyptian religion called Kemetism was formed.

[edit] See also

• Egyptian soul
• Sun mythology
• List of Egyptian mythology topics (which also lists the particular deities).
• Numbers in Egyptian mythology
• Kemetism
• Religions of the Ancient Near East
• Prehistoric religion

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Schulz, R. and M. Seidel, "Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs". Könemann, Cologne 1998. ISBN 3-89508-913-3
• Budge, E. A. Wallis, "Egyptian Religion: Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life (Library of the Mystic Arts)". Citadel Press. August 1, 1991. ISBN 0-8065-1229-6
• Clarysse, Willy; Schoors, Antoon; Willems, Harco; Quaegebeur, Jan, "Egyptian Religion: The Last Thousand Years : Studies Dedicated to the Memory of Jan Quaegebeur", Peeters Publishers, 1998. ISBN 9042906693
• Harris, Geraldine, John Sibbick, and David O'Connor, "Gods and Pharaohs from Egyptian Mythology". Bedrick, 1992. ISBN 0-87226-907-8
• Hart, George, "Egyptian Myths (Legendary Past Series)". University of Texas Press (1st edition), 1997. ISBN 0-292-72076-9
• Osman, Ahmed, Moses and Akhenaten. The Secret History of Egypt at the Time of the Exodus, (December 2002, Inner Traditions International, Limited) ISBN 1-59143-004-6
• Bilolo, Mubabinge, Les cosmo-théologies philosophiques d'Héliopolis et d'Hermopolis. Essai de thématisation et de systématisation, (Academy of African Thought, Sect. I, vol. 2), Kinshasa-Munich 1987; new ed., Munich-Paris, 2004.
• Bilolo, Mubabinge, "Les cosmo-théologies philosophiques de l’Égypte Antique. Problématique, prémisses herméneutiques et problèmes majeurs, (Academy of African Thought, Sect. I, vol. 1)", Kinshasa-Munich 1986; new ed., Munich-Paris, 2003.
• Bilolo, Mubabinge, "Métaphysique Pharaonique IIIème millénaire av. J.-C. (Academy of African Thought & C.A. Diop-Center for Egyptological Studies-INADEP, Sect. I, vol. 4)", Kinshasa-Munich 1995 ; new ed., Munich-Paris, 2003.
• Bilolo, Mubabinge, "Le Créateur et la Création dans la pensée memphite et amarnienne. Approche synoptique du Document Philosophique de Memphis et du Grand Hymne Théologique d'Echnaton, (Academy of African Thought, Sect. I, vol. 2)", Kinshasa-Munich 1988; new ed., Munich-Paris, 2004.
• Pinch, Geraldine, "Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of ancient Egypt". Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-19-517024-5

[edit] External links

• Ancient Egyptian Gods - Aldokkan
• Hare, J.B., "ancient Egypt". (sacred-texts.com)
• "Ancient Egyptian architecture: temples". University College London.
• O'Brien, Alexandra A., "Death in ancient Egypt".
• Scarabs : The History, Manufacture and Symbolism of the Scarabæus at Project Gutenberg

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