Egyptian religion / Siegfried Morenz ; translated by Ann E. Keep

Transferred to digital printing 2009.

Originally published: London : Methuen, 1973.

Translation of Ägyptische Religion

Includes bibliographical references (pages 352-356)

Introduction -- Sources; Meaning of religion in Egyptian -- I The religious origin of the Egyptian civilization -- Art -- Literature and drama -- Science -- Philology and philosophy -- Historiography -- Government -- Justice -- Religion as matrix of culture -- 2 The gods -- Power -- Conception of the gods -- Form of the gods: personification -- Names of the gods -- Creation of the gods -- Negative relationship between gods and man -- Local deities -- Cosmic deities -- Revelation -- Sacrosanct monarchy -- King's two bodies -- The king as intermediary with the gods -- 3 The worshippers -- The Egyptocentric outlook: the country; the inhabitants -- Extent of Egyptian god's influence within the country -- 4 Divine commandments, guidance and inspiration: the functions of the gods -- The problem of free will -- Theodicy -- Divine commandments -- Divine guidance -- Divine inspiration -- Fate -- Foreknowledge; prophecy -- Terminology for 'fate' -- God as lord of fate -- Egyptian view of time -- 5 Cult and piety: the conduct of men -- Relationship between cult and myth -- Cult in dynastic times -- The Egyptian times -- Daily care of the image -- Festivals -- Professions of belief; hymns -- Divine service as an expression of a juridical relationship between God and man -- Sanctity -- Priesthood -- Personal piety; oracles -- Amon's roles in personal piety -- Images -- Coexistence of official cult and personal piety -- 6 Ethics and its relationship to religion -- Religions foundations of conduct -- Sources -- What is maat? -- Relative explicitness of maat -- Means of becoming cognizant of maat -- Cognizance of maat based on insight and experience -- Maat as a measure of judgment upon men -- The judgment of the dead -- Consciousness of sin -- Substance of Egyptian ethics -- Ethics and religion

7 Egyptian theology -- Nature of Egyptian theology -- Local deities; 'syncretism' -- Unity in plurality; Egyptian trinities -- Doctrine of Amenophis IV -- Origins of monotheism -- Relationship between deity and image -- Initial assumption of identity between image and object -- Ritual performed to vitalize the image -- Concept of ba -- 8 Egyptian cosmogonies and doctrines of evolution -- Creation -- The creator-god as craftsman -- God as procreator -- Creation through god's word -- Time of the creation; 'the first time' -- Material of creation -- Mythology of creation and scientific thought -- Origin of life from an egg -- Origin of life from a lotus -- Relationship between doctrines of creation and evolution -- 9 Death and the dead -- Creation of man -- God as lord of death -- Death part of cosmic order -- Egyptian attitude to death -- The act of dying -- Egyptians' lifelong consciousness of death -- Creative consequences: the pyramids and Egyptian art -- Burial customs; mummification -- Funerary gifts and supply of provisions -- Concept of heaven -- Realm of the dead -- Historical development -- Significance: overcoming death -- 10 Sacred writings -- Cult religion and scriptural religion -- Range of religious literature -- Characteristics of religious literature; divine authorship -- Unity and variety in religious literature -- Textual changes -- Recitation of religious literature -- Secret texts -- Mortuary literature -- Reasons for development of mortuary literature -- Magical significance of mortuary literature -- 11 Egyptian religion and the outside world -- Beginning of contact with foreign lands -- Old kingdom -- Middle kingdom -- New kingdom -- Popular character of this influence -- Zenith of Syrian influence -- Contacts with the south in Ethiopian period -- Contacts with Greek world: earliest period -- Hellenistic period -- Hellenistic age -- Contribution to Old and New Testament -- Egypt's significance for early Christian theology