5. TIME AND ORGANIZATION OF THE GODS
Quiz Tuesday January 28
Based on lectures, use overhead terms
from online syllabus to study
Be here, be on time, no late quizzes!
Creation myths/cosmologies
Heliopolitan cosmology
Nun (watery abyss) --> sun god
“Eternity”
Nature of time in ancient Egyptian thought
Regular cycle of agriculture
Cyclical thinking/cyclical time
Time in ancient Egypt
Non-linear
Cyclical vs. non-cyclical
Neheh vs. Djet
Neheh: Neverending recurrence of same (cyclical)
Djet: points in time at a standstill (non-cyclical)
[Linear time: progression of points on a line]
Night and day
One year: seasons of Inundation, Growth and Harvest
Longer cycles: the reign of the king
Dating by years of king's reign, each year a cycle within larger cycle of king's reign, next king begins cycles over again
Ideal: each king continues cycle, each reign replicates
Cyclical time crucial to Egyptian understandings of creation, eternity, the gods
Back to Osiris Myth
Divine relations, kingship
Creation of humans, other things?
Myth "Destruction of Humanity" aka "Book of the Divine Cow"
Sun god Re (sometimes spelled Pre)
Nun
"Eye of Re" = Sakhmet/Hathor
Blood/blood-colored beer
Festival of Drunkenness
Second part of myth:
"retirement" of sun god
"Heavenly cow"
Gods set up human government, administration, etc.
Human government, administration, etc. mirrors divine
Organization and hierarchy of gods
Groups of gods: based on existing social structures
-Family Groups
-Tribal Groups
Pairs of gods
Parent/child; siblings
"married" pairs
-2 separate entities (Osiris & Isis, Amun and Mut, etc.)
-2 similar entities (Amun and Amunet)*
*Note: -t or -et is feminine ending in Egyptian
Amun & Mut vs. Amun & Amunet
Polygamy
Osiris & Isis
Brother-sister marriage
Khnum:
-wife Satet and daughter Anuqet
or
-wives Satet and Anuqet
Triads (3 gods)
-Khnum, Satet, Anuqet
-Osiris, Isis, Horus
-Amun, Mut, Khonsu
"Unmarried" gods and goddesses:
-
Unrelated pairs (often personify related concepts)
- Singles (often foreign or magical)
Larger groups of 4 or 5
Eight (Ogdoad)
Common group of 9 gods: "Ennead" (group of 9 = 3 triads)
Larger groups, often multiples of 3 and/or 7:
-
42 Judges of Dead
- 49 Guardian spirits
Organization of gods
Hierarchy,
Ranking,
Greater, lesser, intermediate
Factors for ranking?
-Seniority
-Powers
-Local importance
Visual cues for ranking:
-Size (biggest most important)
-Position (most important in front)
-Equals often same size and facing each other
Ranking is contextual
Divine "court" of important gods (like court of a king)
Example: Ennead of Re
Laws of gods: Legal "courts" (reflect ancient Egyptian litigiousness?)
Ma'at/order
Administration of the gods
government, laws, regulations
messengers
servants
Thoth: Mediator, advocate, scribe
Foreign gods:
Example of goddesses Anat and Astarte
Egyptian gods like Hathor and Seth often associate with foreign gods