11: Review for Exam 1

Exam 1 Tuesday Feb. 18 in class

Exam format:
10 Multiple Choice
10 Short answer
10 Identifications

Religion:

What is religion?

Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.
(adapted):

Recognition on the part of a person of some higher unseen power as having control of his/her destiny, and as being entitled to obedience, reverence and worship; the general mental and moral attitude resulting from this belief, with reference to its effect on the individual or community; personal or general acceptance of this feeling as a standard of spiritual and practical life.

"Religion"

No ancient Egyptian word for it

Characteristics of religion in ancient Egypt

-Divine beings/gods, deities, etc.
-Worship
-Offering
-Prayer/praise
-Ritual
-Temple
-Cult (Official)
-Personal Cult
-Domestic Shrine
-Tomb
-Tomb Chapel

Religion

Maintenance of "order" (ma'at) vs. "disorder" (isfet)

(more than "good" vs. "evil")

Seth as god of disorder

"God", "gods"

Netjer (ntr)

Netjer: god, a god, the god

Netjerew: gods, some gods, the gods

Polytheism: multiple gods

vs.

Monotheism: single god

God's names

Isis, Re, etc.

Secret names

Basic categories of gods:

Natural forces (sun, Nile, etc.)

Abstract concepts (like "order")

Local, national, kingship

Funerary

Household, personal

Foreign

Fusion of gods: Amun + Re = Amun-Re

"Fission" of gods into forms or aspects:
Horus > Specialized: Harpocrates ("Horus the Child")

Mutual coexistence of gods and traditions

Prehistoric Egypt

Tribal groups along Nile

"Predynastic" Egypt

Neith

Beginnings:

Cosmology (beginnings of universe)

Heliopolis ("city of the sun")

Heliopolitan cosmology

Nothingness

Nun (Naun, Watery Abyss)

World without matter

"Primeval" or "Primordial"

Differentiation from Nothingness to Matter

From created to uncreated

Creation

Sun god

Heliopolitan Tradition
Atum --> Re, Khepri

"Primeval Mound"

(Pyramid)

Creation as act of hatching, blooming

Lotus flower

Creation

Snakes, serpents: good and bad
Ouroboros

Apophis

Eye of Horus

Atum --> Re

Sun god produces something from within himself: spit, tears, semen, etc.

Shu (air) + Tefnut (water)

Other sungod children: Thoth, Ma'at, Hathor, etc.

Geb (earth) + Nut (sky)

Seth + Nephthys, Osiris + Isis, Horus the Elder

+ other acts of creation (humans, animals, etc.)

Osiris as king

Murder by Seth

Plutarch

Anubis

Horus

Isis and Horus

Horus and Seth

3 important parts of story:
1.) Murder of Osiris
2.) Protection of Horus
3.) Struggle of Horus and Seth

Osiris at Abydos, other cult centers

Isis and magic

Isis and Nephthys

Hermopolis

So Hermopolitan cosmology

Ogdoad ("group of 8"):

Amun & Amunet ("hidden")
Heh/Huh & Hehet/Hauhet ("infinite", "boundary-less")
Tenem & Tenemet ("directionless"), alternate Nun and Naunet
Kek(u) & Kekut/Kuk & Kauket ("darkness")

Memphite cosmology

Ptah

Speech as act of creation

Potter's wheel

“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)

Longer cycles: the reign of the king

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

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)

Organization of gods

Hierarchy,
Ranking,
Greater, lesser, intermediate

Factors for ranking?

-Seniority
-Powers
-Local importance

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

Nature of Gods

Names

Physical features

Two Egyptian words/concepts:

KHEPERU (literally "forms")
-projections of gods' qualities, powers, etc.

IRU (literally "something made")-visual manifestation of one of a god's KHEPERU

Example of Ptah:

--
Creator god of Memphis: raw forces and potential

KHEPERU
Ptah with specific characteristics: creator god, brings creation into being with speech

IRU
Visible, tangible manifestation of god Ptah

Gods' bodies

Flesh

Gold
Silver
Lapis Lazuli

God's flesh in representational art:

Special (Green, Blue, Black: fertility, death, rebirth, creator--Osiris, Ptah, etc.)

Typical (Male: dark or reddish brown, Female: yellow or gold)

Ideal appearances of gods

Gods' bodies vulnerable but regenerative

Gods' bodies produce:
Breath
smell
bodily fluids:
- spit
- tears
- semen
- blood
- sweat
- waste

Gods consume: food & drink + special things

Gods' bodies in action:
Birth, childhood
Social interaction
Sex
Sickness and injury
Fighting
Age and death

Gods' space

"heavens"

Gods' Egypt

Egypt: Nile Valley

Delta: papyrus thicket

Outside of Egypt

"Netherworld"

Inborn and acquired/Innate and learned

SIA: All possible knowledge (“sign of
  recognition”)

REKH: transmittable knowledge

HEKA: “gut” knowledge (“magic”)

Power of knowing a name:

A god’s secret name

Myth of Isis and Re

Thoth: god of wisdom, speech, language,
writing, etc.

HU: “creative voice”
|| SIA “sign of recognition”

Writing: “divine words”

Thoth as scribe

Humans on earth after gods' retirement

KING as intermediary with gods, also god himself

King maintains order (ma'at)

King || Horus

Status of king with other gods

"Divine Birth" stories

Divinity
Legitimization

Names and titles of king:
Titulary

Cartouche

Visual signals of king's divinity
- Crowns
- Emblems: uraeus (cobra), vulture
- Scepters
- Clothing: special kilt, "tail"

Paradigm: king succeeded by eldest son

Royal women: "queens" (defined as king's wife, mom, sister, daughter, etc.)

Divinity of royal women

Brother-sister marriage

Kings and succession
Ideal: Osiris --> Horus
king --> eldest son

Renewal of power: heb-sed/ "sed festival"

King maintains order (ma'at)

Rituals

Bullds temples

Temple: home of a particular god

Focus of "official" religion

Maintenance of order, specific god

Temple: recapitulates cosmology

Primeval mound

Inner sanctuary

Images everywhere

Access restricted

Cult image: home of god

"Opening of the mouth"

Daily ritual

Animal cults

Specific
Apis bull of Memphis

Animal cults: general
Horus Falcon of Edfu

Official temple-based religion

KING

Hierarchies

Workers

Scribes

PRIESTS

Ranks

High Priest

"Musicians" (sing and play sistrum)

PRIESTS

Duties:

Rituals/ceremonies
Maintaining cult
Representing king
Specialized duties (books, oracles, animal cults)
Administration

Priests for divine oracles

Oracle questions

Voice oracles

"Speaking" statues

Institutions within the temple:
-House of Gold (Cult images)
-House of Books (library)
-House of Life (rituals)

Priests as further intermediaries between people and gods

GODS
KING
Priests
People

Priests: day-to-day, local
King: national, builds temples

Death of king

Parallel of Osiris

Mummification

Mortuary cult of king
Mortuary Temple

Old King (Osiris) has to die for new king (Horus) to succeed

Funerary religion>Afterlife

Netherworld

Kingdom of Osiris

Place where sun goes at night

Death to rebirth

Sun's nighttime voyage through Netherworld

Book of Caverns

Re and Osiris

Early gods of the dead:
-Osiris
-Khentiamentiu
-Sokar

Cult of Osiris at Abydos

Personal Religion

Importance of ma'at: order

Threat of disorder

King central to maintaining order (ma'at)

4 categories of beings in society:
- GODS
- KINGS
- “BLESSED DEAD”
- HUMAN BEINGS

Outside of society:
-people who act contrary to ma’at
-dead who don’t pass judgment

-non-human, non-divine (animals, plants, etc.)

King
Ruling elite: about 200-300 people
Administration, etc.: about 50,000 people
Population of ancient Egypt: about 1.5 million people

Over 1,000,000 Egyptians poor, illiterate, agricultural
workers

Life expectancy

Death and the family

Elite ideals

Maintaining order

Biographies/Autobiographies

Decorum

Social responsibility

The living and the Dead: offerings to the dead, letters to the dead, stela/stelae (plural

"Effective spirits"

"Ghost" stories

Story of Setna

Magic

HEKA

Rituals, spells, prescriptions

Intermediary of lector-priest

Oracles

“Wise woman”

Dreams

Hathor

“Personal piety”

Votive offerings

Akhenaten and the Amarna Period

New Kingdom, 18th dynasty (c. 1550-1295 BCE)

From Thebes (in south)

God Amun of Thebes

Amun-Re

High Priest of Amun

Sun gods

Divinity of King

Tiye

Amunhotep IV
c. 1350 BCE

Aten

AKH-EN-ATEN
"The effective spirit of Aten"

Move from Thebes:
New capital Akhetaten
("Horizon of Aten) or Tell el Amarna

> "Amarna Period"

Aten titles change: no more reference to other gods

Closure of temples of other gods

Erasing of images and names of other gods

Abstract image of Aten

Akhenaten and family

Wife Nefertiti

Akhenaten, Nefertiti,Aten as triad
NOT monotheistic("one-god")?

Hymn to the Aten

Lack of funerary/afterlife provision
No articulated afterlife beliefs

Survivals of old religion

Success of Akhenaten's reforms?

Restoration of old religion

Back to Thebes, Amun