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In this comprehensive introduction to Egyptian mythology, author Geraldine Pinch shows how the mythology of Ancient Egypt must be pieced together from a variety of written and visual sources. Relationships between deities changed, and the Egyptian myths were never gathered by priests into an ''authorized version.''
Handbook of Egyptian Mythology provides a brief discussion about the nature of myths; the concept of time in Egyptian mythology; a historical overview of the sources of Egyptian myth; and a dictionary of deities, themes, and concepts, which concentrates on the prominent gods and goddesses in Egyptian myth. The book also includes references to general works on Egyptian culture, religion, and myth; translations of ancient texts; and a selection of literature influenced by Egyptian myth.
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Handbook of Egyptian Mythology
TITLES IN ABC-CLIO’S Handbooks of World Mythology Handbook of Arab Mythology, Hasan El-Shamy Handbook of Celtic Mythology, Joseph F. Nagy Handbook of Classical Mythology, William Hansen Handbook of Egyptian Mythology, Geraldine Pinch Handbook of Mesoamerican Mythology, Kay Almere Read and Jason J. Gonzáles Handbook of Norse Mythology, John Lindow
HANDBOOKS OF WORLD MYTHOLOGY
Handbook of Egyptian Mythology Geraldine Pinch
ABC-CLIO Santa Barbara, California • Denver, Colorado • Oxford, England
Copyright © 2002 by Geraldine Pinch All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pinch, Geraldine. Handbook of Egyptian mythology / Geraldine Pinch. p.
cm. — (Handbooks of world mythology)
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-57607-242-8 (alk. paper)—ISBN 1-57607-763-2 (ebook) 1. Mythology, Egyptian. BL2441.3.P56
I. Title.
II. Series.
2002
299'.31—dc21 2002004567 06 05 04 03 02
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an e-book. Visit abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, Inc. 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116–1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Manufactured in the United States of America
CONTENTS
Chronology, xi
1 Introduction, 1 What Is a Myth? 1 Myth and Geography, 2 History and the Sources of Egyptian Myth, 4 Protodynastic (Dynasty 0) and Early Dynastic Periods (Dynasties 1–2): c. 3200–2686 BCE, 5 Early Kings, 5 The King and the Gods, 6 Old Kingdom (Dynasties 3–6) and First Intermediate Period (Dynasties 7–11): c. 2686–2055 BCE, 8 The Pyramid Builders, 8 The Pyramid Texts, 9 Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period (Dynasties 11–17): c. 2055–1550 BCE, 12 The Coffin Texts, 13 Literature, 16 Magic and Popular Religion, 17 New Kingdom (Dynasties 18–20) and Third Intermediate Period (Dynasties 21–24): c. 1550–747 BCE, 19 Temples and Kings, 21 Underworld Books, 24 The Book of the Dead, 26 Mythology in Literature, 28 The End of the New Kingdom, 30 Late Period and Ptolemaic Period (Dynasties 25–30 and the Ptolemies): 747–30 BCE, 31 The Memphite Theology, 32 Persians and Greeks, 34 Alexandria and Memphis, 35
v
vi
Contents Priests and Temples under the Ptolemies, 37 Isis and Horus, 39 Roman Period: 30 BCE–395 CE, 40 Plutarch’s Osiris, 41 Demotic Literature, 42 Land of Magicians, 43 Post-Pharaonic Egypt, 45
2 Mythical Time Lines, 57 Linear Time, 57 Chaos, 58 Emergence of the Creator, 59 Creation, 61 Period of Direct Rule by the Creator Sun God, 68 Period of Rule by Other Gods, 76 Period of Rule by Kings, 85