I just finished reading Wilbur Smith’s Seventh Scroll, and a question has been bothering me since I started reading the novel.
What is it about the ancient Egyptian religion - the Kemetic religion - that enthralls and mystifies people?
I would surmise that the Kemetic religion was not much different from the native religions of other peoples. There was nothing to it, it seemed, that made it more alluring or satisfying than other religions. They all did the same thing, allayed the same fears and anxieties. But for some reason the images, names, myths, and power of the Kemetic deities have an allure that is irresistable to this day for some. Some, being neopagan, worship or honor these deities. Others attempt to resurrect the religion, complete with a female pharoah. (See Kemetic Orthodoxy.)
Isis with her outstretched winged arms. Osiris, the god of the Underworld. Horus the God-king, son of Isis, now a suckling babe, then Harpocrates, and then a falcon-headed glorious ruler. Cobras, vultures, scarabs, winged sun-disks, the Eye of Horus to ward off evil. Pyramids, sarcophagi, pillars, weighing one’s heart against the feather of Ma’at on a scale.
It’s different then what we’re used to and things which are alien tend to fascinate some people. To be honest I think most of the modern Egyptian mysticism we see these days are just fads. There was pyramid power in the 70’s or 80’s, I think there was some fascination with Egypt in the 20’s, and of course the Greeks went through a period of time when they were into Egyptian stuff as well.
Any religion where people feared being forced to eat shit, drink piss, and walk upside down in the afterlife is one that deserves to be remembered!
The syncretism of it is pretty cool too. And I have no cite for this, but I would wager that romanticization of ancient Egyptian religion probably started in the Ptolemaic period, when to impress their rulers, the Egyptians claimed to worship some gigantic number of gods and often made their writing indecipherable through acrophonic substitution (basically the equivalent of my writing Carp Endothermic Cromulent Ipecac Lilliput or the like to spell out “Cecil”). So that type of mysticization probably led to the romantic view of Egypt and its religion that has continued to the present day.
I’d bet that a lot of it has to do with the fact that Egyptian religion is so well documented by the Egyptians themselves and by archaeologists. Not only is there a lot of information on them, but a lot of that information is presented by the very people who practiced that religion. So much information was very well preserved in the desert, while other cultures, such as the Maya, remain fairly mysterious because their location or the invasion of other cultures prevented the preservation of their culture and artifacts. Also, Egypt was wildly popularized in the early 1900s with the discovery of King Tut and a few other un-looted graves. The Egyptian Book of the Dead fascinated so many people, and a lot of people were getting into other forms of spiritualism around the turn of the century, so it stands to reason (to me, anyway) that people for whom the Egyptian religion held such fascination would practice it in some manner or another. Just IMHO, of course.
Now, many people think about either Egypt or dinosaurs when the word archaeology is mentioned. It’s a damned shame, too. I’m much more interested in South American archaeology than in Egypt, and it’s inaccurate (although understandable) when dinosaurs are associated with archaeology.
The mysteries of Mummification tend to get people’s interest. Couple that with the fact that there are lots of beautiful artifacts recovered from that era for people to see. It makes it a bit more alive to people when there is active archaeology going on, and new discoveries being made (though that may be due to people’s interest, so I’m not sure it that’s a valid point).
I think the mystery is what attracts people. Anything left unexplained by our ‘advanced’ science intrigues people. Their mummification technique hasn’t been able to be reproduced as well (except maybe in Stalin’s case - but that’s the Russian’s own formula). There are also supposed Egyptian connections with Atlantis (which already draws people’s interest). Supposedly, the Greeks learned about Atlantis from the Egyptians. While this is unproven, it provides people with Egypt as the last link to a dead ancient civilization.
But then again, Greek and Roman religion was, if not much better documented, much better preserved, as Latin and Greek continued to be understood, whereas Egyptian hieroglyphics died out (partially due to their association with the dead religion). I’m guessing that the mystery of hieroglyphs, combined with the symbolic mystical interpretations of them by scholars prior to Champollion’s decipherment, probably added to the allure of Egypt. After all, Greek and Roman mythology is with us every day with names of planets, gods, symbolism in neoclassical art, etc. When Egyptian symbolism is used in art, it’s traditionally been in a much more exotic manner, conjuring up images of the “forgotten past” and the “mysterious Orient.”
I’m going with the artwork and exotic locale. Sure, I would love to visit Greece or Rome, but as exotic as they are to an American like me, they don’t have the same romantic allure of other civilizations of non-European descent. Greek and Roman art and mythology pervade our everyday life so much that it part of our modern culture. Because the civilization of ancient Egypt is so well documented and new discoveries are being made even today, they’re going to win out in popular interest over other intriguing extinct mythological systems such as the Norse.
And the fact that Egyptian women had the most individual rights (property, etc.) of any civilization until our own.
It probably has a lot to do with the lasting power of such blatant, majestic, and unique structures like the pyramids and the sphinx, which are easily identifyable with ancient Egypt. The fact that while many old, ancient buildings that are still around are in ruins, and many of the ancient Egyptian tombs are in pretty decent shape, is pretty alluring.
I think it might be because the Egyptian culture is very mysterious to us. Here’s a civilization that lasted a very long time, left a huge documentary record, and yet has almost no connection to the modern world. Most other great civilizations have left echoes in our culture - the Romans, the Greeks, even the Chinese. But there is little left of the Egyptian culture, especially in western society. We don’t share the language, our religion has no real roots in theirs, we aren’t monument builders like they were, etc. And their religion was very complex, and very integrated with their society. So it holds some fascination with us.
FWIW, The alure for me is many fold. Yes, I am a practicing Wiccan.
It’s a fairly well known Pre-Judaistic(SP?) religion. There are more, and some are better known.
Cats are Goddesses. Not too many religions deify animals, holding them holy above mankind. This I think is a great teacher of compassion for those animals.
They left lots of great trinkets around to study and copy for modern use. Statues, Amulets etc…
As an ancient civilization they rocked! They subjegated many around them and it took and act of God to get the Children of Abraham out of thier clutches. Perhaps one could call them among the first world Super-Powers.
In thier day they were the most knowlegdable in the areas of Medicine and Physics. We still scratch our head at how they accomplished Cheops.
I for one would love to learn to tap into that ancient reserve of quintessence. And be a bit of One with them all.
Like the other Polytheistc religions, thier Gods/esses had human failings in immortal guises. Nowhere near the pressure as exsist in Xianity, to be worthy or live up to Jesus’ perfection, or Original Sin. Because the Gods/esses were allowed to be imperfect so are thier worshippers.
Egyptian mythology is fascinating because it is so “different” than even the pantheistic religions of the Greek and Romans.
(And “different-wacky” not “different-boring like those odd Hindi and Buddhist religions.” Obviously, I’m being facetious to illustrate the point).
The pyramids are a great advertising gimmick. Most of the time, we can figure out immediately the why’s and wherefore’s of religion: they were high, it gave them an excuse to levy taxes, it gave them an excuse to subjugate women, it gave them an excuse to invade another tribe… The sheer size of the pyramids makes them fascinating.
The mummies are odd too.
Plus, the perceived obsession with death and immortality strikes a chord.
As a modern day cat worshipper myself (I am owned by 5), I thought this too. However, the fact is that many, many cats were killed and mummified as sacrifices. Yes, cats were treated well in general, but animal sacrifice, even of revered animals, was common. That said, I have a statue of Bast in my house.
This is definitely true for me. I have a djed and a scarab that I wear (one is an authentic relic) because they are beautiful. I have spent many hours looking at books and hanging out in museums with rooms full of Egyptian jewelry and household items. Those folks had fabulous style.
I also liked the bloodthirstiness of their gods. Set, in an act of Cain-like sibling rivalry, chops his brother Osiris up and tosses his parts in the Nile. Isis finds all his parts except the generative one, making him King of the Dead. What a great story. Also, didn’t Ra go senile, to be replaced by Amun? Very human.
Personally, I was most captivated by the story of Akhenaten, who inexplicably threw a huge monkey wrench in the whole polytheistic religious machine of his kingdom by instituting nation-wide monotheist worship of the Aten. I have always wondered if he was crazy, a true believer, a politician trying to wrest power from the priestly bureaucracy, or some combination thereof. Read many books about him, still of course don’t know the answer (though I think insanity definitely played a role). When anyone asks me what 3 historical personages I’d want to have to dinner, he makes the list.
