Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice

Edited by a certain Byron E. Shafer, and written in three separate parts by David P. Silverman, Leonard H. Lesko and John Baines respectively, (what's with the letter in the middle of their names? Are they ashamed of their second name?) this is a fine book on Egyptology for those of low- to mid level knowledge about the subject. The book is no revolution, but does contain a lot of interesting information about the subject at hand, without blowing your mind away in the process. Like many books written cooperatively by several authors, it does suffer a bit from the different styles of writing, thinking and so on, but in many ways the multiple authors is also a plus. The several authors show what a vibrant field Egyptology still is today, even after all these millenniums, there is still heavy disagreement among the Egyptologists of the world. Fascinating, and unlike so many other fields of study, it seems a promising trend for academic freedom. After the introduction by the editor Shafer, comes the first chapter of the book which makes up about half of it; "Divinity and Deities in Ancient Egypt" by Silverman, then 40 pages or so about "Ancient Egyptian Cosmogonies and Cosmology" by Lesko and finally the remaining half is "Society, Morality, and Religious Practice" by Baines himself. One great thing about the book that is quite unusual in the field judging by the books I've read so far; is that the book has a fine selection of numerous pictures and drawings of maps, artefacts, sculptures and so on taken by the authors themselves. Being a royalist myself, I was particularly interested in the rather large section upon the divinity of the king and related issues. Silverman writes with much vigour and knowledge, and a few quotes from pages 66-7 is in order; "Unlike the gods, however, he [the king] was inextricably related to his human subjects, having been born in their ranks. He fitted in between the society of humanity's world and the society of the gods' world. He was an integral element of both. Without him neither realm could function, and the universe would end." If you want to learn more about the Egyptian religion in several of its aspects, look no further, this is the book for you. I could have wished for a much more fleshy part on the gods themselves though, which makes me give this otherwise fine small book 4 stars. (I read the 1991 first English paperback version.)

Prof. Shafer of Fordham University put this book together in order to fill the need for an English-language survey of ancient Egyptian religion. The result is a relatively short introduction to the subject from three points of view, each addressed by a different author. John Baines writes about the gods, Leonard Lesko about myths, and David Sliverman about religious practice. The idea and organization of the book is commendable; however, I felt that stronger editing could have made the three portions of the book more cohesive and compatible in quality.There was too much overlap between Baines' and Lesko's sections, and Lesko's chapter seemed to be aimed at a more specialized audience than were the other chapters. I felt that Baines dwelled too much on political history and took the focus off the topic at hand. His article would have benefitted from further subdivision; as it was, the overly long sections lacked clear direction. Baines handles concepts of divinity quite well, but I think he could have provided a better overview of the Egyptian pantheon. On the whole I would give his article a tentative 4 stars.Lesko's rather short chapter also placed too much focus on political history, and this was doubly frustrating since he didn't say anything different from Baines. His discussion of myths seemed to lack organization and was befuddling for the newcomer to the field. The chapter mostly consists of lengthy and inadequately explained or connected quotations from Egyptian texts. These texts are interesting sounding but cryptic, and Lesko does not provide enough of an overview for one to understand either what they are saying or why he is quoting them. His article has two chief sections: one on cosmogonies, which is very long and opaque, and a much shorter and somewhat clearer section on cosmology. Overall, this article deserves a tentative 3 stars from a newcomer; someone with more specialized knowledge might find it more useful, but I am not sure.Silverman's chapter was by far the most accessible and informative. Frequent divisions in the text underscored its points while providing strong organization and direction. Silverman's explanations started from basic concepts and worked up to address difficulties in modern methods of study in his field. His chapter came across as an interesting and informative social history of Egypt with particular emphasis on the origins of its structure and morality, both of which derive from religion. This article was engaging and clear, and earns an enthusiastic 5 stars from me.On the whole, then, some parts of this book were more readable and useful than others. However, it seems to be the most scholarly and trustworthy introduction to the topic. I would not recommend it as pleasure reading, but if you need to know something about the subject it is a good resource.

This book is extremely useful for understanding the complex, multifaceted world of the ancient Egyptian Gods. One cannot simply list gods and myths and have them make sense; this book provides three Egyptologists' views on how the Egyptians saw the gods and the universe, how that view evolved in 3000 years, and how they were worshipped throughout that time. There are numerous illustrations, photos, and footnotes. The authors discuss theories about the Armarna period and the divine status of the Pharoah that cannot be found in other books on Ancient Egypt. This is a great book to read if you want to understand the religion as a whole and get the essence of what it was like.

Four specialists - Shafer, Baines, Lesko and Silverman - took the difficult task of explaining the Ancient Egyptians' relation with religion. Through their art, their architecture and their literature, the Ancient Egyptians have left answers to all of their existential questions. Culture is religion; religion is culture : every aspect of life was influenced by the deep beliefs of the people. This is a very informative book recommended for all students of Egyptology.