| |
Personal piety appears to have reached a high point in New
|
Stela of Penbuy,
dedicated to Ptah, with
prayer-hearing ears, from Deir el-Medina.
19th Dynasty. British Museum. |
Kingdom era - when it was believed that the gods could
forgive human sins - and is perhaps most clearly seen in the
so-called "penitential text" which
have survived to us from Deir el-Medina. These range from
formal compositions inscribed in carved stelae to simple
graffiti and include inscriptions dedicating them to Amun,
Ptah, Hathur, Meretseger and other Egyptian gods. In a good
number of cases they demonstrate that - at least by New Kingdom
times - the extent of the personal relationship possible
between the common people of Egypt and even the greatest
Egyptian gods was considerable.
Some of these texts preserve penitential inscriptions of
considerable beauty not unlike that attained in some of the
more famous Hebrew psalms. The votive stelae of Nebre, for
example, includes the following poignant words which underscore
the Egyptian belief in the awareness and mercy of his god.
You are Amun, the Lord of the silent, who comes at the
voice of the poor. When I call to you in my distress, you
come to rescue me, to give breath to him who is wretched,
To rescue me from bondage...
Though the servant was disposed to do evil, The Lord is
disposed to forgive. The Lord of Thebes spends not a whole
day in anger, His wrath passes in a moment, none remains.
His breath comes back to us in mercy, Amun returns upon his
breeze...
- Votive Stela of Nebre, from Deir el-Medina
In the final era of Egypt's ancient history, the
supreme position of Isis and the wide range of her cult appear
to have been due, to a very large degree, to the personal
relationship of the goddess with her followers and the promise
of salvation which was tied to this bond. Often this personal
relationship with the deity is seen as purely a development of
the Graeco-Roman era, but its precedents in Egypt are clear and
provided a fertile ground for the eventual development of Isis
worship as a road to personal salvation in later times.
|
 |
|
|
|
 The
Complete Gods and
Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
Book
Since you are interested in
the Egyptian gods and
goddesses, you will certainly
find this book interesting and
very informative. As a matter
of fact, most of the articles
here are inspired by, or even
directly taken from, this
book.
What makes this book so
special? I find this book so
special and different because
it is something that both
experts and new learners can
learn from. It introduces you
to the famous Egyptian gods and
goddesses, but it also gets you
deep inside the ancient
Egyptian religious life and
mysterious practices, even it
has a few pages dedicated to
the demons of ancient Egypt. I
strongly recommend this book
for you if you want to get
closer insight of the ancient
Egyptian religious doctrines.
The
book is available on
Amazon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
