# The Religion of Ancient Egypt

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THE HIBBERT LECTURES, 1879.
LECTURES
ON THE
ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF RELIGION
AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE
RELIGION OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
DELIVERED IN MAY AND JUNE, 1879.
BY
P. LE PAGE RENOUF.
WILLIAMS AND NORGATE,
14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON; And 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH.
1880
LONDON: PRINTED BY C. GREEN AND SON, 178, STRAND.
To my dear Wife,
IN GRATEFUL AND AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE
OF OUR JOURNEY THROUGH THE LAND
WHOSE ANCIENT RELIGION
IS HERE VERY IMPERFECTLY DESCRIBED.
TABLE OF CONTENTS :
LECTURE I.
The Sources of Information respecting the Ancient Egyptian Religion. :
PAGE :
| Early Christians on the Egyptian worship | ​ | 1 |
| Heathen writers on the same subject | ​ | 2 |
| How far can such evidence be relied upon | ​ | 4 |
| Modern attempts at investigation | ​ | 9 |
| Decipherment of hieroglyphic writing | ​ | 11 |
| Dr. Young | ​ | 12 |
| Champollion | ​ | 14 |
| His successors | ​ | 19 |
| Recovery of the ancient language | ​ | 20 |
| Publication of Egyptian texts | ​ | 22 |
| Most of the texts are of a religious nature | ​ | 26 |
LECTURE II.
Antiquity and Characteristics of Egyptian Civilization. :
| Egyptian chronology depends upon monuments recording contemporary facts | ​ | 32 |
| Monuments mentioning the year of a reign | ​ | 33 |
| Monuments furnishing evidence of a succession of reigns | ​ | 34 |
| Royal lists and their verification by the monuments | ​ | 37 |
| Royal list of Abydos | ​ | 38 |
| Evidence of the reality of sovereigns named | ​ | 39 |
| Omissions of this list | ​ | 41 |
| Genealogies | ​ | 46 |
| Manetho | ​ | 47 |
| Absolute dates | ​ | 48 |
| Egyptian monarchy anterior to 3000 B.C. | ​ | 49 |
| Pre-historic antiquity of human race in Egypt | ​ | 50 |
| Egyptian ethnology | ​ | 53 |
| Language | ​ | 55 |
| Art | ​ | 61 |
| Moral code | ​ | 71 |
| Castes | ​ | 78 |
| Monogamy | ​ | 79 |
LECTURE III.
The Gods of Egypt. :
| Identity of the religious institutions from first to last | ​ | 80 |
| Temples | ​ | 82 |
| Triads and enneads | ​ | 83 |
| Local character of Egyptian worship | ​ | 83 |
| The deities innumerable | ​ | 85 |
| Mean notions concerning these deities | ​ | 87 |
| Simplification of the list | ​ | 87 |
| Is the religion really monotheistic? | ​ | 89 |
| Evidences as to the meaning of the word Nutar | ​ | 93 |
| The Power | ​ | 100 |
| The Powers | ​ | 103 |
| Myth and legend | ​ | 104 |
| Rā and his family | ​ | 109 |
| Osiris and his family | ​ | 110 |
| Horus | ​ | 113 |
| Set | ​ | 116 |
| Thoth | ​ | 116 |
| The reign of Law | ​ | 119 |
LECTURE IV.
Communion with the Unseen World. :
| Sepulchral rites | ​ | 124 |
| The tombs and their inscriptions | ​ | 127 |
| The ka or genius | ​ | 147 |
| Souls, shadows, apparitions | ​ | 152 |
| Possession | ​ | 154 |
| Dreams | ​ | 155 |
| Oaths | ​ | 157 |
| Angels | ​ | 158 |
| Destiny | ​ | 159 |
| The king's divinity | ​ | 161 |
LECTURE V.
The Religious Books of Egypt. :
| The Book of the Dead | ​ | 172 |
| Beatification of the dead | ​ | 179 |
| The renewed existence "as upon earth" | ​ | 180 |
| Transformation | ​ | 181 |
| Identification with Osiris and other gods | ​ | 184 |
| Amulets | ​ | 191 |
| Words of power | ​ | 192 |
| Moral doctrine | ​ | 194 |
| Other sacred books | ​ | 200 |
LECTURE VI.
Religious Books and Hymns: Henotheism, Pantheism and Materialism. :
| Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys | ​ | 204 |
| Book of glorifying Osiris | ​ | 205 |
| Book of the Breaths of Life | ​ | 207 |
| Rhind papyri | ​ | 209 |
| Magical literature | ​ | 210 |
| True notion of God | ​ | 215 |
| Henotheism | ​ | 217 |
| Pantheism | ​ | 230 |
| Materialism | ​ | 239 |
| Influence of Egyptian upon foreign thought | ​ | 243 |
| Conclusion | ​ | 249 |
Index