Religion in Roman Egypt
Edition: New Ed edition
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: December 15, 2000
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 332
ISBN-13: 9780691070544
Subjects: African history: BCE to c 500 CE; Ancient Egyptian Religion; Christianity; Religion - Commentaries / Reference; Religion; Ancient Egypt; Egypt; Ancient - Egypt; Ancient - Rome; History; Archaeology and Ancient History; Classics; Middle Eastern Studies; Religion / History
First sentence: AS MUCH as this book concerns Egyptian religion in its later phases (roughly 100 to 600 C.E.), it is a study in cultural resilience, and it draws comparatively upon other such studies in order to answer the question, How does an established culture preserve its religious ways despite multiple pressures and traumas?
Description: This exploration of cultural resilience examines the complex fate of classical Egyptian religion during the centuries from the period when Christianity first made its appearance in Egypt to when it became the region's dominant religion (roughly 100 to 600 C.E. Taking into account the full range of witnesses to continuing native piety--from papyri and saints' lives to archaeology and terracotta figurines--and drawing on anthropological studies of folk religion, David Frankfurter argues that the religion of Pharonic Egypt did not die out as early as has been supposed but was instead relegated from political centers to village and home, where it continued a vigorous existence for centuries.

In analyzing the fate of the Egyptian oracle and of the priesthoods, the function of magical texts, and the dynamics of domestic cults, Frankfurter describes how an ancient culture maintained itself while also being transformed through influences such as Hellenism, Roman government, and Christian dominance. Recognizing the special characteristics of Egypt, which differentiated it from the other Mediterranean cultures that were undergoing simultaneous social and political changes, he departs from the traditional "decline of paganism/triumph of Christianity" model most often used to describe the Roman period. By revealing late Egyptian religion in its Egyptian historical context, he moves us away from scenarios of Christian triumph and shows us how long and how energetically pagan worship survived.