Temples of ancient Egypt
By: edited by Byron E. Shafer ; authors, Dieter Arnold ... [et al.].
Contributors: Shafer, Byron E. 1938-; Arnold, Dieter, 1936-
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Ithaca, N.Y
Language: eng
Number of pages: 335
Subjects: Temples -- Egypt; Rites and ceremonies -- Egypt; Egypt -- Religion
Description: Five distinguished scholars here summarize the state of current knowledge about ancient Egyptian temples and the rituals associated with their use. The first volume in English to survey the major types of Egyptian temples from the Old Kingdom to the Roman period, it offers a unique perspective on ritual and its cultural significance. The authors perceive temples as loci for the creative interplay of sacred space and sacred time.

They regard as unacceptable the traditional division of the temples into the categories of "mortuary" and "divine," believing that their functions and symbolic representations were, at once, too varied and too intertwined. Both informative to scholars and accessible to students, the book combines descriptions of specific temples with new insights into their development and purposes.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-317) and index.