Post by Mysti on Jul 6, 2007 7:10:02 GMT -5
Egyptian civilization is extraordinarily ancient. The Pyramid Texts, which are the oldest religious writings in the world and which are carved on the walls of five pyramids a Saqqara in Lower Egypt, have been dated to 2350bc, yet the culture which produced these texts and built these pyramids was already highly developed and sophisticated at that time. Recent research by the geologist Professor Robert Schock, as reported by Robert Bauval and Graham Hancock in their book Keeper of Genesis (Mandarin, 1997), suggests that, at a conservative estimate, based on evidence of rain erosion, the Great Sphinx at Giza could date from between 7000 and 5000bc when there was heavy rainfall in Egypt. After that time, such erosion could not have occurred, for the climate changed. Many geologists agree with this assessment which , if true, would make Egyptian civilization at least twice as old as cureent archeological orthodoxy will allow--a conclusion so startling as to be almost errie.
As we gaze back in our imaginations across this vast gulf of time, Egyptian culture may seem strange to us. At first sight it has an alien, even alienating, atmosphere about it, to the extent that some people have looked for literally alien, extraterrestrial influences to explain what otherwise seems so weird as to be inexplicable. The images which surive from tombs and temples, of pharoahs, queens and the mighty bods, seem aloof, haughty, impassive, in their formal, stylized poses. In spectacular wall paintings, some of which have survived for millennia with their brillin colours intact, these elegant figures stand in profile in ordered ranks, their peculiar sidelong gaze never meeting ours, as they perform for etenity the sacred rites of succouring the justified dead. In massive statuary the gods and pharaohs sit in perfect repose, inscrutable expressions on their utterly serene faces. Such images are awe-inspiring, but scarcely approachable. The animal-headed deities with human bodies are even more baffling: perhaps to some eyes they seem sinister, menacing--a curiously primitive remnant of prehistoric tribal cults persisting into a civilized age. Even the Greeks who where their contemporaries found this aspect of the Egyptians' religion quite grotesque and rather despicable. Our own culture's fictional portrayal of ancient Egyptian beliefs and practices focusing on horrible curses, black magic, mummies revived from the dead, and arcane rites involving human sacrifice, hardly shows the religion in favorable light.
In spite of all of this, ancient Egypt holds an undeniable fascination for many people: its mystery, its strangeness, is an intrinsic part of its appeal. We glimpse something that we do not understand, and we feel drawn to look and look again and to keep on looking, and gradually we see more, and understand more of what we are seeing. Eventually it will not seem strange at all, but very familiar; for the truth of the matter is that ancient Egypt is neither alien nor alienating: it is the culture behind our own culture and the civilization from which our own civilization grew. We tend to think of our culture as having descended from that of Greece and Rome, for down the centries an emphasis on classical education has reinforced this view: but behind the glory of Greece there flourished another civilization from which the Greeks themselves claimed to have derived their learning, and compared with which they saw themselves to be like children--and that civilization was Egypt.
The Book of Egyptian Ritual Jocelyn Almond and Keith Seddon
In these posts on this board we will explore and answer questions and hopefully learn together of an ancient religion. One, of which some Wiccans and other Pagans pull beliefs from. this is the first post of many to be placed here. Feel free to ask questions and input any knowledge that you have tward our learning.
As we gaze back in our imaginations across this vast gulf of time, Egyptian culture may seem strange to us. At first sight it has an alien, even alienating, atmosphere about it, to the extent that some people have looked for literally alien, extraterrestrial influences to explain what otherwise seems so weird as to be inexplicable. The images which surive from tombs and temples, of pharoahs, queens and the mighty bods, seem aloof, haughty, impassive, in their formal, stylized poses. In spectacular wall paintings, some of which have survived for millennia with their brillin colours intact, these elegant figures stand in profile in ordered ranks, their peculiar sidelong gaze never meeting ours, as they perform for etenity the sacred rites of succouring the justified dead. In massive statuary the gods and pharaohs sit in perfect repose, inscrutable expressions on their utterly serene faces. Such images are awe-inspiring, but scarcely approachable. The animal-headed deities with human bodies are even more baffling: perhaps to some eyes they seem sinister, menacing--a curiously primitive remnant of prehistoric tribal cults persisting into a civilized age. Even the Greeks who where their contemporaries found this aspect of the Egyptians' religion quite grotesque and rather despicable. Our own culture's fictional portrayal of ancient Egyptian beliefs and practices focusing on horrible curses, black magic, mummies revived from the dead, and arcane rites involving human sacrifice, hardly shows the religion in favorable light.
In spite of all of this, ancient Egypt holds an undeniable fascination for many people: its mystery, its strangeness, is an intrinsic part of its appeal. We glimpse something that we do not understand, and we feel drawn to look and look again and to keep on looking, and gradually we see more, and understand more of what we are seeing. Eventually it will not seem strange at all, but very familiar; for the truth of the matter is that ancient Egypt is neither alien nor alienating: it is the culture behind our own culture and the civilization from which our own civilization grew. We tend to think of our culture as having descended from that of Greece and Rome, for down the centries an emphasis on classical education has reinforced this view: but behind the glory of Greece there flourished another civilization from which the Greeks themselves claimed to have derived their learning, and compared with which they saw themselves to be like children--and that civilization was Egypt.
The Book of Egyptian Ritual Jocelyn Almond and Keith Seddon
In these posts on this board we will explore and answer questions and hopefully learn together of an ancient religion. One, of which some Wiccans and other Pagans pull beliefs from. this is the first post of many to be placed here. Feel free to ask questions and input any knowledge that you have tward our learning.