Handbook of Egyptian Mythology

275 Pages·2002·5.925 MB·English

by  Geraldine Pinch

Handbook of
Egyptian Mythology
TITLES IN ABC-CLIO’S
Handbooks of World Mythology
Handbook of Arab Mythology,Hasan El-Shamy
Handbook of Celtic Mythology,Joseph F. Nagy
Handbook of Classical Mythology,William Hansen
Handbook of Egyptian Mythology,Geraldine Pinch
Handbook of Mesoamerican Mythology,
Kay Almere Read and Jason J. Gonzáles
Handbook of Norse Mythology,John Lindow
HANDBOOKS OF WORLD MYTHOLOGY
Handbook of
Egyptian Mythology
Geraldine Pinch
ABC-CLIO
Santa Barbara, California • Denver, Colorado • Oxford, England
Copyright © 2002 by Geraldine Pinch
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for
the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in
writing from the publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pinch, Geraldine.
Handbook of Egyptian mythology / Geraldine Pinch.
p. cm. — (Handbooks of world mythology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57607-242-8 (alk. paper)—ISBN 1-57607-763-2 (ebook)
1. Mythology, Egyptian. I. Title. II. Series.
BL2441.3.P56 2002
299'.31—dc21
2002004567
06 05 04 03 02 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Manufactured in the United States of America
CONTENTS
Chronology, xi
1 Introduction, 1
What Is a Myth? 1
Myth and Geography, 2
History and the Sources of Egyptian Myth, 4
Protodynastic (Dynasty 0) and Early Dynastic Periods (Dynasties 1–2):
c.3200–2686 BCE, 5
Early Kings, 5
The King and the Gods, 6
Old Kingdom (Dynasties 3–6) and First Intermediate Period (Dynasties
7–11): c. 2686–2055 BCE, 8
The Pyramid Builders, 8
The Pyramid Texts, 9
Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period (Dynasties 11–17):
c.2055–1550 BCE, 12
The Coffin Texts, 13
Literature, 16
Magic and Popular Religion, 17
New Kingdom (Dynasties 18–20) and Third Intermediate Period
(Dynasties 21–24): c. 1550–747 BCE, 19
Temples and Kings, 21
Underworld Books, 24
The Book of the Dead, 26
Mythology in Literature, 28
The End of the New Kingdom, 30
Late Period and Ptolemaic Period (Dynasties 25–30 and the Ptolemies):
747–30 BCE, 31
The Memphite Theology, 32
Persians and Greeks, 34
Alexandria and Memphis, 35
v
vi Contents
Priests and Temples under the Ptolemies, 37
Isis and Horus, 39
Roman Period: 30 BCE–395 CE, 40
Plutarch’s Osiris, 41
Demotic Literature, 42
Land of Magicians, 43
Post-Pharaonic Egypt, 45
2 Mythical Time Lines, 57
Linear Time, 57
Chaos, 58
Emergence of the Creator, 59
Creation, 61
Period of Direct Rule by the Creator Sun God, 68
Period of Rule by Other Gods, 76
Period of Rule by Kings, 85
Return to Chaos, 89
Cyclical Time, 89
The Egyptian Year, 90
The Solar Cycle, 91
The Journey of the Soul, 93
3 Deities, Themes, and Concepts, 99
Aker, 99
Akhet, 99
Ammut, 100
Amun (Amon, Ammon, Amen), 100
Anat (Anath, Anta), 102
Andjety (Anedjeti), 102
Anti (Anty), 103
Anubis (Anpu, Inpw), 104
Anuket (Anukis), 105
Apis, 105
Apophis (Apep), 106
Arsaphes, 108
Ash, 108
Astarte (Ashtarte), 108
Aten (Aton), 109
Atum (Atem), 111
Baal, 112
Babi (Baba), 112
Baboons, 113
Contents vii
Banebdjedet (Banebdjed), 114
Bastet (Bast, Boubastis, Pasht), 115
Bat, 117
Bata, 117
BenuBird (Phoenix), 117
Bes and Beset, 118
Birds, 120
Boats, 121
Cattle, 123
Crocodiles, 126
DjedPillar, 127
Ennead of Heliopolis, 128
Eye of Ra, 128
Eyes of Horus, 131
Feline Deities, 132
Geb, 135
Hand of Atum, 136
Hapy (Hapi), 136
Hathor (H.wt-h.r), 137
Hatmehyt, 139
Heh Gods, 139
Heka (Hika), 139
Heqet (Heqat, Hekat), 139
Heryshef (Arsaphes, Harsaphes), 141
Hippopotamus Goddesses, 141
Horemakhet (Harmachis), 143
Horus (Hor), 143
Horus the Child (Harpokrates, Harpocrates), 146
Hu, 147
Ihy, 148
Imhotep (Imouthes), 148
Ipet (Opet), 149
Isis, 149
Iusaas, 152
Khentamentiu (Khentamenti), 152
Khenty-Khety, 152
Khepri (Khepry, Khopri), 152
Khnum (Chnum), 153
Khonsu (Khons, Chons), 155
Kings and Princes, 156
Lotus, 158
viii Contents
Maat (Ma’et), 159
Mafdet, 161
Magicians, 161
Mahes (Mihos), 163
Mehet-Weret (Mehurit, Methyer), 163
Mehit (Mehyt, Mekhit), 164
Meretseger, 164
Meskhenet, 164
Min, 164
Montu (Mont, Month), 165
Moon, 166
Mut (Mout), 168
Nefertem (Nefertum), 169
Nehebkau, 169
Neith (Neit), 169
Nekhbet, 170
Nemty, 171
Neper (Nepri), 171
Nephthys, 171
Nun (Noun, Nu), 172
Nut (Nout), 173
Ogdoad of Hermopolis, 175
Onuris (Anhur, Inhur, Inhert), 177
Osiris, 178
Pakhet, 180
Primeval Mound, 180
Primeval Ocean, 181
Ptah, 181
Ra (Re, Pre), 182
Raet-Tawy (Raiyet), 185
Ra-Horakhty, 185
Renenutet (Ernutet, Hermouthis, Thermouthis), 185
Satet (Satis) and Anuket (Anukis), 186
Sekhmet (Sakhmet), 187
Serqet (Serket, Selkis), 189
Seshat (Sechat), 190
Seth (Set, Sutekh), 191
Seven Hathors, 194
Shai (Shay), 194
Shed, 195