Ra's movements through the sky and the Duat are not fully narrated in Egyptian sources, [89] although funerary texts like the Amduat, Book of Gates, and Book of Caverns relate the nighttime half of the journey in sequences of vignettes. [90] This journey is key to Ra's nature and to the sustenance of all life. [30] Ra on the solar barque, adored with the sun-disk Dunand, Françoise; Zivie-Coche, Christiane (2004) [French edition 1991]. Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE. Translated by David Lorton. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-8853-2. During the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181–2055 BC), the Pyramid Texts developed into the Coffin Texts, which contain similar material and were available to non-royals. Succeeding funerary texts, like the Book of the Dead in the New Kingdom and the Books of Breathing from the Late Period (664–323 BC) and after, developed out of these earlier collections. The New Kingdom also saw the development of another type of funerary text, containing detailed and cohesive descriptions of the nocturnal journey of the sun god. Texts of this type include the Amduat, the Book of Gates, and the Book of Caverns. [42] Temple decoration at Dendera, depicting the goddesses Isis and Nephthys watching over the corpse of their brother Osiris Pinch, Geraldine (2002). Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517024-5. Andrews, Carol A. R. (2001). "Amulets". In Redford, Donald B. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Vol.1. Oxford University Press. pp.75–82. ISBN 978-0-19-510234-5.

Each article in The Ancient Gods Speak is written by an expert on that particular aspect of ancient Egyptian mythology and religion. Covered topics range from gods and goddesses to concepts (“afterlife,”“akh,”“paradise,” etc.) to elements of religious practice – in short, virtually the whole scope of the field. References to myth also appear in non-religious Egyptian literature, beginning in the Middle Kingdom. Many of these references are mere allusions to mythic motifs, but several stories are based entirely on mythic narratives. These more direct renderings of myth are particularly common in the Late and Greco-Roman periods when, according to scholars such as Heike Sternberg, Egyptian myths reached their most fully developed state. [50] Mythology profoundly influenced Egyptian culture. It inspired or influenced many religious rituals and provided the ideological basis for kingship. Scenes and symbols from myth appeared in art in tombs, temples, and amulets. In literature, myths or elements of them were used in stories that range from humor to allegory, demonstrating that the Egyptians adapted mythology to serve a wide variety of purposes. The book combines a gripping family story with a historical tale that enthralls and entices readers. Talibah and Adom follow their father to modern Egypt during a research assignment for him. As they explore an ancient Egyptian mystery, they learn about a lost pharaoh—a rare queen ruler. Treasury of Egyptian Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Monsters & Mortals (National Geographic Kids)

Fiction

The details of these sacred events differ greatly from one text to another and often seem contradictory. Egyptian myths are primarily metaphorical, translating the essence and behavior of deities into terms that humans can understand. Each variant of a myth represents a different symbolic perspective, enriching the Egyptians' understanding of the gods and the world. The collection of episodes surrounding Osiris' death and succession is the most elaborate of all Egyptian myths, and it had the most widespread influence in Egyptian culture. [80] In the first portion of the myth, Osiris, who is associated with both fertility and kingship, is killed and his position usurped by his brother Set. In some versions of the myth, Osiris is actually dismembered and the pieces of his corpse scattered across Egypt. Osiris' sister and wife, Isis, finds her husband's body and restores it to wholeness. [81] She is assisted by funerary deities such as Nephthys and Anubis, and the process of Osiris' restoration reflects Egyptian traditions of embalming and burial. Isis then briefly revives Osiris to conceive an heir with him: the god Horus. [82] Statues of Osiris and of Isis nursing the infant Horus You know we never leave the kids out. The award-winning Donna Napoli collaborated with the accomplished illustrator Christina Balit to create one of our favorite mythology books for kids. However, unlike Wilkinson’s or Pinch’s works, The Ancient Gods Speak is thoroughly academic. If you can’t stand academic writing, this book is definitely not for you. However, it’s still written for a lay audience, albeit probably a better-educated and/or more intellectual one than those other encyclopedia-esque introductory books. And the tradeoff for that lessened accessibility is, of course, greater scholarly rigor.

Many gods appear in artwork from the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt's history (c. 3100–2686 BC), but little about the gods' actions can be gleaned from these sources because they include minimal writing. The Egyptians began using writing more extensively in the Old Kingdom, in which appeared the first major source of Egyptian mythology: the Pyramid Texts. These texts are a collection of several hundred incantations inscribed in the interiors of pyramids beginning in the 24th century BC. They were the first Egyptian funerary texts, intended to ensure that the kings buried in the pyramid would pass safely through the afterlife. Many of the incantations allude to myths related to the afterlife, including creation myths and the myth of Osiris. Many of the texts are likely much older than their first known written copies, and they therefore provide clues about the early stages of Egyptian religious belief. [45] Egyptian deities represent natural phenomena, from physical objects like the earth or the sun to abstract forces like knowledge and creativity. The actions and interactions of the gods, the Egyptians believed, govern the behavior of all of these forces and elements. [22] For the most part, the Egyptians did not describe these mysterious processes in explicit theological writings. Instead, the relationships and interactions of the gods illustrated such processes implicitly. [23] The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day translated by Raymond Faulkner and Ogden GoeletThe Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript by Gisele Díaz and Alan Rodgers Wilkinson presents all of this in very clear, simple, and jargon-free prose that should be perfectly comprehensible to any layperson. It’s extremely newbie-friendly. Among the most important myths were those describing the creation of the world. The Egyptians developed many accounts of the creation, which differ greatly in the events they describe. In particular, the deities credited with creating the world vary in each account. This difference partly reflects the desire of Egypt's cities and priesthoods to exalt their own patron gods by attributing creation to them. Yet the differing accounts were not regarded as contradictory; instead, the Egyptians saw the creation process as having many aspects and involving many divine forces. [67] The sun rises over the circular mound of creation as goddesses pour out the primeval waters around it Some myths may have been inspired by historical events. The unification of Egypt under the pharaohs, at the end of the Predynastic Period around 3100 BC, made the king the focus of Egyptian religion, and thus the ideology of kingship became an important part of mythology. [11] In the wake of unification, gods that were once local patron deities gained national importance, forming new relationships that linked the local deities into a unified national tradition. Geraldine Pinch suggests that early myths may have formed from these relationships. [12] Egyptian sources link the mythical strife between the gods Horus and Set with a conflict between the regions of Upper and Lower Egypt, which may have happened in the late Predynastic era or in the Early Dynastic Period. [13] [Note 1] Another possible source for mythology is ritual. Many rituals make reference to myths and are sometimes based directly on them. [5] But it is difficult to determine whether a culture's myths developed before rituals or vice versa. [6] Questions about this relationship between myth and ritual have spawned much discussion among Egyptologists and scholars of comparative religion in general. In ancient Egypt, the earliest evidence of religious practices predates written myths. [5] Rituals early in Egyptian history included only a few motifs from myth. For these reasons, some scholars have argued that, in Egypt, rituals emerged before myths. [6] But because the early evidence is so sparse, the question may never be resolved for certain. [5]