So flexible were Egyptian myths that they could seemingly conflict with each other. Many descriptions of the creation of the world and the movements of the sun occur in Egyptian texts, some very different from each other. [32] The relationships between gods were fluid, so that, for instance, the goddess Hathor could be called the mother, wife, or daughter of the sun god Ra. [33] Separate deities could even be syncretized, or linked, as a single being. Thus the creator god Atum was combined with Ra to form Ra-Atum. [34] Baines, John (April 1991). "Egyptian Myth and Discourse: Myth, Gods, and the Early Written and Iconographic Record". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 50 (2): 81–105. doi: 10.1086/373483. JSTOR 545669. S2CID 162233011. Human creativity is one of the markers of our species. There are countless dazzling tales from around the world; folklore, fairy tales, myths, and legends alike. Further, it draws samples from Egyptian literature, artwork, hymns, and different inscriptions in the book.

The Red Pyramid earned him the 2010 School Library Journal’s Best Book, 2011 Children’s Choice Book Awards: Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year, and the 2012 Indian Paintbrush Award. There is no doubt that this mythology has it all, it has no shortage of fascinating stories and surprising related facts, such as beliefs about death and the soul. From the physiognomy of the gods, with bodies half human and half animal, to the mummies, the pyramids, their forms of expression, everything is truly worthy of study.

Fiction

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.

Several attempts have been made to eliminate her from records so that it appears that she does not exist. But, with Senenmut as her high priest, she needs Talibah’s help to reclaim her rightful place in history. The adventure is filled with riddles, old stories, and a surprising connection to Talibah’s and Adom’s mother’s mysterious death. Greek, Mesopotamia, Egypt & Rome: Fascinating Insights, Mythology, Stories, History & Knowledge From The World’s Most Interesting Civilizations & Empires by History Brought Alive 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]Sternberg, Heike (1985). Mythische Motive and Mythenbildung in den agyptischen Tempeln und Papyri der Griechisch-Romischen Zeit (in German). Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-02497-6. Illustrations of gods and mythical events appear extensively alongside religious writing in tombs, temples, and funerary texts. [42] Mythological scenes in Egyptian artwork are rarely placed in sequence as a narrative, but individual scenes, particularly depicting the resurrection of Osiris, do sometimes appear in religious artwork. [111] The Egyptians' vision of time was influenced by their environment. Each day the sun rose and set, bringing light to the land and regulating human activity; each year the Nile flooded, renewing the fertility of the soil and allowing the highly productive agriculture that sustained Egyptian civilization. These periodic events inspired the Egyptians to see all of time as a series of recurring patterns regulated by maat, renewing the gods and the universe. [2] Although the Egyptians recognized that different historical eras differ in their particulars, mythic patterns dominate the Egyptian perception of history. [61] 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. Shaw, Garry J. (2014). The Egyptian Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-25198-0.

When we mention Egyptian mythology, we are referring to the historical period of Ancient Egypt, which goes from the Pre Dynasty to the Christian era. It spans some 3000 years, making it a period very rich in diversity of beliefs. Our books on Egyptian mythology will introduce you to its study for free. Because the Egyptians rarely described theological ideas explicitly, the implicit ideas of mythology formed much of the basis for Egyptian religion. The purpose of Egyptian religion was the maintenance of maat, and the concepts that myths express were believed to be essential to maat. The rituals of Egyptian religion were meant to make the mythic events, and the concepts they represented, real once more, thereby renewing maat. [64] The rituals were believed to achieve this effect through the force of heka, the same connection between the physical and divine realms that enabled the original creation. [103] There are so many books available on ancient Egyptian mythology and religion, especially introductions written for beginners, that it can sometimes seem that they’re more numerous than grains of sand in the Egyptian desert. Trying to sift through them all to determine which ones are the most worthy of spending your hard-earned money on can be a daunting task. In the hopes of helping people to skip over the bad, mediocre, unreliable, or outdated books on the subject and get right to the good stuff, I’ve compiled this list of the 10 best books on ancient Egyptian mythology and religion (last updated April 2019).The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day as translated by Raymond Faulkner and Ogden Goelet 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. As we are dealing with thousands of years of cultural, social and religious heritage, the bibliography on Ancient Egypt is very extensive, although not as extensive as everything that happened in that long period. Nevertheless, we recommend that you start with our selection and then move on to a more specialized study.