Thoth, the ibis-headed god of wisdom, inventor of the art of writing; Osiris,
the dead god who arose and set the pattern for death-and-resurrection gods ever
since; Isis, the great mother, wandering through the reed swamps; Anubis,
conductor of the dead, with jackal head; Bast, the cat goddess; Set, the evil
serpent; Ptah, the living mummy… for more than 2500 years, since the days of
Herodotus, students have found the gods of Ancient Egypt a source of fascination
and wonder. Strange beings who lived in a world of their own (as opposed to the
human gods of the European peoples), irrational powers and menaces, sometimes
animal-like, sometimes superhuman, sometimes incalculable in their evil
potentialities, they still have the power to move men's thoughts.
By far the most thorough, most useful coverage of the gods of Ancient Egypt
is the present, two-volume book by Dr. Budge for the British Museum, one of the
foremost Egyptologists of the century. In it is presented practically everything
known about the high gods, the local gods, demigods, demons and mythological
figures of Khem. Dr. Budge provides full information on the origins of the
ancient religion; its peculiarly Egyptian aspects; evolution of cults, rites and
gods; the priesthoods; the heretical aberration of Ikhnaten and the Aten cult;
the cult of Osiris; the Book of the Dead and its rites; the sacred animals and
birds; heaven and hell, and much other secret wisdom that has been discovered
hidden in mummy cases or written on tomb walls. The text is profusely
illustrated, with many reproductions of tomb and mummy-case paintings, while
many full texts are presented, with both hieroglyphs and translation.
This
is the second volume of the two volume set
431 pages, softcover book
includes a poster insert with images of ancient Egyptian depictions of
faith,
