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# Ancient Egyptian Religion

## Overview
Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex polytheistic system practiced for over 3,000 years, centered on maintaining *ma'at* (cosmic order) through ritual, temple worship, and funerary practices. Approximately 1,500 deities are attested across the full span of Egyptian history [^3].

## Key Facts
- Period: ~3100 BCE – ~400 CE (suppressed under Christianity) @t[~3100 BCE..~400 CE]
- Type: Polytheistic with henotheistic tendencies
- Sacred texts: Pyramid Texts (~2400–2300 BCE), Coffin Texts (~2100–1650 BCE), Book of the Dead (~1550 BCE onward) [^4]
- Priesthood: Temple-based, pharaoh as chief intermediary with the gods

## Major Deities
- Ra/Amun-Ra: Sun god, king of the gods; center of solar theology at Heliopolis
- Osiris: God of the dead and resurrection
- Isis: Goddess of magic and motherhood
- Horus: Sky god, divine kingship
- Anubis: God of mummification
- Thoth: God of writing and wisdom
- Ptah: God of craftsmen and creation; patron deity of Memphis [^3]
- Set: God of chaos, storms, and the desert; adversary of Horus [^1]

## Key Concepts
- *Ma'at*: Cosmic order, truth, and justice
- *Ka* and *Ba*: Aspects of the soul
- *Heka*: Divine magic; the animating force underlying all ritual and divine power [^3]
- Afterlife: Judgment by Osiris, weighing of the heart against the feather of Ma'at
- Mummification: Preservation of the body for the afterlife

## Theological Systems
Egyptian theology was not monolithic; competing creation traditions developed around major cult centers [^5]:

- **Heliopolitan Ennead**: Nine primordial deities centered on Atum/Ra at Heliopolis — Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys
- **Hermopolitan Ogdoad**: Eight deities representing primordial chaos at Hermopolis — four pairs embodying water (Nun/Naunet), infinity (Heh/Hauhet), darkness (Kek/Kauket), and hidden forces (Amun/Amaunet)
- **Memphite Theology**: Ptah as creator-god who brought the world into being through thought and speech (*Shabaka Stone*, ~700 BCE, copying an older text)

## Major Cult Centers
- **Heliopolis** (near modern Cairo): Center of solar worship; temple of Ra/Atum; origin of the Ennead tradition
- **Memphis**: Cult center of Ptah; political and religious capital of the Old Kingdom
- **Thebes** (modern Luxor): Center of Amun worship; site of Karnak and Luxor temples; dominant from the Middle Kingdom onward
- **Abydos**: Principal cult center of Osiris; major pilgrimage site and royal necropolis

## Atenism
Pharaoh Akhenaten (~1353–1336 BCE) briefly imposed monotheistic worship of the Aten (sun disk), suppressing other cults. Reversed after his death [^2]. @t[~1353 BCE..~1336 BCE]

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[^1]: Wilkinson, R. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt* (Thames & Hudson, 2003)
[^2]: Assmann, J. *The Search for God in Ancient Egypt* (Cornell University Press, 2001)
[^3]: Hornung, E. *Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many* (Cornell University Press, 1982)
[^4]: Faulkner, R.O. *The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts* (Oxford University Press, 1969); Allen, J.P. *The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts* (Society of Biblical Literature, 2005)
[^5]: Allen, J.P. *Genesis in Egypt: The Philosophy of Ancient Egyptian Creation Accounts* (Yale Egyptological Studies, 1988)