Environment and Religion in Ancient and Coptic Egypt: Sensing the Cosmos through the Eyes of the Divine

Environment and Religion in Ancient and Coptic Egypt: Sensing the Cosmos through the Eyes of the Divine
Author: Alicia Maravelia
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 582
Release: 2020-10-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1789696402

Proceedings of a conference held in Athens in 2017, this volume presents 34 fresh and original papers (plus 2 abstracts) on ancient Egyptian religion, environment and the cosmos. Papers connect many interdisciplinary approaches including Egyptology, archaeology, archaeoastronomy, geography, botany, zoology, ornithology, theology and history.

Egypt, Canaan and Israel: History, Imperialism, Ideology and Literature

Egypt, Canaan and Israel: History, Imperialism, Ideology and Literature
Author: S. Bar
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2011-06-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004210695

The proceedings of the conference “Egypt, Canaan and Israel: History, Imperialism, Ideology and Literature” include the latest discussions about the political, military, cultural, economic, ideological, literary and administrative relations between Egypt, Canaan and Israel during the Second and First Millennia BC incorporating texts, art, and archaeology. A diverse range of scholars discuss subjects as wide-ranging as the Egyptian-Canaanite relations in the Second Intermediate Period, the ideology of boundary stelae, military strategy, diplomacy and officials of the New Kingdom and Late Period, the excavations of Beth-Shean and investigations into the Aruna Pass, and parallels between Biblical, Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern texts. Such breadth in one volume offers a significant contribution to our understanding of the interactions between the civilizations of the ancient Near East.

'There's such Divinity doth Hedge a King'

'There's such Divinity doth Hedge a King'
Author: Nicolas Wyatt
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2016-12-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1351879553

The ideology of power is as much a part of modern life as in the ancient world, in which it has its long-lasting roots. Communities have always provided a supernatural sanction for the maintenance of power by the few, often dressing it up in elaborate mythic fictions, rich iconography and complex rituals. This volume presents Nicolas Wyatt's discussions of royal ideology, its mythic and ritual expressions and various literary treatments in ancient Israel, viewed from a comparative perspective. Exploring the possibility that in many of the manifestations of Israelite kingship we can detect the influence of broader cultural patterns, notably as found in Egyptian and West Semitic contexts, he considers the main early cultural influences on Israel and emphasizes the mythic dimension in which the 'divinity' of the king is a real factor.

Baal, St. George, and Khidr

Baal, St. George, and Khidr
Author: Robert D. Miller II
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 105
Release: 2020-05-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1646020235

In Western tradition, St. George is known as the dragon slayer. In the Middle East, he is called Khidr (“Green One”), and in addition to being a dragon slayer, he is also somehow the prophet Elijah. In this book, Robert D. Miller II untangles these complicated connections and reveals how, especially in his Middle Eastern guise, St. George is a reincarnation of the Canaanite storm god Baal, another “Green One” who in Ugaritic texts slays dragons. Combining art history, theology, and archeology, this multidisciplinary study demystifies the identity of St. George in his various incarnations, laying bare the processes by which these identifications merged and diverged. Miller traces the origins of this figure in Arabic and Latin texts and explores the possibility that Middle Eastern shrines to St. George lie on top of ancient shrines of the Canaanite storm god Baal. Miller examines these holy places, particularly in modern Israel and around Mount Hermon on the Syrian-Lebanese-Israeli border, and makes the convincing case that direct continuity exists from the Baal of antiquity to the St. George/Khidr of Christian lore. Convincingly argued and thoroughly researched, this study makes a unique contribution to such diverse areas as ancient Near Eastern studies, Roman history and religion, Christian hagiography and iconography, Quranic studies, and Arab folk religion.

The Many Faces of the Goddess

The Many Faces of the Goddess
Author: Izak Cornelius
Publisher: Saint-Paul
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2004
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9783727814853

There are a multitude of female figures represented in the art of the ancient Near East and it has often been proved difficult to differentiate them. This study presents a collection of visual source material on godesses from Egypt, Ugarit, Syria and Palestine from c,1500 to 1000 BC. An introduction to the subject and previous research precedes a discussion of iconographic types (armed, seated, standing, equestrian and named women holding objects) and media (including reliefs, seals and amulets, bronze figurines, ivories and ostraca). Cornelius devises a typology of attributes for the goddess Anat, Astarte, Qedeshet and Asherah in order to define their individual qualities and provide a means by which these goddesses can be differentiated. Includes a large descriptive catalogue.