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The Sun-Cult in Ancient Egypt

Abstract

I. THE recent discovery of Tut'enkhamūn's tomb has naturally aroused a great deal of interest in. the attempt made by that king's father-in-law, Ōkhnatōn, to establish a monotheistic form of sun-worship as the State religion of Egypt, and indeed of the whole Egyptian empire. Properly to appreciate this very striking phase of Egyptian religious thought, it is necessary to have some knowledge of the old “orthodox” sun-cult, the State religion of Egypt, since at any rate the sixth, and possibly the third dynasty—a cult which can be traced back to the very dawn of Egyptian history.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. J. H. Breasted, “Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt”, London, 1912.

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  2. A. M. Blackman, “The House of the Morning” (Journal of Egyptian Arch"logy, vol. v. pp. 148–165).

  3. By the same author also: “Some Notes on the Ancient Egyptian Practice of Washing the Dead” (Journal of Egyptian Arch"logy, vol. ii. pp. 117–123).

  4. "The Position of Women in the Ancient Egyptian Hierarchy” (op. cit. vol. vii. pp. 8–30).

  5. "The Sequence of the Episodes in the Egyptian Daily Temple Liturgy” (Journal of the Manchester Egyptian and Oriental Society, 1918–1919).

  6. "Sacramental Ideas and Usages in Ancient Egypt. I. Lustrations and the Heliopolitan Sun-God” (Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, vol. xl. pp. 57–66, 86–91).

  7. "Sacramental Ideas and Usages in Ancient Egypt. II. Osirian Lustrations” (Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie et l'archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes, vol. 39, pp. 44–77).

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BLACKMAN, A. The Sun-Cult in Ancient Egypt. Nature 111, 499–502 (1923). https://doi.org/10.1038/111499a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/111499a0

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