Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures and Maps
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Defining Time and Space
- 2 Early Inklings
- 3 Gods, Gods, Gods
- 4 Cities, States, and Gods
- 5 The Lure of Egypt, 4000–1400 BCE
- 6 The Gods of Egypt
- 7 The Akhenaten Dream, 1350–1300 BCE
- 8 Practice in Egypt
- 9 The International Age, 1400–1000 BCE
- 10 Gods and People
- 11 The Lord Is One – Israel in Its Environment
- 12 The Turning
- 13 The Good God and the Bad God
- 14 The Lands of Baal
- 15 Greece, Etruria, Rome, and Conveying Traditions
- 16 The Dead Hand of the Past and the Living God
- 17 Experiencing Ancient Near Eastern Religion
- References
- Index
5 - The Lure of Egypt, 4000–1400 BCE
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures and Maps
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Defining Time and Space
- 2 Early Inklings
- 3 Gods, Gods, Gods
- 4 Cities, States, and Gods
- 5 The Lure of Egypt, 4000–1400 BCE
- 6 The Gods of Egypt
- 7 The Akhenaten Dream, 1350–1300 BCE
- 8 Practice in Egypt
- 9 The International Age, 1400–1000 BCE
- 10 Gods and People
- 11 The Lord Is One – Israel in Its Environment
- 12 The Turning
- 13 The Good God and the Bad God
- 14 The Lands of Baal
- 15 Greece, Etruria, Rome, and Conveying Traditions
- 16 The Dead Hand of the Past and the Living God
- 17 Experiencing Ancient Near Eastern Religion
- References
- Index
Summary
If those at the top are fond of the rites, the people are easy to direct.
– The Sayings of Confucius, James Ware, translator, 1955, 96, item 41The old king was brought in on a litter, looking frail and uninterested in where he was going, but the litter bearers plopped him down in front of the master builder, shaven-headed and naked from the waist up. The builder approached carefully, and when the king saw him, the builder bowed to the ground and greeted him formally, “May the king have life, prosperity, health!”
The king raised his head, shaded in the hot sun; he, too, was bald and wore only a light robe, but his face brightened when he recognized the builder. “What have you got for me today?” he asked.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Religions of the Ancient Near East , pp. 54 - 65Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010