Customer Reviews

The Cult of Ra: Sun-Worship in Ancient Egypt

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An enlightening book on the royal temple cults of the divine and visible sun. Written in an academic style still accessible to lay-folk like me, it presents a very clear picture of how the ancient Egytians, worshipped the great sun-god Ra. Using the most recent Egyptological evidence, Quirke does a masterful job illustrating not only the outer political and religious significance of the cult, but also the Ancient's subjective view on these matters, e.g., the experience of Ra, the Pharaoh and the visable sun were one and the same, not symbololic of each other, but of one identity. My only significant criticism was the final chapter on Ankhenaten's revised royal cult. Although solar in nature, it was far enough removed from the old cult of Ra, a god among many divine powers, as to feel like a diversion and anti-climatic as a final chapter.

Excellent review of subject matter, details pertintent to subject. should be a read for all students of Egyptology