Customer Reviews

The Death of God in Ancient Egypt: An Essay on Egyptian Religion & the Frame of Time

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

 

 

Out of print for over three years, the only information has been through such New-age writers as Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval, who I feel have misrepresented my ideas. This work is not about astrology, although the zodiac must be discussed, nor is it about any numbers being encoded by the ancient Egyptians, as reported by these writers. In fact I had written just the opposite, pointing out that the number 72 was inserted into the story of Osiris by Plutarch, which would be after the time of Hipparchus, which would mean that the information was 'out there.' I was trying to make quite a different point. Unfortunately, my reporting of the interest by ancient cultures in certain numbers, as discussed by writers such as Joseph Campbell, and my wondering about an alternative use for the outdated sky calendars buried with Seti I and Ramesses IV seem to have won me a place in the hearts of those whose ideas have no support from me. I have long felt I should defend my book,and to that end I have labored for a year to bring forth a revised and updated version. This version has additional illustrations and supporting computer images of the precessionally changed sky over key predynastic settlements. This is for those interested in seeking a verifiable origin, or basis, for the Egyptian belief system, and is a serious and thoughtful investigation.

I imagine that everyone wonders at some point in their lives how things originated to the point we are at today. In the realm of ancient egyptian mythology, Jane Sellers has taken what others have called complex or obscure and has put forth a simple, easy to contemplate and highly researched theory. Pulling from several ancient sources including the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead, among others, she equates the origins of their myths and beliefs with the observable effects of precession and total eclipses of the sun which would have been noticed by them in the same way that we notice these events today. She does not claim that they knew what precession was or what caused it but that they were aware of its observable effects and the changes in the sky that it caused. Surely, the myths and beliefs that developed were the ancient egyptian way of comprehending and understanding the world and skies around them and answering their own questions as to 'Who are we?', 'Where do we come from?', 'Why are we here?', and 'Is there life after death?' The path of the ancient egyptian, though it has been repaved many times, is the same path that we are on today in our quest for understanding the cosmos and our place within it. The point being that the theory Jane Sellers puts forth is very believable and very probable. The fact that the ancient egyptians did not have the technologies that we have today (e.g. television, computers, and all the other distractions) does not mean that their minds were inferior to ours. On the contrary, they had fewer distractions and more time to contemplate their surroundings. For all the details, if your looking to further understand the mind of the ancient egyptian, you must read this book. I for one, could in no way express Ms. Sellers theory in the way she so excellently does. An exceptional book!

As the author of Death of Gods I wish to protest the inclusion of quite a few titles that my book is said to have cited. I have long struggled against being associated with certain ideas, and although I do not know these books, they are certainly ones that I did not consult. They are: Egyptian Pyramids by E. Longley, The Aztecs by P. Ardagh, Ancient Egypt, by V. Parker, Ancient Egypt by Boase, The Middle Kingdom, by Williams, Ms. Frizzle' Adventures by Cole, Book of the Dead by Russell, Book of the Dead by Preston,and History of the World by Carter. A new edition of Death of Gods will soon be available in a new size (6X9)and a new price.The Death of Gods in Ancient Egypt

Bravo for this new edition of this book, first published by Penguin in 1992. The great change for this third edition is its size, which is a more manageable 6 X 9. I found Death of Gods not only of great interest to those who want a thoughtful and scholarly approach to the search for the origins of the ancient Egyptian belief system, but a groundbreaking testing of the premise that ancients had very early made believable progress in their attempt at understanding, and even measuring, all the movements of the heavens. As the author asks, "Is it possible to recover from the remote past an utterly lost science linked to an equally lost culture? Is it possible to recover a lost science of observation that given an unexplainable event, a drastic deviation from expectations, led to the myths that comprised the ancient religions, specifically that of the ancient Egyptians?"
As Sellers has quoted, "He that will have a cake out of the wheat must tarry the grinding," and to that end the author carefully and thoroughly explains, even for the most ignorant of readers, the astronomy that must be understood, (and I was grateful for that), but it is after that hurdle that the reading really gets interesting. Sellers' grasp of ancient myths from other ancient cultures is obvious, and no reader can doubt the author's familiarity with even the most obscure Egyptian texts. In addition, she has written that she spent long hours viewing and measuring the height of key "marker" stars when they became visible at their first rising after their seasonal absence in the desert skies of both Egypt and the Rub-al-Kahli.
However, celestial movements would explain only one of the two major myths, that of the death and rebirth of Osiris, the second, the story of the 80 years of quarrelling between Horns and Seth demanded a different answer, which Sellers provides. Computer projections, ancient texts, and ancient artwork suggest a different and intriguing explanation.
I have discussed this book with a professional Egyptologist who stated to me that Death of Gods had encouraged him to look at a number of things in a different light and that, for example, Sellers understanding of the origin of the twin cobras placed on the solar disk is an idea which he felt must be given serious consideration.
When I was finished reading this amazing book I was thoroughly convinced of the presented theory, although Sellers herself had continuously cautioned that "the theories directed to the beliefs of pre-literate peoples must be understood to fall short of full certainty, and the most deeply felt convictions must aspire only to a reasonable degree of probability."

I imagine that everyone wonders at some point in their lives how things originated to the point we are at today. In the realm of ancient egyptian mythology, Jane Sellers has taken what others have called complex or obscure and has put forth a simple, easy to contemplate and highly researched theory. Pulling from several ancient sources including the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead, among others, she equates the origins of their myths and beliefs with the observable effects of precession and total eclipses of the sun which would have been noticed by them in the same way that we notice these events today. She does not claim that they knew what precession was or what caused it but that they were aware of its observable effects and the changes in the sky that it caused. Surely, the myths and beliefs that developed were the ancient egyptian way of comprehending and understanding the world and skies around them and answering their own questions as to 'Who are we?', 'Where do we come from?', 'Why are we here?' and 'Is there life after death?' The path of the ancient egyptian, though it has been repaved many times, is the same path that we are on today in our quest for understanding the cosmos and our place within it. The point being that the theory Jane Sellers puts forth is very believable and very probable. The fact that the ancient egyptians did not have the technologies that we have today (e.g. television, computers, and all the other distractions) does not mean that their minds were inferior to ours. On the contrary, they had fewer distractions and more time to contemplate their surroundings. For all the details, if your looking to further understand the mind of the ancient egyptian, you must read this book. I for one, could in no way express Ms. Sellers theory in the way she so excellently does. An exceptional book!

Jane Seller's earlier edition, which is sold through amazon's used book dealers network for almost $100 has an interesting review by the author herself, where she objects to certain out of context characterizations by Graham Hancock et al.

Be sure to check out that reveiw but order this book--its the revised edition