Customer Reviews

Egyptian Divinities: The All Who Are THE ONE

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This is Moustafa Gadalla's eighth book in his continuing struggle to illuminate history from biases of the West and of the Abrahamics. The research in this book leaves little to doubt regarding the validity of guesswork and appropriation by said biased individuals.

Egyptian Divinities continues in Moustafa's clear and concise way of presenting the Ancient Egyptian cosmology, dispelling the chinese whispers trickled from Greek and Western cultures. He explains in great detail some 80 important neterw (wrongly interpreted as gods) and more importantly their function(s) in relationship to each other and to the reader. Moustafa's words reach out to concepts familiar to life relating them to the symbolic view the Ancient Egyptians presented in their cosmology. Many of the neterw described in the book have separate sections markedly defined; "In human terms," that allow the reader to closely associate more with the symbols of this culture rather than chanced abstract terms demoted to purely simple concepts of denegration.

This book is not a fancy of the mind, Moustafa quotes and relates his points directly to Greek, and many other sources not to forget the reader's own common sense. If you have read Moustafa's work before then this book is literally a 'Benben' of his collected work to date. If you are unfamiliar with Moustafa Gadalla's work, this book is a great place to start and work one's way back through his collection.

A "must" for anyone intriqued by Ancient Egypt -- or anyone not afraid to think out of the box. Gadalla's chiming logic, straightforward language, and demystifying graphics make the ineffable seem obvious. As accessible as it is brilliant. Do your consciousness a favor and read this book.

In Egyptian Divinities: The All Who Are The One, historian and Egyptologist Moustafa Gadalla surveys eight Egyptian gods and goddesses to reveal how they interact to maintain the universe and the human being with the context of an antiquarian Egyptian theology. Westerners will find Gadalla's observations on the Egyptian concepts of monotheism and animal symbolism as fascinating and informative as they are insightful and iconoclastic. Egyptian theology was sophisticated and, in fact, an expression of monotheistic mysticism. A meticulously presented, ground breaking work of impeccable and original scholarship, Egyptian Divinities is enthusiastically recommended reading for students of Egyptology, metaphysics, and the history of monotheistic religion.

The author tried to present as fact that the Egyptian Divinities were not "gods" but did an inadequate job. But it did give valuable information.

Western Egyptologists are usually disguising the ancient Egyptian religion as polytheist in order to make Judaism-Christianity appear to be an innovation, unrelated to (Black) Africa. Moustafa Gadalla makes it clear that all neteru (so-called goddesses and gods; the Western "nature" having been derived from that term) were considered to be facets of the very same and only God. In a way, the ancient Egyptian religion is even more monotheist than Western concepts. Even rather pantheist (everything being part of that one God).

The book provides the real Egyptian names of these neteru, next to their Greek-Western corruptions. Beware though, that the former are only approximations, as no vowels were used in the old Egyptian language and about every Egypt/Africacentered book provides other variations. The book provides the information of how these neteru are to be projected metaphorically onto us humans. Also, one or the other expression of every day Western life gets revealed with its ancient Egyptian origin. For example, why we "have guts" or a spine or why cats have nine lives. Intriguing, how much of ancient Egypt is still influencing the global age.

This is an introduction into the Egyptian divinities only. Some of the chosen 80 neteru are covered for a few pages, others are only hastily described, some merely mentioned. I have given 5 stars for this 2001 booklet of some 100 text pages, in contrast to 4 and 3 stars for other ones by Moustafa Gadalla, Egyptian Romany: The Essence of Hispania and Exiled Egyptians: The Heart of Africa, though the latter two reveal more, which is much less revealed by others already and written in a more fascinating manner. However, I do not have to make any necessary subtractions for "Egyptian Divinities" and the latter seems perfect for that what it is.

Gadalla agains goes beyond space and time to bring forth such a well inform book of th NTRU. And has alot of explanation for them in detail while cross referencing thru other historical channels. This book dwelled alot of the Sufi Indians of Egypt who Gadalla expalns still worship and celabrate holiest of Kemet holidays under an Islamic cloak! Such as the festival of the begining of the flooding of the Nile is disguised under a celabration meant for a Islamic hero. A clever way of keeping the traditions. But my whole "big question" with this book is. If people from India are in Egypt now still hoding traditions under masked holidays. Where are the Africans who migrated from the Hapi Valley and spread and populated the rest of Africa. Where are their modern traditions to anicent ways. Yes I know our Indians brothers were apart of Kemet vast empire. But so long describing their customs and how they are still adhering to the anicent way. When its thousand of tribes and people all over Africa that do the same! Why go to JUST India? Because their in the physical anicent place? Ones who study this type of history would know that a large groups of Kemetians move toward the Niger river. And which became the new Nile. Do they still practice the same traditions, as when they were in Kemet? If not what else would they do? and who taught them? These questions he answered about with the Sufi Indians, but what about central Africans? Do they have an interesting story? Historians have always put the migration of original Kemetians OUTSIDE of Africa, like India! But one must realizes when Kemet was on the decline from invaders. These invaders were from the north and east. The Indians came in with them! They were under foregein rule and influence for a long time. Now these brothers are the only or one of the only ones who still practice these ways? That's a stretch, longer and wider than looking at Europe on a map!lol! The key is all fo Africa was influence and hold traditions from Kemet (Anicent Egypt) and he decided to show this in modern Egypt under muslim rule with Indians?!? The easiest way from one point to another is a straight line. This is why I gave this book 3 stars instead of 5. Because all 2 billion African tribes were ignored about holding anicent traditions of Kemet, besides our Indian brothers. -HRU CHA (Divine Kingman)

I purchased a number of books by Moustafa Gadalla including this one. While I enjoyed reading them, I don't think that the assertions he makes qualify as proof.
As a scientist, Mr. Gadalla should know that the only absolute in science is data you can measure and results you can verify. Everything else is just theory that fits the data. But just because a theory fits the data does not mean that the theory is truth; it just means we have yet to find any conflicting data. All of the data present here, of course, fully supports Mr. Gadalla's theories.
To me, this book contains some intriguiing theories that appear to fit the historical data, but I would like to hear from a professional Egyptologist who might be able to present conflicting evidence before I make a decision.