Byrd Wrote:
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> CK, you are framing their understanding in terms
> of YOUR understanding... and not going on the
> basis of what the society believed. Katherine
> gave you a very good review of how they thought
> about their gods (based on a lot of translated
> works.)
>
> You may not think of them as creator gods, but you
> are looking at them as though they existed in one
> form for one time (rather like the 20th century
> Protestant view of deity.) They came from many
> sources and evolved over time, acquiring and
> losing functions and powers and spouses and
> children.
>
> The pharaohs were never in that sort of category.
>
>
> In a sense, it's similar to the way the Romans
> viewed their gods (and the emperor/deceased
> emperor as god).
Perhaps it is impossible for anyone to totally step out of his culture and time. But I'm just trying to understand this from two perspectives. The more important is the perspective of the ancients. My only insight to this is gleaned from their work and the Pyramid Texts. If I'm misinterpreting the PT then I'll be way off on understanding the people. The other perspective is a human perspective. All people are alike in many very profound ways and this would apply to the ancient Egyptians as surely as 19th century British archaeologists. People might step out of their humanity but they have little choice but to return.
It is on this second level that I have doubts about the explanations for the Egyptian beliefs. This isn't to say that these explanations are necessarily wrong or that they fly in the face of human nature, merely that I'm a little uncomfortable with the concept that people would do these things for Gods they'll never again invoke. If the gods don't appear in the PT it's almost as though they don't exist. At the very least they are most assuredly not being invoked.
Perhaps it's on the first level that my greatest problems lie. I see simpler explanations for what is being said. This fits well with the concept that collectively people are fairly simple.
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Man fears the pyramid, time fears man.
