The Ancient Egyptian system of beliefs and religion is very difficult to understand, yet it carries all the abstract meanings expressed later in religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The Egyptian Religion, written by Sir Wallace Budge who was the head of the Egyptian department at the British Museum at the end of the nineteenth century, expresses this clearly.
Sir Wallace talks in one of the chapters of his book about the concept of unity of God as conceived by the Ancient Egyptians through written passages collected from the different Pharaonic periods by Dr. H. Brugsch. These passages or epithets read as follows:
“God is One and alone, and none other existeth with Him; God is the One, the One Who hath made all things.”
“God is a spirit, a hidden spirit, the spirit of spirits, the great spirit of the Egyptians, the divine spirit.”
“God is from the beginning, and He hath been from the beginning; He hath existed from of old and was when nothing else had being. He existed when nothing else existed, and what existeth He created after He had come into being. He is the father of beginnings.”
“God is the eternal One, He is eternal and infinite; and endureth for ever and aye; He hath endured for countless ages, and He shall endure to all eternity.”
“God is the hidden Being, and no man hath known His form. No man hath been able to seek out His likeness; He is hidden from gods and men, and He is a mystery unto His creatures.”
“No man knoweth how to know Him. His name remaineth hidden; His name is a mystery unto His children. His names are innumerable, they are manifold and none knoweth their number.”
“God is truth, and He liveth by truth, and He feedeth thereon. He is the King of truth, He resteth upon truth, He fashioneth truth, and He executeth truth throughout all the world.”
“God is life, and through Him only man liveth. He giveth life to man, and He breatheth the breath of life into his nostrils.”
“God is father and mother, the father of fathers, and the mother of mothers. He begetteth, but was never begotten; He produceth, but was never produced, He begat Himself and produced Himself. He createth, but was never created; He is the maker of His own form, and the fashioner of His own body.”
As we can see, the Ancient Egyptians had a very good understanding of the essence of religion as it was expressed later on by other religions. Next week, we will continue to explore other religious texts that would complete what we have talked about today.
