Religion in Roman Egypt : assimilation and resistance / David Frankfurter.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Frankfurter, David, 1961-

Contributor:

• George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Egypt--Religion--332 B.C.-640 A.D.
• Egypt.
• Religion.
• Christianity and other religions--Egyptian.
• Christianity and other religions.

Physical Description:

xvi, 314 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [1998]

Summary:

• This exploration of cultural resilience examines the complex fate of classical Egyptian religion during the centuries from the period when Christinity first made its appearance in Egypt to when it became the region's dominant religion (roughly 100 to 600 C.E. Taking into account the full range of witnesses to continuing native piety -- from papyri and saints' lives to archaeology and terracotta figurines -- and drawing on anthropological studies of folk religion, David Frankfurter argues that the religion of Pharonic Egypt did not die out as early as has been supposed but was instead relegated from political centers to village and home, where it continued a vigorous existence for centuries.
• In analyzing the fate of the Egyptian oracle and of the priesthoods, the function of magical texts, and the dynamics of domestic cults, Frankfurter describes how an ancient culture maintained itself while also being transformed through influences such as Hellenism, Roman government, and Christian dominance. Recognizing the special characteristics of Egypt, which differentiated it from the other Mediterranean cultures that were undergoing simultaneous social and political changes, he departs from the traditional "decline of paganism/triumph of Christianity" model most often used to describe the Roman period. By revealing late Egyptian religion in its Egyptian historical context, he moves us away from scenarios of Christian triumph and shows us how long and how energetically pagan worship survived.

Contents:

• Overture: The Armor of Horus 3
• 2 Religion and Temples 37
• 3 The Local Scope of Religious Belief 97
• 4 Mutations of the Egyptian Oracle 145
• 5 Priest to Magician: Evolving Modes of Religious Authority 198
• 6 The Scriptorium as Crucible of Religious Change 238
• 7 Idiom, Ideology, and Iconoclasm: A Prolegomenon to the Conversion of Egypt 265.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [285]-306) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

0691026858

OCLC:

37975590

Online:

The George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund Home Page