Yearning for Immortality : The European Invention of the Ancient Egyptian Afterlife.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nyord, Rune.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Future life--Ancient Egyptian religion.

Future life.

Eschatology, Egyptian.

Christianity and other religions--Egyptian.

Christianity and other religions.

Egyptology--History.

Egyptology.

Egypt--Religion.

Egypt.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (284 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2025.

Summary:

How our understanding of the ancient Egyptian afterlife was shaped by Christianity. Many of us are familiar with the ancient Egyptians’ obsession with immortality and the great efforts they made to secure the quality of their afterlife. But, as Rune Nyord shows, even today, our understanding of the Egyptian afterlife has been formulated to a striking extent in Christian terms. Nyord argues that this is no accident, but rather the result of a long history of Europeans systematically retelling the religion of ancient Egypt to fit the framework of Christianity. The idea of ancient Egyptians believing in postmortem judgment with rewards and punishments in the afterlife was developed during the early modern period through biased interpretations that were construed without any detailed knowledge of ancient Egyptian religion, hieroglyphs, and sources. As a growing number of Egyptian images and texts became available through the nineteenth century, these materials tended to be incorporated into existing narratives rather than being used to question them. Against this historical background, Nyord argues that we need to return to the indigenous sources and shake off the Christian expectations that continue to shape scholarly and popular thinking about the ancient Egyptian afterlife.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

1. Antiquity 's Antiquity: Ancient Sources

2 . Explaining the Remains: Medieval and Renaissance Sources

3. The Egyptian Afterlife in Universal History: 1650-1700

4. Death and Initiation: 1700-1750

5. Describing Egypt: 1750-1798

6. Invasion and Aftermath: 1798-1822

7. The Decline of Metempsychosis: 1822-1860

8. Emergence of the Modern Paradigm: 1860-1885

Conclusion: Where Do We Go from Here?

Acknowledgments

References

Index

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780226838243

0226838242

OCLC:

1499722558