Handbook of Egyptian Mythology

ABC-CLIO’s Handbooks of World Mythology

by Geraldine Pinch

Spanning ancient Egyptian culture (ca. 3200 B.C.E. to C.E. 400), the Handbook of Egyptian Mythology is the only complete survey of Egyptian mythology of its kind available in English.

In this comprehensive introduction to Egyptian mythology, author Geraldine Pinch shows how the mythology of Ancient Egypt must be pieced together from a variety of written and visual sources. Relationships between deities changed, and the Egyptian myths were never gathered by priests into an "authorized version."

Handbook of Egyptian Mythology provides a brief discussion about the nature of myths; the concept of time in Egyptian mythology; a historical overview of the sources of Egyptian myth; and a dictionary of deities, themes, and concepts, which concentrates on the prominent gods and goddesses in Egyptian myth. The book also includes references to general works on Egyptian culture, religion, and myth; translations of ancient texts; and a selection of literature influenced by Egyptian myth.

Genres: Mythology, History, Nonfiction, Egypt, Religion, Ancient History, Egyptology

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Geraldine is a British author and Egyptologist. She taught Egyptology at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford and has written books on Ancient Egypt for adults and children. Her latest book, `The Diary of a Woman Scorned' is a dark comedy about divorce, murder and flower-painting. She also writes Fantasy Fiction under the name of Geraldine Harris.

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I really need to mention that this is a good INTRO to Egyptian Mythology. It gives us a good basis for the Egyptian empire, time periods, landscapes, and influences before diving right into the gods and goddesses.

What this is NOT is a collection of stories a-la Edith Hamilton's Greek Mythology. It does have a number of stories from different time periods and gives us plausible morphologies of main gods as they become less important, giving rein to others. Again, this is natural for any society that changes and wishes to distance itself from the past, but I found myself a bit mystified in places.

Instead of delving deep enough to get us invested in Osirus, Isis, Seth, or Horus, it spends, in my humble opinion, too little time on any. And all the other gods and goddesses? We sometimes get little more than names.

This may be just something that I have an issue with or perhaps it's the legends themselves being a bit sparse on details. I'll just assume for now that it's the latter. But I want more.

In fact, I'm thinking I should go right to the source of the big things that we DO have -- such as Herodotus.

Still, it's very readable for what it is and it would be a very good reference material for a new student. So, there's that.

[Hamed Manoochehri · Rating 3 out of 5]

خب، من این کتابو خوندم و به عنوان یه هندبوک کلی ازش یاد گرفتم. ولی این کتابی نیست که خوندنش (به قول شما جوانان) فان باشه. بیشتر شبیه جزوه‌ای مفصل از تاریخ و اسطوره‌های مصر باستانه که قراره ما رُ از گم‌شدن در هزارتوی نام‌ها و خدایان نجات بده. خوندنش یه دید کلی از ادوار مختلف تاریخی و به تَبَع اون، از شکل‌گیری تدریجی اسطوره‌شناسی مصر به دستم داد، چیزی که برای مطالعه‌ی تخصصی‌تر یه قدم به جلو محسوب می‌شه.

نثر کتاب شفاف، دقیق و آکادمیکه. کاملاً می‌شه بهش به‌عنوان منبع علمی استناد کرد. به نظرم از نظر ساختار و دقت تاریخی، یه کتاب درسی/هندبوکِ تقریباً بی‌نقصه. ولی اگر مثل من دنبال یه متن با نوآنس‌های ادبی، یا خلاقیتی در روایت اسطوره‌ها هستید، احتمالاً براتون کمی خشک به نظر میاد.

البته لا‌به‌لای این خشکسالی ادبی، تک‌وتوک، واحه‌هایی از فان فَکتهای احتمالا ناخواسته وجود داره. مثلاً اون‌جا که توضیح می‌ده خدای قوچ‌سر، Banebdjedet، بعدها توی سنت مسیحی تبدیل شده به «شیطان شاخ‌دار» یا "Horned King of the Witches" یا وقتی اشاره می‌کنه که جنگ بین حوروس و ست شاید در اصل دعوای دو شهر واقعی بوده! یا اشاره به اینکه مار نمادی از زمان بوده و اوروبوروس که به شکل ماری هست که دم خودشو به دهان گرفته، چرخه زمانو نشون میده.

مِن حیث‌ المجموع، کتابیه که بیشتر از اون‌که سرگرمت کنه، بهت آموزش می‌ده. اگه به دنبال مرجع‌ای مطمئن و منظم برای مصرشناسی هستید، انتخاب درستیه. ولی اگه می‌خوای با خوندن اسطوره‌ها حس سفر در زمان و رویاپردازی بگیری، باید برید سراغ کتاب‌های شاعرانه‌تر این حوزه.

[Pia G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

kitap, temelde üç ana bölümden oluşuyor. ilk bölümde mısır mitolojisinin ana hatları, tarihi gelişimi ve mitolojik düşüncenin toplumla olan bağları ele alınıyor. bu bölümler yalnızca mitolojiyle sınırlı kalmayıp mısır'ın sosyal ve kültürel yapısına da değinilmiş. diğer bölümlerdeyse mitolojik figürler detaylandırılmış ve her bir tanrı, tanrıça ya da yaratık hakkında ayrıntılı bilgiler içeriyor. bu bölümlerle her figürün özelliklerini, sembolik rollerini ve ritüellerini tanıyoruz.

pinch, her bir tanrının farklı katmanlarını açığa çıkararak mısır mitolojisinin sembolik karmaşıklığını başarıyla ortaya koymuş. tanrıların hem doğa güçlerini temsil etmeleri hem de ahlâki ve toplumsal semboller olarak rol üstlenmeleri, mitolojinin iki yönlü yapısını gözler önüne seriyor. pinch'in dili oldukça akıcı, teknik terimlere boğmadan yazdığı için kitabı mitolojiye meraklı biri de keyifle okur, biraz daha derin öğrenmek isteyen de.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely must-have book for anyone researching the religion, gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. It provides an excellent and plausible explanation of the origin and content of Egyptian religion, and traces the myths and legends through the various iterations available through the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and The Book of the Dead. It's an excellent reference book for the multiple religious centers and the various combinations of deities that ruled in each one. Among the many fascinating facts I learned was that while Egypt as a land borders on the Mediterranean Sea, and certainly the ancient Egyptians were familiar with boating up and down the Nile, they were not seafaring in the traditional sense, and had no God/Goddess of the Sea. There were however multiple deities to describe the various stages and conditions of the river. Just an excellent book!

[Starch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative, but the writing is a bit dry. There are no direct translations of texts here, only summaries of myths and lists of gods and goddesses.

Then again:
"Ra becomes angry when he is insulted by the baboon god Babi and lies down on his back. This implies that the creator sun god was sinking back into the inert state that would mean the end of the world. Hathor, Lady of the Southern Sycamore, visits her father and shows him her genitals. He immediately laughs, gets up, and goes back to administering justice."

[Ayon Bit · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my childhood, i am too much curious to Egypt. After Greek mythology, i was decided to read Egyptian Mythology. Excellent introduction! Pinch structured the book well, with the first two sections split into longer chapters dealing with very important themes in Egyptian mythology (e.g. mythical time lines, etc).This is a good reference work for Studies in Ancient Egyptian mythology.

[Wee Lassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man there were a lot of weird baby stories in ancient Egyptian Mythology - it says something about your Mythos when the Mpreg story is the least … well,
… certainly not the most weird.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt by Geraldine Pinch, an Egyptologist at the Oriental Institute of Oxford University and a Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions is a good reference work on Ancient Egypt in general and their thought, cosmology, and religion in particular.

She explains that Ancient Egyptians thought of time both as linear and cyclical contained in the myth of Ancient Egypt. They experienced the past, present and future of linear time (straight line). The linear mythic story of Ancient Egypt contained seven stages: "chaos (pre-creation), the emergence of the creator (Sun God), the creation of the world and its inhabitants, the reign of the sun god, the period of direct rule by other deities (Gods), the period (term) of rule by semi-divine kings (history), and the return to chaos" (57). The unbroken cycles of decay, death, and re-birth occurred in cyclical time. Symbolically, the snake that swallows its tail (GK - Ouroboros) signifies eternity, universe renewing itself: every end could be a beginning. Examples include the flooding of the Nile, the Egyptian year, the seeming journey of the sun from night to day, and the eternal journey of the soul.

An encyclopedic A to Z section covers the principal themes and concepts of Egyptian mythology as well as the most important deities, demons, and other characters. Under 'P' appears PRIMEAVAEL MOUND "the first land to rise above the primeval ocean at the dawn of time" (180). The comprehensive index describes Ka as "the vital essence of a person that continued to need nourishment after death. Shown as a person's double" (229).

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly this wasn't what I was looking for which was stories from Egyptian mythology. This is definitely a reference book with a bunch of historical background and then an A to Z listing of gods and goddesses.

Stories are referenced but it's a very dry read. I confess I skimmed it.

More helpful if you're doing research.

[།♱’ς whϵrϵ ოყ δ૯ጠဓηऽ Һ¡ɗ٤ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would've liked to see less dictionary-style info and more stories, but still an interesting read.

[Roslin Sinclair · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so badly wanted to like this book but it was just so dry and almost painful to get through. I don't know how much information I actually retained.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books marks what I think is the end of my ancient Egypt kick, since the only books I have left on Egypt are a beginner’s guide to translating hieroglyphics and a French artist’s realizations of ancient sites/cities in their prime (and the book is in French). I’m not sure how useful reading hieroglyphics will be in everyday life, so the bits of it I studied are already fading. I’ll have to keep learning French for awhile before I can tackle the other book, too.

Anyway, this book was a great finish to this mini obsession that lasted about 6 months. Having already absorbed stories, gods, and the end-to-end history of ancient Egypt, this book provided some much needed and welcome context.

The book starts with a (relatively) quick recap of 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, proving the story of the country and its ruling dynasties. But where it shone was in explaining longer-term shifts in ancient Egyptian beliefs, diving into cultural beliefs that contextualize religious practices, and in adding details about the Egyptian understanding of the world/cosmos.

After this rich opening section, the book becomes a catalogue of ancient Egyptian gods, myths, and religious beliefs. Even knowing a bit about Egyptian gods, I was excited to read the passages about my favorites, as each passage contained details that I hadn’t seen or heard before.

I wish I’d started my little obsessive deep dive into ancient Egypt with this book. It’s succinct, insightful, and down-to-earth, even when discussing creation myths and gods. Thoth himself would keep it on his shelf.

[Sophie Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will continue to recommend this to anyone new to the Egypt and/or kemetic space. Such a valuable resource to look back to as needed for deeper study.

---

This is such a great introduction book into the beautiful world that was ancient egypt. Incredibly beginner friendly. Pinch takes you through the chronology of ancient egypt and how their religion developed in each time period, which i found helpful. It's great when this is all In one place to turn back to! She also explains the different time aspects that the ancients believed.

In the last chapter she dives into important deities, or more prominent ones with a brief overview of how they were created, their aspects and general mythology which is a great starting point. She focused a lot on the seth/horus myth but this is likely due to how prominent this story was for the ancient Egyptians, and of course the many stories of the Eyes of Ra.

What I liked about this read was that she did not just focus on the Deities but different concepts the Egyptians thought important as well to give us a better understanding.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good reference work for studies in Ancient Egyptian mythology. Note, you won't find the literature represented here per se but rather you will be introduced to Ancient Egypt in general and their thought, cosmology & religion in particular. In begins with a short introduction to myth and Ancient Egyptian history. Then it proceeds to introduce the reader to how Ancient Egyptians conceived of their world both in terms of linear time and in terms of cyclical time. By far the largest portion of the book is an wonderful A to Z reference guide to the deities, themes, and concepts of Ancient Egyptian mythology. For the size, this little book is pretty comprehensive and will definitely be a useful resource for future Near Eastern studies.

[Naomi Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Altough, over-all, I was able to learn some from this book, I was not overly impressed. I found Betro's book on hieroglyphics much easier to read. Though, my being off-put by the style of the book could be that this book is not meant to be read straight through. If it is only used as a reference book then I would say it would be very helpful and useful to keep as a guide. It is not, however, a book to be read straight through.

[Sheri Fresonke Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of the Gods, Goddesses and traditions found in the various Egyptian dynasties using examples from archaeological buildings and offering pictorial examples.

The ties to the various ancient texts help explain where the information came from. Some explanations of the natural life on the Nile. A good introduction although some of the descriptions of the Gods and their activities and stories seem repetitive.

[Mahir Şanlı · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mısır mitolojisini öğrenmek isteyenler için yerinde bir başlangıç olacaktır. Wilkinson'un kitabıyla kıyaslarsak eğer bunda daha fazla hikaye anlatımı var ve bu da konuyu anlamayı kolaylaştırıyor. Tavsiye ederim.

[Aylin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mısır Mitolojisi; Mısır Bilimci Geraldine Pinch'in Mısır hanedanlıklarına, tarihi metinlere,tapınaklarda bulunan kabartmalar ve yazıtlara değinerek; Mısır tarihini, kültürünü, mitolojik döngüyü ve anlatıların sembolik anlamlarını; anlaşılır ve yalın bir üslup ile işlediği, okumaktan keyif aldığım bir kitap oldu.

İlk bölüm mitin tanımı, işlevi, Mısır kelimesinin anlamı ve coğrafi konumu ile bağlantısı, kronolojik sırası ile Mısır Hanedanlıkları, piramitlerin yapımı, Mitlere dair genel çerçevenin öğrenildiği Piramit Metinleri ile Sanduka Metinleri,bir babanın oğluna doğru davranmayı öğretmesi ve Etik konular ile ilgili Akil Metinleri, tanrılarla karşılaşan insanları işleyen yazılı ve sözlü öykücülük, asillerin ruhlarının öbür dünyada zengin bir yaşam sürmesine yardımcı olmayı amaçlayan el kitaplarından biri olan Ölüler Kitabı,Perslerin Mısır'ı işgali ve Yunan Tarihçi Herodot ve Mısır'a yönelik düşünceleri, Büyük İskender'in Mısır'ı bağımsızlığa kavuşturması ve İskenderiye kentini kurması, 2.Ptolemaios zamanında kurulan İskenderiye Kütüphanesi, Jül Sezar ile başlayan Roma dönemi, Yunan tarihçi Plutarkhos'un mitleri anlamak konusunda rolü işleniyor.

İkinci bölüm mitolojik akışı tarihsel kayıtları temel alarak yansıtıyor.
Başlangıçta Nun (Kaos) adı verilen Kadim sular vardı.Nun içinden çıkan Atum-Ra, tanrısallaştırılan zihinsel ve fiziksel özellikleri ile Shu ve Tefnut'u yaratır.Sonsuz tekdüzeliği simgeleyen Tefnut, yeryüzü ile bağlantısı olan Geb'i ve gökyüzü ile ilişkili Tanrıça Nut'u yaratır. Geb ile Nut birbirilerine sımsıkı sarılır. Aralarına hava ve ışığın girmesi ve yaşamın ortaya çıkması için; sonsuz değişimi simgeleyen Shu; Nut'u havaya kaldırır, Geb'i ise ayaklarının altına alır. Nut ve Geb'in birbirinden ayrılması; Tanrılar Osiris, Seth ve Horus ile Tanrıçalar İsis ve Nephthys'i meydana getirir. Tarih boyunca farklı isimlerle anılan Yaratıcı; kozmosu, onun yasalarını ve gözyaşlarından insanları oluşturur. İnsanlık kendisine karşı isyan edince yeryüzünü İsis ve Osiris'e bırakarak gökyüzüne çekilir. Gözü Osiris'in tahtında olan Seth ise Osiris'i iki kez öldürerek ; İsis' ın oğlu Horus'un peşine düşer. Böylece efsanevi Seth ve Horus çatışması başlamış olur.

Üçüncü bölüm ; Krallıklarda yaşatılan farklı isimleri ile Tanrıları ve mitolojik kavramları referanslar göstererek işliyor.

Masalsı hikayeler yerine; tarihi eserlere,kayıtlara ve metinlere göndermeler yolu ile mitolojinin çerçevelenmesi,kabartma ve piramitlerdeki anlatıların ön planda işlenmesi açısından dikkat çekici olan bu kitap mitoloji severlere önerimdir.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pinch succeeds in describing the complex Egyptian mythology to the attentive reader. However, as she recognizes, the lack of a contemporary and authoritative compilation of myths, such as Hesiod’s Theogony on Greek mythology, means that almost all Egyptian myths are known in a plethora of forms and interchanging characters. This aspect added a layer of complexity as the deities merge and switch places, blurring their identity and the uniqueness of the stories. In the end, Pinch manages to give the historical context for the evolving mythology of Egypt and an exhaustive, if over-inclusive, list of gods and their attributes. While the work might not function as a literary work, as most Greek mythology books do, it does show a more realistic description of the formation and evolution of religious thought across thousands of years.

[Hanna Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautifully presented and categorized but also reading this book I learned just how convoluted egyptian mythology can be. there’s a lot of gods that share symbolism or aspects of divinity with other gods and gods that have various forms, blending into other gods still depending on where and how they were worshipped. still, egyptian myth is always fascinating to learn about and this book makes me want to delve into more content on the topic

[kristyn ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ · Rating 5 out of 5]

as a greek myth girlie, i have always loved reading about egyptian myths, but i would always forget the gods/goddesses and what each of them stood for. this is a wonderful compilation of all the heavy hitters and then some. i learned a lot from this! plus, it was fun hearing where susanne collins got some of the characters names for the hunger games (like two, but still lmao). overall, this was definitely worth the read!

[Patricia Woodruff · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy to understand overview of Egyptian Mythology. Well written. The first half of the book is a good overview of Egyptian development and spiritual world view and the second half gives short summaries of each of the major deities.

[Tia Seymanski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect read for introductory to Greek Mythology! Very nice breakdown the second half of the book.

[Jeannie May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful in sorting out the myriad and confusing Egyptian gods and goddesses and mythology

[Yoran Gerritsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genuinely appreciate reading about mythologies, yet mostly stick to Norse and Greek myths . I should've read up on the Egyptian pantheon earlier!

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somehow the author decided that introducing Egyptian goddess and gods in alphabetical order is a good idea. The stories are very fragmented and repeated. They talk about a goddess got mad and had to be convinced to return to help her father for at least three times in the book. I feel like I’m reading a long Wikipedia article.

[Driss Sekkat]

In the Egyptian mythology Egyptians didn’t just believed in one god, they believed in many gods. The most Egyptian god was Ra and Egyptians believed that Thoth was his secretary and counsellor. In the Egyptian mythology Thoth would stay next to Ra wherever he goes. Egyptians believed in about 2,000 gods but Ra was the god of the gods. A long time ago in Ancient Egypt, Egyptians believed that people were made out of clay. A fact Egyptians used to do was when they started preparing the body into a mummy the embalmer would pull the dead humans brain out from his nose using a long metal hook. In Egyptian mythology cats were known as sacred animals and Thoth, the secretary and counsellor of Ra has the best animal avatar, an ibis. Ra, the god of the gods was part in many myths and legends. There were many gods part of the Egyptian mythology but there were 12 important gods starting with Ra, after that Anubis, Horus, Thoth, Osiris, Isis, Seth, Sekhmet, Ptah, Hathor, and Nephthys. Finally, Egyptians also believed in reincarnation.

Egyptian Mythology and Greek mythology are actually a little bit familiar to each other. In every mythology both of them have a god of the gods which is Zeus and Ra. After that, they have 12 very important gods. In the Greek mythology it only has 13 god's but comparing to the Egyptians that's nothing because Egyptians have over 2,000 gods & goddesses. Both mythology’s believed in the after life and have the same rules to enter the afterlife for example believing into gods and religion beliefs and traditions. As said in the first paragraph Egyptians did believe in reincarnation but Greeks did not believe in it. In Greek mythology cats were not sacred as animals but for Egyptians it did.

This book can be recommended for many types of grades level such as 6th to 9th grade because it is a very exciting book. It has been a long time since people did not read about Egyptians and it is actually very fun to read about them. This book can be recommended to many types of people also such as people that like to read about mythology and also fun gods. After that, if people read this book they would know more about ancient Egyptian History. Finally, people that are able to understand this book would never give it back to the library because they will love it and everyone would love the book “Egyptian Mythology”.

[Jessica M Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I was reading I made sure to take notes about the gods and goddesses that engrossed my mind. I learned that Ancient Greeks recycled knowledge from Egyptians, which is not surprising. It's a shame that Europeans are so fascinated with Egyptian culture, but cannot, by any means, respect the knowledge that Egyptians shared with them. The ancient Egyptians were Black. Arabs didn't invade until the 7th century. Why attempt to wipe out my history? The proof is in the pudding; we can look at the garbs that were worn and compare with the material that West Africans utilized. Even the Arabic language is relatively different than what the Egyptians used. Egyptians lost their land when they decided to split power. When you separate authority, you lose the ability to govern effectively, which is why Egypt was invaded by the Persians, Greeks, and Arabs. After thousands of years of invasion, our blood was diluted. I will not allow anyone to delete the indigenous people from Egypt.

I learned in my Biological Anthropology class that Europeans dug up the bodies of Africans and Native Americans to prove their physical and mental superiority. In this book, we learn that 19th century Europeans held mummy unwrapping parties. Completely disregarding the rituals that were used to guide the dead to the afterlife. Chants were written inside and outside of the coffins to protect the deceased.

My final message to all readers would be,

Respect my mind, respect the dead, and respect my gods.

Peace!

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently listened to a lecture series on the history of ancient Egypt. I became fascinated with the topic and wanted to learn more about the mythology and religion of the people in the Nile valley. Geraldine Pinch's "Egyptian Mythology" was exactly what I was looking for.

In her book, Pinch first surveys Egyptian history with an eye to the different extant sources that give clues about Egyptian gods and goddesses. The second section tries to recount the Egyptians' story of creation and the developments that led up to the first kings on the Nile. I say "tries" because there are many conflicting versions of these tales. Pinch suggests the variations while giving a good sense of the general flow. The third section is an alphabetical listing of important gods, goddesses, and concepts in Egyptian mythology. Many listings are cross-referenced with related gods, and Pinch also notes the primary sources (Pyramid texts, coffin texts, Books of the Dead, etc.) for her interpretations. Finally there is a good annotated bibliography at the end of the book, plus a glossary of technical terms.

If you are interested in this topic, I can highly recommend this book. If not compelling, the text is informative and clear. The book is also well-illustrated with images from Egyptian art that support the text.

[Wilhelmina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction! Pinch structured the book well, with the first two sections split into longer chapters dealing with very important themes in Egyptian mythology (e.g. mythical time lines, etc). These should be read through before reading the last section, which is comprised of entries about different deities and lesser concepts. The book is well written in general, though I can see how someone could get bored if they read it all the way through. Given that I actually *did* read it through, I sometimes wished that she had just used the deities names instead of saying only the Distant Goddess or the Sun God, though I recognize her reasons for not doing so. There is also a very good list of additional sources in the back of the book as well!

Overall I am very pleased with the book, and I feel significantly more knowledgeable about Egyptian mythology.