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Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends
"Let us walk in the gloom of the pyramids, in the cool shadows of ruined temples, aye, through the tortuous labyrinth of the Egyptian mind itself, trusting that by virtue of the light we carry we shall succeed in unravelling to some extent the age-long enigma of this mystic land." — from Chapter One.
In this classic study, a noted mythologist made perhaps the first serious attempt to review the religious history of ancient Egypt in the light of the science of modern mythology. Instead of regarding Egyptian mythology and legend as unique, "classic" and inviolate, as did many Egyptologists, Spence saw Egyptian religious thought as part of world mythology, rooted in primitive conceptions common to mankind as a whole and related to those of many other cultures. In supporting this thesis, Spence offers an immensely erudite in-depth survey of the broad spectrum of Egyptian gods and goddesses, cults, and beliefs, as well as a concise review of Egyptian history, manners, customs, and archaeology.
Animism, totemism, fetishism, creation myths, and other aspects of early religious beliefs are explored in an introductory chapter. The author then goes on to discuss the Egyptian priesthood, mysteries and temples, the cult of Osiris; Ra the Sun-God, Anubis, Horus, Thoth, and numerous other deities; the Book of the Dead, the birth of Hatshepsut, sacred trees, alchemy, the festival of Bast, Egyptian art, magic, and amulets, legends; and a host of other topics.
Enhanced with over 50 photographs and illustrations, this book belongs in the library of any student of ancient Egypt or of early man's attempts, through mythology and legend, to give order, meaning, and purpose to his world.
In this classic study, a noted mythologist made perhaps the first serious attempt to review the religious history of ancient Egypt in the light of the science of modern mythology. Instead of regarding Egyptian mythology and legend as unique, "classic" and inviolate, as did many Egyptologists, Spence saw Egyptian religious thought as part of world mythology, rooted in primitive conceptions common to mankind as a whole and related to those of many other cultures. In supporting this thesis, Spence offers an immensely erudite in-depth survey of the broad spectrum of Egyptian gods and goddesses, cults, and beliefs, as well as a concise review of Egyptian history, manners, customs, and archaeology.
Animism, totemism, fetishism, creation myths, and other aspects of early religious beliefs are explored in an introductory chapter. The author then goes on to discuss the Egyptian priesthood, mysteries and temples, the cult of Osiris; Ra the Sun-God, Anubis, Horus, Thoth, and numerous other deities; the Book of the Dead, the birth of Hatshepsut, sacred trees, alchemy, the festival of Bast, Egyptian art, magic, and amulets, legends; and a host of other topics.
Enhanced with over 50 photographs and illustrations, this book belongs in the library of any student of ancient Egypt or of early man's attempts, through mythology and legend, to give order, meaning, and purpose to his world.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1915
44 people are currently reading
1066 people want to read
About the author
Lewis Spence
396 books51 followersJames Lewis Thomas Chalmers Spence was a Scottish journalist, poet, author, folklorist and student of the occult.
After graduating from Edinburgh University he pursued a career in journalism. He was an editor at The Scotsman 1899-1906, editor of The Edinburgh Magazine for a year, 1904–05, then an editor at The British Weekly, 1906-09. In this time his interest was sparked in the myth and folklore of Mexico and Central America, resulting in his popularisation of the Mayan Popul Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiché Mayas (1908). He compiled A Dictionary of Mythology (1910 and numerous additional volumes).
Spence was an ardent Scottish nationalist, He was the founder of the Scottish National Movement which later merged to form the National Party of Scotland and which in turn merged to form the Scottish National Party. He unsuccessfully contested a parliamentary seat for Midlothian and Peebles Northern at a by-election in 1929.
He also wrote poetry in English and Scots. His Collected Poems were published in 1953. He investigated Scottish folklore and wrote about Brythonic rites and traditions in Mysteries of Celtic Britain (1905). In this book, Spence theorized that the original Britons were descendants of a people that migrated from Northwest Africa and were probably related to the Berbers and the Basques.
Spence's researches into the mythology and culture of the New World, together with his examination of the cultures of western Europe and north-west Africa, led him almost inevitably to the question of Atlantis. During the 1920s he published a series of books which sought to rescue the topic from the occultists who had more or less brought it into disrepute. These works, amongst which were The Problem of Atlantis (1924) and History of Atlantis (1927), continued the line of research inaugurated by Ignatius Donnelly and looked at the lost island as a Bronze Age civilization, that formed a cultural link with the New World, which he invoked through examples he found of striking parallels between the early civilizations of the Old and New Worlds.
Spence's erudition and the width of his reading, his industry and imagination were all impressive; yet the conclusions he reached, avoiding peer-reviewed journals, have been almost universally rejected by mainstream scholarship. His popularisations met stiff criticism in professional journals, but his continued appeal among theory hobbyists is summed up by a reviewer of The Problem of Atlantis (1924) in The Geographical Journal: "Mr. Spence is an industrious writer, and, even if he fails to convince, has done service in marshalling the evidence and has produced an entertaining volume which is well worth reading." Nevertheless, he seems to have had some influence upon the ideas of controversial author Immanuel Velikovsky, and as his books have come into the public domain, they have been successfully reprinted and some have been scanned for the Internet.
Spence's 1940 book Occult Causes of the Present War seems to have been the first book in the field of Nazi occultism.
Over his long career, he published more than forty books, many of which remain in print to this day.
After graduating from Edinburgh University he pursued a career in journalism. He was an editor at The Scotsman 1899-1906, editor of The Edinburgh Magazine for a year, 1904–05, then an editor at The British Weekly, 1906-09. In this time his interest was sparked in the myth and folklore of Mexico and Central America, resulting in his popularisation of the Mayan Popul Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiché Mayas (1908). He compiled A Dictionary of Mythology (1910 and numerous additional volumes).
Spence was an ardent Scottish nationalist, He was the founder of the Scottish National Movement which later merged to form the National Party of Scotland and which in turn merged to form the Scottish National Party. He unsuccessfully contested a parliamentary seat for Midlothian and Peebles Northern at a by-election in 1929.
He also wrote poetry in English and Scots. His Collected Poems were published in 1953. He investigated Scottish folklore and wrote about Brythonic rites and traditions in Mysteries of Celtic Britain (1905). In this book, Spence theorized that the original Britons were descendants of a people that migrated from Northwest Africa and were probably related to the Berbers and the Basques.
Spence's researches into the mythology and culture of the New World, together with his examination of the cultures of western Europe and north-west Africa, led him almost inevitably to the question of Atlantis. During the 1920s he published a series of books which sought to rescue the topic from the occultists who had more or less brought it into disrepute. These works, amongst which were The Problem of Atlantis (1924) and History of Atlantis (1927), continued the line of research inaugurated by Ignatius Donnelly and looked at the lost island as a Bronze Age civilization, that formed a cultural link with the New World, which he invoked through examples he found of striking parallels between the early civilizations of the Old and New Worlds.
Spence's erudition and the width of his reading, his industry and imagination were all impressive; yet the conclusions he reached, avoiding peer-reviewed journals, have been almost universally rejected by mainstream scholarship. His popularisations met stiff criticism in professional journals, but his continued appeal among theory hobbyists is summed up by a reviewer of The Problem of Atlantis (1924) in The Geographical Journal: "Mr. Spence is an industrious writer, and, even if he fails to convince, has done service in marshalling the evidence and has produced an entertaining volume which is well worth reading." Nevertheless, he seems to have had some influence upon the ideas of controversial author Immanuel Velikovsky, and as his books have come into the public domain, they have been successfully reprinted and some have been scanned for the Internet.
Spence's 1940 book Occult Causes of the Present War seems to have been the first book in the field of Nazi occultism.
Over his long career, he published more than forty books, many of which remain in print to this day.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 20, 2019
It is a very special book for those who enjoy reading a bit more old-fashioned language & interested in Egyptian Mythology...but can confuse those who doesn’t know much about ancient Egypt, Gods, Animal Worship, dark sides of Religion.
I used it mostly for research and inspiration (ideas for my writing). I believe it contains excellent information about the Egypt (past) we don’t know.
I used it mostly for research and inspiration (ideas for my writing). I believe it contains excellent information about the Egypt (past) we don’t know.
January 7, 2020
Ancient Egypt’s mythology is intricate and multi-layered; and for that reason, it can be a challenge for the modern reader to understand how the gods and goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon, and their stories, interrelate. Lewis Spence’s Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends can provide a helpful introduction to classical Egyptian mythology, though the alert reader should approach this book with a sense of its limitations.
Author Lewis Spence (1874-1955), a Scottish journalist and poet, was also a dedicated student of mythology, with a strong interest in the occult. He published Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends in 1915 – or, in other words, seven years before archaeologist Howard Carter turned the world of Egyptology upside down with his discovery of the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922. Accordingly, some readers may find some of Spence’s premises and conclusions incomplete – and that’s even before we consider the disheartening ease with which Spence uses terms like “barbarian” and “savage” to talk about civilizations that are different from his own.
Spence approaches Egyptian myth in terms of the then-relatively-new field of comparative world mythology. His debt to fellow Scot Sir James George Frazer’s great pioneering work in that field, The Golden Bough (1880), is evident; at one point, Spence praises the manner in which Frazer “pertinently” examines various interpretations of the significance of the myth of Osiris. By contrast, he seems hostile to the ideas of E.A. Wallis Budge, the leading Egyptologist of his time, spending several pages of the book’s first chapter seeking to refute Wallis Budge’s claim that there is no fetishistic or totemic aspect to the Egyptian deities.
Anyone who has toured sites of Egyptian antiquity, such as the Philae temple complex in Upper Egypt, knows that the myth of Isis and Osiris is among the most important in the entire Egyptian pantheon. Briefly, the story is as follows: Osiris was murdered and dismembered by his brother Set, god of evil; Isis, wife of Osiris, recovered the scattered parts of Osiris’ body and resurrected her husband long enough that the two could have a child, the hawk-headed god Horus; Horus fought with and defeated Set; and Osiris proceeded to the underworld, where he resides to this day as judge of the dead. Spence comments thoughtfully on the significance of this myth, writing that “We find the myths of the combat between Set and Horus evolving from a simple opposition of day and night into a combat between the two gods….The combat symbolized the moral idea of the victory of good over evil, and those of the dead who were justified were regarded as having overcome Set as Horus had done” (p. 100).
Spence also does well at setting forth the history of religious practice in pharaonic Egypt, providing examples of change and continuity in terms of how the Egyptians practiced their faith, as when he talks of social and religious changes that occurred at the beginning of what Egyptologists call the Late Period, around 700 B.C.:
Toward the end of the eighth century B.C. a great religious reaction set in. Hitherto the brilliant opening of the New Empire, particularly the time of Rameses II, had set a model for the pious of the Late period; now the Old Kingdom, its monuments, rites, and customs, its fervent piety and its proud conservatism, was become the model epoch for the entire nation. It was, however, less a faithful copy than a caricature of the Old Kingdom….All that was most strange and outré in the ancient religion was sought out and emulated. Old monuments and religious literature were studied; the language and orthography of long-past centuries were revived and adopted; and if much of this was incomprehensible to the bulk of the people, its very mystery but made it the more sacred. (p. 301)
Yet not all of the Egyptian stories included in this volume were myths meant to elucidate sacred truths of the Egyptian religion from pharaonic times; some were stories that were set down simply to entertain. These stories of magic and royal intrigue, which might remind some readers of the tales from the 1001 Nights, include the story of “The Prophecy of Dedi” from the Westcar papyrus in the Berlin Museum.
Like a number of the stories from The Arabian Nights, “The Prophecy of Dedi” makes a point of combining magic-oriented plot devices with some historical elements in order to enhance the story’s verisimilitude; it is described as taking place in the time of Khufu and his son Khafra (or Cheops and his son Chephren), the 4th-dynasty pharaohs who built the two largest of the Pyramids of Giza back around 2500 B.C.
As the story has it, Dedi’s reputed ability to restore life to the dead draws the attention of Khufu, who feels that such knowledge “would perhaps be of use to him in the construction of his pyramid” (p. 201). Dedi is summoned, and proves his magical abilities by bringing a decapitated duck back to life; into the bargain, he reassures the pharaoh Khufu, who is worried about the long-term prospects for his dynasty, by prophesying that “thy son shall reign, and thy son’s son” (p. 202) – something that any Egyptian of that time could verify, simply by paying a visit to the three pyramids of Khufu and Khafra and Menkaure.
The expository passages of Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends can be heavy going; by contrast, when Spence lets go of his anxiety to demonstrate his scholarly bona fides, and simply tells the stories, the book is most successful.
Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends is helpfully illustrated with photographs of papyri, statuary, mummies (human and animal), pyramids, and temples, as well as some paintings by book illustrator Evelyn Paul that capture the lush and romantic quality of the myths.
Some of Spence’s ideas definitely need to be taken with the proverbial grain of salt; later in his career, he became one of the first proponents of the idea that the Nazi regime in Germany had to have been generated by malevolent occult forces – as if the human capacity for evil had not already been made clear on many occasions before the Nazis came to power, and has not been abundantly demonstrated many times since the Nazi regime’s collapse. Yet Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends still provides a rather helpful, if inevitably a rather dated, survey.
And Spence’s work still seems to enjoy a degree of respect among at least some contemporary Egyptians. I encountered Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends at a gift shop in Luxor – not the temple complex in Upper Egypt, but rather the Egyptian-themed, pyramid-shaped gambling casino complex in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A. The gift-shop staff, in an apparent nod toward authenticity, were all Egyptian; and when the lady at the checkout counter saw that I had skipped the plastic snow-globe pyramids and the "King Tut" T-shirts, and had instead selected the Dover Books edition of Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends, she nodded gravely, looked up at me, and said, “You chose well.”
Author Lewis Spence (1874-1955), a Scottish journalist and poet, was also a dedicated student of mythology, with a strong interest in the occult. He published Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends in 1915 – or, in other words, seven years before archaeologist Howard Carter turned the world of Egyptology upside down with his discovery of the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922. Accordingly, some readers may find some of Spence’s premises and conclusions incomplete – and that’s even before we consider the disheartening ease with which Spence uses terms like “barbarian” and “savage” to talk about civilizations that are different from his own.
Spence approaches Egyptian myth in terms of the then-relatively-new field of comparative world mythology. His debt to fellow Scot Sir James George Frazer’s great pioneering work in that field, The Golden Bough (1880), is evident; at one point, Spence praises the manner in which Frazer “pertinently” examines various interpretations of the significance of the myth of Osiris. By contrast, he seems hostile to the ideas of E.A. Wallis Budge, the leading Egyptologist of his time, spending several pages of the book’s first chapter seeking to refute Wallis Budge’s claim that there is no fetishistic or totemic aspect to the Egyptian deities.
Anyone who has toured sites of Egyptian antiquity, such as the Philae temple complex in Upper Egypt, knows that the myth of Isis and Osiris is among the most important in the entire Egyptian pantheon. Briefly, the story is as follows: Osiris was murdered and dismembered by his brother Set, god of evil; Isis, wife of Osiris, recovered the scattered parts of Osiris’ body and resurrected her husband long enough that the two could have a child, the hawk-headed god Horus; Horus fought with and defeated Set; and Osiris proceeded to the underworld, where he resides to this day as judge of the dead. Spence comments thoughtfully on the significance of this myth, writing that “We find the myths of the combat between Set and Horus evolving from a simple opposition of day and night into a combat between the two gods….The combat symbolized the moral idea of the victory of good over evil, and those of the dead who were justified were regarded as having overcome Set as Horus had done” (p. 100).
Spence also does well at setting forth the history of religious practice in pharaonic Egypt, providing examples of change and continuity in terms of how the Egyptians practiced their faith, as when he talks of social and religious changes that occurred at the beginning of what Egyptologists call the Late Period, around 700 B.C.:
Toward the end of the eighth century B.C. a great religious reaction set in. Hitherto the brilliant opening of the New Empire, particularly the time of Rameses II, had set a model for the pious of the Late period; now the Old Kingdom, its monuments, rites, and customs, its fervent piety and its proud conservatism, was become the model epoch for the entire nation. It was, however, less a faithful copy than a caricature of the Old Kingdom….All that was most strange and outré in the ancient religion was sought out and emulated. Old monuments and religious literature were studied; the language and orthography of long-past centuries were revived and adopted; and if much of this was incomprehensible to the bulk of the people, its very mystery but made it the more sacred. (p. 301)
Yet not all of the Egyptian stories included in this volume were myths meant to elucidate sacred truths of the Egyptian religion from pharaonic times; some were stories that were set down simply to entertain. These stories of magic and royal intrigue, which might remind some readers of the tales from the 1001 Nights, include the story of “The Prophecy of Dedi” from the Westcar papyrus in the Berlin Museum.
Like a number of the stories from The Arabian Nights, “The Prophecy of Dedi” makes a point of combining magic-oriented plot devices with some historical elements in order to enhance the story’s verisimilitude; it is described as taking place in the time of Khufu and his son Khafra (or Cheops and his son Chephren), the 4th-dynasty pharaohs who built the two largest of the Pyramids of Giza back around 2500 B.C.
As the story has it, Dedi’s reputed ability to restore life to the dead draws the attention of Khufu, who feels that such knowledge “would perhaps be of use to him in the construction of his pyramid” (p. 201). Dedi is summoned, and proves his magical abilities by bringing a decapitated duck back to life; into the bargain, he reassures the pharaoh Khufu, who is worried about the long-term prospects for his dynasty, by prophesying that “thy son shall reign, and thy son’s son” (p. 202) – something that any Egyptian of that time could verify, simply by paying a visit to the three pyramids of Khufu and Khafra and Menkaure.
The expository passages of Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends can be heavy going; by contrast, when Spence lets go of his anxiety to demonstrate his scholarly bona fides, and simply tells the stories, the book is most successful.
Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends is helpfully illustrated with photographs of papyri, statuary, mummies (human and animal), pyramids, and temples, as well as some paintings by book illustrator Evelyn Paul that capture the lush and romantic quality of the myths.
Some of Spence’s ideas definitely need to be taken with the proverbial grain of salt; later in his career, he became one of the first proponents of the idea that the Nazi regime in Germany had to have been generated by malevolent occult forces – as if the human capacity for evil had not already been made clear on many occasions before the Nazis came to power, and has not been abundantly demonstrated many times since the Nazi regime’s collapse. Yet Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends still provides a rather helpful, if inevitably a rather dated, survey.
And Spence’s work still seems to enjoy a degree of respect among at least some contemporary Egyptians. I encountered Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends at a gift shop in Luxor – not the temple complex in Upper Egypt, but rather the Egyptian-themed, pyramid-shaped gambling casino complex in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A. The gift-shop staff, in an apparent nod toward authenticity, were all Egyptian; and when the lady at the checkout counter saw that I had skipped the plastic snow-globe pyramids and the "King Tut" T-shirts, and had instead selected the Dover Books edition of Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends, she nodded gravely, looked up at me, and said, “You chose well.”
August 20, 2018
This was the hardest book I’ve ever tried to get through—and I really wanted to get through it. When I started reading it, I was thinking to myself throughout the introduction that the author just seemed like he was trying to sound smart, but many of his sentences were incomplete. It took me many lunch breaks to get through the introduction alone. I finally checked out the date and realized that it was written over one hundred years ago. However, I’ve read many excerpts from books and news articles from that time that weren’t written as poorly as this book. You would think that whoever edited it to publish in a newer version would at least make the sentences complete, but that wasn’t the case. Aside from that, the author seemed like he was blurting out his opinions, rather than actual facts. Putting aside all of the crap I’ve read on the internet, this is the first actual book on Egyptian myths that I’ve read (which is why I wanted to get through it so much), but I feel like I’m going to have to read some other books to a) figure out what the author was trying to convey, and b) get actual facts, rather than opinions. All-in-all, the book wasn’t too terrible. Once I got past the introduction, it was easier to get through. However, I definitely would not read it again or recommend it to somebody who wants to read about Egyptian myths and legends (which didn’t seem to be a big part of the book, anyway). I’d definitely try to find another book for that. I don’t even think I could put this book in the “Educational” category. If you do decide to read it, good luck!
July 15, 2016
You could tell that it was written in the last century off of it's writing style without even having to look at the publication date, but that was just fine with me. Some people have a harder time reading things that are written in this way, or they think it's annoying, but I had no problems with it. I picked it up research into the myths and stories of Egypt, and I got not only some stories that I had never heard before, but also a look into how these stories originated, how they effected Egyptian culture, and the history that could be taken from them. All in all, good for the light research I was looking for.
January 13, 2023
As with other entries in the Senate Myths and Legends series, I am struck by the mixture of idealistic bigotry and cynical pragmatism that forms the basis of most of the world’s religions. Perhaps that explains why so many religions have now become myths and legends, even though they were taken seriously at the time.
As Lewis Spence’s book makes clear, the idea of a fixed number of ancient Egyptian gods who were worshipped over a period of time is not quite true. Gods came and went. More interestingly gods were merged into one another.
If you have two regions who wish to hold onto their god, even after they are amalgamated by marriage, inheritance or invasion, the most elegant solution is to simply combine the names of the gods and make them into one god, so that everyone is happy.
It helped that the ancient Egyptians did not just believe in their own gods, but even accepted the existence of the gods that their neighbours followed. They imagined that a war between themselves and another god was a war between the gods. In this game of ‘my god is bigger than your god’, it was easier to adopt the god of the winning side.
Similarly kings seem to have set the pace by arbitrary decisions. If there is a famine or the queen is sick, why not try worshipping to some long-forgotten god to see if that helps? If the famine goes away or the queen recovers, then the grateful king can promote this minor god to a higher status.
Gods also developed over time. This meant beginning in a ‘primitive’ way, as Spence would see it. Perhaps the god was merely a god of the sun or moon. The sun and moon were viewed as the eyes of gods by ancient Egyptians.
It is easy to see why they would be worshipped. The sun was the source of life and sometimes death in a country like Egypt. The moon was similarly endowed with important qualities that were probably more speculative. If the sun is good for growing crops, and warmth and other-life giving qualities, why should the moon not also possess them?
Over time the gods would become less specialised, and the same god might also be the god of fertility or helping Egyptians reach the underworld, or other such ideas. It seems that gods could not afford to be so specialised, and had to diversify into other fields in order to meet popular demand.
Spence sees early worship as primitive. He is also scathing about the penchant of Egyptians for worshipping animals. As we know, they worshipped cats, and some people joke that cats have not forgotten it since. Another familiar notion is the idea that being eaten by a crocodile was actually an honour, since they were sacred animals too.
Regarding this tendency, Spence is scathing: “Again, to the Egyptian mind, incapable of abstract thought, an immaterial and intangible deity was an impossible conception,” he writes. Maybe so, but that seems to be a rather large and generalised conclusion.
Who is to say that the Egyptians did not have abstract thoughts about their deities, given the limited amount of written literature that survived them? Often this was partially-lost stories that are intriguing, and reminiscent of the Thousand Nights and One Night tales, but which hardly give us an understanding of Egyptian philosophy.
The Egyptian animal worship is not as far-fetched or absurd as Spence makes out anyway. Well it is, but no worse than admiring ‘an immaterial and intangible deity’, an abstraction even further removed from reality than the animals that both frightened and fascinated ancient Egyptians.
Besides is worshipping a god of the sun that much more primitive than combining all your gods into one person and saying he is responsible for everything? Does it not occur to Spence that Christianity will one day appear in a book of Myths and Legends?
Still Spence is somewhat given to sweeping statements, often unwisely accompanied by words such as ‘undoubtedly’. He imagines that anthropologists have a better understanding of ancient cultures and theologies than archaeologists.
That is probably true, but sometimes there is a danger of trying to tie different cultures together, and assuming that that because something represented in a particular way in one culture, then it must have a similar or identical meaning in another.
Some of the Spence’s opinions and style of writing have dated a little. We may forgive the dryness of his style, as the subject matter grows in interest, but does he have to translate passages from older books into fake medieval English? Typical sample is this quotation from Herodotus:
“Herein euery one counterfayteth a lowe place in manner of a Dungeon, couered over wyth a stone curiously wrought, the vaute it selfe being on euery side carued in most exquisite arte….”
And so on. Does Spence think that an ancient Greek would have spoken in the English of the Middle Ages if he could? Or what about this dismissal of a contemporary artist: “Whistler, for one, striving after the delicate, the refined and subtle, too often approximated feminacy”. Isn’t androgyny a valuable (though not an essential) part of artistic expression?
Overall though Spence does a good job of taking us through the confusing world of Egyptians gods, a few of whom have names that do not translate well to the English ear – Rat, Mut, Ptah and Nut, for example. Once the book settles down to look at the gods, it becomes an absorbing read.
As Lewis Spence’s book makes clear, the idea of a fixed number of ancient Egyptian gods who were worshipped over a period of time is not quite true. Gods came and went. More interestingly gods were merged into one another.
If you have two regions who wish to hold onto their god, even after they are amalgamated by marriage, inheritance or invasion, the most elegant solution is to simply combine the names of the gods and make them into one god, so that everyone is happy.
It helped that the ancient Egyptians did not just believe in their own gods, but even accepted the existence of the gods that their neighbours followed. They imagined that a war between themselves and another god was a war between the gods. In this game of ‘my god is bigger than your god’, it was easier to adopt the god of the winning side.
Similarly kings seem to have set the pace by arbitrary decisions. If there is a famine or the queen is sick, why not try worshipping to some long-forgotten god to see if that helps? If the famine goes away or the queen recovers, then the grateful king can promote this minor god to a higher status.
Gods also developed over time. This meant beginning in a ‘primitive’ way, as Spence would see it. Perhaps the god was merely a god of the sun or moon. The sun and moon were viewed as the eyes of gods by ancient Egyptians.
It is easy to see why they would be worshipped. The sun was the source of life and sometimes death in a country like Egypt. The moon was similarly endowed with important qualities that were probably more speculative. If the sun is good for growing crops, and warmth and other-life giving qualities, why should the moon not also possess them?
Over time the gods would become less specialised, and the same god might also be the god of fertility or helping Egyptians reach the underworld, or other such ideas. It seems that gods could not afford to be so specialised, and had to diversify into other fields in order to meet popular demand.
Spence sees early worship as primitive. He is also scathing about the penchant of Egyptians for worshipping animals. As we know, they worshipped cats, and some people joke that cats have not forgotten it since. Another familiar notion is the idea that being eaten by a crocodile was actually an honour, since they were sacred animals too.
Regarding this tendency, Spence is scathing: “Again, to the Egyptian mind, incapable of abstract thought, an immaterial and intangible deity was an impossible conception,” he writes. Maybe so, but that seems to be a rather large and generalised conclusion.
Who is to say that the Egyptians did not have abstract thoughts about their deities, given the limited amount of written literature that survived them? Often this was partially-lost stories that are intriguing, and reminiscent of the Thousand Nights and One Night tales, but which hardly give us an understanding of Egyptian philosophy.
The Egyptian animal worship is not as far-fetched or absurd as Spence makes out anyway. Well it is, but no worse than admiring ‘an immaterial and intangible deity’, an abstraction even further removed from reality than the animals that both frightened and fascinated ancient Egyptians.
Besides is worshipping a god of the sun that much more primitive than combining all your gods into one person and saying he is responsible for everything? Does it not occur to Spence that Christianity will one day appear in a book of Myths and Legends?
Still Spence is somewhat given to sweeping statements, often unwisely accompanied by words such as ‘undoubtedly’. He imagines that anthropologists have a better understanding of ancient cultures and theologies than archaeologists.
That is probably true, but sometimes there is a danger of trying to tie different cultures together, and assuming that that because something represented in a particular way in one culture, then it must have a similar or identical meaning in another.
Some of the Spence’s opinions and style of writing have dated a little. We may forgive the dryness of his style, as the subject matter grows in interest, but does he have to translate passages from older books into fake medieval English? Typical sample is this quotation from Herodotus:
“Herein euery one counterfayteth a lowe place in manner of a Dungeon, couered over wyth a stone curiously wrought, the vaute it selfe being on euery side carued in most exquisite arte….”
And so on. Does Spence think that an ancient Greek would have spoken in the English of the Middle Ages if he could? Or what about this dismissal of a contemporary artist: “Whistler, for one, striving after the delicate, the refined and subtle, too often approximated feminacy”. Isn’t androgyny a valuable (though not an essential) part of artistic expression?
Overall though Spence does a good job of taking us through the confusing world of Egyptians gods, a few of whom have names that do not translate well to the English ear – Rat, Mut, Ptah and Nut, for example. Once the book settles down to look at the gods, it becomes an absorbing read.
May 3, 2023
excerpt- Like all magic, Egyptian magic was of prehistoric origin. As the savage of to-day employs the sympathetic process, so did the savage of the Egyptian Stone Age make use of it. That he also was fully aware of the spiritistic side of magic is certain. Animism is the[Pg 255] mother of spiritism. The concept of the soul was arrived at a comparatively early period in the history of man. The phenomenon of sleep puzzled him. Whither did the real man betake himself during the hours of slumber? The Palæolithic man watched his sleeping brother, who appeared to him as practically dead—dead, at least, to perception and the realities of life. Something seemed to have escaped the sleeper; the real, vital, and vivifying element had temporarily departed from him. From his own experience the puzzled savage knew that life did not cease with sleep, for in a more shadowy and unsubstantial sphere he re-enacted the scenes of his everyday existence. If the man during sleep had experiences in dreamland or in distant parts, it was only reasonable to suppose that his ego, his very self, had temporarily quitted the body. Grant so much, and you have two separate entities, body and soul, similar in appearance because the latter on the dream plane exercised functions identical with those of the former on the corporeal plane.
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February 9, 2020Olen alati olnud huvitatud erinevate rahvaste ning kultuuride müütidest ja legendidest, seega asusin ka seda teost õhinaga uurima. Siiski ei suutnud ma kaugemale lugeda poolest sissejuhatusest. Juba eessõnas õigustab Spence enda seisukohti, viidates, et ta on "küllalt tark, et tunnustatud ekspertidele vastu vaielda". Kiirest googeldamisest selgus, et tegu oli Šoti ajakirjaniku ja folkloristiga, kes üritas oma elu jooksul kirjutada väga mitmel erineval teemal. Juba sissejuhatuses tuleb esile üleolev suhtumine, mis autoril uuritava kultuuri vastu on. Tegemist on tüüpilise 20. sajandi alguse raamatuga, mis tegeleb "madalama" rahvuse kultuuri kirjeldamisega.
September 5, 2017
Although full of information, this was terribly dry and a struggle to get through at parts. Originally published in 1915, it's very much a book for it's time, referring to people and civilizations as "savages." Since that year there has been more discovery and research and I'm sure there are more up to date books about Egypt's myths and legends. It's my own fault for not seeing this was published in 1915 so that's on me.
July 3, 2022
La versión leída es de la editorial Edimat. Tal vez al traducirlo al español, faltó una revisión de estilo ya que había algunas ideas un poco enredadas, especialmente cuando el autor pretendía hace comparación entre los egipcios y otras culturas. Definitivamente lo mejor del libro son los capítulos del culto a Osiris y los grandes dioses, la aproximación a la literatura egipcia y la magia. Quizás es un buen punto de partida para aquellos que quieran iniciar un saber en la egiptologia.
December 3, 2017
I found this book and was glad to see that it was printed in 1985... but yikes! Turns out it was originally published in 1915. Much of the information is outdated or comes solely from Spence's imagination. Even worse is the white savior narrative; it's much more obvious here than it is in Budge's writing.
May 19, 2021
This was a surprisingly good bit of information that I thought would be antiquated to a much higher degree, but was quite content with the content and perspective of Spence. The more I read about Ancient Egyptian Myth, the more round my own perspective becomes and I feel this was a good addition to my schema of such. It was also refreshing to read Spences early 20th century prose.
January 21, 2022
I did not finish the book. I started reading, went through the first few myths, then went through the wikipedia, and realized what is presented as "Egyptian myths" are actually author's myths, loosely based on Egyptian mythology.
October 29, 2023
"I die, and am born again, and I renew myself, and I grow young each day."
A few of these sections I had read previously in other Egyptian collections, but there's a great collection of origin stories of the gods/goddesses and the universe here that was really interesting.
A few of these sections I had read previously in other Egyptian collections, but there's a great collection of origin stories of the gods/goddesses and the universe here that was really interesting.
November 3, 2022
This helped a lot for understanding different aspects and although it was written old timey-ish, I still enjoyed it. I also got more than I thought for my research project.
March 13, 2025
outdated, plus author makes occasional racist or dumbass comments lmao
June 15, 2016
A lot of the history is inaccurate. This is a very old book, so the understanding of Ancient Egyptian culture is pretty outdated. It is still fairly in line with the circumstances during the late New Kingdom around the time when the empire was really starting to finally fall apart, but most of these claims do not apply to the preceding bulk and meat of the 3,000 year era of the Ancient Egyptian Civilization. Additionally, Spence comes at his subject as a comparative mythologist, and that agenda radically skews his interpretation of the Ancient Egyptian religious tradition so that he makes innumerable claims about the Ancient Egyptian pantheon, of its analogous symmetry to other ancient religions and of a dialectical influence working between the development of the Ancient Egyptian cosmology and that of those of its nearby contemporaries. His theory for the Animism>Fetishism/Totemism>Polytheism development of the early Ancient Egyptian religion comes as an unquestioned schema common to the comparative religion approach. In this case it seems Spence allowed this presumption to blind him, because, though he elaborately asserts that this developmental structure applies to the Ancient Egyptians, there is actually very little evidence to suggest that it does in fact apply. Actually the evidence tends to show a different development directly from animism into anthropomorphic psuedo-henotheism. I'm also somewhat disappointed with his shamelessly scant treatment of the Cult of Aten, which deserved far more attention than many of his other elaborations.
All those things aside, this book does contain a very satisfying account of the major myth narratives unique to that civilization, and anyone seeking to know those stories will be able to find them here.
Overall, the meat of the book is its content, and it's content is very good. The fat of Spence's opinions which ornament the content, that fat is outdated and unsavory. But for a reader who can cut past the fat to pull out the meat it garnishes will find a meal very worth eating, or a book well worth being read. (But maybe compliment this book with the wine of The Culture of Ancient Egypt by John A. Wilson, who is much fairer in presenting the historical religious development without imposing anachronistic assumptions.)
All those things aside, this book does contain a very satisfying account of the major myth narratives unique to that civilization, and anyone seeking to know those stories will be able to find them here.
Overall, the meat of the book is its content, and it's content is very good. The fat of Spence's opinions which ornament the content, that fat is outdated and unsavory. But for a reader who can cut past the fat to pull out the meat it garnishes will find a meal very worth eating, or a book well worth being read. (But maybe compliment this book with the wine of The Culture of Ancient Egypt by John A. Wilson, who is much fairer in presenting the historical religious development without imposing anachronistic assumptions.)
December 19, 2012
This book was a lovely collection of Egyptian myths and literature. The translations were great. Unfortunately whenever the author started talking about his own theories I really wanted to punch him in the face. He's one of the early 20th century religious theorists who see religion as progressing from "savage" to "monotheism" with all the vaule judgements that entails. So when discussing Ancient Egyptian religion he relates it back to the "savages" of North and Central America and tries to use examples from their "primative" religion to explain early ideas about Egyptian religion and argues against what the Egyptologists say. At times such comments come across as outwardly racist. For example, "Gods of African origin are figured as hideous, frightful, distorted, and enormously fat creatures, resembling the negro human fetish which may be found today among African tribes" (280-281) He also states how the Egyptian mind is "incapable of abstract thought" (283) which I have to say seems to be taking this whole "progress" idea a little to far! I'm not sure if I can recommend this. There's such a terrible underlying philosophy of religion to this book and it's almost impossible to just read the stories without getting the author's bias coming through. If you can find another collection I'd read that instead. Or if you do read this, read the section on Egyptian literature as that's the nicest, some fantastic stories without too much of the author's bias coming through.
January 14, 2012
Lewis Spence's Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends was originally published in 1915, seven years before the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Spence, a folklorist and student of the occult, approaches Egyptian myth in terms of the then-relatively-new study of world mythology; his debt to James Frazer's The Golden Bough is evident, as is his tendency to quarrel with then-renowned Egyptologist E.A. Wallis Budge. (This is the same Wallis Budge of whom James Spader's renegade Egyptologist in the movie Stargate scornfully says, "I can't believe they're still reprinting him.") Some expository sections of this book are relatively heavy going. At other times, when Spence simply shares with us some of the myths and legends, the book soars. Helpfully illustrated with photographs of papyri, statuary, mummies (human and animal), pyramids, and temples, as well as some paintings by book illustrator Evelyn Paul that capture the lush and romantic quality of the myths. The ease with which Spence uses words like "barbarian" and "savage" may grate on modern ears. Still, it's a helpful if somewhat dated survey.
July 13, 2015
This overview of Egyptian myths and legends was decent. The author's inclusion of his own opinions were annoying and inaccurate at certain points, but the original release of this may have led to that sense of ignorance. The most annoying thing for me was the telling of tales that would abruptly end because of a burned papyrus or other calamity that left the story unfinished. If not for that would likely have given three stars.
January 20, 2016
This book is very informative, if you want to power through 325 pages of dreary old-man talk. Because it was originally written in 1912, a lot of the information seems outdated; however, if you enjoy learning about ancient Egyptian lore, I found this to be an excellent read. I found the book to be a little disorganized, but it contains information that gives you a basic understanding of the ancient Egyptian culture. Definitely a good reference for any paper you may need to write.
August 5, 2014
This book is a lovely bunch of retellings of Egyptian myths. Unfortunantly, the stories get too colorful and the legitimate myths tend to get lost in the mix. Spence mashed up eras of myth and made assumptions that would make a person who knows a lot about Egyptian mythology cringe.
Good for some interesting stories. Not for legitimate scholarship.
Good for some interesting stories. Not for legitimate scholarship.
October 11, 2016
This was a very interesting read. The importance of the Egyptian cultures through the ages cannot be under represented. It was incredibly interesting to see how many Judaic and therefore Chritian characteristics a social response to the Egyptian culture which was a major world cultu. Truly a wonderful excursion into myth and religion.
May 5, 2020
I enjoyed this book, especially the number of day to day stories that were shared. Spence's voice is entertaining too, as he inserts commentary on his own writing as well as on previous works on the subject of Egyptian lore.
May 16, 2007
I have a little thing for Greek history. I like the Pyramids the wall drawings the whole deal. This book is fun for me. Its more like a college textbook, but that doesn't stop me.
August 16, 2007
Excellent reference covering multiple myths and legends. Recommended for any Egyptian library bookshelf.
August 16, 2007
Another dated, yet useful book.
December 1, 2008
I love egyptian history on The Gods and Goddesses. A non fiction book that takes me there.
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June 30, 2013This book reflects all the worst scholarship and colonial attitudes that the author shows in his text. All it has going for it is a cheap price. Stick with real Egyptologists. Give this a big miss!
December 14, 2015
Read for research. Interesting, but very outdated now.
December 1, 2016
I enjoyed reading this interesting book though it is not a new one. I found it so informative and it encouraged me to read more about Ancestors Egypt.
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