Ra, el dios del sol: La adoración en el antiguo Egipto (Historia)

by Stephen Quirke, José Miguel Parra Ortiz (Translator)

Los antiguos egipcios ¿creían en muchos dioses o en un solo con muchas formas? La clave para saberlo se encuentra en la especial relación existente entre el dios sol Ra y el rey en su básico papel de " hijo de Ra " . Este libro reúne, por primera, vez los últimos avances producidos en la comprensión del culto de Ra, que fue adorado desde el tercer milenio a.C. hasta la conquista romana de Egipto y la aparición de la cristiandad. Stephen Quirke examina las fuentes egipcias relativas al carácter de Ra y a su fundamental papel en la creación, explorando los modo en los que era adorado y descubriendo los más escondidos misterios del culto. Mediante la información contenida en las principales inscripciones y manuscritos, el lector penetra en el cerrado mundo del rey cuando llevaba a cabo su principal misión, mantener la vida en Egipto. Mediante las oraciones, las ofrendas y el poder del conocimiento, el faraón aseguraba que el paso del sol, de hora en hora a lo largo del día fuera tranquilo. El epicentro del culto era el templo de Ra en Iunu (la Heliópolis griega), el más grande complejo religioso del antiguo Egipto. A lo largo de los últimos doscientos años, diversas excavaciones llevadas a cabo por todo ese amplio yacimiento —en la actualidad inaccesible debido desarrollo urbano de la moderna El Cairo— han ofrecido una muestra de lo que fuera su hoy desvanecida magnificencia.

Genres: Egypt, Religion, Egyptology, Nonfiction, History, Archaeology, Egyptian Literature

232 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2001

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cult of Ra by Stephen Quirke is a study of sun worship in Ancient Egypt with a truly impressive scope. Made up of five chapters, it covers the mythological aspects of Ra (or Re), his role in the afterlife, the cult centre at Iunu, monuments with a dedicated solar focus, and the worship of the Aten during the reign of Akhenaten.

It was not a quick, absorbing read, but that is not necessarily negative. I felt the need to stop, think and digest the information before moving on. As a resource, The Cult of Ra does that rare thing of coming close to suggesting how the Ancient Egyptians might think or feel about aspects of their society and religion. There were a few things in the text that struck me as particularly enlightening, such as the focus on the divine or "cosmic" view of kingship in Ancient Egypt, the notion that the pyramids might represent the benben stone (mound of creation) and so on.

Quirke writes in a scholarly but accessible manner, but because his writing is so packed with detail, I at least felt the need to take breaks in my reading lest I was overwhelmed. Despite this, I found The Cult of Ra an invaluable and enlightening resource that I would recommend to anyone hoping to understand the mindsets of Ancient Egyptians better.

[Jim Bogue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an erudite and somewhat exhaustive overview of the worship of the sun god (or gods) in ancient Egypt. It chronicles the rise of Amon-Ra, culminating in the reign of Amenhotep III. It postulates that the king became even more of a living divinity than normal.
Then this was sidetracked in the reign of his son, the creative and heretical Akhenaten. A very interesting chapter examines theories on Akhenaten, his family and his new capital.
The study is comprehensive and informative.

[Solomon Selah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice scholarship. However, the author does not grasp the weight of the book's content: on the one hand he wants to highlight the widespread nature of Ra worships in the context of Egyptian society, but some important topics need more explanations (unfortunately, author does not explain fully); on the other hand, he is too detailed in his examination of the archaeological evidence, which rather makes it difficult for readers to grasp the thread.

These two shortcomings rather allow some interesting topics to be simply skipped over, such as the relation between Ra worship and co-regency; the parallel lines (Ra in the heaven and King under the earth).

[Julia Herdman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing.

[DAJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a pantheon where no deity is supreme in all respects, Ra nevertheless stands out. Quirke's book first gives a cursory look at the very extensive mythology surrounding Ra. Then it describes his movements through the underworld, as found in various funerary texts, and the rituals that were performed for the sun's movement throughout the day, for which the main evidence is a series of solar hymns (one for each hour of the day) and some shrines dedicated to Ra at Thebes. Then he examines the scant evidence from Ra's once-great cult center of Heliopolis, for which this book must be the most accessible source, and tentatively reconstructs the lost temple there. The two most iconic Egyptian architectural forms, the pyramid and the obelisk, were both symbols of the sun god, and Quirke describes how they evolved into their familiar shapes. Finally, he looks at the Aten cult. That chapter is a bit of a digression, descending as it does into the confusing evidence of Akhenaten's reign, but Atenism was certainly an outgrowth of Egyptian traditions surrounding Ra. Much more could be said on most of these subjects, but Quirke gives a good outline of each of them.

The book's major flaw is that it says very little about developments after the Atenist interlude, which means one can't get a bead on Ra's significance after the New Kingdom, when he tends to be overshadowed by other gods. Hence, the book is valuable but frustratingly incomplete.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and easy read that covered the breadth of Solar worship across Egypts vast history while being careful to avoid undue speculation and only focusing on evidence present in the current archeological record.