Lucia Gahlin Reviews

Added November 15, 2003

Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Religions

Author: Lucia Gahlin
Publisher: Arness Publishing, Ltd
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: January 2001
Genre: Non-fiction: Reference/History/Ancient Egypt
Format: Hardback
Price: $35.00
ISBN: 0754805654
Reviewer: Cyn Witkus

Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Religions is a great primer for anyone who wants to learn more about ancient Egypt and its beliefs. From a listing of the deities to glorious pictures regarding the headgears and their individual meanings, this book is simply wonderful.

For those who are wanting to know more about the deities, their cult centers, as well as the roles played in the state religion, the answers are at your fingertips. Just skimming through the pages, your eyes are captured by the drawings, the pictures of reliefs and statues, and various temples in which the hieroglyph representations are found. Just looking up about Osiris, I found many interesting things that I hadn't realized or known before.

The detail in this book is great for a beginner as well as for a scholar. It's a reference I know I'll turn to again as I increase in knowledge or get asked a question regarding how the Ancient Egyptians regarded magic in their daily life. Even the myths are given individual attention and then woven together so you can see how it related to daily life for both the commoners and the royalty of Egypt.

The section dealing with temples is not as detailed as I like, but then again, I'm the type to enjoy a good fifty or so pages describing and translating the hieroglyphs. They also deal very lightly regarding pyramids and tombs. Mostly what's dealt with is how the ancient Egyptians dealt with life and death. Their beliefs and funerary style show their hopes and aspirations with the passing of this world into the next. Though they don't speak a lot upon the Pyramid texts or the Coffin Texts, they are given a decent overview.

Overall, I recommend this book for anyone who wants a book that does a good job giving the basics of Ancient Egyptian religion, myths, and the gods. It's a great beginning book as well as one to help round out a collection by anyone who studies about Ancient Egypt. The illustrations and reference pages of the deities makes this one of those books you'll be delighted to go back to time and again.

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