The famous island of Philae, on Egypt's southern frontier, can be considered the last major temple site where Ancient Egyptian religion was practiced. According to the Byzantine historian Procopius, in 535-537 CE the Emperor Justinian ordered one of his generals to end this situation by destroying the island's temples. This account has usually been accepted as a sufficient explanation for the end of the Ancient Egyptian cults at Philae. Yet it is by no means unproblematic. This book shows that the event of 535-537 has to be seen in a larger context of religious transformation at Philae, which was more complex and gradual than Procopius describes it. Not only are the various Late Antique sources from and on Philae taken into account, for the first time the religious developments at Philae are also placed in a regional context by analyzing the sources from the other major towns in the region, Syene (Aswan) and Elephantine. "[T]he author situates his material into its wider historical context, and does this so effectively that what begins as a very specific study of a local problem expands to consider the transitions from paganism to Christianity in Egypt as a whole, and stands as one of the most important studies of this topic to date. This well written and deeply learned book is a tour de force of regional religious history that will also be essential reading for anyone interested in indigenous religion and early Christianity in this time of transition." -- Terry Wilfong, in Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists

Fascinating study finds underlying unity in Egyptian religions — the concept of the changeless. Relation of religion to Egyptian society, government, art, more. 32 halftones.

The final stages of Egyptian religion from the Saite period until the rise of christianity are studied here by nearly a hundred scholars from all over the world. The book represents the state of the art on a fascinating period, when paganism in all its forms gradually yielded to monotheism. It combines philology and archaeology, with more than twenty contributions offering a presentation of unknown textual and iconographic material. Egyptian deities and temples are discussed both from the point of view of institutions and of personal religion. In the multicultural society of Graeco-Roman Egypt the relationship between native Egyptians and Greek culture is always at the center of the interest. Thanks to the indexes this will become a standard work of reference in the field of Egyptian religion. The volume is dedicated to Jan Quaegebeur and reflects his wide scope of interests and his impact upon present-day study of Egypt in the Graeco-Roman period.

Sir E. A. Wallis Budge (1857-1934) was Keeper of the British Museum’s department of oriental antiquities from 1894 until his retirement in 1924. Carrying out many missions to Egypt in search of ancient objects, Budge was hugely successful in collecting papyri, statues and other artefacts for the trustees of the British Museum: numbering into the thousands and of great cultural and historical significance. Budge published well over 100 monographs, which shaped the development of future scholarship and are still of great academic value today, dealing with subjects such as Egyptian religion, history and literature. First published in 1899 as part of the Egypt and Chaldaea series, Egyptian Religion explores the principal ideas and beliefs held by the ancient Egyptians with regard to the doctrine of the resurrection and the future life. Although no systematic account dealing solely with this doctrine has been discovered, the Book of the Dead and various other religious texts from which this work is derived reflect ancient Egyptian beliefs, ideals and superstitions. Wallis Budge explores the Gods of the Egyptians and the themes of resurrection and immorality in a classic work, of great significance to students and scholars with an interest in ancient Egyptian and Middle Eastern history and religion.

Lectures given at a symposium held in 1987, sponsored by Fordham University.