Ancient Egyptian Demonology
Studies on the Boundaries between the Demonic and the Divine in Egyptian Magic
Edited by P. Kousoulis
This multi-authored volume of 10 essays comprises an up-to-date authorization account of many aspects of ancient Egyptian demonology, including the multiple persona of the demonic or name vs. identity in the Egyptian formation of the demonic, nightmares and underworld demons, dream rituals and magic, categories of demonic entities and the vague distinction between the divine and the demonic in Egyptian cosmology and ritual, the theological and demonic aspects of Egyptian magic, demons as reflections of human society.
In the Egyptian context, what we term magic and demon, drawing on our own cultural heritage, are not seen as negative aspects of cultural practice and conceptualisation. Similarly, the Egyptian equivalents do not carry the pejorative connotations borne by the modern terms and their Greek antecedents; magic and demons can be forces for good as well as evil. Indeed, the practice of magic and the conceptualisation of personified demonic agents are central to the Egyptian understanding of the workings of the world from the very continuation of the cosmos itself down to the vicissitudes of existence faced by individuals. In particular, the broader practice of magic and articulation of the involvement of demonic agency form one of the crucial links in Ancient Egypt between individual existence on the human level and the level of nature or the cosmos, the realm of the gods. Unlike, though, the explicit recognition of the term demon in the ancient Greek language and religion, as the intermediary between god and mortals, the majority of the demonic names in the Egyptian literature do not possess an apparent ontological essence, or a clearly defined denotation. Their characteristics and role depended momentously on the verbal and performative ritual environment they were part of. The relation between the name of a demon and its cosmic-natural personification is not contradictory as it may seem, but it is closely interwoven in a well established ritual framework of words and actions. This multi-authored volume of 10 essays comprises an up-to-date authorized account of many aspects of ancient Egyptian demonology, including the multiple persona of the demonic or name vs. identity in the Egyptian formation of the demonic, nightmares and underworld demons, dream rituals and magic, categories of demonic entities and the vague distinction between the divine and the demonic in Egyptian cosmology and ritual, the theological and demonic aspects of Egyptian magic, and demons as reflections of human society. Contributors include Paul John Frandsen, Hedvig Gyory, Joachim Friedrich Quack, Yvan Koenig, Panagiotis Kousoulis, Alan Lloyd, Robert Ritner, Alessandro Roccati, Kasia Szpakowska and Penelope Wilson.
- Edited by P. Kousoulis
Other Titles in this Series
Seals and Sealing Practices in the Near East. Developments in Administration and Magic from Prehistory to the Islamic Period
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Tribes and Territories in Transition
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Egypt at its Origins 6
Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference "Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt", Vienna, 10th - 15th September 2017
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Mythologie et Religion des Sémites Occidentaux
Vol. I: Ebla, Mari. Vol. II: Émar, Ougarit, Israël, Phénicie, Aram, Arabie
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Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk Eras IV
Proceedings of the 9th and 10th International Colloquium organized at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in May 2000 and May 2001
Volume 140
Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichnungen Band I
Bearbeitet von Dagmar Budde, Peter Dils, Lothar Goldbrunner, Christian Leitz und Daniela Mendel unter Mitarbeit von Frank Förster, Daniel von Recklinghausen und Bettina Ventker
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Intercultural Contacts in the Ancient Mediterranean
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The Second Intermediate Period (Thirteenth-Seventeenth Dynasties)
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Foundations of Power and Conflicts of Authority in Late-Antique Monasticism
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Volume 157
Catalogue of the Coptic Inscriptions in the Sudan National Museum at Khartoum (I. Khartoum Copt.)
Volume 121
L’École de Gaza: espace littéraire et identité culturelle dans l’Antiquité tardive
Actes du Colloque international de Paris, Collège de France, 23-25 mai 2013
Volume 249, 13
Centre and Periphery within the Borders of Islam
Proceedings of the 23rd Congress of L'Union Europeenne des Arabisants et Islamisants
Volume 207
Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk Eras III
Proceedings of the 6th, 7th and 8th International Colloquium organized at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in May 1997, 1998 and 1999
Volume 102
The Sakhmet Statues in the Precinct of Mut at South Karnak
The Brooklyn Museum Expedition to the Precinct of Mut at South Karnak
Volume 330
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