9.THE MYSTERIES OF ISIS: The Ancient Egyptian Philosophy of Self-Realization - There are several paths to discover the Divine and the mysteries of the higher Self. This volume details the mystery teachings of the goddess Aset (Isis) from Ancient Egypt- the path of wisdom. It includes the teachings of her temple and the disciplines that are enjoined for the initiates of the temple of Aset as they were given in ancient times. Also, this book includes the teachings of the main myths of Aset that lead a human being to spiritual enlightenment and immortality. Through the study of ancient myth and the illumination of initiatic understanding the idea of God is expanded from the mythological comprehension to the metaphysical. Then this metaphysical understanding is related to you, the student, so as to begin understanding your true divine nature.

In this important new book, the distinguished Egyptologist Jan Assmann provides a masterful overview of a crucial theme in the religious history of the West - that of 'religio duplex', or dual religion. He begins by returning to the theology of the Ancient Egyptians, who set out to present their culture as divided between the popular and the elite. By examining their beliefs, he argues, we can distinguish the two faces of ancient religions more generally: the outer face (that of the official religion) and the inner face (encompassing the mysterious nature of religious experience). Assmann explains that the Early Modern period witnessed the birth of the idea of dual religion with, on the one hand, the religion of reason and, on the other, that of revelation. This concept gained new significance in the Enlightenment when the dual structure of religion was transposed onto the individual. This meant that man now owed his allegiance not only to his native religion, but also to a universal 'religion of mankind'. In fact, argues Assmann, religion can now only hold a place in our globalized world in this way, as a religion that understands itself as one among many and has learned to see itself through the eyes of the other. This bold and wide-ranging book will be essential reading for historians, theologians and anyone interested in the nature of religion and its role in the shaping of the modern world.

"Exploring Religion in Ancient Egypt "offers a stimulating overview of the study of ancient Egyptian religion by examining research drawn from beyond the customary boundaries of Egyptology and shedding new light on entrenched assumptions.Discusses the evolution of religion in ancient Egypt - a belief system that endured for 3,000 yearsDispels several modern preconceptions about ancient Egyptian religious practicesReveals how people in ancient Egypt struggled to secure well-being in the present life and the afterlife

In their wide-ranging interpretation of the religion of ancient Egypt, Francoise Dunand and Christiane Zivie-Coche explore how, over a period of roughly 3500 years, the Egyptians conceptualized their relations with the gods. Drawing on the insights of anthropology, the authors discuss such topics as the identities, images, and functions of the gods; rituals and liturgies; personal forms of piety expressing humanity's need to establish a direct relation with the divine; and the afterlife, a central feature of Egyptian religion. That religion, the authors assert, was characterized by the remarkable continuity of its ritual practices and the ideas of which they were an expression.Throughout, Dunand and Zivie-Coche take advantage of the most recent archaeological discoveries and scholarship. Gods and Men in Egypt is unique in its coverage of Egyptian religious expression in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Written with nonspecialist readers in mind, it is largely concerned with the continuation of Egypt's traditional religion in these periods, but it also includes fascinating accounts of Judaism in Egypt and the appearance and spread of Christianity there."

'This readable anthology is a good introduction to a civilization that fascinates like few others ... in this book there are animals who talk, princesses who are locked up at the top of towers, wicked stepmothers and many other themes ... An enjoyable book by a skilled author' Financial Times The civilization we know as Ancient Egypt stretched over three thousand years. What was life like for ancient Egyptians? What were their beliefs - and how different were they from ours? Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt uses Egypt's vivid narratives to create a panorama of its history, from the earliest settlers to the time of Cleopatra. Gathered from pyramid texts, archaeological finds and contemporary documents, these stories cover everything from why the Nile flooded annually to Egyptian beliefs about childbirth and what happened after death. They show us what life was really like for rich and poor, man and woman, farmer and pharaoh. Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt brings a long-dead culture back to life.

'A complex, gorgeous and compelling tapestry of love, death, trust and betrayal' - Daily Mail A sweeping historical fantasy saga based on the hit podcast Tumanbay ****** 'Immersive, rich, compelling and populated with characters who come alive on the page, it will transport you to a different world. I loved it and didn't want it to end.' - Sarah Lotz, author of The Three 'Written with the finesse of a master-assassin's dagger... I could not put it down!' Christian Cameron ****** Tumanbay: the most magnificent city on earth. The beating heart of a vast empire. A city of dreams - where those who arrived as slaves now reside in the seat of power. But the wheel of fate is never still: from the gilded rooftops to the dark catacombs, there are secrets waiting to be uncovered. For Gregor, Master of the Palace Guard, the work of rooting out spies and traitors is never done. His brother, the great General Qulan, must quell a distant rebellion. Whilst Shajah, chief wife to the Sultan, is suspicious that her new maid Sarah is not who she claims to be. And a mysterious stranger arrives with a gift for the Sultan himself. A gift that will change Tumanbay forever... ****** 'The writing and imagery are flawless, taking you right into the heart of the story and characters. While I was reading, this was MY world, and you can't ask for more than that from a fantasy novel.' Reader review (five stars)

Robert Armour's classic text, long cherished by a generation of readers, is now complemented with more than 50 new photographs and line drawings that show the gods and goddesses in their characteristic forms. Armour maintains a strong narrative thread with illuminating commentary in his lively, vigorous retelling of stories from Egyptian mythology, including those of the sun god Ra, the tragic death and rebirth of Osiris with the help of Isis, the near-burlesque of Horus' battle with the evil Seth, and the "gods of the intellect" Thoth and Maat. Now with an updated bibliography and glossary as well as new charts showing the gods at a glance and ancient Egyptian chronology in brief, this book is sure to inform and enchant a new generation of readers.

This groundbreaking, five-volume series offers a comprehensive, fully illustrated history of Egypt and Western Asia (the Levant, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Iran), from the emergence of complex states to the conquest of Alexander the Great. Written by a diverse, international team of leading scholars whose expertise brings to life the people, places, and times of the remote past, the volumes in this series focus firmly on the political and social histories of the states and communities of the ancient Near East. Individual chapters present the key textual and material sources underpinning the historical reconstruction, paying particular attention to the most recent archaeological finds and their impact on our historical understanding of the periods surveyed. The second volume covers broadly the first half of the second millennium BC or in archaeological terms, the Middle Bronze Age. Eleven chapters present the history of the Near East, beginning with the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom Egypt and the Mesopotamian kingdoms of Ur (Third Dynasty), Isin and Larsa. The complex mosaic of competing states that arose between the Eastern Mediterranean, the Anatolian highlands and the Zagros mountains of Iran are all treated, culminating in an examination of the kingdom of Babylon founded by Hammurabi and maintained by his successors. Beyond the narrative history of each region considered, the volume treats a wide range of critical topics, including the absolute chronology; state formation and disintegration; the role of kingship, cult practice and material culture in the creation and maintenance of social hierarchies; and long-distance trade-both terrestrial and maritime-as a vital factor in the creation of social, political and economic networks that bridged deserts, oceans, and mountain ranges, binding together the extraordinarily diverse peoples and polities of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Near East, and Central Asia.

The Book of the Dead is a unique collection of funerary texts from a wide variety of sources, dating from the fifteenth to the fourth century BC. Consisting of spells, prayers and incantations, each section contains the words of power to overcome obstacles in the afterlife. The papyruses were often left in sarcophagi for the dead to use as passports on their journey from burial, and were full of advice about the ferrymen, gods and kings they would meet on the way. Offering valuable insights into ancient Egypt, The Book of the Dead has also inspired fascination with the occult and the afterlife in recent years.

The fabled land of Nubia, whose very name means 'gold,' was famous in ancient times for its supplies of precious metal, exotic material, and intricate craftsmanship. Many of the adornments made in Nubia are masterpieces of the jeweler's art-marvels of design and construction rivaling, and often surpassing, adornments made in Egypt and the rest of the ancient Mediterranean world. Although these unique treasures are among the most stunning to have survived from antiquity, they remain little known. Richly illustrated with beautiful photographs of these exquisite items, many of them never before published, Nubian Gold also places the jewelry within the cultural contexts in which it was manufactured and employed. It tells the story not only of the treasures themselves but of the exciting tales of their discovery and the rich background of the exotic and remote civilizations that produced them. The book also explores the innovative techniques used to procure the precious materials used in the jewelry and to craft them into intricate ornaments replete with magical purpose and coded meaning.Featured in the book are not only the intricately crafted pieces themselves but depictions of them in sculpture, relief, and painting as well as references to them in ancient texts, locating them within the full spectrum of Nubian history, from the earliest beginnings of society to the advent of Christianity.

The concept of pharaonic Egypt as a unified, homogeneous, and isolated cultural entity is misleading. Ancient Egypt was a rich tapestry of social, religious, technological, and economic interconnections among numerous cultures from disparate lands. In fifteen chapters divided into five thematic groups, Pharaoh's Land and Beyond uniquely examines Egypt's relationship with its wider world. The first section details the geographical contexts of interconnections by examining ancient Egyptian exploration, maritime routes, and overland passages. In the next section, chapters address the human principals of association: peoples, with the attendant difficulties of differentiating ethnic identities from the record; diplomatic actors, with their complex balances and presentations of power; and the military, with its evolving role in pharaonic expansion. Natural events, from droughts and floods to illness and epidemics, also played significant roles in this ancient world, as examined in the third section. The final two sections explore the physical manifestations of interconnections between pharaonic Egypt and its neighbors, first in the form of material objects and second, in the powerful exchange of ideas. Whether through diffusion and borrowing of knowledge and technology, through the flow of words by script and literature, or through exchanges in the religious sphere, the pharaonic Egypt that we know today was constantly changing-and changing the cultures around it. This illustrious work represents the first synthesis of these cultural relationships, unbounded by time, geography, or mode.

This book is about the weird and wonderful lesser-known 'spirit' entities of ancient Egypt -daemons, the mysterious and often fantastical creatures of the Egyptian 'Otherworld' - and the closely related spirits of the dead, which together conjure the excitement of all things otherworldly. Daemons and spirits are generally defined in Egyptology as creatures not of this world, which do not have their own cult centre, and both groups are frequently listed together in protective spells. This volume explores the general nature of daemons and spirits in ancient Egypt and discusses a selection in more detail: it uses artefacts from Wales's important collection of Egyptian objects at the Egypt Centre at Swansea University, in which are to be found a dwarf daemon with sticking out tongue; several guardian daemons of the Otherworld; creatures who are part snake and part feline; spirits of deceased humans; and a Greek satyr Silenus, companion to the wine god Dionysus.

This book traces the evolution of religious beliefs and practices within the historical and political contexts of the main periods of Egypt's civilization. It shows how historical and political events influenced state cults, temple rituals and funerary practices, and also emphasizes how religion permeated most aspects of everyday life, including law, medicine and education. The book also describes how some religious customs have even survived, in different forms, until the present day.

The book has extensive bibliographies of primary and secondary sources.

Sir John Soane's Greatest Treasure describes one of the most important antiquities ever found in Egypt - the beautiful calcite sarcophagus of the pharaoh Seti I. Re-discovered in 1817 in the tomb of Seti I in the Valley of the Kings by the flamboyant explorer Giovanni Belzoni, the sarcophagus now resides in Sir John Soane's Museum in London's Lincoln's Inn Fields. Leading Egyptologist John H. Taylor outlines the life of Seti I, the background to the creation of the sarcophagus, the excitement surrounding its re-discovery and the fascinating story of its journey to London and its acquisition by Sir John Soane. At the heart of the book is a fully illustrated interpretation of the complex imagery and hieroglyphic inscriptions which cover the delicately carved surfaces of the sarcophagus. The book also includes an essay by Helen Dorey on the celebrations held at the Museum to welcome the arrival of the sarcophagus of Seti I in 1825. Sir John Soane's Greatest Treasure is published to mark the 200th anniversary of the re-discovery of the sarcophagus in 1817, and to accompany a major exhibition at Sir John Soane's Museum, opening in October 2017.

SHAMANISM / SPIRITUALITY"Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt is a valuable contribution toward uniting Science and Spirit. Combining ancient wisdom with guided shamanic journeys, it offers readers an opportunity to experience personal evolution through merging the knowledge of the mind (the source of Science) with the awareness of the heart (the source of Spirit)." --Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D., author of The Biology of Belief "This book is based upon a startling premise--that the deities of ancient Egypt embody and express the myriad aspects of Nature as archetypal forces that have 'overseen' the human experiment from the very beginnings of our long journey across eternity. This compelling book will change the lives of its readers. I couldn't put it down!" --Hank Wesselman, Ph.D., author of the Spiritwalker Trilogy and The Journey to the Sacred Garden In Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt, Nicki Scully and Linda Star Wolf renew humanity's connection to the ancient gods of Egypt, the neteru. Voices from these divine ancestors remind us of the healing power of the heart, and call us to bring their consciousness into the present to help us remember our true nature as divine humans with sacred purpose. The authors provide rituals, meditations, and rites of passage that allow us to meet our personal and planetary challenges with grace, wisdom, and love. The shamanic initiations provided are invoked, directly experienced, and transformed into embodied wisdom that awakens consciousness and illumines the intelligence of the heart.Scully and Star Wolf focus their rituals on twenty-six of the primary divine entities that preside over the ancient mysteries whose roots are in Old Kingdom and prehistoric Egypt. Thisfresh interpretation of ancient mysteries unites the energies of Thoth and Anubis to guide us through the current cycle of Earth changes and to help us remember who we really are at heart. Through these passages, Anubis lives up to his ancient title as the Opener of the Way, and Thoth as the Architect of Higher Learning. Together they evoke their power to unite heart and mind in the sacred marriage that brings transformation, renewal, and the awakening of consciousness.Nicki Scully has been a healer and teacher of shamanism and the Egyptian mysteries since 1983. She lectures worldwide and specializes in spiritual tours to sacred sites in Egypt, Peru, and other countries. The author of Power Animal Meditations and Alchemical Healing, she lives in Eugene, Oregon. Linda Star Wolf is the founder of Venus Rising Institute for Shamanic Healing Arts. She is a shamanic guide who has led transformational workshops in the United States and abroad since 1984. She lives in North Carolina.

A divination tool to connect with guides from the Egyptian pantheon
- A 35-card deck with original artwork by award-winning illustrator Kris Waldherr
- Guidebook includes detailed card interpretations and 8 divinatory spreads
- By the authors of "Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt: Awakening the Healing Power of the Heart"
"The Anubis Oracle" is a shamanic guide to inner Egypt, a place of mystery, ancestral wisdom, and abiding love that resides within each of us. It is a place where the "neteru"--the archetypal deities and elemental spirits from the Egyptian pantheon--lead us on our journey of transformation, a journey designed to open our hearts and teach us the inner workings of the soul.
The full-color deck contains a Key Card, a card for each of the 22 deities and 4 elements, and 8 composite cards that portray several deities together. These composites represent 8 major portals of initiation and complex archetypal relationships. The accompanying book provides detailed interpretations for each card and instructions for 8 divinatory spreads that include entering into the mystery, achieving higher love and wisdom, and identifying our sacred purpose. By divining with the neteru, the shaman within awakens. This allows the neteru to reveal the answers we seek in our personal lives and in our interactions with the world by connecting us with the wisdom, guidance, and shamanic mysteries of Egypt that live within us.