Page 1

268
RELIGION AND MAGIC IN OLD EGYPT
Wellington Rafael Balem 156
Rosalie David is a British Egyptologist, PhD from the Universty of Liverpool
and
director of the Center for Biological and Forensic Studies in Egyptology ,
University of
Manchester. The author has already written and organized dozens of books on
the subject. This one
Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt was originally published in England by
the publisher
Penguim Books, in 2002, and received its first Brazilian edition in 2011, by
Difel.
With 598 pages, in addition to the nine chapters, the book contains two
photobooks
an appendix with collections of religious texts and another one with the
main religious sites of Egypt and Nubia. In addition, a glossary is
end of the work listing names of kings and queens, deities and general terms
used in the
replacing explanatory notes.
The organization of the book in chronological order, covering a period of
more than
5000 years, was not chosen by chance. It is an approach which
when they appeared, when they remained and when they became or
disappeared
the Egyptian religious and magical cultural traits. Reading single chapters or
can damage the understanding of the work, since several themes
transcend the traditional temporal division used by the author, in which Old,
New Kingdoms are understood as periods of political stability and periods
Intermediates and the Late are considered unstable.
156 Academic of the course of History at the University of Caxias do Sul.

Page 2
269
In the first, The Creation of Egyptian Civilization , the author begins with a
about how the environment inspired the Egyptians in the elaboration of their
beliefs,
highlighting the two notions of time, perpetuation and cyclical. Analyzes the
applicant
"Geographic isolation", reserving some criticism in this regard. Then, it
distinguishes
four types of main sources that allowed his research: monuments, artifacts,
textual sources and mummies.
The Emergence of Religion (c.500-2686 BC), second chapter, analyzes the
periods
and cultures that make up the pre-dynastic period (Badarian, Nagada I and
Nagada II). David
criticizes the theory of the Dynastic Race and attributes the genesis of
Egyptian royalty to themselves and not
to foreigners. It contextualizes the pre-dynastic processes of unification and,
without escaping
of this social reality, identifies the first manifestations of religiosity in the
burials and natural mummifications, as well as in the cult of the first tribal
gods
and cosmic. Through analyzes of the first ritual practices of the dead or the
local and cosmic gods, the author seeks to find the origins of the magical-
religious culture
Egyptian
From the third chapter, The Ascension of Solar Worship (c. 2686-2181 BC),
the
author follows the chronology more rigidly. In this it addresses the process of
growth
and legitimation of the power of kings and solar priests, as well as their
destructuring
and weakening at the end of the period.
In chapter four, Osiris, the God of the People (c. 2181-1786 BC), David
parallel growth of the Osiris gods, associated with the process known as
"Democratization of immortality," and Amon, as patron of the militarized
dynasties of
Thebes who again centralize the power of the king by expelling the Hyksos
invaders.
The fifth, Religion and Empire (c.1786-1400 BC) explains the establishment
of
Egyptian military empire and from the elevation process of Amon-Ra to
the status of Lord of the
gods David also shows how this was reflected in the organization and
practices of
temples, intrinsically linked to religion, economics and power.

Page 3
270
Chapter six is entitled and addresses the Heresy of Amarna (c.1400-1320
BC). Here the
suggests that the reforms promoted by Akhenaton
of a framework of older conceptions. It also discusses some hypotheses about
the political-religious intentions of Akhenaten and on and the idea of
monotheism.
The process of resuming the services of Amon, Ra, Ptah and Osiris,
power of the Pharaohs, especially on the priests, are analyzed in the seventh
chapter,
The Return to Orthodoxy (c.1320-1085 BC). In addition, David reflects on the
practices
in daily life, about Egyptian measures to curb
and raises the Egyptian debate on the Hebrew exodus.
Kings and Priests: The Final Conflict (1085-332 BC) , eighth chapter,
emphasizes how
political rivalry between these two social powers weakened the country by
giving
entry and domain. David also addresses the hypotheses about resistance
and the permanence of traditional religious practices in this context.
The last chapter, East and West: Conflict and Cooperation in Greco-
Roman (332 BC-4th century AD), demonstrates how the Ptolemaic dynasty
knew how to support
the religiosity and the national cults of Egypt aiming to legitimize its
power. The Romans,
however, imposed their laws and broke the Egyptian order of organization,
reducing
Egypt to the "barn of Rome". The author also questions the depth of the
Hellenization and reflects on the final disruption of religious practices on the
occasion of
of Christianity since the first century.
Choose as the "religion and magic" thematic clipping for a research on the
Ancient Egypt is almost the same as not using any clipping and writing over
the full range
cultural practices of this civilization. Religion is the backbone of all
organization, and both magic and the state and the economy can not be
disengaged from it. The Western gaze on Ancient Egypt has often
reductionist approaches to cultural traits of this civilization. In the case of
religion and

Page 4
271
magic is no different. David, dodging the Western Judeo-Christian visions, in
no way
differences or frontiers between Egyptian religion and magic.
The themes are not discussed in a disconnected way in David's book. At the
However, the contextualizations made by the author always follow a bias in
history
politics, evidencing relations between kings and aristocracy and disputes over
power, but without
forcing dichotomous visions. Thus, practices linked to "popular religiosity"
almost
are discussed by David, except in specific cases, such as that of the village of
Kahun,
Deir el-Medina, in Akhetaton and in the Late and Greco-Roman periods. For
the author, the
absence of written records concerning these groups is what prevents them
from being
studied safely.
David has used extensively the work of archaeologists and Egyptologists since
the
century until the end of the XX century, with emphasis on the work of
Petrie. In doing so, it maps
the archaeological sites according to the time and the theme, since the material
culture
Ancient Egypt is distributed unevenly in time and space, and in most
cases, very broad statements can not be made.
Thus, it uses textual documentation, which values more than the
archaeological, whether Egyptian or not, ancient or not. David dialogues with
classic authors
such as Herodotus, Plutarch, Josephus and references to Maneto, among
others, always
critical form. The Egyptian texts are widely used, within their
production or circulation contexts, and in many cases are cited in the text or in
the
appendices. In addition, the work is based on solid historiographical
references, which
allows the author to establish a privileged view on the different
interpretations,
mainly on controversial topics, such as the function of the pyramids, the
Hebrew
the monotheistic ideas. This makes the book no longer just descriptive, as
most of the works destined also to the general public, and to become
analytical,
researcher, showing gaps in research. This aspect of the work contributes
with increasing Egyptology in Brazil.

Page 5
272
Bibliographic reference
DAVID, Rosalie. Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt . São Paulo: Difel,
2011.