Ägypten und Altes Testament Band 72 - The Late Egyptian Underworld: Sarcophagi and Related Texts from the Nectanebid Period Part 1: Sarcophagi and Texts Part 2: Plates -
- Anno: 2007
- Autore/i: Colleen Marie Manassa
- Catalogo: Distribuiti
- Argomento: Egittologia
- ISBN: 978-3-447-05671-7
- ISSN:
Vol. 1: 2007. Ca. 564 pages, hc
Vol. 2: 2007. Ca. 336 pages,
302 plates, hc
Despite the variety of the temple decoration during the
30. Dynasty, little is known about the theology of funeral
rituals and conceptions of the afterlife during the reigns of
Nectanebo I and especially during that Nectanebo II. Since
the conceptions of the Netherworld during the fi nal period
of pharaonic rule has not previously been a topic of detailed
study, this thorough examination of sarcophagi and papyri
of the Thirtieth Dynasty and early Ptolemaic Period casts
new light on the cultural and religious achievements of the
Nectanebid Period, particularly in the realm of funerary religion.
Not only do the texts of this period exhibit a direct relationship
with the Underworld Books of the New Kingdom, but
the study shows that they partook of a dynamic textual tradition,
which led to new editions and creative interpretations of
diffi cult passages, including transcriptions of cryptographic
orthographies. Thus at the end of the pharaonic period and
during the transition to the Ptolemaic rule, Egyptian theology
reveals a fi nal fl owering, which demonstrates that one
should not characterize the period as a substantial break in
theological refl ection of the afterlife or a sterile solidifi cation
of an ancient textual corpus. Instead the eve of the Graeco-
Roman Period is more properly understood as a time of
active theological speculation and engagement with the
earlier corpus of Underworld Books.