A comparison of ancient Egyptian and ancient Hebrew religious cosmogonies

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The phenomenological approach employed in this comparative study of ancientEgyptian and ancient Hebrew religions cosmogonies, takes care of the gaps between the various cosmogonies. This is also true of the gaps in time between the ancient Egyptian cosmogonies and those of the Hebrew Bible. The study indicated that Ancient Egypt and the ancient lsraelit:;s did not exist in isolation, although each community was unique in its own context. Myth as one of the most central conceptsin the study of cosmogonies, has fundamental value both in ancient Egyptian understanding as well as that of the ancient Israelites.Examples of ancient Egyptian cosmogonies as well as different versions of ancient Hebrew cosmogonies were discussed. Three types of ancient Egyptian cosmogonies(Heliopolitan, Theban and Hermopolis) explained in this paper were shown to be complementary to each other; the same idea (i .e. complementary) was not foreign in the ancient Hebrew cosmogonies (Genesis 1 and 2). God and the gods played a very significant role with regard to human beings, being either a servant of or owing his or her allegiance to God/the gods as his or her creator.There are significant similarities in the way these two communities understood the notion of cosmogony, but in the same breath, remarkable differences were alsowitnessed throughout the discussion of these various cosmogonies, hence the use of the term distinctive and common ground in the ancient Near East with specialreference to ancient Egypt and the Hebrew Bible.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University