Attempts at definition
Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the cosmos. Myth appears frequently in Egyptian writings and art, particularly in short stories and in religious material such as hymns, ritual texts, funerary texts, and temple decoration. These sources rarely contain a complete account of a myth and often describe only brief fragments. This lack of narrative in myth-related writings has prompted debate among scholars about whether cohesive myths existed in ancient Egyptian culture.
Inspired by the cycles of nature, the Egyptians saw time in the present as a series of recurring patterns, whereas the earliest periods of time were linear. Myths are set in these earliest times, and myth sets the pattern for the cycles of the present. Present events repeat the events of myth, and in doing so renew maat, the fundamental order of the cosmos. Amongst the most important episodes from the mythic past are the creation myths, in which the gods form the universe out of primordial chaos; the stories of the reign of the sun god Ra upon the earth; and the myth of Osiris and Isis, concerning the struggles of the gods Osiris, Isis, and Horus against the disruptive god Set. Events from the present that might be regarded as myths include Ra's daily journey through the world and its otherworldly counterpart, the Duat. Recurring themes in these mythic episodes include the conflict between the upholders of maat and the forces of disorder, the importance of the pharaoh in maintaining maat, and the continual death and regeneration of the gods.
The details of these sacred events differ greatly from one text to another and often seem contradictory. All Egyptian myths, however, are meant primarily as symbols, expressing the behavior and essence of the mysterious deities in metaphorical terms. Each variant of a myth represents a somewhat different symbolic perspective, enriching the Egyptians' understanding of the gods and the world.
Mythology profoundly influenced Egyptian culture. It formed much of the basis for ancient Egyptian religion, inspiring or influencing many of its rituals and providing the ideological basis for kingship. Scenes and symbols from myth appeared in art in tombs, temples, and amulets. In literature, myths or elements of them were used in stories that range from humor to allegory, demonstrating mythology's prevalence and versatility in Egyptian tradition.
Attempts at definitionThere is some debate among Egyptologists about which of the beliefs in ancient Egypt should be classed as myth. The basic definition of myth suggested by John Baines is "a sacred or culturally central narrative". In Egypt, the narratives central to culture and religion are almost entirely about events among the gods. Actual narratives about the gods' actions are rare in Egyptian texts, particularly from early periods, and most references to such events are mere mentions or allusions. Some Egyptologists, like Baines, contend that narratives complete enough to be called "myths" existed in all periods, but that Egyptian tradition did not favor writing them down. Others, like Jan Assmann, have argued that true myths were rare in Egypt and may only have emerged partway through its history. Recently, however, scholars like Vincent Arieh Tobin and Susanne Bickel have suggested that lengthy narration is unnecessary, and even alien to, the complex and flexible nature of Egyptian mythology, because narratives tend toward a simple and fixed perspective on the events they describe. If the requirement for narration is discarded, any statement that conveys an idea about the workings of the cosmos by describing the nature or actions of a god can be called "mythic".
Egyptian deities represent natural phenomena, from physical objects like the earth or the sun to abstract forces like knowledge and creativity. The actions and interactions of the gods, the Egyptians believed, govern the behavior of all of these forces and elements. For the most part, the Egyptians did not describe these mysterious processes in explicit theological writings. Instead, the relationships and interactions of the gods illustrated such processes implicitly.
Most of Egypt's gods, including many of the major ones, do not have significant roles in mythic narratives, although their nature and relationships with other deities are often established in lists or bare statements without narration For the gods who are deeply involved in narratives, the events of mythology are extremely important expressions of their roles in the cosmos. Therefore, if myth is restricted to narrative, myth is a significant element in Egyptian religious understanding, but not as essential as it is in many other cultures.
The myths are not meant as literal descriptions of the gods or their behavior, although unsophisticated segments of the Egyptian populace may have thought myths were literally true. The events in mythology are symbolic of events that take place in the realm of the gods and that, therefore, are beyond direct human understanding. Symbolism expresses those mysterious processes in a comprehensible way. Not every detail of a mythic account has symbolic significance, however; some images and incidents in primarily religious texts are meant simply as visual or dramatic embellishments of the broader and more meaningful myths to which they have been added.
Much of Egyptian mythology consists of origin myths, explaining the beginnings of various elements of the world, including human institutions and natural phenomena. Kingship is said to have arisen among the gods at the beginning of time and later passed to the human pharaohs; warfare originates when humans begin fighting each other after the sun god's withdrawal into the sky. Myths also describe the supposed beginnings of less fundamental traditions. In a minor mythic episode, the god Horus becomes angry with his mother Isis and cuts off her head. Isis replaces her lost head with that of a cow. This event is apparently meant to explain why Isis was sometimes depicted with the horns of a cow incorporated into her headdress.
Few complete stories appear in Egyptian mythological sources. These sources often contain nothing more than allusions to the events to which they relate, and texts that contain actual narratives tell only portions of a larger story. Thus, for any given myth the Egyptians may have had only the general outlines of a story, from which fragments describing particular incidents were drawn. Moreover, the gods are not well-defined characters, and the motivations for their sometimes inconsistent actions are rarely given. Egyptian myths are not, therefore, well developed tales. Their importance lay in their underlying meaning, not their characteristics as stories. Instead of coalescing into lengthy, fixed narratives, they remained highly flexible and non-dogmatic.
So flexible were Egyptian myths that they could seemingly conflict with each other. Many descriptions of the creation of the world and the movements of the sun occur in Egyptian texts, some very different from each other. The relationships between gods were fluid, so that, for instance, the goddess Hathor could be called the mother, wife, or daughter of the sun god Ra. Separate deities could even be linked as a single being, as the creator god Atum was combined with Ra to form Ra-Atum.
One reason for these apparent inconsistencies is that religious ideas differed over time and in different locations. Gods that were once local patron deities gained national importance with the unification of Egypt around 3100 BC. This event likely inspired myths that linked the local gods into a unified national tradition. The local cults continued to exist, however, and their priests formulated myths that emphasized the importance of their patron gods. As the influence of different cults shifted, some mythological systems attained national dominance. In the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BC) the cults of Ra and Atum, centered at Heliopolis, profoundly influenced Egyptian religion. They formed a mythical family, the Ennead, that incorporated the most important deities of the time but gave primacy to Atum and Ra. The Egyptians also overlaid old religious ideas with new ones. For instance, the god Amun was so prominent in the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BC) that he was linked with Ra, the older supreme god, and took on many of Ra's roles in the cosmos. In this way the Egyptians produced an immensely complicated set of deities and myths.
Egyptologists in the early twentieth century thought that politically motivated changes like these were the principal reason for the contradictory imagery in Egyptian myth. However, in the 1940s, Henri Frankfort, realizing the symbolic nature of Egyptian mythology, argued that apparently contradictory ideas are part of the "multiplicity of approaches" that the Egyptians used to understand the divine realm. Frankfort's arguments are the basis for much of the more recent analysis of Egyptian beliefs. Political changes affected Egyptian beliefs, but the ideas that emerged through those changes also have deeper meaning. Multiple versions of the same myth express different aspects of the same phenomenon; different gods that behave in a similar way reflect the close connections between natural forces. The varying symbols of Egyptian mythology express ideas too complex to be seen through a single lens.
