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A review by siria
Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt by Rosalie David
3.0
I brought this along with me for a little light reading on the plane to Scotland, and it really didn't disappoint. It's only 380 pages long in paperback (not including the appendices), and covers something like 5,000 years of Egyptian history, so it's obvious that David was never really going to go into depth with what she was covering. What she does touch on, though, she covers with clarity and insight.
The organisation of the book into chronological sections was also very helpful, allowing you to clearly see the separate stages in the evolution of Egyptian religious views and practices over the course of their history, rather than giving you a potted synthesis as is the case in so many books. David is also careful to provide some contextual analysis for the development of each stage of Egyptian religion - I thought her sections on the democratisation of Egyptian religion/society through the Osiris cult was particularly interesting and well thought out. The appendices were very good, providing the full text of some Egyptian spells and prayers, as well as some of the hymns to the Aten.
It's not perhaps a book to do more than dip into or use as a basic reference if you already have more than a basic knowledge of Egyptian history, but still an excellent primer and highly recommended.
The organisation of the book into chronological sections was also very helpful, allowing you to clearly see the separate stages in the evolution of Egyptian religious views and practices over the course of their history, rather than giving you a potted synthesis as is the case in so many books. David is also careful to provide some contextual analysis for the development of each stage of Egyptian religion - I thought her sections on the democratisation of Egyptian religion/society through the Osiris cult was particularly interesting and well thought out. The appendices were very good, providing the full text of some Egyptian spells and prayers, as well as some of the hymns to the Aten.
It's not perhaps a book to do more than dip into or use as a basic reference if you already have more than a basic knowledge of Egyptian history, but still an excellent primer and highly recommended.