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date: 16 January 2021

Abstract and Keywords

The first section of this article discusses traditional religion, looking at the Ancient Egyptian worldview, mummification and afterlife, and the role of the temples in economy and administration. The second section considers new developments in Egyptian religion such as listening gods, animal cults, Egyptian “saints”, oracles, dreams, and katochê. The third section describes the growing state intervention, examining the administration of temples, priestly privileges, temple asylum, and dynastic and imperial cults. The fourth section looks at the impact of the Greek, describing interpreatio graeca, the Hellenization of the gods, and astrology. The last section describes the end of Egyptian religion, looking at polytheism, religion without temples, and Egyptian religion within Christianity.

Keywords: traditional religion, Egyptian religion, mummification, Hellenization, interpreatio graeca, state intervention, Greek gods, polytheism, temple administration

Willy Clarysse

Willy Clarysse is Professor of Ancient History, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven.

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