Unknown pages of the state of sheba history in the context of modern and biblical archaeology

In the Sheba state, 2 thousand years before the emergence of Islam, there was a monotheistic doctrine unknown to science, whose supporters were called the first Arabian prophets (hanifas) and actually equated with Muslims. This conclusion was obtained using the modern methodology of cognition — fractal approach, hermeneutics methods, logic-semantic analysis, abdication, etc. The results of the study showed, that at the end of the 15th century ВС the Egyptian religion of the Sun ('Monism) was perceived in the Sheba state, where King Yataamar ruled, and became the spiritual basis of this 157 civilization. After the conflict with the state of Israel (loth century ВС), the Queen of Sheba was forced to recognize the power of King Solomon and his religion. During the revival of this state in the VIII century ВС, Atonism was again declared the official religion until the V century ВС. This religious doctrine, which arose during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (1436—1402 ВС), did not disappear shortly after his death (according to modern Egyptologists), and today is represented in the beliefs of the Mandei community (southern Iraq) and their scripture by Jinze.

Prophesying the Demise of Egyptian Religion in Late Antiquity: The Perfect Discourse and Antoninus in Canopus

When the demise of traditional Egyptian religion took place is much debated. Some scholars have portrayed vibrant cults continuing well beyond the 4th century, embattled by Christianity, whereas others see a marked decline in the late 2nd and early 3rd century, leaving a blank slate for Christianity in the fourth century. The present contribution interprets the apocalyptic prophecy of Hermes Trismegistus in the Perfect Discourse to reflect a priestly insider’s perspective of the decline in temple-cult in the early 3rd century, and its projected catastrophic consequences for Egypt and indeed the cosmic order. Yet, despite the general neglect of temple-cult and literacy in the Egyptian priestly scripts, certain temples remained in use. The second part of the article is devoted to the survival and apparent rejuvenation of the temple of Osiris/Serapis in Canopus, in the second half of the 4th century. This case shows that at this late date there were still self-consciously traditionalist devotees of Egyptian gods, though our sources do not permit us to see to what degree their temple-cult corresponded to the old “standard model.” The temple’s alliance with the non-Egyptian Neoplatonist Antoninus suggests that the image of Egypt as the temple of the world is now championed in the language of Hellenism, and Antoninus updates the now nearly two-centuries-old prophecy of Hermes Trismegistus to predict the fall of the Serapis temples in Alexandria and Canopus after his death. Both the Perfect Discourse and Antoninus are testimonies of a literate elite that saw the great temples as the essence of Egyptian religion, and their demise as the end of Egypt and the world.

Negating Seth: Destruction as Vitality

In the past, different points in time have been set as demarcating the beginning of the end of Ancient Egyptian religion. One of these is the start of the so-called “proscription” of the god Seth, whose names and images are found damaged in many of their occurrences. In previous studies, this observation was explained as the result of intentional destruction performed during the first millennium BCE, and as such as indicative of the decay of Ancient Egyptian religion at this time. However, Seth was from his earliest attestations conceived as a deity ready to perform acts of violence and disruption; under specific circumstances he needed to be banished, but his character was also valued in circumstances requiring violence. This article discusses the problems, fallacies, and arguments of interpreting the intentions behind the destruction of monuments in general and the treatment of Seth in particular. It will be argued that “negating” the image of the “negative” god was not done with malicious intent, but to highlight this god’s role, which was important for the context of the image. It will be proposed that this phenomenon proves that Egyptian religion was still vibrantly alive at that time, not fading away and dying.

Implications of geoarchaeological investigations for the contextualization of sacred landscapes in the Nile Delta

Key elements of sacred landscapes of the Nile Delta were lakes, canals and artificial basins connected to temples, which were built on elevated terrain. In the case of temples of goddesses of an ambivalent, even dangerous, nature, i.e. lioness goddesses and all female deities who could appear as such, the purpose of sacred lakes and canals exceeded their function as a water resource for basic practical and religious needs. Their pleasing coolness was believed to calm the goddess' fiery nature, and during important religious festivals, the barques of the goddesses were rowed on those waters. As archaeological evidence was very rare in the past, the study of those sacred waters was mainly confined to textual sources. Recently applied geoarchaeological methods, however, have changed this situation dramatically: they allow in-depth investigations and reconstructions of these deltaic sacred landscapes. Exploring these newly available data, the paper presented here focuses on the sites of Buto, Sais and Bubastis, by investigating the characteristics of their sacred lakes, canals and marshes with respect to their hydrogeographical and geomorphological context and to their role in ancient Egyptian religion and mythology as well.

8. Religion

‘Religion’ studies ancient Egyptian religion, the history of which was at one stage concerned principally with the beliefs and temples of the pharaonic period. Now it has become increasingly clear that there is a significant prehistory of Egyptian religion. If the provision of offerings represents a relatively familiar aspect of Egyptian religion, there is another recurrent aspect of many of the Egyptian religious cults that Egyptologists of the late 19th and early 20th century frequently preferred to ignore. This was the tendency towards ‘phallocentrism’, involving cults dedicated to very obviously ithyphallic gods. The relationship of Egyptian religion with Egyptian kingship and Egyptian ideology is an important area to examine.