This thesis takes a hermeneutic approach in examining how six Syro-Palestinian deities Baal, Reshef, Hauron, Anat, Astarte and Qadesh - were worshipped and integrated into Egyptian religion, predominantly from the New Kingdom onwards. Chapter I introduces general observations about Syro-Palestinian deities venerated in New Kingdom Egypt with a history of previous research on this topic, as well as explanation of sources and methodology applied in this research: comparative studies and the 'translative adaptation' theory. Chapter 2 consists of three sections discussing the six Syro-Palestinian deities in their Egyptian contexts. Section 1 presents the iconographical and textual materials showing these six deities in Egyptian contexts. The analyses on each deity are further synthesised in succeeding sections. In Section 2, an iconographical approach is conducted, and Section 3 demonstrates the result of a conceptual approach to these six deities in New Kingdom Egypt. Needless to say, these tasks require us to make comparisons with the way of existence of these six deities in Syria-Palestine in order to evaluate them in Egypt. Chapter 3 focuses on these six deities in selected Egyptian royal contexts during the New Kingdom. The investigation concludes that the six Syro-Palestinian deities are employed by Egyptian kings not necessarily just as war-gods and warrior goddesses, although this view has been central to previous interpretation of them. They are also involved in royal ideological and theological discourses in order to claim and sustain Egyptian royal dignity. The political and religious circumstances at the time would probably be reflected in the appearance of the six Syro-Palestinian deities in New Kingdom Egypt. In another sphere, it is demonstrated in Chapter 4 that these six Syro-Palestinian deities are also revered with Egyptian styles ofworship among ordinary people in the New Kingdom. Chapter 5 illustrates the fact that the six Syro-Palestinian deities are interpreted and integrated into the Egyptian indigenous pantheon by 'translation' of their attributes into those of Egyptian deities, and in some cases, with the assistance ofHorus and Hathor playing the role ofmediators. Consequently Chapter 6 concludes that it is possible to interpret the six Syro-Palestinian deities in New Kingdom Egypt by a hermeneutic approach with the employment of two anthropological theories. It is attested that the 'tributary relationship' exists between Egyptian kings and five Syro-Palestinian deities (except for Qadesh) as well as between the kings and Egyptian indigenous deities. This can be expanded to the relationship between ordinary people and the six deities. Also, it is very clear that the six Syro-Palestinian deities are integrated into the Egyptian religious framework by 'translative adaptation'. Furthermore, it can be assumed that the six Syro-Palestinian deities in question may have been singled out for theoretical accordance with the Egyptian cosmos: the Heliopolitan theology and Osirian myth.

In this thesis, I have undertaken to analyse the effect upon the cult of the Syrian goddess of the process of religious syncretism, which occurred through contact between the Aramaic speaking people of the city sacred to the goddess: Hierapolis/ Mnbg, and the peoples of the Hellenistic kingdoms and the Roman Empire. The purpose of my analysis is to examine the extent to which the syncretic developments observed in the cult of the Syrian goddess can be viewed as systematic and whether looking specifically at syncretism in a religion is useful in gaining insights into that religion, where a non-specific approach would not. From previous studies of syncretism in the fields of theology and anthropology, I have established a workable definition of the term religious syncretism and I have combined aspects of structural and cognitive approaches to syncretism. I have focussed on the types of syncretism called association and identification as this yielded the most significant results.

This study explores how myths and rituals are conjoined within the practices of the coven of American Eclectic Wiccan Pagans called the Temple of the Sacred Craft. In order to understand how these two apparently distinct areas, myths and rituals, are related this thesis examines the relevant areas of the fields of ritual studies, myth studies and myth-ritual theory. The relatively new field of Pagan studies is also investigated. This leads to an historically and contextually grounded approach to each of these subjects. An emically and etically balanced approach to definition theory is employed, for as is argued here it is only within the context of such a balanced methodological framework that a fuller understanding of how Pagans understand themselves, and not only how others have represented them, can be attained. The primary methodology of this thesis is that of anthropological participantobservation, which has been the mainstay ofAmerican anthropology since Franz Boas. Such fieldwork allows for the direct observation and experience ofPagan seasonal celebrations and their attendant rituals. This in tum leads to a better understanding ofthose rituals. The thesis is also exploration ofhow living Pagans understand and experience their own praxes. Thus the thesis focuses on the eight Sabbats, or seasonal holidays, and their accompanying rituals, of the Temple ofthe Sacred Craft, an Illinois-based coven of Eclectic Wiccans. This fieldwork is combined with an examination and analysis of several relevant and influential texts written by popular Pagan authors that highlight their own approach to·their individual Paganisms, typically Wiccan or Wiccan-derived in nature. This allows the practices of the Temple ofthe Sacred Craft to be placed in the broader area of Wiccan practice and belief. This thesis hence reveals several challenges to theories ofritual, myth and myth-ritual. It finds that by themselves the major schools of ritual theory fail to understand or to explain the practices and beliefs ofthe Temple of the Sacred Craft. The thesis further challenges popular contemporary understandings ofmyth as a reified category. Finally it will show how the classical myth-ritual theories that have so influenced the development ofWiccan ritual practice and thealogy are now incapable of accounting for those same practices and thealogies. As such, this dual methodology ofparticipant-observation and textual analysis explores and develops new approaches to all ofthese subjects, including the development of a theory of what this thesis calls 'embodied myth-rituals'. Under certain circumstances such a theory collapses the reified categories ofmyth and ritual to reveal a new and holistic praxis. One ofthe ways in which this thesis is an original contribution to learning, is that it applies general methodological insights to this particular Pagan coven. As will be seen, this testing ofthe method against this specific example of the Temple ofthe Sacred Craft indicates certain weakness with the theories in question and thus necessitates major modification, ifnot a complete recasting, ofprevious myth-ritual studies, at least within the context ofthis particular Pagan coven. The very specific new work presented in this thesis clearly needs to be set within a broader context of the study ofreligious practice, particularly as related to Pagan studies. In order to do this the following topics are closely described and examined: the etymology and history ofthe term 'pagan' and its differentiation from modem 'Pagan' religions; ways of categorizing modem Paganisms and the history of ritual theory and its two main schools ofthought. Pagan usages and understandings of what ritual is and what rituals are also explored, as is the history and etymology of the term 'myth' in academic and philosophical thought. Attention is also given to: Pagan understandings ofwhat myth is and what myths are; the classical myth and ritual theories ofWilliam Robertson Smith, Sir James Frazer and Jane Harrison and the Ritual Dominant School (theories which are significantly questioned here); a full cycle of the Temple of the Sacred Craft's eight Sabbat rituals; and, finally, the Sabbat rituals found in four important and influential Pagan texts. These areas of study gives rise to an analysis ofmyths within the Temple ofthe Sacred Craft's seasonal ritual cycle and the Pagan texts consulted, all of which leads to a fundamental critique ofthe ability of classical myth-ritual theories to understand the Temple ofthe Sacred Craft's ritual praxis and, finally, the development of a theory of embodied myth-rituals. This thesis consists of seven chapters. Chapters one through three are largely concerned with theoretical and definitional issues. Chapter one will introduce the Temple ofthe Sacred Craft, which is at the centre ofthis thesis. It will also be concerned with the methodological issues surrounding participant-observation. Chapters and three focus upon definitions of 'Pagan', 'ritual' and 'myth' as well as provide an overview of classical myth-ritual theory. Chapter four begins the ethnological examination of the Temple of the Sacred Craft's Sabbat rituals after providing a wider context ofPagan ritual practice. This chapter is a transition between the general and the specific and allows for chapters five and six to focus on the Temple of the Sacred Craft and its relation, especially, to the concerns of chapters two and three. In these chapters the theory of embodied myth-rituals is developed and connected to communication theory. The final chapter summarizes and offers specific conclusions to the first six.

No description available.

No description available.

The conventional position of Seth in Ancient Egypt is as the villain amongst the gods. That is to say he is documented as the murderer of his brother, Osiris, and the enemy of Horus. However he does have a number of aspects and was venerated in certain guises and places, particularly the Delta. It is likely that the Osirian mythology represented the struggle between Upper and Lower Egypt at the time of the unification of Egypt in Predynastic and early Dynastic times. This is illustrated by the finding of a carved artefact from the Predynastic Amratian (Naqada I) period (4000-3500 B.C.E.) and the fact that Peribsen and Khasekhemwy had serekhs surmounted by a Seth animal. This confusion continues during the Old Kingdom where although Seth is mainly portrayed as the villain in the majority of the Pyramid Texts, at times he appears to be a friend of Osiris e.g.: in texts from Teti there is a statement that Seth is the arch-enemy of Osiris, as he was of Horus, and the defeat of Seth and his followers by Horus is described with great satisfaction; but, conversely in texts from Pepi: Seth and Thoth are called the brothers of Osiris who weep for him and in another place Seth is called upon to give life to Osiris. This surely illustrates the struggles that were continuing between Upper and Lower Egypt and when Upper Egypt was supplying the pharaohs, then Horus was triumphant and Seth portrayed in his villainous role, but when Lower Egypt held sway then Seth has a more prominent role. This thesis will examine Seth’s fluctuating role in these various periods of Ancient Egypt and seek to show that his rises and falls actually reflected the turbulent times that were a constant factor of life during these times and that, certainly in the Delta, and possibly in other parts of the country, his worship was always on-going. This will be achieved by:• Examining the ‘traditional’ positioning of Seth within the Osirian story.• Examining the worship of Seth in the Predynastic and early Dynastic time periods.• Examining the rise of Seth to prominence during the Hyksos Period.• Examining the position of Seth within the Ramesside era.• Examining the vilification he experienced during the Saite Period.• Examining the position of Seth during the Graeco-Roman Period.

No description available.

No description available.

Min was one of the earliest known Egyptian deities and his origins remain obscure but, because of his association with fertility and the kingship, he retained his importance from the Predynastic Period into the Roman era. Although his depiction as an ithyphallic, mummified male with a flail balanced above his raised right arm remained unaltered throughout, the overall iconography of Min did exhibit changes, notably with the introduction in the Sixth Dynasty of what is accepted as a lettuce plant resembling the modern Cos or Romaine cultivar of Lactuca sativa L. It is the association of Min with the lettuce plant that is the subject of this thesis. It is the received opinion in the literature that the plant was offered to Min, a fertility god, as an aphrodisiac. Apart from two seminal works that are over fifty years old, little research has been conducted into the association of Min with the lettuce. Much early research is in need of re-examination because of changes in social attitudes and research techniques and this the thesis seeks to redress. The aims of the research are to review the evidence for the lettuce plant in ancient Egypt and to re-examine the previously noted association of the god Min with a plant identified as lettuce. The study is primarily library and museum based and examines the history and nature of lettuce in ancient Egypt. The nature of 'aphrodisiac' is examined and the use of such substances in ancient Egypt is compared with modern usage. Min as a god of fertility is re-analysed and, finally, texts and Ptolemaic temple inscriptions are examined for evidence as to why and by whom lettuce was offered. The research results are applied to a study of Min as a god of fertility. The evidence indicates that lettuce was offered by the king to Min to ensure the fertility and regeneration of agriculture and of the king which would secure the continuation of his line and humanity. There is no evidence to suggest lettuce was offered as an aphrodisiac to increase the sexual desire of the god.

This thesis provides an overview of the cult of Mithras from the late third to early fifth centuries across the entire Roman world. It seeks to illustrate what developments occurred in the cult during this period and how it subsequently came to an end. In doing so, it elucidates alterations in the environment and architecture of mithraea, the patrons and adherents of the cult, and Mithraic ritual practices. It demonstrates that by the fourth century the cult of Mithras had become increasingly localised, with a significant degree of variation evident among different Mithraic communities. Furthermore, it will be shown that, contrary to the traditional narrative, the end of the Mithras cult was not the product of an Empire-wide persecution by Christian iconoclasts, but a more gradual process that occurred over a long period of time. Additionally, it explores whether adopting a sociological approach, as has been suggested by other scholars in the past, can be used to explain how the transformations evident in the cult may have contributed to a decline in the commitment of Mithraic adherents in the fourth century. This study contributes to the wider field of research on the late antique period in three ways. Firstly, it is to my knowledge the only analysis of a non-Christian cult in Late Antiquity to cover the entire Roman Empire and thus hopes to contribute to a greater understanding of the sacred landscape in this period. In particular, it sheds some light on areas which are generally understudied in this regard, such as the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Secondly, it seeks to place the end of a cult in this period in its sociocultural context, rather than focusing only on the evidence from cult sites alone as previous studies have often done, thus providing a more nuanced explanation for why this occurred. Finally, through comparing the Mithras cult to other cults in this period it also shows that there is little to support any notion of a uniform 'decline of paganism' in late antiquity, with various cults experiencing divergent rates of decline which began at different times.