Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, Volume 1 Free PDF book (1911) by Wallis Budge

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The Chapters printed in these volumes are the result of a study undertaken with the object of attempting to discover the source of the fundamental beliefs of the indigenous Religion of Ancient Egypt, to trace their development through a period of some two score centuries, and to ascertain what were the foreign influences which first modified Egyptian beliefs, then checked their growth, and finally overthrew them. There is no doubt that the beliefs examined herein are of indigenous origin, Nilotic or Sudani in the broadest signification of the word, and I have endeavored to explain those which cannot be elucidated in any other way, by the evidence which is afforded by the Religions of the modern peoples who live 'on the great rivers of East, West, and Central Africa.The central figure of the ancient Egyptian Religion was Osiris, and the chief fundamentals of his cult were the belief in his divinity, death, resurrection, and absolute control of the destinies of the bodies and souls of men. The central point of each Osirian’s Religion was his hope of resurrection in a transformed body and of immortality, which could only be realized by him through the death and resurrection of Osiris. I have therefore made Osiris, and the beliefs which grew up under his cult, the central consideration of this inquiry, and have grouped about the history of the god the facts in modern African Religions which are similar and which I consider to be cognate to the old beliefs.The general argument of the book is indicated in the following paragraphs. The materials now available for the inquiry may be divided roughly into two main classes:—i. The Magical, Religious, and Mythological Texts are written by native Egyptians for Egyptians. 2. Accounts of the Magic, Religion, Mythology, and Gods of Ancient Egypt written by Greek and Roman historians and philosophers, e.g., Herodotus, Diodorus, Plutarch, Apuleius, and others, for the use and information of their countrymen. An examination of the statements on the ancient Religion of Egypt found in the works of the above-mentioned and other classical writers, carried on side by side with a study of the Egyptian texts, convinced me that the information supplied by them was wholly unsuitable for the solution of the numerous problems which confront the student of the ancient Egyptian Religion at every turn. The reason of this is not far to seek.Author: Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis BudgePublication Date:1911