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The Ancient Gods
In The Ancient Gods Professor James shows how the emergence of gods and goddesses and their cults was linked with nature, agriculture and the seasons, fertility, and the preoccupation with life and death and the struggle for existence.
He covers the development of religion in the Middle East, Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Aegean, Greece and Asia Minor, from prehistoric times to the beginning of the Christan era. Tracing the rise of the cults of the great mother goddess, he discusses the differing forms of kingship, gives an account of the seasonal festivals and the methods of divination, astrology and prophecy. There is a chapter on the cult of the dead, comparing the ideas of the afterlife and mortuary cults. He describes and compares the cosmologies of the civilisations, and their concepts of creation. He concludes with a discussion of the rise of the concepts of good and evil, and shows how the first ideas of the good life developed into Christanity.
This account of the religious history of the ancient world is essential for the proper understanding of the great living faiths which, directly or indirectly, have arisen from or been influenced by this remarkable centre.
He covers the development of religion in the Middle East, Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Aegean, Greece and Asia Minor, from prehistoric times to the beginning of the Christan era. Tracing the rise of the cults of the great mother goddess, he discusses the differing forms of kingship, gives an account of the seasonal festivals and the methods of divination, astrology and prophecy. There is a chapter on the cult of the dead, comparing the ideas of the afterlife and mortuary cults. He describes and compares the cosmologies of the civilisations, and their concepts of creation. He concludes with a discussion of the rise of the concepts of good and evil, and shows how the first ideas of the good life developed into Christanity.
This account of the religious history of the ancient world is essential for the proper understanding of the great living faiths which, directly or indirectly, have arisen from or been influenced by this remarkable centre.
359 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
About the author
E.O. James
47 books6 followersThe Reverend Professor Edwin Oliver James (1888 – 1972) was an anthropologist in the field of comparative religion. He was Professor Emeritus of the History and Philosophy of Religion in the University of London, Fellow of University College London and Fellow of King's College London. During his long career he had been Professor of History and Philosophy of Religion at the University of Leeds, Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and Wilde Lecturer at the University of Oxford.
E.O. James received his education at Exeter College, Oxford and at University College London, where he studied under the famous egyptologist Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie.
E.O. James received his education at Exeter College, Oxford and at University College London, where he studied under the famous egyptologist Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 21, 2014
The Ancient Gods by E.O. James I found in a book store marked down from $20 to $5. (The bookstore was going out of business and having a 75percent off sale.) It contained a series of 85 plates of Egyptian, Sumerian, Babylonian, Hittite, Greek and Roman artwork so I figured that in itself was worth the price. But as I know very little about these old religions and it's one of the things I think I should I decided I should probably read it too.
It was interesting to me to read a book talking about Ancient civilizations that completely ignored China. It was fun to see all the differences and make comparisons as I was reading. Reading about ancient cities besides Banpo was a nice change. At first it seemed like the scope of the book was too big. The author was trying to cover every civilization of the ancient western world it seemed. Talking about different issues and how they related to Egypt, Sumer, Babylon, Greece, and Judaism. (and sometimes Hittite). But as I found myself growing more familiar with the different areas it became less confusing. At first I found myself wanting to skip the sections on Judaism, having spent a great deal of time growing up and my first two years in college studying Christianity I felt like I already had that covered. But in the end I found myself reading them anyway as he did a very good job of tracing their different beliefs, saying what got influenced by what, and made it all quite interesting again. He had a way of writing that seemed to me would make the book interesting to people who already knew about the subject, not just as an introductory work. I recommended it to Bill as it talked a little about the mystery religions and their relation to ancient philosophy.
The subjects James looked at were, The rise of civilization in the Ancient Near East, The Emergence of Religion in the Ancient Near East, The Mother-Goddess and the Young God, The Sacral Kingship, The Seasonal Festivals, The Cult of the Dead, Cosmology, Divination, Astrology and Prophecy, The Gods and The Good Life and The Development and Diffusion of Near Eastern Deities.
I felt like I learned a lot and it did spark my interest in a couple of areas, I realized I need to know a bit more about Sumer and Babylon, particularly their mythology. (Inspired buying several related books at the book fair). I also understood a little more why Plato gets linked to analysis of Chinese beliefs a little more, and made me realize I know very little about the ancient Greek Philosophers, but I still find philosophy much less interesting than religion. It reminded me how much I love the idea of spirits and exorcisms and ecstatic beliefs, I'd be fascinated by doing a cross cultural study on that sometime, and made me think that perhaps I do just need to find the time to go back and re-read Davis' book on that subject and Sung China.
It was good to read a book about other cultures, I felt a little guilty that I wasn't reading about China but thought it would be good to compare. I found it interesting and it made me want to learn more. I'm now having one of those moments where the world seems like such a big and interesting place and it seems impossible to know everything about it and that's a little frustrating. So with that said I guess you could say I enjoyed this book a great deal!
It was interesting to me to read a book talking about Ancient civilizations that completely ignored China. It was fun to see all the differences and make comparisons as I was reading. Reading about ancient cities besides Banpo was a nice change. At first it seemed like the scope of the book was too big. The author was trying to cover every civilization of the ancient western world it seemed. Talking about different issues and how they related to Egypt, Sumer, Babylon, Greece, and Judaism. (and sometimes Hittite). But as I found myself growing more familiar with the different areas it became less confusing. At first I found myself wanting to skip the sections on Judaism, having spent a great deal of time growing up and my first two years in college studying Christianity I felt like I already had that covered. But in the end I found myself reading them anyway as he did a very good job of tracing their different beliefs, saying what got influenced by what, and made it all quite interesting again. He had a way of writing that seemed to me would make the book interesting to people who already knew about the subject, not just as an introductory work. I recommended it to Bill as it talked a little about the mystery religions and their relation to ancient philosophy.
The subjects James looked at were, The rise of civilization in the Ancient Near East, The Emergence of Religion in the Ancient Near East, The Mother-Goddess and the Young God, The Sacral Kingship, The Seasonal Festivals, The Cult of the Dead, Cosmology, Divination, Astrology and Prophecy, The Gods and The Good Life and The Development and Diffusion of Near Eastern Deities.
I felt like I learned a lot and it did spark my interest in a couple of areas, I realized I need to know a bit more about Sumer and Babylon, particularly their mythology. (Inspired buying several related books at the book fair). I also understood a little more why Plato gets linked to analysis of Chinese beliefs a little more, and made me realize I know very little about the ancient Greek Philosophers, but I still find philosophy much less interesting than religion. It reminded me how much I love the idea of spirits and exorcisms and ecstatic beliefs, I'd be fascinated by doing a cross cultural study on that sometime, and made me think that perhaps I do just need to find the time to go back and re-read Davis' book on that subject and Sung China.
It was good to read a book about other cultures, I felt a little guilty that I wasn't reading about China but thought it would be good to compare. I found it interesting and it made me want to learn more. I'm now having one of those moments where the world seems like such a big and interesting place and it seems impossible to know everything about it and that's a little frustrating. So with that said I guess you could say I enjoyed this book a great deal!
December 11, 2012
Good informational source, but a very dry read. In depth look at different religions and how they came to be.
April 10, 2013
GoodReads is a little misleading because this is actually a reprint of a classic text originally authored by Professor James as long ago as 1960 in the Weidenfeld & Nicholson series on the history of religion.
It is well over half a century old and so will have been much superceded by academic work in the intervening period. Nevertheless, even if a rather dry read, it is still not a bad basic study of early religion.
It is well over half a century old and so will have been much superceded by academic work in the intervening period. Nevertheless, even if a rather dry read, it is still not a bad basic study of early religion.
November 26, 2013
The writing can be on the dry side, but I found The Ancient Gods to be an excellent introduction to the figures of ancient religions.
I would have liked more in-depth treatment, especially of the cultic practices associated with given divinities, but as a survey it's pretty valuable.
I would have liked more in-depth treatment, especially of the cultic practices associated with given divinities, but as a survey it's pretty valuable.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews