The Gods of the Egyptians, Volume 1 (Volume 1)

by E.A. Wallis Budge

Thoth, the ibis-headed god of wisdom, inventor of the art of writing; Osiris, the dead god who arose and set the pattern for death-and-resurrection gods ever since; Isis, the great mother, wandering through the reed swamps; Anubis, conductor of the dead, with jackal head; Bast, the cat goddess; Set, the evil serpent; Ptah, the living mummy … For more than 2,500 years, since the days of Herodotus, students have found the gods of Ancient Egypt a source of fascination and wonder. Strange beings who lived in a world of their own (as opposed to the human gods of the European people), irrational powers and menaces, sometimes animal-like, sometimes superhuman, sometimes incalculable in their evil potentialities, they still have the power to move men's thought.
By far the most thorough, most useful coverage of the gods of Ancient Egypt is this book by Dr. Budge of the British Museum, one of the foremost Egyptologists of the century. In it is presented practically everything known about the high gods, the local gods, demigods, demons, and mythological figures of Khem. Dr. Budge provides full information on the origins of the ancient religion; its peculiarly Egyptian aspects; evolution of cults, rites, and gods; the priesthoods; the heretical aberration of Ikhnaten and the Aten cult; the cult of Osiris; the Book of the Dead and its rites; the sacred animals and birds; heaven and hell, and much other secret wisdom that has been discovered hidden in mummy cases or written on tomb walls. The text is profusely illustrated, with many reproductions of tomb and mummy-case paintings, while many full texts are presented, with both hieroglyphs and translation.
Dr. Budge's book is a standard work in the history of religion. It is also a most useful background book for anyone seriously interested in the life and thought of Ancient Egypt, an explicator of many of the obscurer passages in the Book of Dead.

Genres: Egypt, Mythology, History, Nonfiction, Egyptology, Religion, Egyptian Literature

608 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East.

Reviews

[Shaun Appleby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although originally written in 1904 this work is a compelling overview of Egyptian mythology and theology which makes a logical historical starting point for the erudite student and an excellent general reference. This volume begins with an overview of the cultural and geographic factors influencing Egyptian religious practices then provides a thorough analysis of the major gods, their worship and their mythological significance. The author seems to convey the essential qualities of Egyptian beliefs and helps one overcome one's preconceptions of divinity as familiar to later Occidental practice and world view. Those who suggest Budge is 'dated' merely because of the time which has passed since these volumes were published may be missing something of the subtlety and sympathy with which he consistently treats this subject.

These volumes are both copiously and beautifully illustrated in this facsimile edition.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for any Egyptian library!

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this is certainly the "authority" on Egyptian studies, I felt that it was still a bit over my head, as though it was written solely for college professors and other scholars. There are more modern and less heavy books about Egyptian mythology that tell the same stories without overwhelming you word-wise.

[Jeszika · Rating 5 out of 5]

These two volumes are some of my favorite references to Egyptian mythology. They cover a wide range of deities and have a lot of attention to detail that I appreciate.

[Dean Oken · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am so autistic for this one

[DAJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Books that are divided into entries for different Egyptian gods rarely discuss each god at great length. In this 1904 book, Budge discusses most of the major Egyptian deities, and while it isn't a complete list of gods, he deserves credit for giving those he does discuss a fair amount of space. Much of that space is taken up by full-length Egyptian texts, for which Budge was not the best translator, but the texts do give a sense of the character of each deity.

The gods included in this volume are Ra, Thoth and the goddesses associated with him, Hathor, Horus, and the Memphite triad of Ptah, Sekhmet, and Imhotep. (The other major deities are discussed in Volume 2.) The chapters on Horus and Hathor make the point that each of them existed in so many forms that they were practically classes of deities unto themselves rather than individuals, a point that many books gloss over. These chapters on individual deities aren't as outdated as a lot of Budge's other work, and somebody unfamiliar with the gods might use them as a jumping-off point for understanding Egyptian deities more deeply.

On those grounds I might give this book a higher rating than I give most of Budge's works. However, his introductory chapters, discussing Egyptian ideas about divinity in general, contain the same outdated ideas found in his other books. Some of them are minor (he says the hieroglyph for "god" represents an axe and rejects the now-universal hypothesis that it is a flagpole). Others are more significant (the teachings of Ptahhotep and Kagemni were written in the Middle Kingdom, whereas in Budge's time they were assumed to be centuries older). Still others are fundamental. Budge always argued that the Egyptian ruling classes developed monotheism in the Old Kingdom, based largely on the misdating and misinterpretation of the teachings of Ptahhotep and Kagemni, and that polytheism survived for millennia only because of traditionalism and a need to appeal to the ignorant masses.

Another problem is the strange organization of the book: the chapters on deities are placed in no particular order. And, as is true with any Egyptological work this old, the book uses obsolete spellings of many Egyptian names and gives incorrect dates for the more remote phases of Egyptian history. That may be a problem for anyone new to the study of ancient Egypt.

Nowadays, the standard lists of Egyptian deities are The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses and The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, though most of their entries on individual deities are short. The latter also includes an excellent, readable discussion of Egyptian theology. Books that describe major deities at greater length include Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt by Robert Armour and The Gods of Ancient Egypt by Barbara Watterson, though they are both somewhat superficial, and The Ancient Gods Speak: A Guide to Egyptian Religion.

[Kay McCormick]

I enjoyed owning this book and I am anxious to replace it. It was my introduction to Egyptian Religion and Mythology, and kindled my interest in Ancient Egypt, Antiquity, and writing systems generally. Read this book and become the expert Egyptologist on your block, I guarantee it!

[Peter J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the main actors in the ancient Egyptian faith. It is nice actually knowing what I am looking at in ancient vignettes now.