DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5538#0251
LITERATURE AND RELIGION OP ANCIENT EGYPT. 231
ing the Godhead. He would tell us that Ra was the Great
All; that by his word alone he called all things into exist-
ence ; that all things are therefore but reflections of himself
and his will; that he is the creator of day and night, of the
heavenly spheres, of infinite space; that he is the eternal es-
sence, invisible, omnipresent, omniscient; in a word, that he
is God Almighty.
If, after this, we could put the same questions to a high-
priest of Memphis, we should receive a very similar answer,
only we should now be told that this great divinity was Ptah.
And if we could make the tour of Egypt, visiting every great
city, and questioning the priests of every great temple in turn,
we should find that each claimed these attributes of unity
and universality for his own local god. All, nevertheless,
would admit the identity of these various deities. They
would admit that he whom they worshipped at Ileliopolis
as Ra was the same as he whom they worshipped at Mem-
phis as Ptah, and at Thebes as Amen. We have proof of
their catholicity in this respect. Ptah and Apis were, of
course, one and the same; but Apis was also recognized as
" The Soul of Osiris, and the Life of Turn." Again, Amen
and Knum and Sebek were made one with Pa, and became
Amen-Pa, Knum-Ra, and Sebek-Ra. This, however, was but
a compromise, and they never got beyond it. That individ-
ual theologians rose to the height of pure monotheism can-
not be doubted. Those who conceived and formulated the
exalted pantheism of Ra-worship cannot have failed to go
that one step further; but that one step further would be
heresy, and heresy was not likely to leave records for future
historians in a land where the governing classes were all
members of the priesthood. In a word, it is certain—abso-
lutely certain—that every great local deity was worshipped as
the "one God" of his own city or province; and it is also
certain that, to whatever extent these gods were identified
one with another, the Egyptians never agreed to abolish
their Pantheon in favor of one, and only one, supreme de-
ity.(-)
ing the Godhead. He would tell us that Ra was the Great
All; that by his word alone he called all things into exist-
ence ; that all things are therefore but reflections of himself
and his will; that he is the creator of day and night, of the
heavenly spheres, of infinite space; that he is the eternal es-
sence, invisible, omnipresent, omniscient; in a word, that he
is God Almighty.
If, after this, we could put the same questions to a high-
priest of Memphis, we should receive a very similar answer,
only we should now be told that this great divinity was Ptah.
And if we could make the tour of Egypt, visiting every great
city, and questioning the priests of every great temple in turn,
we should find that each claimed these attributes of unity
and universality for his own local god. All, nevertheless,
would admit the identity of these various deities. They
would admit that he whom they worshipped at Ileliopolis
as Ra was the same as he whom they worshipped at Mem-
phis as Ptah, and at Thebes as Amen. We have proof of
their catholicity in this respect. Ptah and Apis were, of
course, one and the same; but Apis was also recognized as
" The Soul of Osiris, and the Life of Turn." Again, Amen
and Knum and Sebek were made one with Pa, and became
Amen-Pa, Knum-Ra, and Sebek-Ra. This, however, was but
a compromise, and they never got beyond it. That individ-
ual theologians rose to the height of pure monotheism can-
not be doubted. Those who conceived and formulated the
exalted pantheism of Ra-worship cannot have failed to go
that one step further; but that one step further would be
heresy, and heresy was not likely to leave records for future
historians in a land where the governing classes were all
members of the priesthood. In a word, it is certain—abso-
lutely certain—that every great local deity was worshipped as
the "one God" of his own city or province; and it is also
certain that, to whatever extent these gods were identified
one with another, the Egyptians never agreed to abolish
their Pantheon in favor of one, and only one, supreme de-
ity.(-)