Monday, Apr. 18, 2016

02:30 PM
US/Central

The ancient Egyptian religious system was one of the most successful and longest-lasting in antiquity. The success was based on a staggering of the ancient openness and adaptability of the system that could respond flexibly to problems, changing needs or new insights. Therefore, divergent conceptions and ritual traditions were combined without compromising the underlying ideas and structures.

From today's perspective, the explanatory models of the ancient Egyptians dealing with questions about the origin and preservation of the world reveals an almost modern acting cognitive interest and a very rational use of the time of the facts available. Their pursuit of authentic metaphysical truths has been therefore never far from reality, but very closely linked to the observation and analysis of their environment. Here, they were concerned with the determination of the laws and the expected, resulting effectiveness of their actions on a practical and ritual level. The lecture will introduce to the main ontological question and answers of ancient Egyptian theologists.