Old Kingdom sun cult on the basis of theophoric anthroponyms
Beliefs connected to the sun formed a significant part of the ancient Egyptian religion. Even in the Old Kingdom there were a number of gods with solar aspects: Re, Khepri, Atum, Horus, Sokar, Akhti, Nemti, Nefertem, Weneg, or Shu. Their characteristics are mainly studied on the basis of religi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | ces |
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Univerzita Karlova, Filozofická fakulta
2016-12-01
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| Series: | Pražské Egyptologické Studie |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://pes.ff.cuni.cz/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/01/marie_peterkova_hlouchova_67-78.pdf |
| Summary: | Beliefs connected to the sun formed a significant part of
the ancient Egyptian religion. Even in the Old Kingdom
there were a number of gods with solar aspects: Re,
Khepri, Atum, Horus, Sokar, Akhti, Nemti, Nefertem,
Weneg, or Shu. Their characteristics are mainly studied on
the basis of religious texts, but theophoric anthroponyms
may provide some additional insights. This study
summarizes the personal names mentioning one of these
divinities and attempts to investigate solar beliefs on the
basis of this perspective. The analysis demonstrates that
the majority of these gods were used as an element in the
anthroponyms. On the other hand, some of them are not
attested in the personal names at all: Khepri, Atum, Weneg,
Shu. It seems that the reason for this lay in the fact that the
ancient people perhaps needed deities who were able to
help them in many matters of their lives. That is why they
chose powerful and protective deities, whereas the more
abstract served the theologians and royal sphere. |
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| ISSN: | 1214-3189 1801-3899 |