Following Osiris

Osiris, god of the dead, was one of ancient Egypt's most important deities. The earliest secure evidence for belief in him dates back to the fifth dynasty (c.2494-2345BC), but he continued to be worshipped until the fifth century AD. Following Osiris is concerned with ancient Egyptian conceptions of the relationship between Osiris and the deceased, or what might be called the Osirian afterlife, asking what the nature of this relationship was and what the prerequisites were for enjoying its benefits. It does not seek to provide a continuous or comprehensive account of Egyptian ideas on this subject, but rather focuses on five distinct periods in their development, spread over four millennia. The periods in question are ones in which significant changes in Egyptian ideas about Osiris and the dead are known to have occurred or where it has been argued that they did, as Egyptian aspirations for the Osirian afterlife took time to coalesce and reach their fullest form of expression. An important aim of the book is to investigate when and why such changes happened, treating religious belief as a dynamic rather than a static phenomenon and tracing the key stages in the development of these aspirations, from their origin to their demise, while illustrating how they are reflected in the textual and archaeological records. In doing so, it opens up broader issues for exploration and draws meaningful cross-cultural comparisons to ask, for instance, how different societies regard death and the dead, why people convert from one religion to another, and why they abandon belief in a god or gods altogether.

Osiris, god of the dead, was one of ancient Egypt's most important deities. This volume is concerned with ancient Egyptian conceptions of the relationship between Osiris and the deceased, focusing on five distinct periods over four millennia to trace changes in aspirations for the Osirian afterlife and explore when and why they occurred

Osiris, god of the dead, was one of ancient Egypt's most important deities. The earliest secure evidence for belief in him dates back to the fifth dynasty (c.2494-2345BC), but he continued to be worshipped until the fifth century AD. Following Osiris is concerned with ancient Egyptian conceptions of the relationship between Osiris and the deceased, or what might be called the Osirian afterlife, asking what the nature of this relationship was and what the prerequisites were for enjoying its benefits. It does not seek to provide a continuous or comprehensive account of Egyptian ideas on this subject, but rather focuses on five distinct periods in their development, spread over four millennia. The periods in question are ones in which significant changes in Egyptian ideas about Osiris and the dead are known to have occurred or where it has been argued that they did, as Egyptian aspirations for the Osirian afterlife took time to coalesce and reach their fullest form of expression. An important aim of the book is to investigate when and why such changes happened, treating religious belief as a dynamic rather than a static phenomenon and tracing the key stages in the development of these aspirations, from their origin to their demise, while illustrating how they are reflected in the textual and archaeological records. In doing so, it opens up broader issues for exploration and draws meaningful cross-cultural comparisons to ask, for instance, how different societies regard death and the dead, why people convert from one religion to another, and why they abandon belief in a god or gods altogether.

"Was there a advanced prehistoric civilization in ancient Egypt? Who were the people who built the great pyramids and carved the Great Sphinx? Did the pyramids serve as energy devices and not as tombs for kings? Independent Egyptologist Stephen S. Mehler has spent over 30 years researching the answers to these questions and believes the answers are "Yes!" An indigenous oral tradition still exists in Egypt, and Mehler has been able to uncover and study it with the help of a living master of this tradition, Abd1El Hakim Awyan. He has also been given permission to share these teachings—presented heretofore in fragments by other researchers—to the Western World, teachings that unfold a whole new understanding of ancient Egypt"--Publisher's description.

Bojana Mojsov tells the story of the cult of Osiris from beginning to end, sketching its development throughout 3,000 years of Egyptian history. Draws together the numerous records about Osiris from the third millennium B.C. to the Roman conquest of Egypt. Demonstrates that the cult of Osiris was the most popular and enduring of the ancient religions. Shows how the cult provided direct antecedents for many ideas, traits and customs in Christianity, including the concept of the trinity, baptism in the sacred river, and the sacrament of the Eucharist. Reveals the cult’s influence on other western mystical traditions and groups, such as the Alchemists, Rosicrucians and Freemasons. Written for a general, as well as a scholarly audience.

At the center of the world-famous pyramid field of the Memphite necropolis there lies a group of pyramids, temples, and tombs named after the nearby village of Abusir. Long overshadowed by the more familiar pyramids at Giza and Saqqara, this area has nonetheless been the site, for the last forty years, of an extensive operation to discover its past. This exciting new book-richly endowed with black-and-white historical photographs, color plates of contemporary work, and informative illustrations-at last documents the uncovering by a dedicated team of Czech archaeologists of a hitherto neglected wealth of ancient remains dating from the Old Kingdom to the Late Period. This is Abusir, realm of Osiris, God of the dead, and its story is one of both modern archaeology and the long-buried mysteries that it seeks to uncover.

The modern Western movement to embrace Eastern spiritual traditions usually stops with India and the Orient. Westerners have yet to discover the wisdom that dates back even further to ancient Egypt. With a Jungian perspective, clinical psychologist Dr. Thom F. Cavalli plumbs that wisdom through the myth of Osiris, the green-skinned Egyptian god of vegetation and the Underworld. As no one else has done, Cavalli draws on Osiris’s death and resurrection as a guide to spiritual transformation. The myth represents the joining of the conscious and the unconscious, the light and the dark, life and death, and shows how to live our temporal existence in service to and anticipation of eternal life. Cavalli sees the ancient art of alchemy — which attempted to turn lead into gold — as the key. The alchemical recipe "solve et coagula" (solution and coagulation) encoded in the myth describes the integration of all parts of a person and the method for achieving an experience of immortality in life and eternal life after death. The Osiris myth thus provides a model for the contemporary quest for individuation, the Jungian term for integrating ego and self, body and soul, in the process of becoming whole.

The story of Osiris is one of the central cultural myths of ancient Egypt, a story of dismemberment and religious passion that also exemplifies attitudes about personal identity, sexuality, and the transfer of royal power. It is, moreover, a story of death and the overcoming of death, and in this it lies at the center of our own means of engagement with ancient Egypt. ReMembering Osiris takes as its focus this tale as it is recorded in Egyptian texts and memorialized on the walls of temples and tombs. Since such a focus is attainable only through Egyptian representational systems, especially hieroglyphs, the book also engages broader questions of writing and visual representation: decipherment, controversies about the "ideograph," and the relation between visual images and writing.

Discover how the ancient Egyptians controlled their immortal destiny! This book, edited by Foy Scalf, explores what the Book of the Dead was believed to do, how it worked, how it was made, and what happened to it.

AN ANCIENT MYSTERY HAS ALREADY TAKEN TWO LIVES... HOW MANY MORE WILL IT CLAIM? The bestselling, pulse-poundingarchaeological thriller by bestselling author Paul Sussman is a must-read for fans of Dan Brown, Clive Cussler and Wilbur Smith. 'A genuinely exciting read from a world-class storyteller...a beautifully-observed thriller.' - FINANCIAL TIMES 'Captivating, intelligent and notably well-written... Sussman's thrillers have been translated into 33 languages and have sold over 2 million copies worldwide. This, his final book, deserves to be even more successful.' - DAILY MAIL 'Stylish writing and deep research.' - GUARDIAN 'Sussman knew how to keep a complex plot bowling along while constantly ratcheting up the tension...this is top-drawer popular fiction and is sure to become an even bigger bestseller than his three other novels.' - MAIL ON SUNDAY *********************************************************************************** A journalist is murdered in Jerusalem's Armenian Cathedral and Detective Arieh Ben-Roi is spoilt for leads. But one seems out of place - an apparent link to a decades-old missing persons case in Egypt. Baffled, Ben-Roi turns for help to his old friend and sparring partner, Inspector Yusuf Khalifa of the Luxor Police. Although struggling with personal tragedy and immersed in a case of his own - mysterious well poisonings in the Eastern Desert - Khalifa agrees to do some digging. What he discovers will change both men's lives for ever. As their investigations intertwine, the detectives are drawn ever deeper into a sinister web of violence, abuse, corporate malpractice and international terrorism. And at its heart lies a three thousand year-old mystery that has already taken two lives, and will soon be claiming more...