The Search For God, Ancient Egypt, By Jan Assmann

Jan Assmann, the famous Egyptologist, covers the essence of researching Egyptian theology in his classic work Theologie und Frà ¶mmigkeit einer frà ¼hen Hochkultur. Translated to English under the title â€Å"The search for God in Ancient Egypt†, the book tackles the complex goal of investigating Egyptian Theology and offers Assman’s scholarly theories on Egyptology. With that said, the focus of the book shifts away from the study of Egyptian deities and mythology but centers rather around the implication of divinity at a societal and individual level. Overviews of theology and piety take precedence over the specific practices and technical beliefs of Egyptian religion, though the latter is also heavily discussed to better elaborate on the former’s context. The first chapter â€Å"Religion: Divine Presence and Transcendence† establishes the topic of this book, summarizing the theme of ‘divine presence’ and the concept of a single god and multiple gods (essentially monotheism vs polytheism). Divided into 2 main parts, the first, aptly named â€Å"The Dimensions of Divine Presence: The Implicit Theology of Egyptian Polytheism†, mainly revolves around implicit theology and what Assmann considers to the be the three dimensions of Egyptian religion: the local and cultic dimension, the dimension of cosmos (The visible elements), and the mythic dimension. These three aspects form the implicit theory, activities or notions that are associated with divine beings, and serves to realize in religion the