posted
One thing is troubling me,most authors,new agers whatever tend to have an idyllic view of AE society..
Yet,the more one study it,especially via the classic Life in "Ancient Egypt" by Adolf Erman(1894)their society was not that different from others in the same area..
The only things that I can muster are that:
1- on account of the Pyramids,Sphinx,etc.. the AE was associated with fantastic knowledge and thus that somehow equated wisdom..
2-a hidden agenda that has occult ramifications throughout the ages-even in our present day society AE symbols are everywhere..
3-the AE religion-it certainly is unique,it has monotheistic roots,it is very complex and one of the oldest docs where the King equates himself with the God(s)..
4-finally people tend to associate their beliefs,influenced by Eastern religion and by New Age pop philosophy with the principle of re-incarnation. Thus in our past lives we were either Masters,Prophets,Kings,Queens ,High priests,valourous warriors,rich merchants,etc..esteemed philosophers,.. but never miserable serfs ,slaves etc..
5-the general public really knows about zero percent about AE-just the headline titles,paranormal books on AE (lost technology,ET,s.etc..)for how many can effectively READ hieroglyphs and consult the original texts ?
6-and also a big blame to the "Western Egyptologists" that claim to have the infused knowledge without telling the real thruths:
A-nobody nowadays can have 100% of all that is egyptology as the learning knowledge has been fractured into many disciplines..
B-the poverty of the knowledge of many of the experts- read their modern day books,then read books written BEFORE Gardiner,by Maspero,Brugsch,Petrie,Budge etc..you will see the DIFFERENCE right way as these authors do GIVE EXTENSIVE references,give the original texts,either in Coptic,Greek ,etc..the original hieroglyphic passages(not just the translated [passages) and where they were taken from..
C-the smugness of the Western scholars towards the native Egyptian egyptologists and their power position-they decide the rules of archeology..
D-the refusal by next to eall gyptologists to consider that Champollion could have erred on certain points,aspects of the AE language... which has lead to confusion as many egyptologists can contradict one another , gleefully to a degree...
Posts: 305 | Registered: May 2006
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posted
A lot of it has to do with good old fashioned human nature. People since time immorial have always looked to times before them as "the good old days". Ancient history, therefore, is almost always recalled in "glowing" terms, without the grit and unjustice and cruelty found in the present. Modern people also tend to feel that their modern societies are "missing" something and the exotic world of ancient people often allows them to imagine that ancient civilizations and cultures were more "in tune" with nature and the environment. They may have been, but being in tune does not change the fact that life has its ups and downs and tribulations, which are PART of the whole experience. All ancient cultures embraced the good AND the bad side of life as part of the SAME experience of existence and therefore something that are fundamental aspects of physical nature. Often modern countries tend to OVER romanticize their own cultures and gloss over the bad things in order to maintain a FAKE identity of righteousness and god-consciousness. It may be fake but the desire to identify with the one "god" head in nature as the ultimate expression of natural divinity is as old as man himself and a fundamental aspect of man's nature. All societies use religion, myths, phisosophy (discussion about the nature of things) and culture to REINFORCE this idea of one's own group and civilization being the true path to enlightenment.
Posts: 8896 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I disagree. The Egyptians were different from their neighbors (at least non-African) neighbors in a number of ways such as their regard for women. Although such customs were not that unique to the Egyptians or to Africans for that matter.
I for one am definitely not the type to idealize or romanticize Egypt. There are some things about Kemetian culture that are not to my tastes like the inequality especially in justice between members of the different classes, the religious pomp and circumstance and sorts of ritual displays for the Pharaoh, and no TV among other things...
Posts: 26260 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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