Authors: Erik Hornung, David Lorton
ISBN-13: 9780801438479, ISBN-10: 0801438470
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Date Published: January 2002
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Alchemy, astrology, and other secret sciences have Egyptian roots, and films, popular fiction, and comic books frequently draw upon Egyptian themes. Rosicrucianism, Mormonism, and Afrocentrism all share Egyptian-derived elements. Modern-day esoteric endeavors find an endlessly renewable intellectual reservoir in ancient Egyptian culture, Erik Hornung believes, and are almost inconceivable without Egypt. Although such persistence assures Egyptosophical ideas an extraordinarily widespread influence, the field of Egyptology has largely overlooked this diffusion of ideas.
In The Secret Lore of Egypt, Hornung traces the influence of the esoteric image of Egypt, especially as it is manifested by the god Thoth, on European intellectual history since antiquity and finds it reasserted even today in the United States. From Gnostic writings and Romantic poetry to Freemasonry and the Theosophist movement, Egyptian deities reemerge in ever-surprising guises. Since ancient times, Egypt has been associated with esoteric practices and beliefs and regarded as the source of all secret knowledge -- an association that, Hornung says, is only loosely connected with historical reality.
The author of four previous Cornell University Press volumes on Egyptology, Hornung (emeritus, Univ. of Basel) here focuses on "Egyptosophy." This concept is defined as "the study of an imaginary Egypt viewed as the profound source of all esoteric lore. This Egypt is a timeless idea bearing only a loose relationship to the historical reality." Hornung traces the influences of this imaginary Egypt on Western culture from the classical world, through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, to the present day. He argues that the god Thoth and various Egyptian sages known to the ancient Greeks coalesced into the legendary Hermes Trismegistus, the creator of the art of writing and civilization. Hornung views these mystical and magical "Egyptian" elements as a basis for Gnosticism as well as other secret and metaphysical societies, among them the Rosicrucians, the Freemasons, and the Theosophists. The text presumes extensive knowledge of Western philosophy, art history, and religion; references are made to "the Madonna Platytera" and the "Gnostic Pistis Sophia," for example, without any footnotes or explanations. Recommended for academic libraries and specialized collections. (Illustrations and index not seen.) Edward K. Werner, St. Lucie Cty. Lib. Syst., Ft. Pierce, FL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Translator's Note | ||
Introduction | 1 | |
1 | The Ancient Roots of the "Other" Egypt | 5 |
2 | Foreign Wonderland on the Nile: The Greek Writers | 19 |
3 | Power and Influence of the Stars | 26 |
4 | Alchemy: The Art of Transformation | 34 |
5 | Gnosis: Creation as Flaw | 43 |
6 | Hermetism: Thoth as Hermes Trismegistus | 48 |
7 | Egypt of the Magical Arts | 55 |
8 | The Spread of Egyptian Cults: Isis and Osiris | 64 |
9 | Medieval Traditions | 73 |
10 | The Renaissance of Hermetism and Hieroglyphs | 83 |
11 | Travels to Egypt: Wonder upon Wonder | 92 |
12 | Triumphs of Erudition: Kircher, Spencer, and Cudworth | 98 |
13 | "Reformation of the Whole Wide World": The Rosicrucians | 106 |
14 | The Ideal of a Fraternity: The Freemasons | 116 |
15 | Goethe and Romanticism: "Thinking Hieroglyphically" | 128 |
16 | Theosophy and Anthroposophy | 141 |
17 | Pyramids, Sphinx, Mummies: A Curse on the Pharaohs | 155 |
18 | Egypt a la Mode: Modern Egyptosophy and Afrocentrism | 173 |
19 | Outlook: Egypt as Hope and Alternative | 189 |
Chronology | 203 | |
Glossary | 207 | |
Bibliography | 209 | |
Index | 221 |