The Gods of Egypt

by Claude Traunecker, David Lorton (Translator)

Overview

The Gods of Egypt, first published in France in 1992 and now in its third French edition, is a short, elegant, and highly accessible survey of ancient Egyptian religion. The clarity and brevity of Claude Traunecker's book make it especially valuable to readers seeking an authoritative introduction to this complex topic. The Cornell edition, the first English translation, is enhanced by 23 illustrations.

Traunecker begins with an overview of the source materials and a discussion of the historiography of Egyptian religion, a subject relatively neglected by scholars. He then describes the actual and metaphysical worlds inhabited by the Egyptian deities and the role that humans played in the Egyptian universe. Focusing especially on the diversity and number of approaches used by Egyptians to explain their world, The Gods of Egypt offers a succinct and highly readable presentation of recent interpretations of Egyptian religion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501784392
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	09/15/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Claude Traunecker, one of the world's foremost authorities on ancient Egyptian religion, is Professor Emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Strasbourg. He is the author of Coptos and coauthor of Karnak.

The late David Lorton, an Egyptologist, translated other Cornell books, including The Twilight of Ancient Egypt by Karol Mysliwiec and The Search for God in Ancient Egypt by Jan Assmann.

What People are Saying About This

Antiquity

The Gods of Egypt is a comprehensive but compact, even and lucid general introduction.

From the Publisher

The Gods of Egypt is a comprehensive but compact, even and lucid general introduction.

Denise Doxy

Although aiming to elucidate the confusing profusion of Egyptian gods and goddesses for a general reader, the book offers much that will be useful to more advanced students and scholars. The author is an expert on the subject and presents both historical scholarship and new interpretations.

Editorial Reviews

"The Gods of Egypt is a comprehensive but compact, even and lucid general introduction."—Antiquity 75 (2001)

"Although aiming to elucidate the confusing profusion of Egyptian gods and goddesses for a general reader, the book offers much that will be useful to more advanced students and scholars. The author is an expert on the subject and presents both historical scholarship and new interpretations."—Denise Doxy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Religious Studies Review, Vol.28, No.3, July 2002

From the Publisher