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The Pyramid Texts

By Translation by Samuel A. B. Mercer

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Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt

Most of the 19th century work in Egyptology was done by German, French or English researchers. James Henry Breasted (1865-1935) was the first American citizen to get a PhD in Egyptology, at the University of Berlin. In this book, Breasted details the evolution of religious belief through thousands of years of Egyptian history. He describes (and quotes extensively from) the great funerary texts, most importantly the Pyramid texts, as well as the Coffin texts and the Book of the Dead. He covers the history of Egyptian religion from the earliest Osiran beliefs up to the groundbreaking monotheism of Akhenaton. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Egyptian religion.--J.B. Hare, April 25th, 2009.