Religion

No one name can be given to the systems of religious thought that obtained in Egypt during the four you sand years of its history as a people. It is probable that there occurred phases of monotheism, henotheism, pantheism, and in the latest, corrupt time, even polytheism. That the ancient Egyptians had a clear and precise conception of one supreme Being is a fact agreed to by all serious Egypt ologists. This Being is called the *Neter* (hieroglyphic ), a word signifying power and corresponding to the Hebrew *El*. References to the Neter are constant in Egyptian literature, where he is spoken of in terms which indicate unmistakably the monotheistic attitude of the writer. "Give thyself to God, keep thyself continually for God," the young man was told. "Bring up thy son in the love of God" is one of the maxims of Ptah-hetep (q.v.) But beside the doctrine of the one God, the priests also taught the people of many gods or powers. These gods, says Renouf, "represent the real or imaginary powers of the universe." They were simply mythical personages to begin with, around whom in time clustered many mythological legends. The phenomena personified were chiefly those of regular and perpetual recurrence—the sunrise and sunset, the return of day and night, the battle between light and darkne .