ABSTRACT
How many faces has God? Egyptologists have wrestled with the problem over many years in an effort to determine whether the ancient Egyptian pantheon was ultimately reducible to one supreme Being. Did Egypt, or at least some of its initiates and priests, believe that Isis, Osiris, Horus, Anubis, and a whole host of lesser known deities were really all aspects or 'faces' of the one almighty God? Many scholars, particularly in the nineteenth century, maintained that this was the case. Others later reacted against a purely monotheistic conception of deity, while Karl Beth in the early part of the twentieth century held that both monotheism and polytheism could be found in Egyptian thought. He also warned that neither label was really very helpful in highlighting the individual nature of Egyptian religion.! The debate has continued into the present.
