ABSTRACT
Having dealt with the Egyptian gods and their worshippers, we may proceed to our next field of inquiry: the relationship between them. How did men approach the gods and vice versa? We are not raising the question of the degree of intimacy in the relation ship, for which we would need full information about the behaviour of both parties. We are concerned for the present with the way in which the Egyptians visualized their gods as conducting them selves. There is no need here to sketch their functions as creators of the world and preservers of life; this will be discussed later in the context of cosmogonies (chap. 8). We shall rather examine the ways in which men’s conduct and destinies were influenced by obedience to divine commandments. We shall show that the gods not only issued commandments but offered spiritual guidance, and that in some cases one can speak of divine inspiration.
