Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt

This a very readable book regardless of its age and subject. But its greatness is found in an amazing lesson from history. Mr. Breasted effectively demonstrates how priestly literalism - driven by greed - undermined the development of a very precocious system of ethics that began in the Middle Kingdom by turning the wrongly named "Books of the Dead" into the equivalent of cosmic "get out of jail free cards" very similar to the infamous Papal Indulgences. A deep awareness of how this came about is essential to the ability to recognize the development of such nefarious trends in our own society. This book should be an essential part of the overall reading list of all public school systems. Moreover, it should be included in the dreaded, show more mandatory classes that tend to be the most feared by every undergraduate and that usually include the word "symposium" in their titles. The quality of his writing and the extraordinarily concise manner with which he covers such a broad and complex subject make this work a trenchant example of an important lesson of history, of amazing clarity of thought, and of the brilliant use of the English language. show less

Interesting on the relations between the ancient Egyptians and the Hebrews, including monotheism. Dated, but still a good general introduction, as long as one goes on to absorb current research.

A quick warning: this is a very dry and drawn out lecture on the subject of the title.

A quick warning: this is a very dry and drawn out lecture on the subject of the title.