Anthropos: Anthropos, 92.1997,1/3

Anthropos, 92.1997,1/3

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Strukturtyp:: Zeitschrift

Werks-URN (URL):: https://digi.evifa.de/viewer/resolver?urn=urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

Persistenter Identifier:: BV043334262

Titel:: Anthropos

Erscheinungsort:: Fribourg

Verlag:: Ed. St. Paul

Erscheinungsjahr:: 1906

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Wissensgebiet:: Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie > Allgemeines

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Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenband

Werks-URN (URL):: https://digi.evifa.de/viewer/resolver?urn=urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711886

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711886

Persistenter Identifier:: 1513768301723

Titel:: Anthropos, 92.1997,1/3

Erscheinungsjahr:: 1997

Signatur:: LA 1118

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

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Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenheft

Titel:: Bd. 92, 1997, Heft 1-3

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Zeitschriftenartikel

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenartikel

Titel:: Archaic Egyptian Cosmology

Sonstige Person:: el-Aswad, el-Sayed

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Anthropos 92.1997: 69-81 Archaic Egyptian Cosmology el-Sayed el-Aswad Abstract. - This paper is an anthropological reading of mythical and historical texts aimed at exploring the dynamics by which archaic Egyptian cosmology was constructed and reconstructed. Using Dumont’s ideas of hierarchy and Sahlins’ work on cultural reproduction, the study presents a synchronic ar >d diachronic analysis of the underlying themes and principles upon which archaic Egyptian cosmology was constructed. The opposition of visible/invisible is the common principle around which other principles or sets of oppositions are clustered. The study shows that archaic Egyptian cosmology underwent a transformation from a structure based on natural entities lr >to socially significant cosmological system. The paper further e laborates the striking homology between the archaic social cosmology represented in Osirian mythology and Christianity ln the early centuries of the Christian era. [Middle East, Egypt, cosmology, folklore, symbolic anthropology] e *'Sayed el-Aswad, M.A. (1978, Univ. of Alexandria), M.A., Ph.D. (1984, 1988, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor); since 1983 member of American Anthropological Association, since 1984 of Middle Eastern Studies Association of North America; Assoc. Prof, of Tanta Univ., Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates Univ., A1 Ain; since 1993 Head of the Unit of Folklore an d Anthropological Resources. - Publications: see References Cited. Anthropological and historical studies of archaic cosmologies of ancient societies are still in an early Phase of development. This paper is an anthro pological construct of Egyptian archaic cosmolo gy embodied in two dominant mythologies. One fityth concerns the god Ra, representing natural or solar cosmology, the other is related to Osiris, ^presenting social cosmology. The research aims to elicit the underlying structure of cosmology w hich lies behind the appearances. For example, l he natural or solar cosmology implies common Principles which render the components of the universe comprehensible regardless of their mul tiple and superficial appearances. In addition, the study contributes to cross-cultural studies through dealing with comparative cosmology. It com pares Egyptian cosmologies diachronically and s ynchronically with each other. The paper fur ther compares Osirian cosmology with Christian cosmology focusing on the striking similarity and homology between the underlying principles upon which both cosmologies are built. Understanding a cosmological system can be achieved through concentrating on symbols and images embodied in the mythical and religious system to which that cosmological system be longs. 1 A change in the symbolic structure of the mythico-religious system results in a change or reconstruction of the whole cosmological be lief system. Mythical and religious phenomena are dealt with here in their cultural context. As Geertz (1973: 125) states, the anthropological study of religion is a “two-stage operation: first, an analysis of the system of meanings embodied in the symbols which make up the religion prop er, and, second, the relating of these systems to social-structural and psychological processes.” Symbols and images concentrate meanings in sen sible forms. This feature is profoundly important in the study of myth, art, and religion which are viewed to fix meaning without making it explicit (Hasenmueller 1989: 276). One of the basic aims of historical-symbolic anthropology is to understand how a culture or system is reordered, or how the reproduction of 1 Symbols and images or iconic signs belong to Peirce’s triplicate classification of sign. The relationship between a symbol and that which it signifies is based on convention, habit, or law (Peirce 1958: 391). There is not a necessary or intrinsic relationship between such a symbol or word as “house” and the material building in which people reside or between the statue of liberty and the value of freedom. On the other hand, the relation of image or icon with that it signifies depends on similarity. A diagram, picture, or map is an example of an icon in the sense that it is typically similar to the real object it represents. The third kind of signs is “index” which signifies an object because it is identical to, or internally related to it (Peirce 1958: 391). Smoke and clouds are indices referring respectively to fire and rain. Images or iconic signs escape the arbitrariness that characterizes symbols as being similar to or like their referents (Hasenmueller 1984: 343).

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