Isis in the Ancient World

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	Isis in the Ancient World
	by R. E. Witt Sales Rank: 224653	~~List Price: $20.95~~ $20.95 At Amazon on 6-17-2008.

*Features* Cover Type: Paperback with 336 pages Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press June 17, 1997 Written in: English ISBN 10 Number: 0801856426 ISBN 13 Number: 978-0801856426 Book Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches Weighs: 15.5 ounces *Product Review* The first study to document the extent and complexity of the cult's influence on Graeco-Roman and early Christian culture, R. E. Witt's acclaimed Isis in the Ancient World is now available in paperback "Distinguished for its learning and its use of fascinating and little-known iconographic material The importance of this study, both for the history of religions and of Graeco-Roman society, lies in the evidence, assembled and interpreted, of a widespread desire to worship a goddess who embodied maternal compassion and omnipotent wisdom." -- History Today "This is in many ways a pioneering book by an author who knows how to use archaeological as well as literary evidence. It is an important contribution to an understanding of the religious attitudes of ordinary men and women who lived under the rule of the Caesars [It is a ] well-written, well-planned, and finely illustrated work [that] contributes powerfully to our knowledge of significant aspects of the Graeco-Roman world." -- Times Literary Supplement *Book Description* The first study to document the extent and complexity of the cult's influence on Graeco-Roman and early Christian culture, R. E. Witt's acclaimed Isis in the Ancient World is now available in paperback *Reader Reviews* This book is extremely interesting if you have any questions about where Western religious traditions come from. This book clearly dispels the myth that the religion of Isis was merely some kind of fringe 'mystery cult'. It was instead the world religion of the Mediterranean before Christianity. Isis is not given enough credit by modern historians of religion. It was highly organized with its priesthood and liturgies. Abstinence from wine, porc and sex was required of priests for the sake of cleanliness. Bathing and ritual washing were performed several times a day. Hymns were sung at specified times; holy water from the Nile was sprinkled about; a baptism was performed when being initiated as a believer; Isis gave birth to Horus, who is really the earthly incarnation of the All-Father Osiris, on the 23rd of December, etc... Its evolution into/influence upon Christianity can be traced. In fact the dog-headed God Anubis is still worshipped as a saint on a Greek Island to this day; and the festival of Isis being carried to the sea-shore to bless the start of the sailing season, called the "Carrus Navalis" has turned into the "Carnival" that we see today all over the Mediterranean (a false etymology was thought up for it to explain it as the 'carne levare' when the original meaning for the celebration was forgotten). This book clearly shows how Christianity was hardly a rude intruder from an overlooked little corner of the world, and how it instead grew feeding upon the millennia of experience of Isis, first as official religion of Egypt under the pharaohs, and then extending to the entire Medditerranean and European worlds through the Ptolemies and through the Empire of Rome. In relgious anthropology, Isis is the 'missing link' between Christianity and paganism, proving that it was a very mild transition from the one to the other. I can hardly express how fascinating this book is. Comment \| \| (Report this) Back To Top
Isis in the Ancient World Available from Amazon Price: $20.95 Updated on 6-17-2008.

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