Memphite theology

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The Memphite Theology is in the city of Memphis developed creation myth of the Egyptian mythology . In addition to the ninth of Heliopolis and the eighth of Hermopolis , the Memphite theology represents a third variant of a cosmo- and theogony of ancient Egypt .

content

At the center of this creation story is the god Ptah , who also had his cult center in Memphis. Memphite theology changes the Heliopolitan myth to the effect that not the sun god Atum is the creator god and father of all other gods, but Ptah. Ptah, the god of craftsmen and builders, is the builder of the world. Only through his tongue and his heart did he create the sun god, who then brought light and life into the world through his descendants.

meaning

Memphite theology is the earliest known theology based on the principle of the Logos , creation through word and speech. Ptah created the sun god by his word. An idea that can also be found in the Old Testament : "And God said: Let there be light! And there was light" (Genesis 1: 3). The idea of ​​the Logos is also found in the New Testament in the prologue of the Gospel of John : "In the beginning was the word ... and God was the word" ( Jn 1,1-3  EU ).

Lore

The most important source of the traditions of Memphite theology is the Shabaka stone . According to tradition, this stone was created by the fact that the Kushitic King Shabaka , the third king of the 25th Dynasty, found a "worm-eaten" papyrus during an inspection in the Ptah Temple in Memphis and was so appalled that he was commanded had to chisel the remaining text into a granite slab. So the stone comes from the 25th dynasty (approx. 700 BC), while the text seems to come from the 18th or 19th dynasty. However, some experts consider the text and stone to be a propaganda measure by Shabaka himself. The stone, which is badly damaged by its later use as a millstone , is now in the British Museum .

literature

  • Jan Assmann : Reception and Interpretation in Egypt 'The "Memorial of Memphitischer Theology" as an interpretation of the Heliopolitan cosmogony (= Orbis biblicus et orientalis. Volume 153, 1997). Pp. 125-138.
  • Benedikt Rothöhler: New Thoughts on the Monument to Memphite Theology. Heidelberg 2006, www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/archiv/7030 .

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