Herodotus wrote that Egypt is the gift of the Nile, which presents the characteristics of Egyptian culture well. In ancient Egypt, the influence of the Nile was almost absolute on every aspect of the society, such as state administration, division of seasons, the way of thinking, etc. Especially, the flood of the Nile, which occurs in annual circular manner, did influence the life and perception of the ancient Egyptian people. As a result, Ancient Egyptian notion of gods, the afterlife, and the human was differentiated much from those of adjacent Mesopotamian culture. In these circumstances, this is intended to examine the afterlife and souls in ancient Egyptian understanding. The notion of the afterlife in Egyptian thought is attested from the beginning of Egyptian history through archaeological remains, both textual and non-textual. Between them, it is textual documents which betray their understanding of the afterlife in detail. These are called as funerary or mortuary texts, to which Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and the Book of the dead may befall, and they went through changes with the times. The ancient Egyptian believed that the human consists of several aspects of body, soul, and etc. Human body could be classified, according to its status, as body, corpse, and mummy, while soul might be presented as akh, ba, ka, and so on. However, the long period of Egyptian documentary history gave some fluidity onto these divisions and their definitions. To be an intact human, one should maintain the unity of all these body and souls, and the mummy represents well their efforts to preserve this unity after death. Also, this world and nether world were not disconnected from one another in their understanding. From Coffin Texts on, judging the dead is an important part of their journey into nether world, and the judging is deeply connected with morality of the dead in this world. Thus, the main purpose of the Book of the dead is to purge sins of the dead and provide to them the knowledge and information needed for their journey of the afterlife. The ultimate goal, however, is the overcome of death. Pyramid Texts kept saying that “Rise up, You are not dead!” which reveals the notion of “denial of the death.” This denial is a perpetual theme of ancient Egyptian mortuary texts, and it is this denial which shows the aim of human being in ancient Egyptian thought.
목차
들어가는 말 Ⅰ. 고대 이집트인의 사후 세계 이해 1. 피라미드 문서(Pyramid Texts) 2. 관 문서 (Coffin Texts) 3. 사자의 서 Ⅱ. 고대 이집트인의 영혼 이해 1. 육신 이해 2. 영혼 이해 3. 육체와 영혼 간의 관계 나가는 말 Abstract
키워드
Ancient EgyptAfterlifeSoulPyramid TextCoffin TextThe Book of the DeadMummy
한국중앙사학회 [Korean Association of Joong-Ang Historical Studies]
설립연도
2000
분야
인문학>역사학
소개
중앙사학연구회를 중앙사학회로 명칭을 변경함. 중앙사학연구회는 중앙대학교 사학과를 모체로 출발한 연구회였다. 주로 중앙대학교 사학과와 연관을 가진 사람들로 회원이 구성되었으며, 또한 그들의 연구활동의 무대가 되어 온 셈이다. 그러나 이러한 성격의 연구회는 자연히 그 활동과 연구의 지평이 제한을 받을 수 밖애 없다는 것을 지적하는 회원들이 많았다. 뿐만 아니라, 최근 한국학계에서 제기된 학술지 평가문제에 적극적으로 대처해야한다는 공감대가 형성되었다. 어느 곳에 게재된 것이 중요한 것이 아니라 그 글의 내용을 가지고 평가해야 한다는 고전적인 의견에 회의를 품는 분위기가 팽창하고 있다. 이러한 과정을 거쳐서 중앙사학연구회의 명칭을 발전적으로 고쳐보고 조직도 전국적인 규모로 만들자는 데 합의하게 되었다. 그러나 명칭을 무엇으로 하느냐 하는 문제를 놓고 또 다시 1년여를 보냈다. 그 결과, 2000년 겨울 동계 정기 워크숍에서 회원들의 투표를 거쳐서 중앙사학회로 결정하였다.
간행물
간행물명
중앙사론 [JOONGANG SARON ; Journal of Joong-Ang Historical Studies]