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OverviewStanding at the very foundation of monotheism, and so of Western culture, Moses is a figure not of history, but of memory. As such, he is the quintessential subject for the innovative historiography Jan Assmann both defines and practices in this work, the study of historical memory--a study, in this case, of the ways in which factual and fictional events and characters are stored in religious beliefs and transformed in their philosophical justification, literary reinterpretation, philological restitution (or falsification), and psychoanalytic demystification. To account for the complexities of the foundational event through which monotheism was established, Moses the Egyptian goes back to the short-lived monotheistic revolution of the Egyptian king Akhenaten (1360-1340 B.C.E.). Assmann traces the monotheism of Moses to this source, then shows how his followers denied the Egyptians any part in the origin of their beliefs and condemned them as polytheistic idolaters. Thus began the cycle in which every ""counter-religion,"" by establishing itself as truth, denounced all others as false. Assmann reconstructs this cycle as a pattern of historical abuse, and tracks its permutations from ancient sources, including the Bible, through Renaissance debates over the basis of religion to Sigmund Freud's Moses and Monotheism. One of the great Egyptologists of our time, and an exceptional scholar of history and literature, Assmann is uniquely equipped for this undertaking--an exemplary case study of the vicissitudes of historical memory that is also a compelling lesson in the fluidity of cultural identity and beliefs. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Jan AssmannPublisher: Harvard University Press Imprint: Harvard University Press Edition: New edition Dimensions: Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 23.50cm Weight: 0.399kg ISBN: 9780674587397ISBN 10: 0674587391 Pages: 288 Publication Date: 15 October 1998 Audience: Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Professional & Vocational , General Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Out of stock  The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available. Table of ContentsReviewsOne will find in this fascinating book an investigation of 'the history of Europe's remembering Egypt.' Assmann's term for this is 'mnemo-history,' a way of studying the past that is concerned 'not with the past as such, but only with the past as it is remembered.' Assmann serves as a penetrating critic who shows that before the Enlightenment the books on Egypt spoke the language of the Enlightenment. What the scholars and philosophers presented when they described ancient Egyptian religion looked very much like Spinozism, Deism, pantheism, or 'natural religion,' the kinds of religious sensibilities they favored. This is a feature that is no less apparent today than it was two hundred years ago. -- Robert Louis Wilken First Things Moses the Egyptian is a book of great learning, historical savvy and keen insight as well as a cornucopia of fascinating information.--Robert L. Wilken Los Angeles Times Author InformationJan Assmann is Professor of Egyptology at the University of Heidelberg. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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