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ANCIENT EGYPTIAN COSMOGONIES (2400-700 BCE): AS A WORK OF THE GODS, THE STATE IS THE GUARDIAN OF “LIFE, ORDER AND JUSTICE”

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 15 Sayı: 2, 151 - 169, 31.07.2024

Öz

The four cosmogonies (Heliopolis/Iunu, Memphis/Ineb-hec, Hermopolis/Khemenu, Thebes/Waset) that shaped Ancient
Egyptian civilization assigned the Ancient Egyptian state the role of “preserving the life-order-routine that began with creation”. The
article focuses on the question of how early cosmogonies grounded the Egyptian understanding of politics, while also examining
political-religious records that include the term Maat-order-justice, and aims to understand how these two groups of texts link lifesubsistence-
order-routine with the state. The first conclusion of the study is that the pantheistic Heliopolitan cosmogony assigns the
state, which it regards as a supra-historical phenomenon, the task of protecting the work of the creator (preserving the order against
the chaos). In the Memphite cosmogony, the creator initiates life on earth with a creative order. Although this narrative, which has a
stronger metaphysical-mystical aspect, bases creation on the will of the creator instead of natural forces, it preserves the function of the
state and the Maat-order-justice concept. The Hermopolitan cosmogony, which is pantheistic like the first one, emphasizes the
sun's rising-setting-rising (the cycle of life and death), blesses the eternal routine - endless repetition, and assigns the task of
maintaining the routine to the state. The Theban cosmogony, which is very different from the other three narratives, abandons the
pantheistic discourse and presents a transcendent-personaluniversal creator. The Creator, who desires his will to be known and
his commands to be obeyed, demands not “wise” but “pious” human beings. In this cosmogony, the phenomenon of justice, which
is the most prominent among the contents of the term Maat, loses its value, while Maat's meaning of truth (divine will) takes the first place.

Kaynakça

  • Allen, J. P. (1988). Genesis in Egypt: The Philosophy of Ancient Egyptian Creation Accounts. New Haven: Yale Egyptological Seminar.
  • Allen, J. P. (2015). Egyptian Cosmology and Cosmogony. In C. L. N. Ruggles (Ed.), Hanbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy (pp. 1471-1475). New York: Springer.
  • Assmann, J. (1989). State and Religion in the New Kingdom. In W. K. Simpson (Ed.), Religion and Philosophy in Ancient Egypt (pp. 55-88). New Heaven: Yale Egyptological Studies.
  • Assmann, J. (2001). The Search for God in Ancient Egypt, translated from the German by David Lorton. Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press.
  • Belmonte, J. A. & Lull, J. (2023). Astronomy of Ancient Egypt: A Cultural Perspective. Cham : Springer.
  • Bickel, S. (1994). La cosmogonie égyptienne : Avant le Nouvel Empire. Fribourg : Editions Universitaires Fribourg Suisse.
  • Bodine, J. J. (2009). The Shabaka Stone: An Introduction. Studia Antiqua, 7(1), PDF: 1-21.
  • Bunson, M. R. (2002). Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. New York: Facts On File, Inc.
  • Campagno, M. (2008). Ethnicity and Changing Relationships between Egyptians and South Levantines during the Early Dynastic Period. In B. Midant-Reynes et al. (Eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2 (pp. 689-705). Leuven: Peeters.
  • Çıvgın, İ. (2016). 12. Hanedan’ın (MÖ 1991-1782) Aşağı Nübye’de Kurduğu Kale-Üsler ya da ‘Eski Mısır Yayılmacılığı’nın Başlangıcı. Tarih Okulu Dergisi, 9(XXVIII), ss. 1-55.
  • David, R. (2002). Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt. London: Penguin Books.
  • Ferguson, R. J. (2016). The ancient Egyptian concept of Maat: Reflections on social justice and natural order. CEWCES Research Papers, Paper 13, pp. 1-91.
  • Halman, T. S. (1972). Eski Mısır Şiiri, İstanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
  • Hill, J. A., Jones, P. & Morales, A. J. (2013). Comparing Kingship in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia: Cosmos, Politics and Landscape. In J. A. Hill, P. Jones & A. J. Morales (Eds.), Experiencing Power, Generating Authority: Cosmos, Politics, and the Ideology of Kingship in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia (pp. 3-29). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Janak, J. (2011). A Question of Size: A Remark on Early Attestations of the Ba Hieroglyph. Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur, 40, pp. 143-153.
  • Johnston, G. H. (2008). Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths. Bibliotheca Sacra, 165, pp. 178-194. Kitab-ı Mukaddes, incil.info.
  • Lesko, L. H. (1999). Mythology. In K. A. Bard (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt (pp. 661-664). London: Routledge.
  • Lichtheim, M. (1975). Ancient Egyptian Literature - Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Lichtheim, M. (1978). Ancient Egyptian Literature - Volume II: The New Kingdom. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • McClain, B. (2011). Cosmogony (Late to Ptolemaic and Roman Periods). In J. Dieleman, W. Wendrich, E. Frood & J. Baines (Eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology (PDF: 1-9). Los Angeles. http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0028961v
  • Ockinga, B. G. (2010). The Memphite Theology - Its Purpose and Date. In A. Woods, A. McFarlane & S. Binder (Eds.), Egyptian Culture and Society - Volume II (pp. 99-117). Le Caire : Conseil Suprême des Antiquités de l’Égypte.
  • Pinch, G. (2004). Egyptian Myth: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Posener, G. (1976). L’Enseignement Loyaliste : Sagesse égyptienne du Moyen Empire. Genève : Librairie Droz.
  • Putthoff, T. L. (2020). Gods and Humans in the Ancient Near East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Quirke, S. (1994). Translating Ma’at: Ma’at - Gerechtigkeit und Unsterblichkeit im alten Ägypten. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 80, pp. 219-231.
  • Robins, G. (2008). The Art of Ancient Egypt. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  • Tatomir, R. (2017). Ancient Egyptian Cosmogonic Myths. Analele Universitatii Hyperion - Istorie, pp. 7-36.
  • Van Blerk, N. J. (2018). The Emergence of Law in Ancient Egypt: The Role of Maat. Fundamina, 24(1), pp. 69-88.
  • Wilkinson, R. H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, New York: Thames & Hudson.
  • Wilkinson, T. A. H. (1999). Early Dynastic Egypt. Oxon: Routledge.
  • Wilkinson, T. A. H. (2011). The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt. New York: Random House.

ESKİ MISIR KOZMOGONİLERİ (MÖ 2400-700): TANRILARIN ESERİ OLAN DEVLET, YARATILIŞ İLE BAŞLAYAN “YAŞAM, DÜZEN, ADALET”İN KORUYUCUSUDUR

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 15 Sayı: 2, 151 - 169, 31.07.2024

Öz

Makalede dört Eski Mısır kozmogonisinin (Heliopolis/İunu, Memfis/İneb-hec, Hermopolis/Khemenu, Teb/Waset) ana hatları tanıtılacak ve bu yaratılış anlatılarının Mısır Krallığı’na biçtikleri “Yaratılış ile başlayan Yaşam, Düzen ve Rutini koruma” rolü aktarılacaktır. Dört anlatının ikisi açık bir tümtanrıcı anlayışa sahiptirler ve bunlarda tanrısallık olarak sunulan unsurlar aslında doğa güçleridir. Bu ikisinde ilksel varlıklardan biri olarak sunulan Yaratıcı, Dünyayı ve Yaşamı kendini dışlaştırarak (kendinden) var ederken, Memfis anlatısı Yaratılışı yaratıcı buyruk (yaratıcı söz) ile başlatarak onlardan farklılaşır. Asıl büyük ayrışma ise, Teb anlatısındaki Yaratıcı Tanrı’nın modern dinlerdeki aşkın, kişisel ve evrensel tanrıya benzemesidir. Bu değişim, Yaratılış-sonrasındaki Düzeni korumakla yükümlü kılınan devletin artık bu aşkın tanrı ile birlikte tanımlanmasını gerektirmiştir. Bütün kozmogonilerde değişmeyen ise, devletin tarihin belli bir anında ortaya çıkmış tarihi-toplumsal bir olgu olarak görülmeyişi, Yaratılış-sonrasında Yaşamın (Nil ile gelen bereketin) sürmesi için ilk andan itibaren devlete ihtiyaç duyulduğunun altının kalın çizgilerle çizilmesidir. Yaşamın koruyucusu-sürdürücüsü olan tarih-üstü Devlet yoksa Düzen de yoktur; Düzenin karşıtı Yaşamın Rutinini bozan Kaostur, istikrarın-uyumun-bereketin yeryüzünü (Aşağı ve Yukarı Mısır’ı) terk etmesidir.

Kaynakça

  • Allen, J. P. (1988). Genesis in Egypt: The Philosophy of Ancient Egyptian Creation Accounts. New Haven: Yale Egyptological Seminar.
  • Allen, J. P. (2015). Egyptian Cosmology and Cosmogony. In C. L. N. Ruggles (Ed.), Hanbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy (pp. 1471-1475). New York: Springer.
  • Assmann, J. (1989). State and Religion in the New Kingdom. In W. K. Simpson (Ed.), Religion and Philosophy in Ancient Egypt (pp. 55-88). New Heaven: Yale Egyptological Studies.
  • Assmann, J. (2001). The Search for God in Ancient Egypt, translated from the German by David Lorton. Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press.
  • Belmonte, J. A. & Lull, J. (2023). Astronomy of Ancient Egypt: A Cultural Perspective. Cham : Springer.
  • Bickel, S. (1994). La cosmogonie égyptienne : Avant le Nouvel Empire. Fribourg : Editions Universitaires Fribourg Suisse.
  • Bodine, J. J. (2009). The Shabaka Stone: An Introduction. Studia Antiqua, 7(1), PDF: 1-21.
  • Bunson, M. R. (2002). Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. New York: Facts On File, Inc.
  • Campagno, M. (2008). Ethnicity and Changing Relationships between Egyptians and South Levantines during the Early Dynastic Period. In B. Midant-Reynes et al. (Eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2 (pp. 689-705). Leuven: Peeters.
  • Çıvgın, İ. (2016). 12. Hanedan’ın (MÖ 1991-1782) Aşağı Nübye’de Kurduğu Kale-Üsler ya da ‘Eski Mısır Yayılmacılığı’nın Başlangıcı. Tarih Okulu Dergisi, 9(XXVIII), ss. 1-55.
  • David, R. (2002). Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt. London: Penguin Books.
  • Ferguson, R. J. (2016). The ancient Egyptian concept of Maat: Reflections on social justice and natural order. CEWCES Research Papers, Paper 13, pp. 1-91.
  • Halman, T. S. (1972). Eski Mısır Şiiri, İstanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
  • Hill, J. A., Jones, P. & Morales, A. J. (2013). Comparing Kingship in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia: Cosmos, Politics and Landscape. In J. A. Hill, P. Jones & A. J. Morales (Eds.), Experiencing Power, Generating Authority: Cosmos, Politics, and the Ideology of Kingship in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia (pp. 3-29). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Janak, J. (2011). A Question of Size: A Remark on Early Attestations of the Ba Hieroglyph. Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur, 40, pp. 143-153.
  • Johnston, G. H. (2008). Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths. Bibliotheca Sacra, 165, pp. 178-194. Kitab-ı Mukaddes, incil.info.
  • Lesko, L. H. (1999). Mythology. In K. A. Bard (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt (pp. 661-664). London: Routledge.
  • Lichtheim, M. (1975). Ancient Egyptian Literature - Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Lichtheim, M. (1978). Ancient Egyptian Literature - Volume II: The New Kingdom. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • McClain, B. (2011). Cosmogony (Late to Ptolemaic and Roman Periods). In J. Dieleman, W. Wendrich, E. Frood & J. Baines (Eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology (PDF: 1-9). Los Angeles. http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0028961v
  • Ockinga, B. G. (2010). The Memphite Theology - Its Purpose and Date. In A. Woods, A. McFarlane & S. Binder (Eds.), Egyptian Culture and Society - Volume II (pp. 99-117). Le Caire : Conseil Suprême des Antiquités de l’Égypte.
  • Pinch, G. (2004). Egyptian Myth: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Posener, G. (1976). L’Enseignement Loyaliste : Sagesse égyptienne du Moyen Empire. Genève : Librairie Droz.
  • Putthoff, T. L. (2020). Gods and Humans in the Ancient Near East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Quirke, S. (1994). Translating Ma’at: Ma’at - Gerechtigkeit und Unsterblichkeit im alten Ägypten. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 80, pp. 219-231.
  • Robins, G. (2008). The Art of Ancient Egypt. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  • Tatomir, R. (2017). Ancient Egyptian Cosmogonic Myths. Analele Universitatii Hyperion - Istorie, pp. 7-36.
  • Van Blerk, N. J. (2018). The Emergence of Law in Ancient Egypt: The Role of Maat. Fundamina, 24(1), pp. 69-88.
  • Wilkinson, R. H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, New York: Thames & Hudson.
  • Wilkinson, T. A. H. (1999). Early Dynastic Egypt. Oxon: Routledge.
  • Wilkinson, T. A. H. (2011). The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt. New York: Random House.
Toplam 30 adet kaynakça vardır.

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil Türkçe
Konular Siyaset Felsefesi, Küresel ve Dünya Tarihi
Bölüm Araştırma Makaleleri
Yazarlar

İzzet Çıvgın 0000-0003-0338-0929

Yayımlanma Tarihi 31 Temmuz 2024
Gönderilme Tarihi 17 Kasım 2023
Kabul Tarihi 23 Temmuz 2024
Yayımlandığı Sayı Yıl 2024 Cilt: 15 Sayı: 2

Kaynak Göster

APA Çıvgın, İ. (2024). ESKİ MISIR KOZMOGONİLERİ (MÖ 2400-700): TANRILARIN ESERİ OLAN DEVLET, YARATILIŞ İLE BAŞLAYAN “YAŞAM, DÜZEN, ADALET”İN KORUYUCUSUDUR. Ankara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 15(2), 151-169.