The Writing of Gods

This book outlines the development of the divine classifiers in the Egyptian script system from the beginning of writing to the end of the Old Kingdom. The first part discusses the falcon on the standard and the ways in which ancient Egyptian writing system expressed the idea of divine kingship. The seated bearded man is the focus of the second part, in which the author follows the sign from its first appearance as a classifier of foreign peoples to its identification with the god Osiris. The third part is dedicated to divine markers and the structure of the divine category in the Pyramid Texts. This part surveys the special orthographic constraints of the Pyramid Texts, as well as the evolution of the female divine classifiers. Although the book concentrates on orthographic processes, it takes into account the broader religious context of the Old Kingdom. Hence, the relations between the sun-god Re and the king, as well as the special role of the Great God in the private inscriptions and the appearance of Osiris as a foreigner are also discussed.