life, and derives wholly from native religious sources. Quoting from the Book of the Dead, the author describes the Egyptian's extraordinary monotheism, with its commanding moral stature, and his primitive superstition, which runs through this history from the beginning. The three main elements of the Egyptian religion were a solar monotheism, a fertility cult, and a cult of anthropomorphic divinity. Ra was the sun god, and in his shadow were the orders and hierarchies of lesser gods, including Osiris who was virtually Ra's equal as the god of resurrection.

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