tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post3687127495618827061..comments2024-03-28T07:58:41.643-04:00Comments on pancocojams: Similarities Between The African American Singing Game "The Closet Key" & The Nicaraguan Singing Game "Mayaya Las Im Key"Azizi Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-15945581745575910612014-06-29T10:06:33.619-04:002014-06-29T10:06:33.619-04:00Here's an excerpt from the article http://www....Here's an excerpt from the article <a href="http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2146/did-the-greeks-borrow-egyptian-gods" rel="nofollow">http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2146/did-the-greeks-borrow-egyptian-gods</a><br /><br />Did the Greeks borrow Egyptian gods?<br />February 10, 2004 <br /><br />Guest contributor Fierra replies: <br />"Depends what you mean. There are several aspects to your question: Were elements of Egyptian society incorporated into Greek society? Were any Egyptian gods incorporated into the Greek pantheon? Did this only take place amongst the Greeks living in Egypt, or among those Greeks back in Greece too? What evidence do we have and how reliable is it? <br /><br />Alexander conquered Egypt in 332 BC, but there had been Greek contact with Egypt before then...<br /><br />[lengthy passages follow]<br /><br />The first known written accounts by Greeks of Egypt are from Hecataeus of Miletus (c. 510 BC) and Herodotus of Helicarnassus (c. 450 BC). The former work is lost, but is said to have contained only geological and botanical information, so no religious or cultural contamination could have resulted from its being read back in Greece. Herodotus spent at least three months traveling in Egypt, penetrating at least as far as the first cataract on the Nile, and dwelt on the history, lives, religion and wonders of Egypt in his second book, Euterpe. <br /><br />His discussion of Egyptian religion bears directly on your question. Herodotus mentions Egyptian gods frequently, but very often by the Greek equivalent names rather than the Egyptian names transliterated into Greek. The reason for this is that he "was obsessed by the idea that the Hellenes derived from Egypt, not only many of their religious observances, but also the gods themselves...<br /><br />[lengthy passages follow]<br /><br />Traditional Greek burial practices were very different, as were many Greek religious practices and beliefs, notwithstanding superficial similarities and the claims of Herodotus and a few other authors. That's not to say the Egyptian gods were unknown on the Greek mainland. An inscription found in the port of Athens, Piraeus, records the presence there of a temple to Isis/Osiris in 333 BC, before Alexander's conquest of Egypt. Furthermore, whether or not the Greeks embraced Egyptians gods, the Romans certainly did. Isis worship spread throughout the Roman empire as a result of conquest and trade. A temple was dedicated to Isis in Rome itself just after Julius Caesar's assassination, and from that time onward Isis became, according to Josephus, "a leading goddess of the Mediterranean world." At least one Egyptian deity thus enjoyed a long afterlife, even if Greek culture wasn't necessarily her primary vehicle. "<br /><br />[end of article. References follow]<br />Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.com