‘The only one of his kind’ - Approaching ‘Otherness’ in the Religious Hymns of the New Kingdom (c. 1539-1077 BCE)

Description

The religious hymns of the New Kingdom (c. 1539-1077 BCE) constitute a thought-provoking textual ensemble to study cosmogonic and cosmological aspects. These laudatory texts are highly informative in what concerns, on the one hand, the persona of the Creator deity; and, on the other hand, the variety of diverse beings and entities that come into existence through the acts performed by the former. The initial moment of the Cosmos – the ‘First Time’ (sp tpy) - signifies an ontological rupture, as the pre-created undifferentiated matter is gradually individualised, opening the path to the formation of the distinct cosmic elements. As such, creation concurrently represents the emergence of the ‘Other’.
Indeed, the Creator is herein presented as an ‘Other’ through various phraseological and lexicographical strategies that point to his seniority, uniqueness, and oneness. Not only is the supreme deity introduced as the first one to have come into existence (see TT 41 (6), 4), but such an anteriority places him in an ontologically superior rank in relation to other beings, including the deities (vd. Cairo CG 58032, II.3). Moreover, the Creator’s ‘otherness’ might be alluded to in more absolute terms, with the deity being labelled as ‘the only (one) of his kind’ (cf. Leiden I 344 verso, III.6). While being ‘Other’, the Creator is also the originator of multiple ‘others’, establishing different existential categories – such as deities, humans, and animals (see TT 158 (5), 4). Even more so, the Creator determines inner distinctions within said groupings, which is suggested by mentions to the creation of a single individual (e.g. TA 6, west side of the outer wall, 7) as well as to the human social and ethnic differentiation brought about through the Creator’s agency (cf. Cairo GC 58032, IV.3; Great Hymn to the Aten, 8-10).
This presentation will envisage the creative notions suggested in/by the New Kingdom laudatory texts from an ‘otherness’ point of view. Through a set of selected sources, the diverse ways the Creator summons a multiplicity of ‘others’ into existence in his capacity of ‘Other’ will be explored. The analysis will consider not only the attested phraseology but also concepts such as ‘alterity’ and ‘ontology’. The main goal is thus to ponder on the usefulness and pertinence of ‘otherness’ as a conceptual tool to address Creator and Creation in this corpus while aiming at a broader understanding of the nature and implications of such a concept in these texts.

Period	14 Jun 2023
Event title	Tenth European Conference of Egyptologists. Egypt 2023: Perspectives of Research”
Event type	Conference
Location	Warsaw, PolandShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International