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The second and third chapters of Quirke's book are an overview of the sacred in Ancient Egypt. He asks what times and places the Egyptians considered sacred, and investigates the roles of animals, of sickness and injury, the hygiene and ornamentation of the body, menstruation, conception, childbirth, naming, ageing, death, and the household. He discusses the different kinds of temples, offerings, and temple staff, and our fragmentary knowledge of festivals. Quirke's emphasis is always on the gaps in our knowledge, in both written and archaeological sources, and how in many cases we only have "hints" of what the Egyptians believed and did.
I'm going to skip making detailed notes from these chapters, with one exception. Considering the role of domestic animals, Quirke points out a "strong distinction" between people and animals in the written record, with only rare examples of pets being mummified. OTOH, "... personal names are found for dogs and, more rarely, cattle; a few instances are found where a cat is named, but the name is always cat."
ETA: In the end I found this a frustrating book. Quirke raises a lot of important issues around how little we really know about Ancient Egypt, in numerous aspects of life and worship, but he doesn't really develop them. Perhaps that's because, without further research, only questions are possible, not answers.
I'm going to skip making detailed notes from these chapters, with one exception. Considering the role of domestic animals, Quirke points out a "strong distinction" between people and animals in the written record, with only rare examples of pets being mummified. OTOH, "... personal names are found for dogs and, more rarely, cattle; a few instances are found where a cat is named, but the name is always cat."
ETA: In the end I found this a frustrating book. Quirke raises a lot of important issues around how little we really know about Ancient Egypt, in numerous aspects of life and worship, but he doesn't really develop them. Perhaps that's because, without further research, only questions are possible, not answers.
