Page 31 - STOLEN LEGACY By George G. M. James

The success of the Egyptian religion was due no doubt, on the one hand to its conservatism;
while on the other to the shadowy philosophical abstractions which constituted Graeco-Roman
religion, so that the staunch faith of the Egyptians, together with their mysterious forms of
worship, led to the universal conviction among the Ancients, that Egypt was not only the Holy
Land but the Holiest of lands or countries, and that indeed, the Gods dwelt there.

The Nile became a centre for pilgrimages in the ancient world, and the pilgrims who went there
and experienced the marvelous revelations and spiritual blessings which it afforded them,
returned home with the conviction that the Nile was the home of the most profound religious
knowledge.

The Greeks failed to imitate Egyptian conservatism and not only in Egyptian cities, with large
Greek population, but in Europe, Egyptian divinities were corrupted with Greek and Asiatic
names and mythologies and reduced to vague pantheistic personalities, so that Isis and Osiris had
retained very little of their Egyptian origin. (Max Muller p. 241–43; Egyptian Mythology).
Consequently, as they failed to advance Egyptian Philosophy, so they also failed to advance
Egyptian religion.

During the first four centuries of the Christian era, the religion of Egypt continued unabated and
uninterrupted, but after the Edict of Theodosius at the end of the fourth century A.D., ordering
the close of Egyptian temples, Christianity began to spread more rapidly and both the religion of
Egypt and that of Greece began to die. In the island of Philae, in the first cataract of the Nile,
however, the Egyptian religion was continued by its inhabitants, the Blemmyans and Nobadians,
who refused to accept Christianity and the Roman government fearing a rebellion, paid tribute to
them as an appeasement.

During the sixth century A.D., however, Justinian issued a second edict which suppressed this
remnant of Egyptian worshippers and propagated Christianity among the Nubians. With the
death of the last priest, who could read and interpret "the writings of the words of the Gods" (the
hieroglyphics) the Egyptian faith sank into oblivion. It was only in popular magic that some
practices lingered on as traces of a faith that became a universal religion, or the survival of a
statue of Isis and Horus, which were regarded as the Madonna and Child.

A sentiment of admiration and awe for this strangest of all religions still survived, but the
information from classical writers concerning this faith has been incomplete. Napoleon's
invasion of Egypt brought a revival of interest from the West to decipher her inscriptions and
papyri with a view to an understanding and appreciation of this most ancient of civilizations.
(Mythology of Egypt by Max Muller C. XIII p. 241–245; The Mediterranean World by
Sandford, p. 508, 548, 552–558, 568).

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Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy by George G. M. James
The Journal of Pan African Studies 2009 eBook