[publicclassics] Naether, Kultpraxis in der altägyptischen Literatur vol. 1+2 (open access)

[Franziska Naether]

Just published: Naether, Franziska: Kultpraxis in der altägyptischen  
Literatur, Bd. 1: Kultpraxis in der altägyptischen Literatur:  
Phänomene und Funktionen, Heidelberg: Propylaeum, 2025, Digital  
Classics Books, Vol. 7, 1, https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1074 &  
Digital Classics Books, Vol. 7, 2,  
https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1536 (open access)

The study brings together for the first time a wide range of Egyptian  
literary texts in Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian and Demotic, and  
examines their representations of cultic practices in relation to  
ritual manuscripts and broader cultural contexts.

The monograph consists of two major chapters on the protagonists,  
instruments, times and spaces and the rituals themselves. Five shorter  
thematic chapters explore encounters with the divine, representations  
of fate, sacred justice, religious skepticism, and cultic secrets.  
Together they offer detailed analyses of around 200 texts – from  
“Sinuhe” to “Setna” – including genres such as narratives, wisdom  
texts, and complaints. Drawing on the full-text database Thesaurus  
Linguae Aegyptiae (TLA), the work combines close readings of  
individual passages with distant readings across the corpus. Special  
attention is given to how Egyptian literary works present those ritual  
encounters with deities, demons, the dead, oracles, processions and  
magic, and how these literary depictions compare both to Egyptian  
ritual texts and with references to contemporary novels in other  
languages. The conclusion contains, cum grano salis, a ‘checklist for  
an ideal Egyptian narrative’.

The books are written with an interdisciplinary audience in mind and  
address scholars of Egyptology, Classics, Ancient and Near Eastern  
Studies, theology, history of religions, comparative literature, and  
related disciplines.

The publication appears in Propylaeum, the open access information  
service for Ancient Studies operated by Heidelberg University Library  
and the Bavarian State Library with funding from the German Research  
Foundation (DFG). Propylaeum provides a long-term, freely accessible  
publishing environment. Anyone can download the volumes at no cost,  
search through their fine-grained tables of contents, and make use of  
copy-and-paste functionality to translate or further process the texts.

The research was supported by the Volkswagen Foundation, the Institute  
for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University, the  
European Union, and the Department of Ancient Studies at Stellenbosch  
University. The publication itself was made possible by a grant from  
the association Digital Humanities in German-speaking countries (DHd).

Looking ahead, the project continues: a research dataset derived from  
the work is currently in preparation and will be released in 2026,  
providing scholars with additional tools to explore Egyptian  
literature and cultic practices in new ways.

-- 
PD Dr. habil. Franziska Naether

KompetenzwerkD
Sächsisches Forschungszentrum und Kompetenznetzwerk
für Digitale Geisteswissenschaften und Kulturelles Erbe

Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig
Dimitroffstraße 26
D-04107 Leipzig
Tel: +49 341 697642-75
Fax: +49 341 697642-44

naether(at)saw-leipzig.de
https://kompetenzwerkd.saw-leipzig.de

c/o Universität Leipzig, D
Ägyptologisches Institut/Ägyptisches Museum -Georg Steindorff-
www.aegyptologisches-institut.uni-leipzig.de
www.aegyptisches-museum.uni-leipzig.de
Tel. +49-(0)341-97 37 010 | Fax. +49-(0)341-97 37 029
naether(at)uni-leipzig.de

c/o Stellenbosch University, ZA
Department of Ancient Studies

Just published: Kultpraxis in der altägyptischen Literatur
Vol. 1+2, Digital Classics Books 7, Heidelberg 2025
Download here:  
https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeum/catalog/volume/naether2025