Im Hotep,

The discussion about Biblical Proverbs vs. Kemetic Scripture raises an interesting point. There are difficulties with studying Kmt. The first is that of all the literature that existed, very little has actually been found. Few temples have been found, because we know that there were thousands at one time. Many of the artifacts have been damaged. Some of the obelisks are illegible. Scholars have filled in the blanks with their own ideas. Very little is known about Akhenaten. The same is true of Hatshepsut. We don't even know where either of them was buried and what information we might be able to glean from their tombs.

What we learn about Kmt depends on what texts we read.E. Wallis Budge is the most frequently quoted "egyptologist", but many of his works are tainted by racism and ignorance. Ra Un Nefer Amen provides a lot of interesting and useful information, however many of his interpretations of the Mtw Ntr are just plain wrong. (Although to be fair, he says from the outset that his philosophies are based on Kushite, Indian, and Chinese religions as well). Muata Ashby's work is kind of shaky. I tried reading books by Gadalla, but he isn't a good writer. His stuff gets all confused and like Ra Un Nefer Amen, he is often incorrect. The other problem is that scholars focus on the Book of Coming Forth, and that is just one book of many. It wasn't even used in the daily practices at home or in the temples.

Can anyone share their opinion of the various literature on kmt that is available to us now?

Brother HatHaruHotep,

I will tell you that most of what I present on Kemet here on Blacknet comes from my own archaeological research. For instance, there are quite a few books on Akhenaten and the Amarna era (Akhenaten, Semenkhkare, TwtAnkhAmen, and Aye), but these are other people's interpretation of events and scripts. To be as objective as possible, Iread the actual transliterated or translatedheiroglyph and/or hieratic scripts from the Amarnaera. Here are a few references:

Hieratic Inscriptions from Tut'ankhamun's Tomb by Cerny, J.

The Rock tombs of el-Amarna (3 vol set) by Norman de Garis Davies, with a foreword by Barry Kemp

The Literature of Ancient Egypt by W.K. Simpson (dozens of translated Kemetic hymns, proverbs, prayers, and such)

The most accurate information will always be as close to the source as possible. I will read work by Ahmed Osman, Moustafa Gadalla, Ra Un Nefer Amen, Diop, and so forth, butthe most you can everget is the writer'sinterpretation. Most often, the source information is much more expensive than the secondary works by thus named authors, and the archaeological approach tends to be too dry for most interested readers. Therefore, people's perceptions of Kemet are typically made by other people's perceptions, where I try to break this mis-informative cycle.

I will tell you one thing. If you look at the tombs in Amarna, particularly Huya's tomb, you will find the "Hymn to the Aten" inscribed which is paralleled by Psalms 104 of the Bible. Another thing you will find is that Akhenaten ruled by force, always being accompanied by troops who had allegiances to the Sinai region (which supports him being Moses of the Bible). I don't need anyone's interpretation to come to these conclusions. I have made them on my own through the most direct study I know how.

Exactly, Shemsi. But for the newcomer, it can be very confusing. A sister read Ra Un Nefer Amen's books and then told me that it was against the religion of Kmt for women to wear high heel shoes. confused3

I agree. The closer to the source, the better. Just remember that much of what we read is someone else's theory, usually based on their own personal agendas.

yeh im finding this true myself i jus started reading metu neter by ra un nefer amen, and im finding it very convaluted. he also seems to be writing it to proof to europeans we are/ were civilised i could do with less of that.

i also need a clear an consise thorough break down of kemetic belief system not gobbledy gook.