The worship of Sutekh and foreign gods in the Ramesside period

Document Type : Academic scientific reviews of any other material related to the main domains of this Journal.

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Religious tolerance was a general phenomenon in the beliefs of ancient Egypt. The Egyptians treated foreign gods with an eye of care and a spirit of hospitality that extended to any other foreigners who wished to reside in their country. When the Egyptians became acquainted during their travels abroad with some foreign gods, it seemed as if this reminded them of an Egyptian god or goddess with qualities similar to those they recognized in foreign gods. The sky goddess Hathor, in particular, could stand in for most female deities abroad, especially in Asia. Likewise, they saw in the gods of a warlike or combative nature in Palestine and Syria their god Seth. Beginning with the era of the New Kingdom, the Pharaohs built an empire whose borders reached the Euphrates. The ancient Egyptians became acquainted there with a great number of gods and goddesses of the cities called "Ba’al" or "Ba’alat." It became a kind of affection among the Egyptians to imitate the Asian pattern in customs. Semitic words entered the Egyptian language, and with these words came the beliefs of foreign gods such as "Baal and Ba’alat" and "Mikal" and "Reshep." The goddesses "Astarte", "Anat", "Kadesh", "Kesret" and others besides them. In the Ramesside era, Anta and Ishtar joined the group of Egyptian goddesses as a war goddess. Anta was worshipped in PiRamesses alongside her Egyptian husband Set

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