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THE EGYPTIAN CONCEPTION OF IMMORTALITY
The Ingersoll Lecture, 1911
by
GEORGE ANDREW REISNER
THE INGERSOLL LECTURESHIP
Extract from the will of Miss Caroline Haskell Ingersoll, whodied in Keene, County of Cheshire, New Hampshire, Jan. 26, 1893.
First. In carrying out the wishes of my late beloved father,George Goldthwait Ingersoll, as declared by him in his last willand testament, I give and bequeath to Harvard University inCambridge, Mass., where my late father was graduated, and whichhe always held in love and honor, the sum of Five thousanddollars ($5,000) as a fund for the establishment of a Lectureshipon a plan somewhat similar to that of the Dudleian lecture, thatis—one lecture to be delivered each year, on any convenientday between the last of May and the first day of December, onthis subject, "the Immortality of Man," said lecture not to forma part of the usual college course, nor to be delivered by anyProfessor or Tutor as part of his usual routine of instruction,though any such Professor or Tutor may be appointed to suchservice. The choice of said lecturer is not to be limited to anyone religious denomination, nor to any one profession, but may bethat of either clergyman or layman, the appointment to take placeat least six months before the delivery of said lecture. Theabove sum to be safely invested and three fourths of the annualinterest thereof to be paid to the lecturer for his services andthe remaining fourth to be expended in the publishment andgratuitous distribution of the lecture, a copy of which is alwaysto be furnished by the lecturer for such purpose. The samelecture to be named and known as the "the Ingersoll lecture onthe Immortality of Man."
CONTENTS
I. Introduction
II. Sources of the Material
III. The Ideas of the Primitive Race
IV. The Early Dynastic Period
V. The Old Empire
VI. The Middle Empire
VII. The New Empire
VIII. The Ptolemaic-Roman Period
IX. Summary
I. INTRODUCTION
Of the nations which have contributed to the direct stream ofcivilization, Egypt and Mesopotamia are at present believed to bethe oldest. The chronological dispute as to the relativeantiquity of the two countries is of minor importance; for whilein Babylonia the historical material is almost entirelyinscriptional, in Egypt we know the handicrafts, the weapons, thearts, and, to a certain extent, the religious beliefs of the raceup to a period when it was just emerging from the Stone Age. In aword, Egypt presents the most ancient race whose manner of lifeis known to man. From the beginning of its history—that is,from about 4500 B.C.—we can trace the development of areligion one of whose most prominent elements was a promise of alife after death. It was still a great religion when theChristian doctrine of immortality was enunciated. In the earlycenturies of the Christian era, it seemed almost possible thatthe wor