The Goddesses of the Egyptian Tree Cult

Abstract

NEITHER in prehistoric Egypt nor at any time since has the practice of forestry been conducted in the Nile Valley, and there has always been a lack of wood for the building of houses, ships, and the like. With regard to garden culture, however, the situation was quite different, for the Egyptians exercised remarkable talent in arranging their houses, temples, and tombs in the midst of gardens. This impression is clearly gained from pictures on the walls of tombs where, for example, one sees representations of gardens around the Pharaoh's palace2 or estates of wealthy nobles with their groves of trees and their lakes or pools teeming with fish and gay with lotus blossoms.3 Investigation of the Egyptian attitude toward sacred trees reveals the fact that, in contrast to the animal cults, tree cults in the historical period began with purely local cults which at an early time became connected with nonlocal deities as their forms or attributes. Most plants other than trees played an important part only in magic, medicine, and folklore.