A K H U

AKHU: the Venerated Ancestors of Ancient Egypt is a groundbreaking enquiry which brings together the author's competence in linguistics, mythology and ethnology as a rich and meaningful investigation of Ancient Egypt. The work includes the support and cultural participation of North African Berber scholars. The book brings out the archaic terminology of earliest hieroglyphic Pyramid texts which the later Greco-Roman vocabulary guiding European scholarship has often masked. Helene Hagan's background in Mediterranean history and mythology and her knowledge of North African Amazigh (Berber) culture guided her in this remarkable journey. This book seriously contributes to Egyptology and the study of Ancient History. The prologue sets the tone for the ensuing study, demonstrating the very certain need to examine the close links between ancient Egyptian civilization and the Berber cultures of North Africa and the Sahara. The introduction indicates the need to begin this investigation with the archaeology of the early days of habitation on the west bank of the Nile, the western region of the Delta, that of the Fayum and of the oases, a northwest territorial area important to the development of all Egyptian civilization. A first chapter examines the origins of these diverse settlements and their relationship with Libyan and North African groups. This chapter is followed by a study of the beliefs and customs of the Pillar peoples ("Intui") who worshipped their ancestors and had a very great influence on the totality of Egyptian civilization of all times. Ancestor worship as well as several other major aspects of their mythology such as astrolatry relate them to the Imazighen (Berbers) of North Africa.The Sacred Sovereigns, or First Princes of Egypt, who preceded the first…