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Article
The Divine Eye in Ancient Egypt and in the Midrash Interpretation of Formative Judaism.
Faculty Journal Articles
  • Rivka Ulmer, Bucknell University
Publication Date
1-1-2003
Description

This paper studies the “eye” as a religious phenomenon from the multiple traditions of ancient Egypt compared with rabbinic Judaism in late antiquity using a semiotic approach based upon the theories of Umberto Eco. This method was chosen because the eye is a graphic as well as a linguistic sign which both express religious concepts. Generally, the eye represented an all-seeing and omnipresent divinity. In other words, the god was reduced to an eye, whereby the form of the symbol suggests a meaning to the viewer or religious practitioner. In this manner the eye represented the whole body of a deity in Egyptian and the power of a discerning God in rabbinic texts. By focusing upon the semantic aspect of the eye metaphor in both Egyptian and rabbinic texts two religious traditions of the visually perceivable are analyzed from a semiotic perspective.

Journal
Journal of Religion and Society 5
Department
Religious Studies
Citation Information
Rivka Ulmer. "The Divine Eye in Ancient Egypt and in the Midrash Interpretation of Formative Judaism." Vol. 5 (2003) p. 1 - 17
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/rivka_ulmer/13/