The Wisdom of Egypt: Jewish, Early Christian, and Gnostic Essays in Honour Gerard P. Luttikhuizen

This collection of essays gives a vivid impression of Egypt as background and stage of Jewish, Christian, and Gnostic thought and life in antiquity. It demonstrates Egypt’s important role in the history, literature and culture of these religions. This collection of essays, published on the occasion of Gerard Luttikhuizen’s retirement, highlights the Egyptian subject-matter, background or provenance of many Jewish, Early Christian, and Gnostic texts. It covers a broad spectrum of themes, genres, and traditions. It shows that Egypt was a vibrant point of reference, sometimes even a focal point and cradle for Jews, Christians, and Gnostics and their thought. The first part of this book examines various aspects of the relation between Judaism and Egypt, mainly in the Graeco-Roman period. The second part deals with several connections between early Christianity and Egypt, whereas the third part considers Egypt as the place where many Gnostic texts were found. This collection pays homage to Gerard Luttikhuizen’s life-long interest in Egypt and Gnosticism.