Defining otherness and identity. Some remarks concerning the relation with the other in the Egyptian religion

Despite the persisting topos, until recently supported by distinguished scholars, according to which Egypt would have been immune to any external cultural influence, at least for a great part of its long history, there are undeniable clues that this is often just a prejudice. It is undeniable that ancient Egypt has a strong and consolidated religious (self)-identity, which however does not exclude at all forms of appropriation and acculturation of difference. The result of such phenomenon is a new form of identity, enriched by the incorporation and inclusion of otherness. This article aims to briefly survey the modalities and the forms by which of the encounter between the Egyptian gods and the gods of the others took plac