The Encyclopedia of World Religions

362 S Ptah

world in the same way that the kings of Egypt created an ordered world: by giving commands. This method of creation reminds some scholars of the way in which G OD creates the world in Genesis 1. puja Sanskrit for “honor,” or WORSHIP ; the com mon way of worshipping gods in H INDUISM for roughly the last 1,500 years. Puja is generally directed toward the divine in image form. The underlying idea is that G OD , who is far beyond human approach, has consented out of GRACE and favor to take up residence in a par ticular image. One treats the image as one would treat God if God were present in his or her proper form. Puja is performed both at home and in tem ples. It has three parts: giving, viewing, and receiv ing. Either directly or through a pujari (priest), the worshipper presents various ministrations to the god. These may include bathing the image in water, milk, or coconut milk, dressing it, perfum ing it, ornamenting it with flowers, powders, and jewels, offering it food, waving lights and burning incense before it, and chanting SCRIPTURES and recit ing PRAYERS . Darsana, viewing the image, is also an important act of worship. It gives the worshipper a glimpse of what is in reality beyond all sight. Finally, the worshipper receives the god’s bless ings. This prasada is generally symbolized physi cally in water, a spoonful of which may be sipped and sprinkled over one’s self, or food. The latter may be the family’s meal, offered to the god before eating, or the bits of coconut, nuts, or flowerettes of sugar often dispensed at temples. See also IMAGES , ICONS , IDOLS IN RELIGION . Puranas From the Sanskrit word for “ancient, old.” Puranas are the chief mythological books in contemporary H INDUISM . Tradition assigns the Puranas, like the Mahab harata, to an author named Vyasa, literally, “the compiler.” Each Purana is supposed to discuss five topics: creation, dissolution, the genealogies of

THE USE OF THE PSALMS Long before the time of ancient Israel, it was com mon for priests in the Middle East to recite poems in praise of the gods as part of daily worship in temples. This is certainly the way the Psalms were used in the Second Temple in J ERUSALEM (fifth cen tury B . C . E . to 70 C . E .). Scholars presume that this is also the way the Psalms were used in the First Temple (mid-900s to 587 B . C . E .). Later Jews and Christians have used the Psalms in worship, too. The standard Jewish lit urgies use 84 of the psalms. In the Middle Ages, monks recited the entire book of Psalms once a week. During the Protestant R EFORMATION , some of the strictest Protestant churches, such as the Reformed Church in Switzerland, allowed Chris tians to sing nothing but Psalms in church. The tunes that they used for these Psalms, such as “Old Hundredth” (used for Psalm 100), later became used for newly written hymns. Many Psalms are famous, but perhaps the most famous of all is the Twenty-third Psalm. It has provided comfort to countless suffering peo ple. It begins, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Ptah A god of ancient Egypt. At first Ptah was simply the god worshipped at the town of Mem phis. Around 3000 B . C . E . Menes unified Egypt. He made Memphis his capital, because it stood at the place where Upper and Lower Egypt met. Ptah became a god important for all of Egypt. He was often shown standing rigidly upright, a cloth wrapped tightly about his body, holding a scepter directly in front of him in both hands. Ptah is best known for his role in the so-called Memphite THEOLOGY . This is the story of creation that the priests of Memphis told. It is known today from a document that dates to roughly 700 B . C . E . Most scholars assume the original story is much older. In the Memphite theology, Ptah creates by thinking in his heart and speaking words from his mouth. In other words, he creates an ordered