In it, the researcher presents the Egyptian religion in its most distinctive aspects, tracing its long history with the aid of countless historical and archaeological material. It is the historian's right, indeed his duty, to discard any aspect that is unimportant or that might cause confusion. The author says, "I do not intend my book to be comprehensive, lacking nothing for the specialist scholar. However, if the reader finds in it much more than sacred cats and mummies, and if he sometimes finds that Egyptian belief contains ideas and feelings that even Semitic religions would not be ashamed of, then my book has fulfilled its purpose."