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= The Price of Monotheism = The Price of Monotheism by Jan Assmann was written as a response to critics of Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism. In this book, he discuses the distinction between primary and secondary religions. With Primary religions being polytheistic in nature and secondary religions being monotheistic. The criticism came form his claim that there is an inherent intolerant stance in monotheistic religions due to the concept of true and false religions displayed by Moses. Polytheistic religions on the other hand tend not to mind other deities.

"It thus makes no sense to talk of tolerance with regard to the polytheism of pagan antiquity, since the criterion of incompatibility is missing; as far as other peoples' religion is concerned there is nothing that would need to be tolerated."

Assmann also tries to understand the polytheistic mindset of the Egyptians and contrasts it with Judaism. Assmann believes the anti-antisemitism displayed by the Egyptians was due to previous oppression from Akhenaten, who tried to replace polytheism with monotheism. This trauma caused complications with how the Egyptians interacted with the Jews, but religious intolerance is not a inherit concept within Egyptian Polytheism.