Post by Harley Scarow on Oct 8, 2006 10:19:49 GMT -5
Peter Dang
October 6, 2006
AP History
Essay
Egyptian Religion and Culture
The ancient Egyptians had a religious system unlike type of any other kind--they didn’t think of deities as above and distant beings, but rather they were at the same level at them, having desires and physical needs as much as any other living thing. Basically, they were as tangible as the ancient Egyptians were in their beliefs. There were many gods in this religion, and they were represented as humans, animals, and sometimes even collectively as one. It was simple for an Egyptian to bring up a god at any time for a reference; nothing happened in their point of view that wasn’t arranged or influence by one god or the other. A god caused everything happening in their beliefs. Even an unfortunate event would be either deliberately or accidentally happen.
Egyptians had a polytheistic culture--so true, none of the many gods were ever omitted. Most of the time, gods were merged whenever political or philosophical fashions changed, leading to the creation of gods in their beliefs. Since time passed and with that, there was bound to be change, many things were added or taken out of the belief during the passing of time. For example, during the extensive period when the cult of Ra had official sanction, the compound divinities of Amon Re, Khnum Re, and Sobek Re enabled priests to maintain their local cults while paying their respects to the state deity.
Since there were so many gods--each one counting and having a role, there was bound to be rivalries and contradictions, but the flexible and open-minded Egyptians absorbed them all. The contemplation of ideas into the religious thoughts meant more gods would be made to solve the situation, and there was much pondering about how they would fit into the existing story. One of the ideas in Egyptian religion was: Horus, who avenged the murder of his father Osiris, was worshipped but so was Seth, the murderer. This easy tolerance fitted in well with the Egyptians’ optimistic belief that “the gods are content and happy of heart, and life is spent in laughter and wonder.” One event in the religion led to another, allowing the constant change to go after the passing of time. Many of the Egyptian deities wore the distinctive crowns of divinity to show their importance.
Some of the many gods were: Horus, the falcon-headed god, holding in his right hand the ankh, a symbol of life; the kings of Egypt associated themselves with Horus, who was the son of Isis and Osiris. Isis, wife and sister of Osiris, was gifted with great magical powers; among her good works, she protected children--which made her most popular of Egyptian goddesses. Anubis, the jackal-god of mummification, assisted in the rites by which a dead man was admitted to the underworld; he holds the divine scepter carried by kings and gods. Seth was regarded as the lord of Upper Egypt and was represented by a big-eared imaginary animal resembling a donkey; he was associated with the desert and storms. Nephthys, sister of Isis, was a goddess of women; her name means “Lady of the Castle,” and she was associated with the home of Osiris, whom she helped restore to life. Amon, god of Thebes, was usually shown as human, but sometimes as a ram or a goose; the Romans later worshipped him as Jupiter Amon and consulted oracles at his temple. Osiris, god of the earth and vegetation, symbolized in his death the yearly drought and in his miraculous rebirth the periodic flooding of the Nile and the growth of grain.
Even though many religions believe in the afterlife, the Egyptian’s believe there’s a different way to look at it. For example, whenever a Pharaoh or a priest dies (someone high on the hierarchy), buriers mummify the person along with the many possessions they had during their lives. Since they believed “the party keeps going on”, they also buried physical needs such as food and water, along with anything they would want besides what they already had. The belief that in the afterlife they would need the same things was one to stay, so even some of their pets were buried with them (in which they died slowly into the same conditions as their mummified owners). Because of this, some people of the kingdom were very voracious to head to the afterlife for a better one; But hypothetically speaking, they could fail the “entrance exam” on their way there.
The act of mummification was one to respect the ones going through the process. Most of their organs were stored in jars in order to preserve them, while the only one left inside was the heart, since it was considered the part where all thoughts are. Also, since the heart was on the left side of the body, most citizens of Egypt would walk with their left feet facing forward in order to respect the Pharaohs. The only part of the body being omitted was the brain, since the ancient Egyptians didn’t believe it had a cause in the body, and furthermore didn’t understand the function of it. Once the bodies were mummified, in order to keep the Pharaohs safe so graverobbers would never steal their coffin, they were stored inside of pyramids. These pyramids were huge and although they looked simple to navigate on the outside, often they were much complicated on the inside. The creators of the pyramid laid many traps there in order to stop intruders, although the activation was never obvious. In addition to that, it seemed to be a never-ending maze to those not careful about their surroundings.
However, although “the party keeps going on”, there were many things you had to do when you died to make sure you could get to the afterlife. This was meant to occur after the act of mummification and the setup for the “exam” people had to take in order to make it through. For example, the protector of the gate to the underworld, Anubis, was there to test if a person had the deliberate will to process to the next world. Here’s the deal: he would put a feather on one side of a scale and ask a certain amount of questions. They had to adhere to the conditions in order to past the test, and any ignorance could foil their chances of making it through. The test would be a plethora of questions to test the honesty in one’s heart. Anubis would lay a feather on one of the sides of the scale. Every time the test taker answers the false answer to their heart, the side without the feather would fall down, and there was no time for rectification or digression for a second chance. If the part weighing the heart hit the bottom, they would fail the test and have their soul demolished by a chimera. Being truthful even for the “wrong” answer was best. As you can see, the Egyptian religions and cultures were very deep, and most of them were extremely directed towards honor and respect rather than dishonesty.
Bibliography For Egyptian History Essay:
Websites used:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt
www.ancientegypt.co.uk/
Books Used:
Title: Eyewitness Books--Mummy
Subtitle: “Discover the eternal secrets of mummies--from the embalmed dead of ancient Egypt to bodies preserved in bogs, sand, and ice”
Title: The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt
Author: by Elizabeth Payne
October 6, 2006
AP History
Essay
Egyptian Religion and Culture
The ancient Egyptians had a religious system unlike type of any other kind--they didn’t think of deities as above and distant beings, but rather they were at the same level at them, having desires and physical needs as much as any other living thing. Basically, they were as tangible as the ancient Egyptians were in their beliefs. There were many gods in this religion, and they were represented as humans, animals, and sometimes even collectively as one. It was simple for an Egyptian to bring up a god at any time for a reference; nothing happened in their point of view that wasn’t arranged or influence by one god or the other. A god caused everything happening in their beliefs. Even an unfortunate event would be either deliberately or accidentally happen.
Egyptians had a polytheistic culture--so true, none of the many gods were ever omitted. Most of the time, gods were merged whenever political or philosophical fashions changed, leading to the creation of gods in their beliefs. Since time passed and with that, there was bound to be change, many things were added or taken out of the belief during the passing of time. For example, during the extensive period when the cult of Ra had official sanction, the compound divinities of Amon Re, Khnum Re, and Sobek Re enabled priests to maintain their local cults while paying their respects to the state deity.
Since there were so many gods--each one counting and having a role, there was bound to be rivalries and contradictions, but the flexible and open-minded Egyptians absorbed them all. The contemplation of ideas into the religious thoughts meant more gods would be made to solve the situation, and there was much pondering about how they would fit into the existing story. One of the ideas in Egyptian religion was: Horus, who avenged the murder of his father Osiris, was worshipped but so was Seth, the murderer. This easy tolerance fitted in well with the Egyptians’ optimistic belief that “the gods are content and happy of heart, and life is spent in laughter and wonder.” One event in the religion led to another, allowing the constant change to go after the passing of time. Many of the Egyptian deities wore the distinctive crowns of divinity to show their importance.
Some of the many gods were: Horus, the falcon-headed god, holding in his right hand the ankh, a symbol of life; the kings of Egypt associated themselves with Horus, who was the son of Isis and Osiris. Isis, wife and sister of Osiris, was gifted with great magical powers; among her good works, she protected children--which made her most popular of Egyptian goddesses. Anubis, the jackal-god of mummification, assisted in the rites by which a dead man was admitted to the underworld; he holds the divine scepter carried by kings and gods. Seth was regarded as the lord of Upper Egypt and was represented by a big-eared imaginary animal resembling a donkey; he was associated with the desert and storms. Nephthys, sister of Isis, was a goddess of women; her name means “Lady of the Castle,” and she was associated with the home of Osiris, whom she helped restore to life. Amon, god of Thebes, was usually shown as human, but sometimes as a ram or a goose; the Romans later worshipped him as Jupiter Amon and consulted oracles at his temple. Osiris, god of the earth and vegetation, symbolized in his death the yearly drought and in his miraculous rebirth the periodic flooding of the Nile and the growth of grain.
Even though many religions believe in the afterlife, the Egyptian’s believe there’s a different way to look at it. For example, whenever a Pharaoh or a priest dies (someone high on the hierarchy), buriers mummify the person along with the many possessions they had during their lives. Since they believed “the party keeps going on”, they also buried physical needs such as food and water, along with anything they would want besides what they already had. The belief that in the afterlife they would need the same things was one to stay, so even some of their pets were buried with them (in which they died slowly into the same conditions as their mummified owners). Because of this, some people of the kingdom were very voracious to head to the afterlife for a better one; But hypothetically speaking, they could fail the “entrance exam” on their way there.
The act of mummification was one to respect the ones going through the process. Most of their organs were stored in jars in order to preserve them, while the only one left inside was the heart, since it was considered the part where all thoughts are. Also, since the heart was on the left side of the body, most citizens of Egypt would walk with their left feet facing forward in order to respect the Pharaohs. The only part of the body being omitted was the brain, since the ancient Egyptians didn’t believe it had a cause in the body, and furthermore didn’t understand the function of it. Once the bodies were mummified, in order to keep the Pharaohs safe so graverobbers would never steal their coffin, they were stored inside of pyramids. These pyramids were huge and although they looked simple to navigate on the outside, often they were much complicated on the inside. The creators of the pyramid laid many traps there in order to stop intruders, although the activation was never obvious. In addition to that, it seemed to be a never-ending maze to those not careful about their surroundings.
However, although “the party keeps going on”, there were many things you had to do when you died to make sure you could get to the afterlife. This was meant to occur after the act of mummification and the setup for the “exam” people had to take in order to make it through. For example, the protector of the gate to the underworld, Anubis, was there to test if a person had the deliberate will to process to the next world. Here’s the deal: he would put a feather on one side of a scale and ask a certain amount of questions. They had to adhere to the conditions in order to past the test, and any ignorance could foil their chances of making it through. The test would be a plethora of questions to test the honesty in one’s heart. Anubis would lay a feather on one of the sides of the scale. Every time the test taker answers the false answer to their heart, the side without the feather would fall down, and there was no time for rectification or digression for a second chance. If the part weighing the heart hit the bottom, they would fail the test and have their soul demolished by a chimera. Being truthful even for the “wrong” answer was best. As you can see, the Egyptian religions and cultures were very deep, and most of them were extremely directed towards honor and respect rather than dishonesty.
Bibliography For Egyptian History Essay:
Websites used:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt
www.ancientegypt.co.uk/
Books Used:
Title: Eyewitness Books--Mummy
Subtitle: “Discover the eternal secrets of mummies--from the embalmed dead of ancient Egypt to bodies preserved in bogs, sand, and ice”
Title: The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt
Author: by Elizabeth Payne
