Ancient Egypt: Religion (Mythology, Terms, Concepts, Deities, Stories, etc.)

Cenotaph

• Empty tomb erected to honor a king whose remains are located elsewhere, possibly to prevent tomb robbing

Shabti

• Figurines placed in tombs that were believed to aid the deceased in any manual labor that they would go on to experience in the afterlife

Pectoral

• Type of Amulet either worn by living Egyptians or by mummified Egyptians on the chest, the latter of which was used to protect the heart (a symbol of life) in the dead’s journey to the afterlife

Duat

• Term used to refer to the Egyptian underworld

Horus

• Egyptian Falcon-God

Atum

• Primordial God of Ancient Egypt

Afterlife for the Pharaohs

• The Egyptians believed in life after death, and the pharaoh accompanying the sun god during the day

• Thus, it was essential that the pharaoh’s body be preserved and that he has everything within his tomb that is necessary for life, like the food and drink left within his reach

• At death, the royal body was mummified by being treated with drugs and filled with aromatic substances and bandaged

• The Egyptians believe the pharaoh was reborn at the time of his death, allowing him once again to occupy his royal throne

  • This ensured that the social order he maintained in life continued

• The King’s wife and most important officials were buried close to him

Amun (All Facts)

• Egyptian God of the Air

• One of the 8 primordial Ancient Egyptian Gods

• Rose to the country’s status as a principal god by the reign of the kings of the 11th Dynasty

• Took part in a public procession in his Barque each year

• Brought in statue form on the occasion of the procession of the feast of Opet, the greatest of Thebes’ festivals

• By 2000 BCE, he reigned supreme as king of the gods - at the top of the Theban trinity with his wife Mut and his son Khons

  • He was originally a minor god worshipped at Thebes, but as the town grew in status to become Egypt’s capital, his prestige grew with it

• Regarded as the physical father of every pharaoh

  • Received many gifts from his grateful sons (the pharaohs) in their temples which accounted for the enormous privilege granted to his priests

• The temples dedicated to him are huge and their wealth increased greatly over time

• His priests became a political power to be reckoned with

• His name was an important element of royal names

• Most frequently portrayed wearing a cap docked with two tall feathers (symbols of the air), with his body sometimes shown as “ithyphallic in token of fertility”

• The animals associated with him are the ram and the white goose

• Had great power

• Prayers confirmed the popular faith Egyptians had in his justness

Feast of Opet (All Facts)

• Greatest of the Theban festivals

• Festival in which Amun is brought in statue form during its procession

Osiris

• Egyptian God of the dead and underworld

Mut

• Amun’s wife

Khons

• Amun’s son

Coffin Texts (All Facts)

• Collection of religious texts that provide deceased Egyptians with a spiritual guide alongside the various foods, drinks, and ceremonial boats that typically accompany them to the afterlife

• Originally inscribed on the namesake object, they evolved into the Book of the Dead

Book of the Dead (All Facts)

• Collection of religious texts that provide deceased Egyptians with a spiritual guide alongside the various foods, drinks, and ceremonial boats that typically accompany them to the afterlife

• Evolved from “Coffin Texts,” which were originally inscribed on the coffin or sarcophagus, but evolved to be written on papyri and placed in the sarcophagi

• Texts which range over a wide variety of subjects with some themes recurring more frequently than others such as those in which precepts protect the spirit of the deceased and safeguard him in the afterlife

• Texts, many of which, are beautifully illustrated, with the names of the dead owners inserted in the appropriate places

• Texts which include magic spells, which are required reading for the dead and are learned by heart

  • These magic spell texts are supposed to ensure the dead a safe escape from the darkness of the tomb and a return to their homes and gardens where they would enjoy “the sweet breezes of the north wind”

Aten Religion (All Facts)

• Culminated during the rule of Akhenaten or Amenhotep IV

• Believed in the namesake, which was the actual disc of the sun that provided heat and prosperity

• Believed that Amun was too intimately connected with the old religion and thus not capable of allowing Egypt to change

• Was a religion of life, freedom, and the love of nature

• Elements of it were developed by the priests of Heliopolis who worshipped the sun god Re-Harakhi

Djed Pillars (All Facts)

• Symbols of the god Osiris and of stability