Ancient Egyptian Religion CHW 3M

Ancient Egyptian Belief System Complex polytheistic belief system Gods controlled nature and nature was divine itself Religion was a conglomeration of different cults As new beliefs were developed old ones were discarded Gods lived in temples were preists tended to the needs of the gods pharaoh was “go-between” with

Important Beliefs 1. Ma’at: fundamental force that governs the Universe Includes concepts of truth, justice and order allowed forces of nature to existence in balance and order, any disruption was harmful common man expected to behave in accordance with ma’at 2. Divinity of Pharaoh kingship was a divine force of nature pharaoh viewed as both human and god “go-between” for common man and gods expected to uphold ma’at in Egyptian society

3. The Afterlife: Egyptian were obsessed with death and how best to journey to the other side Egyptian believed the soul had two parts: Ka – life force not unique left the body after death Ba – personality unique remained with the body after death rituals meant to release Ba from body to join ka in afterlife It was important to preserve the body because ba would return occassionally to “get new life” Journey to Afterlife had to avoid many supernatural obstacles Mummies buried with everything they would need for journey lead to final judgement Book of the Dead: collection of hymns, spells, and instructions to allow the deceased to pass through obstacles in the afterlife.

The Final Judgement Weighing of the Heart (final judgement) Osiris compared the heart of deceased to the feather of ma’at heart in balance (found worthy) life meet code of standards ka and ba are reunited allowed to pass to eternal paradise heart heavier (found unworthy) life fell short of code of standards devoured by demon Ammut eternally death

Pharaoh and the After-Life Pharaohs divine and housed the spirit of God Horus who lead them on the path of Ma’at in afterlife would be incarnation of Osiris, God of the Dead Pharaohs spent most of their lives preparing for their death Pyramids burial monuments for the Pharaohs construction began when new Pharaoh was crowned may have been designed to “magically launch” the pharaoh's soul directly into the abode of the gods.

Great Pyramid of Giza Construction Most famous of the Pyramids built for Khufu around 2500BC 5.5 millions tonnes of stone height: 146m, side length: 230 m Tallest man made structure for 3800 years Construction how Pyramid was made unknow probably made by small team of skilled stone masons (2500) working year round. peasants would have helped during floods