Just like the rest of the continent of Africa, Egypt as a nation and a kingdom were polytheistic throughout the ancient times, the old kingdom up to the new kingdom. Even though current religion in Egypt is majorly Muslim, it wasn’t always this way. The Egyptians had many gods who they worshipped based on the role each god played in the cosmic world. Among these deities included Horus, Osiris, Isis, Seth, Ra, and Anubis. These gods where worshipped through sacrificial offerings and incense. For about 3000 years the Egyptians, unwilling to change in any way where bound by religion and their traditions which influenced almost everything in their lives. Different deities were ranked in the popularity scale over the years. In total, the Egyptians had 700 gods and many of these gods were combined to bring about a new deity.
A hierarchy of gods was formed and Ra the sun god and Isis occupied the top position. Currently, historians credit Akhenaten and the only pharaoh who practiced a monotheistic religion which only lasted during his reign. After the death of this pharaoh the Egyptians went back to the polytheistic religion where they worshipped Amon, Osiris, Isis and Anubis.
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The Egyptians gods who inhabited their land were different based on their nature and capacity. Unlike the deities in the monotheistic religion, the Egyptian gods were not all powerful and all knowing. Their abilities were however greater than the humans. Some of these gods were immortal, some could wounds that were fatal to humans, could be in several places at the same time, the ability to affect the humans either visible or invisible and many more.
Generally most of these gods we good in nature but were not counted on when favor was required. Some encouragement and propitiation was done to them so as they would come to the aid of the humans and extend the divine and human interrelations. However some of these gods such as Neith, Mut and Sekhmet the goddess of war were associated with characters that were contradictory. Seth, the god who was attributed to his nature as a trickster was associated with disorder in the world in order and in the 1000 years Seth was considered an enemy and he had to be destroyed. This was however not possible
The gods were considered characters in the ancient Egyptian myths that they believed in and it explained the knowledge they had of the universe. The myths were influenced the patterns of the sun and the moon, nature and the Nile river. These mythologies had a great influence on the religious rituals, rites and the festivals that came with it. This knowledge in made available on the scenes found in tombs and the wall in temples, in the jewelry they put on and in literature.
All the temples were built in honor of the gods worshipped by the Egyptians. The temples were filled with huge statues, inscriptions, gardens and sometimes crocodiles. Some of the most remarkable temples were the temple built for goddess iIis in Philae, the temple for Amun at Karnak and the temple of Horus built in Edfu.
To honor their gods, the Egyptians had several festivals that were held in many different rituals some of these festivals included, the festival of sed. This particular festival was in honor of pharaoh and his kingship. The festival was held three years after the pharaoh took power. Several rites and rituals were held and among them was an offering of the bovine’s spine which was attributed to the strength of the pharaoh. The second festival was the festival of Khoiak. This festival was in honor of Osiris the god of death and revival. When the Nile River was not flooded, the people would plant seeds in the beds of Osiris to help their crops revive and flourish.
Finally the Egyptians has a great appreciation for life but they had a life expectancy of 40 years. They wanted their lived to go on even after death thus they had a strong belief in preserving the body of the dead and giving them necessary and all essentials that would aid them even in the afterlife. According to them death was just another stage in life and if they buried their dead following the rites and rituals, the dead would live on with on pain in the fields of Yalu. After death the Egyptian believed that Anubis would weigh their hearts or souls against a feather. If the feather was lighter than the soul that indicated that the soul was corrupted with bad deeds thus the individual was punished in the underworld.
In conclusion the Egyptians practiced a lot rites and rituals and a polytheistic religion over the three millenniums in the old kingdom but this has changed over the recent years as monotheistic religions such as Muslim, Christianity and Jews took root in Egypt and this resulted to the fading away of the Egyptians gods and the myths that came with them.
Work Cited
Religion In Ancient Egypt Wed Apr 11 2018 17:37:47 GMT+0300 (E. Africa Standard Time) http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/ancient-egypt-religion.html
Ancient Egypt Encyclopedia Britannica written by Peter F. Dorman, Alan K Bowman
https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Egypt
St. Rosemary institution school work helper category archives: history January 31, 2018
https://schoolworkhelper.net/ancient-egyptian-religion-beliefs-gods/
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