Professional Documents
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Niara
Sixth Period
September 9, 2009
Eg ypti an Beli efs- th e Ancie nt Egyp tian s b elie ved in seve ral god s th at had def init e co ntr ol o ver
eart h.
The Egy ptia n Gods- the go ds of Ancie nt Egy pt were wors hip ped for man y t hing s,
fr om the und erwo rld to the ann ual inu ndat ion .
Re ligi ous Cere mon ies and Temp les- the Anc ien t Eg ypti ans ha d se ver al
lar ge tem ples to wors hip the ir coun tles s go ds, ma ny of th ese te mple s
sti ll stan d to da y.
• In ancient Egypt temples were believed to be the earth-based homes of the
gods/goddesses
• On a rare occasion no one besides a priest or priestess could enter a temple
• The majority of the temples resembled palaces because a god or goddess lived or
"visited" there, by means of holy statues
• In the duration of important festivals, a statue of a god was carried ceremoniously To see this picture in
through a courtyard headed towards the most sacred part of the temple its original location:
• For commoners to make their prayers to the gods, smaller buildings were constructed along the outside of the
http://www.anciente
temple gypt.co.uk/gods/hom
emain.html
• Commoners were only permitted to be within the outer courtyards to observe the ceremonies on special
festival days
• They also paid homage to the gods from their houses. Most families had small areas in their homes for
offerings to the "local" gods
• Gods were commonly honored for protection, having children, keeping away evil spirits and spirits of the
deceased
Sources:
Oakes, Lorna and Gahlin, Lucia. Ancient Egypt. New York: Barnes and Noble Books. 2003
<http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/homemain.html
https://web1.caryacademy.org/facultywebs/matthew_ripleymoffit/