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Religious Beliefs

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.

• Egyptians believed that their Gods had created the world.


• Their religion worshipped several Gods.
• Osiris, the god of the underworld, decided who would go on to the afterlife.
• To judge this, the dead person's heart was weighed with an ostrich feather.
• If their weight wasn't equal, the heart was fed to a creature, the "Swallower".
• The "Swallower" had a crocodile's head, and a mix of a hippo and crocodile's body.

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 .

• Egyptian Gods had a quite unique look.


• Some of the gods and goddesses had the head of an animal and the body of a person.
• Examples of gods like this are Anu bis (god of necr opo lis* ) with a jackal's head, Th oth (god of
wri ting /kn owle dge ) with a ibis' head, Ho rus (god of the Sky) has a falcon's head.
• When the king was alive he was thought to be Horu s after his death he turned into Osiri s( god of the
underworld.)
• Gods were often depicted as the protagonist in mythological stories.

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

To see this picture in its


original location:
https://web1.caryacademy.org
/facultywebs/matthew_ripleym
offit/
Re ligi ous Prac tice s o f th e C omm on Peop le- in addi tion to bei ng able to visi t ou ter par ts of
th e h oly tem ples com mon ers mad e separ ate pra yers at ho me

• 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/

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