Egyptian Religion

Religion
► At the beginning of Old Kingdom- Egypt had
many different beliefs
► Each city had its own gods and system of
worship
► Priests tried to organize these into a
national religion
► Most powerful cities tried to promote their
own gods.
 Religion
► Most important god
was Amon- Ra who
was the Ruler of
Universe
► He was “invented”
during the new
kingdom
 Religion
► Originally-Rawas the
supreme royal god.
Kings took the title of
the “Son of Ra”

► Ra was known as the

Sun god, he was later
combined with Amon
► He was then called
Amon- Ra
 Religion
► Osiris
► God of afterlife and
lord of the underworld
► Redeemer and judge
of afterlife
► God of Harvest
► Granter of all life
including life along the
Nile
 Religion
► Isis
► Wife of Osiris- she was
also his sister
► Mother goddess-
protector of women
► Mother of Horus
 Religion
► Anubis
► Protectorof the dead
► God of Embalming and performer of the
opening of the mouth ceremony
 Religion
► Seth
► Brother of Osiris and
Isis
► God of Chaos
 Relgion
► Horus
Horus was one of the most
important gods in Egypt.
As a child of Osiris and Isis
who upon reaching age,
he avenges his father’s
death by defeating his evil
Uncle Seth . He then
became the divine
prototype of the pharaoh.

► God of the Sky 

 Religion
► Aten
► The Sun Disc
 Religion
► The ancient Egyptians saw the world
differently from us-
► They saw Egypt as being in the middle of
the River Nun, the underworld.
 Religion
► Temples were considered dwelling places for gods.
► Each city had a temple for the god of that city.
► Priest were to care for the gods and attend to
their needs
► Duties of priest included- funeral rites, teaching
school, supervision of artists, and advising people
of their problems
 Religion
► Death and burial-
► A king spent a large part of their reign
preparing for their death. He planned and
supervised the building of his tomb
► Death was just the beginning of eternal life
► The spirit of the dead pharaoh would stay
attached to his tomb, live on in his tomb,
and watch over the land and people forever
 Religion
► The body was embalmed (mummification)
► The Egyptians believed that when a person
dies they released a cloud of spirits- the life
force (Ka) and the person’s own character
(Ba)
 Religion
► These spirits could live only if the body was
well preserved because the Ka stayed with
the body and the ba went to the underworld
everyday
► If they body was decayed- the Ba would
have no place to return at night
 Religion
► The body was washed and prepared for burial
► They removed the organs and placed them
decorative jars
► The body was dried, stuffed with linen and spices
► It was anointed with oils
► Finally it was wrapped in linen bandages
► The whole process took about 70 days
 Religion
► The heart was put back into the body
because it would provide the deceased the
know-how to re-assemble itself in the
afterlife.
 Religion
► The body was put in a wooden coffin and then
taken to the tomb followed by a funeral procession
and ceremonies
► The coffin was placed in a second coffin made of
carved stone
► The coffin was surrounded by food, drink, and
everything needed for the afterlife
► The tomb was sealed and never entered again
 Religion
► Anibus would weigh the heart of the deceased
against a feather. If his bad deeds out balanced
his good deeds, his soul was destroyed
► Osiris would judge the life of the deceased along
with Anibus.
► The Book of the Dead included magical spells and
chants that would see the soul through
troublesome times
 Religion
►

► The ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife. The people

believed that, after you died, life continued in the land of
the Two Fields. 
► In the beginning, only pharaohs could board Ra's boat and
travel to the land of the Two Fields, and dwell forever in
the heavenly Nile. But the god Osiris changed that. Osiris
opened the door to the afterlife to everyone in ancient
Egypt, provided his or her heart was light. To keep your
heart light, you had to spend a lifetime doing good deeds.
Crime was very low in ancient Egypt because everyone
wanted to spend eternity in the heavenly world of the Two
Fields, home of the Afterlife. 
 Religion
► Before you could board Ra's boat, you had
to satisfy a few requirements. 
► First, you had to
pass the test of heart in the Hall of Maat. 
► Then, you had to have
your name written down somewhere. 
► And you had to have a preserved body.
 Religion
► The ancient Egyptians believed that everyone had a soul.
They called the soul by two names - the Ba and the Ka. As
the story goes, the Ba returned during the day to live with
the family. The Ka flew off to live in the afterlife, which
was an actual place. At night, both the Ba and the Ka flew
home to sleep in the body in its tomb. If something
happened to your preserved body, or if your name was not
written down somewhere, the Ba and Ka would get lost.
They would not be able to come home to your mummified
body, and you would disappear forever, no longer able to
dwell happily in your afterlife. 
 Religion
► Which all goes to explain why grave robbing
was the most horrible crime in ancient
Egypt. Grave robbers not only stole
someone's wealth, they stole their chance to
live happily ever after in the Egyptian
afterlife. Punishment was swift and terrible
for grave robbers caught robbing a grave.