Skip to main content

Religion in Ancient Egypt: gods, temples and mummies

Before being ruled by a pharaoh , the Ancient Egypt was a set of independent settlements, each with its own cult of the gods, which would later form part of the dynastic pantheon.The Egyptians were, above all, tolerant, their pantheon became formed by 2000 different divinities .

This was possible, to a large extent, because all the Egyptian gods resembled each other, at least in their concept.Unlike the Sumerian religion, I reserve a particular space for each deity, the Egyptian pantheon was never fully systematized, nor were the properties of each god determined.

Religion in Ancient Egypt: gods, temples and mummies

The importance of each god within the pantheon had a direct relationship with the politics that crossed the re In every moment, if the predominantly political city was, for example, Heliopolis, city of priests, then the solar god Ra was worshiped as the main divinity.During the first historical phases, when the capital of the Empire was Memphis (III and IV dynasty), the cult of Ptha predominated over others, and so on.

The decline of the monarchy, from the VI dynasty, caused other local gods to gain strength, such as the case of Osiris , associated with the resurrection.According to the myth, Osiris was killed by his brother Seth The goddess Isis , wife and sister of Osiris , managed to resuscitate him with the help of Thoth and Anubis , and was finally avenged by his son Horus.

During the Middle Kingdom the "official" god was Amon , originally from the city of Thebes in the Al to Egypt.Its character of solar divinity helped him identify with Ra , from Lower Egypt, thus achieving his acceptance of the entire kingdom.In the New Kingdom, the association between the two gods was such that simply the cult was imposed on Amon-Ra.

After the extinction of the New Empire, the cult of the local gods and the old traditions took center stage again. Amon ceased to be considered the national god and, instead, many other deities were venerated, such as Neith , the goddess of war, and Bast , The goddess of happiness.

The end of Egyptian religion would not come until the fourth century, when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, which had conquered Egypt during its expansion into the Mediterranean.

Religion in Ancient Egypt: gods, temples and mummies

The main Egyptian gods were:

  • Amon : The" hidden "God of creation and patron of Thebes.national since the 12th dynasty.
  • Anubis : God with jackal head, coming from Tinis.Patron of magic, protector of tombs and guide of the dead at death.
  • Apis : God-bull of Memphis.Regenerated since the 1st dynasty as a son of Ptah and as a symbol of strength and courage.
  • Bast : Cat-headed goddess, daughter of the solar god Ra.Adorada in Bubastis.Pattern of music and dance.
  • Isis : Wife of Osiris and mother of Horus.Personification of the Egyptian throne, and goddess of motherhood and medicine.
  • Khnum : God-ram of Elephantine and guardian of the sources of the Nile.Creator of all living beings.
  • Maat : Goddess of truth and justice.Daughter of Ra.The one in charge of weighing the soul of him you dead.
  • Osiris : God of the ultraworld, the resurrection, and nature.With centers of worship in Bubastis and Abydos.
  • Ptah : Memphis deity protective of artists and blacksmiths.Appears like a mummy with a shaved head.
  • Ra : The supreme god according to Heliopolis theology.represented with the head of a hawk and a solar disk.
  • Seth : Personifies the chaos within Egyptian mythology.represented as a zoomorphic warrior.

Sources:

  • Meuleau, M.: The Ancient World, The World and its History, Argos, Barcelona, ​​1968
  • Universal History: Pharaonic Egypt.Bs.As., AGEA, 2005
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John couch adams Biography

John Couch Adams (Laneast, 1819-Cambridge, 1892) British astronomer.He was director of the Cambridge Observatory from 1861.He investigated, independently of Le Verrier but at the same time as him, the perturbations of the orbit of Uranus, which led him to the demonstration of the existence of Neptune.
Post a Comment
Read more

Jose Ricart Matas Biography

José Ricart Matas (Barcelona, ​​1893-1978) Spanish cellist and musicologist.He studied at the Municipal School of Music in his hometown and later expanded his studies in Paris.He gave numerous recitals throughout Europe, sometimes accompanied by his mother, the pianist Carmen Matas.He was a professor of cello at the Municipal Conservatory of Barcelona and Director of the Museum of Instruments of that city.In addition, he was a collaborator of the Spanish Institute of Musicology in the field of folklore and musical iconography.His writings include the International Proverb of Music and Dance from 1950; the Biographical Dictionary of Music , published in 1956, and the essay entitled Musical instruments in the Hispanic iconography of the Middle Ages.
Post a Comment
Read more

Ellery queen Biography

Ellery Queen Pseudonym under which two American crime novel writers, Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) and his cousin Manfred B.Lee (1905-1971), published their common works.In 1929 Dannay and Lee published their first novel, The Mystery of the Roman Hat , which was very successful and led them to continue writing plots for their famous detective Ellery Queen character, the protagonist of more than thirty novels.Other titles are The Mystery of the Dutch Shoe (1931), The Scarlet Letters (1953) and Brass House (1968).
Post a Comment
Read more

Filoteo Kokkinos Biography

Filoteo Kokkinos (?-?, c .1380) Byzantine Prelate.He was Patriarch of Constantinople (1364-1376) and, being a monk on Mount Athos, he took sides in favor of the Hesychasts.Already a bishop, he devoted himself to the apology of palamism.
Post a Comment
Read more

Elizabeth barrett browning Biography

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Coxhoe Hall, 1806-Florence, 1861) British poet.He published the epic poem The Battle of Marathon at age 14, a translation of Aeschylus's Prometheus in Chained (1833) and The Seraph and other poems (1838).In 1846 she secretly married Robert Browning, with whom she fled to Italy.His Poems (1850) contain the Sonnets of the Portuguese .He also wrote the novel in verse Aurora Leigh (1856).
Post a Comment
Read more

Francisco de Villalpando Biography

Francisco de Villalpando (?-Toledo, c. 1561) Spanish architect, sculptor and goldsmith.The grille of the main chapel of the Cathedral of Toledo and the front of the Colegio de los Infantes, in the same city, are notable works that reveal the Italian Renaissance influence.
Post a Comment
Read more

François Mitterrand Biography

François Mitterrand (Jarnac, Charente, 1916-Paris, 1996) French socialist politician, president of the French republic between 1981 and 1995.Born into a middle-class Catholic family, he graduated in Law and Political Science in Paris.During World War II (1939-45) he was mobilized and taken prisoner by the Germans (1940); then he escaped and joined the collaborationist Vichy regime; from 1942 he was active in the Resistance, but without adhering directly to Charles De Gaulle.After his resignation, Mitterrand entered politics, being elected deputy by Nièvre in 1946, under a centrist label (only gradually would he evolve to the left). François Mitterrand Between 1947 and 1957 he held multiple positions in the changing ministerial combinations of the Fourth Republic: secretary of state for ex-combatants, secretary of State of Information, Undersecretary of the Presidency, Minister of Colonies, Minister of State, Minister delegated to the Council of Europe, Minister of the Interior a...
Post a Comment
Read more

George Gilbert Scott Biography

George Gilbert Scott (Gawcott, 1811-London, 1878) British architect.One of the most prominent representatives of the English Victorian neo-Gothic, he is the author of the Martyrs' Chapel in Oxford, Saint-Pancras station and the famous Albert Memorial in Hyde Park.
Post a Comment
Read more

Jose Maria Nemesio Otaño Biography

José María Nemesio Otaño (José María Nemesio Otaño y Eguino, Azcoitia, 1880-San Sebastián, 1956) Spanish composer and musicologist, one of the essential figures in the reform of sacred music in Spain during the first half of the 20th century. He studied organ in Guipúzcoa and later counterpoint and composition with Vicente Goicoechea in Valladolid.In 1896 he entered the Society of Jesus and soon obtained the position of organist at the Loyola Basilica. In 1907 he organized the First National Congress of Sacred Music in Valladolid, and that same year he founded the magazine Hispanic Sacred Music , which, following the proposals of Pope Pius X, served to give new air to the religious music that had been performed in Spain until now. Since 1911 he was director of the choir of the Pontifical University of Comillas, which became a model of good functioning for other religious choral groups in Spain.Simultaneously, Otaño continued composing, giving classes and organizing activities...
Post a Comment
Read more