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

Georges bruhat Biography

Georges Bruhat (Besançon, 1887-Buchenwald, 1944) French physicist.Graduated in physical and mathematical sciences in 1908, he later received his doctorate with a thesis entitled The abnormal dispersion of the power of molecular rotation , which he defended shortly before the outbreak of the First World War.Mobilized in 1915, he developed sound-tracking devices during the war that earned him the cross of war. Georges Bruhat In the interwar period he was a professor at the University de Lila and at the Sorbonne, he carried out various works on physical optics and thermodynamics and published the Course in General Physics , a manual of exceptional pedagogical value divided into four volumes: Electricity ( 1924), Thermodynamics (1926), Optics (1930) and Mechanics (1934).In 1944, after refusing to expose a student, he was arrested by the Gestapo; a year later he died in a concentration camp.
Post a Comment
Read more

Godfrey of Bouillon Biography

Godfrey de Bouillon Knight of the First Crusade, creator of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (Baisy, Brabant, c.1061-Jerusalem, 1100).He was Duke of Lower Lorraine (Netherlands) and a faithful ally of the Emperor Henry IV, whom he had helped in his struggles against Rudolph of Swabia and against Pope Gregory VII.When Pope Urban II appealed to Christendom for a Crusade to liberate the "Holy Places" from the hands of Islam, Godfrey was one of the first to go (1095).He sold most of his domains to finance his own army, with which he arrived in Constantinople in 1096.He loaned vassal to the Byzantine emperor in exchange for food and troops.And, after his outstanding participation in several victorious battles against the Muslims (Nicaea, Dorilea, Antioch), he became head of the crusaders.These named him king of Jerusalem once the city was taken in 1099; but Godfrey did not admit the title, claiming Christian humility, and changed it to "protector of the Holy Sepulcher." He or...
Post a Comment
Read more

George morland Biography

George Morland (London, 1763- id ., 1804) British painter.He was a disciple of his father, Henry Morland, and specialized in scenes of rustic and tavern life, in which the influence of Dutch and French costumbrist painters, especially G.Stubbs, can be seen.It is considered a precursor of romanticism.
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

John Ponet Biography

John Ponet (in Kent, 1534-Strasbourg, 1556) English Prelate.He was one of the foremost Hellenists and Cambridge theologians.He was Bishop of Rochester and Winchester (1551).Famous for his sermons in favor of the Reformation, after the death of Edward VI he had to flee to Strasbourg.Among his works, the Brief treatise on political power stands out, in which he defends tyrannicide.
Post a Comment
Read more

Hevelius [Johannes Havelke] Biography

Hevelius [Johannes Havelke] (Danzig, 1611- id. , 1687) German astronomer.He drew up a first lunar map, published under the name Selenography (1647), in which he assigned names to the various features of the lunar surface and called the dark areas the sea.He determined the period of rotation of the Sun, observed its spots and discovered the faculae.In 1657 he began a catalog in which he determined the positions of 1,500 stars and that he could not finish because of a fire that destroyed his observatory (1679).
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 Beudant Biography

François Beudant (Paris, 1787- id ., 1850) French mineralogist.He studied physics and mineralogy and was a professor at the University of Paris.He classified the minerals with criteria of chemical analogy and bequeathed various works on mineralogy, physics, chemistry and zoology.
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

Hector Poleo Biography

Héctor Poleo (Caracas, 1918) Venezuelan painter.He studied mural painting in Mexico, where he met Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros.Among his works are The curators , which won him the Boulton Prize in 1943, a mural in the University City of Caracas, Los novios and his Self-portrait .
Post a Comment
Read more