Ancient Egyptian Religion
Death was very important in Egyptian people’s lives. Alot of time and effort went into preparing for death and it was a big deal when it finally came, which compared to the average age that we die now, was a very short life.
Firstly, let’s talk about the afterlife; the most controversial part of death. In Egypt the afterlife was something that affected a lot of people’s decisions, because once you were dead you would be judged whether you were sufficiently worthy of going into the afterlife by the weight of your heart. It might sound weird, but it actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it. If your heart was ‘as light as a feather’ you would go with the god Osiris to the afterlife. As opposed to if it was heavy and weighed down, it would be eaten by a monster god crossed between a cheetah/lion, a hippo and a crocodile. A little harsh if you ask me, but it’s what they believed.
According to Herodotus, even though it was hoped that dead people would go to the afterlife, the mourning process was very dramatised.
“As regards mourning and funerals, when a distinguished man dies, all the women of the household plaster their heads and faces with mud, then, leaving the body indoors, perambulate the town with the dead man’s relatives, their dresses fastened with a girdle, and beat their bared breasts. The men too, for their part, follow the same procedure, wearing a girdle and beating themselves like the women. The ceremony over, they take the body to be mummified.” - Herodotus.
The afterlife was very important in ancient Egyptian religion because it was where they would spend the rest of their death (see what I did there?). The journey to the afterlife was through the underworld, a dangerous region that the soul had to traverse to get to the judgment stage of the soul’s moving process. Throughout that journey, the spirit would speak to gods, strange creatures and monsters and gatekeepers to get to Osiris, a god in the form of a human body and head unlike a lot of other gods. He was also the god of the underworld. When the spirit came to the judging process, they would stand before 42 divine judges and plead innocence of any wrongdoings or sins in their life. Once the soul had spoken to the 42 judges, Osiris would weigh the heart of the spirit and (as mentioned before) if it was light the spirit would get through to eternal paradise, if it was heavy and filled with sin the soul would be denied access to the afterlife and be eaten by a monster god.
The afterlife was much like the mortal world, it had a blue sky, rivers and boats for travel, gods and goddesses to worship and even fields and crops to harvest and maintain. The spirits in the afterlife were granted a plot of land in the Field of Rushes and were expected to maintain it themselves or get their shabtis to work for them. Shabtis are statuettes used for hard labour and heavy manual tasks for their master soul in the afterlife.
Animals were very important in ancient Egypt because most of the gods were part animal. Cats in particular were an extremely popular animal and people went to extreme lengths to please them and protect them from harm. The reason cats were seen in such high regard was because of the goddess of love, protection, joy, dance, music and of course cats. She was a half-feline half-human goddess, the feline part of her was of the common domestic cat unlike various other feline gods and goddesses.
Here is a list of some of the most important gods, their animal part if they have one, what they were the god of, what they did as gods.
Amun is a ram headed god that wears a long, ostrich feather covered crown. He was one of the most powerful gods and was often called ‘King of the Gods’. When combined with Ra (the god) he was more powerful, therefore he changed his name to Amun-Ra. A large temple was built for him at Thebes.
Anubis was a jackal headed god who ruled over embalming and the dead. Since jackals were frequently seen in cemeteries, the Egyptians believed he watched over the dead. Priests often wore Anubis masks while mummifying someone because he was the god of embalming.
Atum was a fully human god that wore a double crown. He is a creator god and is said to be the first of all gods. The ancient Egyptians believed that he rose from the waters of chaos and created all of the other gods.
Bastet is the god of music, love, protection, dance, joy and cats. She has the head of a domestic cat and body of a human. She is usually seen as a gentle protective goddess, but she sometimes appeared with the head of a lioness when protecting the king. She is a daughter of Ra the sun god. A great temple was built in her honor at Bubastis in the Delta.
Bes is a dwarf god with lion and human features that often wears the skin of a lion. He is the protector of pregnant women, newborn babies and family. The ancient Egyptians believed he was also the protector against sna
ke and scorpion bites. Amulets of Bes were popular in ancient Egypt.