beliefs and religion

Beliefs and religion

Ancient Egyptian religion remained mostly unchanged for many thousands of years,
apart from a very short time of belief in one god during the Amarna period under King
Akhenaten. Their culture changed little over this time. Although the Egyptians
claimed to be monotheistic, in practice they were polytheistic.

Religion was organized by a very powerful, well-educated priesthood with unlimited

authority under the Pharaoh. The king was God on earth in the form of man, and no
distinction was made between God and king. It was because of this that the ancient
Egyptian belief system created and supported the political and social hierarchy.
Egyptians strongly believed in an after-life, but only the wealthy could afford the
expensive and labour-intensive preparations for this after-life. Kings and powerful
nobility could, and this led to the creation of the monuments of ancient Egypt, like the
pyramids that many of us have seen in pictures.
Religion in Egypt evolved over centuries. This created and supported the political and
social hierarchy. In Egyptian society religion was significant for growth of the
civilization, as it fostered a shared understanding and shared values. Egyptians
believed in the after-life. They believed that everyone possessed a soul that would live
on after death. In their belief, after death, ordinary people would go to the world of
Osiris (afterlife) while only Pharaohs would go to the land of Ra, the sun god. This is
why Paraohs bodies were prepared in special way and buried in pyramids.

The Egyptian Sun god Ra Image source

Egyptians had thousands of gods, but certain gods such as the sun god Ra, were held
in greater esteem than others. He was usually shown in human form with a falcon
head crowned with the sun disc encircled by the sacred cobra. Many gods were linked
to special animals and were depicted to possess an animal head. These gods were
greatly feared by the people of Egypt. It was believed that whoever displeased the
gods would face a great punishment such as sickness, starvation, poor harvest or a
defeat in battle.
Prior to the development of the concept of god, powers that controlled natural
phenomena were seen as magical entities. Magical power was usually demonstrated
through the hieroglyph of a sceptre, with gods that took animal forms. For example,
there was Heket, the goddess of childbirth who had the head of a frog; Tefnut, the
goddess of moisture and rain, had the head of a lioness; and Anubis, the god of
mummification, had the head of a jackal. The sceptre can be seen throughout ancient
Egyptian history as a symbol of divine power.

The next stage of religious worship saw Egyptians conceive God in a more
personalised form. This phase was known as a mythical phase where gods were
depicted as having human bodies and temples were built in major cities to worship
local gods. During the New kingdom, 1100 B.C to 1600 B.C, these temples honoured
a triad of gods based on the pattern established by the mythical family of Osiris, Isis
and Horus.

A carving of the mythical family of Osiris, Isis and Horus Image source

The Pharaoh was god on earth in the form of man and no distinction was made
between God and king. A powerful and well educated priesthood had unlimited
authority under the pharaoh and organised religion. It was only the wealthy, namely
kings and powerful nobility who could afford the expensive and labour-intensive
preparations for the after-life, which would allow them to enter the land of the sun
go.,This they believed would allow them to keep power.
Egyptian religion continued to develop and influence other societies, such as Greece
and Rome, which conquered Egypt in the 600 B.C and 30 B.C. Ancient pagan
religions eventually faded and were replaced by monotheistic religions. Today the
majority of the Egyptian population is Muslim, while a small minority are Jews and
Christians.

https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/grade-5-term-3-ancient-
african-society-egypt