Egyptian pyramids

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Pyramids of Egypt are among the largest structures ever built [1] and constitute one of the most potent and enduring symbols of Ancient Egyptian civilization. Most were built during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods.[2]
Contents


* 1 Historic development
* 2 Pyramid symbolism
* 3 Number and location of pyramids
o 3.1 Abu Rawash
o 3.2 Giza
o 3.3 Zawyet el-Aryan
o 3.4 Abu Sir
o 3.5 Saqqara
o 3.6 Dahshur
o 3.7 Mazghuna
o 3.8 Lisht
o 3.9 Meidum
o 3.10 Hawara
o 3.11 el-Lahun
o 3.12 Construction dates
* 4 See also
* 5 Notes & references
o 5.1 References
* 6 Further reading
o 6.1 External links

By the time of the early dynastic period of Egyptian history, those with sufficient means were buried in bench-like structures known as mastabas.

The first historically documented Egyptian pyramid is attributed to the architect Imhotep, who planned what Egyptologists believe to be a tomb for the pharaoh Djozer. Imhotep may have been the first to conceive the notion of stacking mastabas on top of each other — creating an edifice composed of a number of "steps" that decreased in size towards its apex. The result was the Step Pyramid of Djozer — which was designed to serve as a gigantic stairway by which the soul of the deceased pharaoh could ascend to the heavens. Such was the importance of Imhotep's achievement that he was deified by later Egyptians.

The most prolific pyramid-building phase coincided with the greatest degree of absolutist pharaonic rule. It was during this time that the most famous pyramids, those near Giza, were built. Over time, as authority became less centralized, the ability and willingness to harness the resources required for construction on a massive scale decreased, and later pyramids were smaller, less well-built and often hastily constructed.

Long after the end of Egypt's own pyramid-building period, a burst of pyramid-building occurred in what is present-day Sudan, after much of Egypt came under the rule of the Kings of Napata. While Napatan rule was brief and ceased in 661 BCE, the Egyptian influence made an indelible impression, and during the later Sudanese Kingdom of Meroe (approximately in the period between 300 BCE–300 CE) this flowered into a full-blown pyramid-building revival, which saw more than two hundred indigenous, but Egyptian-inspired royal pyramid-tombs constructed in the vicinity of the kingdom's capital city.


Pyramid symbolism

The shape of Egyptian pyramids is thought to represent the primordial mound from which the Egyptians believed the earth was created. The shape is also thought to be representative of the descending rays of the sun, and most pyramids were faced with polished, highly reflective white limestone, in order to give them a brilliant appearance when viewed from a distance. Pyramids were often also named in ways that referred to solar luminescence. For example, the formal name of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur was The Southern Shining Pyramid, and that of Senwosret at el-Lahun was Senwosret is Shining.

While it is generally agreed that pyramids were burial monuments, there is continued disagreement on the particular theological principles that might have given rise to them. One theory is that they were designed as a type of "resurrection machine"

The Egyptians believed the dark area of the night sky around which the stars appear to revolve was the physical gateway into the heavens. One of the narrow shafts that extends from the main burial chamber through the entire body of the Great Pyramid points directly towards the center of this part of the sky. This suggests the pyramid may have been designed to serve as a means to magically launch the deceased pharaoh's soul directly into the abode of the gods.

All Egyptian pyramids were built on the west bank of the Nile, which as the site of the setting sun was associated with the realm of the dead in Egyptian mythology.[7]


Number and location of pyramids

The number of pyramid structures in Egypt today is reported by most sources as being between 81 and 112[citation needed], with a majority favouring the higher number. In 1842 Karl Richard Lepsius made a list of pyramids, in which he counted 67. Pyramid 29 that Lepsius called the "Headless Pyramid" remained lost until being found in an archaeological dig in 2008.[8] A great many more Pyramids have since been discovered.

The imprecise nature of the count is related to the fact that as many smaller pyramids are in a poor state of preservation and appear as little more than mounds of rubble, they are only now being properly identified and studied by archaeologists. Most are grouped in a number of pyramid fields, the most important of which are listed geographically, from north to south, below.


Abu Rawash

Abu Rawash is the site of Egypt's most northerly pyramid (other than the ruins of Lepsius pyramid number one)[2]— the mostly ruined Pyramid of Djedefre, son and successor of Khufu. Originally it was thought that this pyramid had never been completed, but the current archaeological consensus is that not only was it completed, but that it was originally about the same size as the Pyramid of Menkaure, which would have made it among the half-dozen or so largest pyramids in Egypt.

Its location adjacent to a major crossroads made it an easy source of stone. Quarrying — which began in Roman times — has left little apart from a few courses of stone superimposed upon the natural hillock that formed part of the pyramid's core. A small adjacent satellite pyramid is in a better state of preservation.


Giza

Giza is the location of the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the "Great Pyramid" and the "Pyramid of Cheops"); the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Kephren); the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinus), along with a number of smaller satellite edifices known as "Queen's pyramids"; and the Great Sphinx.

Of the three, only Khafre's pyramid retains part of its original polished limestone casing, near its apex. This pyramid appears larger than the adjacent Khufu pyramid by virtue of its more elevated location, and the steeper angle of inclination of its construction — it is, in fact, smaller in both height and volume.

The Giza Necropolis has been a popular tourist destination since antiquity, and was popularized in Hellenistic times when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Today it is the only one of those wonders still in existence.


Zawyet el-Aryan

This site, halfway between Giza and Abu Sir, is the location for two unfinished Old Kingdom pyramids. The northern structure's owner is believed to be the Pharaoh Nebka, whilst the southern structure is attributed to the Third Dynasty Pharaoh Khaba, also known as Hudjefa, successor to Sekhemkhet. Khaba's four-year tenure as pharaoh more than likely explains the similar premature truncation of his step pyramid. Today it is approximately twenty meters in height; had it been completed it is likely to have exceeded 40.


Abu Sir

There are a total of seven pyramids at this site, which served as the main royal necropolis during the Fifth Dynasty. The quality of construction of the Abu Sir pyramids is inferior to those of the Fourth Dynasty — perhaps signaling a decrease in royal power or a less vibrant economy. They are smaller than their predecessors, and are built of low-quality local limestone.

The three major pyramids are those of Niuserre (which is also the most intact), Neferirkare Kakai and Sahure. The site is also home to the incomplete Pyramid of Neferefre. All of the major pyramids at Abu Sir were built as step pyramids, although the largest of them — the Pyramid of Neferirkare Kakai — is believed to have originally been built as a step pyramid some 70 metres in height and then later transformed into a "true" pyramid by having its steps filled in with loose masonry.


Saqqara

Major pyramids located here include the Step Pyramid of Djozer — generally identified as the world's oldest substantial monumental structure to be built of finished stone — the Pyramid of Merykare, the Pyramid of Userkaf and the Pyramid of Teti. Also at Saqqara is the Pyramid of Unas, which retains a pyramid causeway that is one of the best-preserved in Egypt. This pyramid was also the subject of one of the earliest known restoration attempts, conducted by a son of Ramesses II. Saqqara is also the location of the incomplete step pyramid of Djozer's successor Sekhemkhet, known as the Buried Pyramid. Archaeologists believe that had this pyramid been completed it would have been larger than Djozer's.

South of the main pyramid field at Saqqara is a second collection of later, smaller pyramids, including those of Pepi I, Isesi, Merenre, Ibi, Pepi II and Shepseskaf. Most of these are in a poor state of preservation.


Dahshur

This area is arguably the most important pyramid field in Egypt outside Giza and Saqqara, although until 1996 the site was inaccessible due to its location within a military base, and hence was virtually unknown outside archaeological circles.

The southern Pyramid of Sneferu, commonly known as the Bent Pyramid is believed to be the first (or by some accounts, second) attempt at creating a pyramid with smooth sides. In this it was only a partial — but nonetheless visually arresting — success; it remains the only Egyptian pyramid to retain a significant proportion of its original limestone casing, and serves as the best example of the luminous appearance common to all pyramids in their original state. The northern, or Red Pyramid built at the same location by Sneferu was later successfully completed as the world's first true smooth-sided pyramid. Despite its relative obscurity, the Red Pyramid is actually the third largest pyramid in Egypt — after the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre at Giza. Also at Dahshur is the pyramid known as the Black Pyramid of Amenemhet III.


Mazghuna

Located to the south of Dahshur, this area was used in the First Intermediate Period by several kings who constructed their pyramids out of mudbrick. Today these structures are obscure and unimpressive.


Lisht

Two major pyramids are known to have been built at Lisht — those of Amenemhat I and his son, Senusret I. The latter is surrounded by the ruins of ten smaller subsidiary pyramids. One of these subsidiary pyramids is known to be that of Amenemhat's cousin, Khaba II.[9] The site which is in the vicinity of the oasis of Fayyum, midway between Dahshur and Meidum, and about 100 kilometres south of Cairo, is believed to be in the vicinity of the ancient city of Itjtawy (the precise location of which remains unknown), which served as the capital of Egypt during the 12th Dynasty.


Meidum

The pyramid at Meidum is one of three constructed during the reign of Sneferu, and is believed by some to have been started by that pharaoh's father and predecessor, Huni. However, this is not very likely, as his name does not appear on the site. Some archaeologists also suggest that the Meidum pyramid may have been the first unsuccessful attempt at the construction of a "true" or smooth-sided pyramid.

The pyramid suffered a catastrophic collapse in antiquity, and today only the central parts of its stepped inner core remain standing, giving it an odd tower-like appearance that is unique among Egyptian pyramids. The hill that the pyramid sits atop is not a natural landscape feature — it is the small mountain of debris created when the lower courses and outer casing of the pyramid gave way.


Hawara

Amenemhet III was the last powerful ruler of the 12th Dynasty, and the pyramid he built at Hawarra, near Faiyum, is believed to post-date the so-called "Black Pyramid" built by the same ruler at Dahshur. It is the Hawarra pyramid that is believed to have been Amenemhet's final resting place.


el-Lahun

The pyramid of Senusret II at el-Lahun is the southernmost royal-tomb pyramid structure in Egypt. Its builders reduced the amount of work necessary to construct it by ingeniously using as its foundation and core a 12-meter-high natural limestone hill.

Egyptian Mythology - list of characters

* Aaru: Abode of the blessed dead.
* Amen (Amon, Ammdn): One of chief Theban deities; united with sun god under form of Amen-Ra; husband of Mut.
* Amenti: Region of dead where souls were judged by Osiris.
* Anubis: Guide of souls to Amenti; son of Osiris; jackal-headed.
* Apis: Sacred bull, an embodiment of Ptah; identified with Osiris as Osiris-Apis or Serapis.
* Geb (Keb, Seb): Earth god; father of Osiris; represented with goose on head.
* Hathor (Athor): Goddess of love and mirth; cow-headed.
* Horus: God of day; son of Osiris and Isis; hawk-headed.
* Isis: Goddess of motherhood and fertility; sister and wife of Osiris.
* Khepera: God of morning sun.
* Khnemu (Khnum, Chnuphis, Chnemu, Chnum): Ram-headed god.
* Khonsu (Khensu, Khuns): Son of Amen and Mut.
* Mentu (Ment): Solar deity, sometimes considered god of war; falcon-headed.
* Min (Khem, Chem): Principle of physical life.
* Mut (Maut): Wife of Amen.
* Nephthys: Goddess of the dead; sister and wife of Set.
* Nu: Chaos from which world was created, personified as a god.
* Nut: Goddess of heavens; consort of Geb.
* Osiris: God of underworld and judge of dead; son of Geb and Nut; brother and husband of Isis.
* Ptah (Phtha): Chief deity of Memphis.
* Ra: God of the Sun, the supreme god; son of Nut; Pharaohs claimed descent from him; represented as lion, cat, or falcon.
* Serapis: God uniting attributes of Osiris and Apis.
* Set (Seth): God of darkness or evil; brother and enemy of Osiris; brother and husband of Nephthys.
* Shu: Solar deity; son of Ra and Hathor.
* Tem (Atmu, Atum, Tum): Solar deity.
* Thoth (Dhouti): God of wisdom and magic; scribe of gods; ibis-headed.

Numbers in Egyptian mythology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Certain numbers were considered sacred, holy, or magical by the ancient Egyptians, particularly 2, 3, 4, 7, and their multiples and sums.[1]
Contents


* 1 Three: symbol of plurality
* 2 Five
* 3 Seven: symbol of perfection, effectiveness, completeness
* 4 Notes
* 5 See also
* 6 General Sources

Three: symbol of plurality

The basic symbol for plurality among the ancient Egyptians was the number three: even the way they wrote the word for "plurality" in hieroglyphics consisted of three vertical marks ( | | | ). Triads of deities were also used in Egyptian religion to signify a complete system. Examples include references to the god Atum "when he was one and became three" when he gave birth to Shu and Tefnut, and the triad of Horus, Osiris, and Isis. [2]

Examples

* The beer used to trick Sekhmet soaked three hands into the ground.
* The second god, Re, named three times to define the sun: dawn, noon, and evening.
* Thoth is described as the “thrice-great god of wisdom”. [3]
* A doomed prince was doomed to three fates: to die by a crocodile, a serpent, or a dog. [4]
* Three groups of three attempts each (nine attempts) were required for a legendary peasant to recover his stolen goods.[5]
* A boasting mage claimed to be able to cast a great darkness to last three days. [6]
* After asking Thoth for help, a King of Ethiopia was brought to Thebes and publicly beaten three further times. [7]
* An Ethiopian mage tried—and failed—three times to defeat the greatest mage of Egypt. [8]
* An Egyptian mage, in an attempt to enter the land of the dead, threw a certain powder on a fire three times.[9]
* There are twelve (three times four) sections of the Egyptian land of the dead. The dead disembark at the third.[10]
* The Knot of Isis, representing life, has three loops.[11]

Five

Examples

* The second god, Re, named five gods and goddesses.[12]
* Thoth added five days to the year by winning the light from the moon in a game of gambling. [13]
* It took five days for the five children of Nut to be born. These are Osiris, Nephthys, Isis, Set and Horus the Elder - this should not be mistaken with Harpocrates (Horus the Infant) whom defeated Set in battle. [14]
* A boasting mage claimed to be able to bring the Pharaoh of Egypt to Ethiopia and by magic, have him beaten with a rod five hundred (five times five times five times four) times, and return him to Egypt in the space of five hours.[15]
* An Ethiopian mage comes to challenge Egypt’s greatest mage—to reading of a sealed letter—five hundred (five times five times five times four) years after the atrocity depicted in it occurred.[16]
* The star, or pentagram, representing the afterlife, has five points.[17]

Fives are less common in Egyptian mythology.

Seven: symbol of perfection, effectiveness, completeness

The number seven was apparently the Egyptian symbol of such ideas as perfection, effectiveness, and completeness.

Examples

* Seven thousand barrels of red beer were used to trick Sekhmet out of killing. [18]
* In her search for her husband’s pieces, the goddess Isis was guarded by seven scorpions. [19]
* A legendary famine lasted seven years. [20]
* The lowest amount that the Nile flooded to solve the famine was seven cubits. The highest was four times seven (28) cubits. [21]
* A doomed prince found a tower seventy (two times five times seven) cubits high with seventy (two times five times seven) windows. [22]
* Set tore the god Osiris’ body into fourteen pieces: seven each for the two regions of Upper and Lower Egypt. [23]
* The Pool symbol, representing water, contains seven zigzag lines.[24]
* The Gold symbol has seven spines on its underside.[25]

Solar deity

A Solar Deity (also Sun God(dess)), is a deity who represents the sun, or an aspect of it. People have worshiped these for all of recorded history. Hence, many beliefs have formed around this worship, such as the "missing sun" found in many cultures (see below). Sun worship is a possible origin of henotheism and ultimately monotheism.
Contents


* 1 Solar barge / Sun chariot
* 2 Female and male
* 3 Missing sun motif
* 4 Solar deities throughout cultures
o 4.1 Africa
+ 4.1.1 Ancient Egypt
o 4.2 Chinese mythology
o 4.3 Hinduism
o 4.4 Indonesia
* 5 Folklore
* 6 Solar myth
* 7 See also
* 8 References
* 9 Bibliography
* 10 External links

Solar barge / Sun chariot
Ra in his solar barge
Ra in his solar barge

A "solar barge" (also "solar bark", "solar barque", "solar boat", "sun boat") is a mythological representation of the sun riding in a boat. The "Khufu ship", a 43.6-meter-long vessel that was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2500 BC, is a full-size surviving example which may have fulfilled the symbolic function of a solar barque. Other sun boats were found in Egypt dating to different pharonic dynasties.[1]

Examples include:

* Neolithic petroglyphs which (it has been speculated) show solar barges
* The many early Egyptian goddesses who are related as sun deities and the later gods Ra and Horus depicted as riding in a solar barge. In Egyptian myths of the afterlife, Ra rides in an underground channel from west to east every night so that he can rise in the east the next morning.
* The Nebra sky disk, which (it has been speculated) features a depiction of a solar barge [2]
* Nordic Bronze Age petroglyphs, including those found in Tanumshede often contains barges and sun crosses in different constellations.

A "sun chariot" is a mythological representation of the sun riding in a chariot. The concept is younger than that of the solar barge, and typically Indo-European, corresponding with the Indo-European expansion after the invention of the chariot in the 2nd millennium BC.

Examples include:

* Trundholm sun chariot of the Nordic deity, Sól, drawn by Arvak and Alsvid
* Greek Helios riding in a chariot,[2] (see also Phaëton[3])
* Sol Invictus depicted riding a quadriga on the reverse of a Roman coin.[4]
* Vedic Surya riding in a chariot drawn by seven horses

The sun itself also was compared to a wheel, possibly in Proto-Indo-European, Greek hēliou kuklos, Sanskrit suryasya cakram, Anglo-Saxon sunnan hweogul (PIE *swelyosyo kukwelos).

Female and male
The warrior goddess Sekhmet, shown with her sun disk and cobra crown
The warrior goddess Sekhmet, shown with her sun disk and cobra crown

Solar deities are popularly thought of as male counterparts of the lunar deity (usually female); however, sun goddesses are found on every continent (e.g. Amaterasu in Japanese belief) paired with male lunar deities. Among the earliest records of human beliefs, the early goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon carried a sun above their head as a symbol of dignity. The sun was a major aspect of Egyptian symbols and hieroglyphs, all the lunar deities of that pantheon were male deities. The cobra, the lioness, the cow, the dominant symbols of the most ancient Egyptian deities, carried their relationship to the sun atop their heads; they were female and their cults remained active throughout the history of the culture. Later a sun god was established in the eighteenth dynasty on top of the other solar deities, before the "aberration" was stamped out and the old pantheon re-established. When male deities became associated with the sun in that culture, they began as the offspring of a mother. Feminist examination of some of the earliest religions of Western cultures concluded that a sun goddess, often, driving her chariot bearing it across the sky daily. Sól is the goddess after whom the sun and Sunday are named in English.

Some mythologists, such as Brian Branston, contend that sun goddesses are more common worldwide than their male counterparts. They also claim that the belief that solar deities are primarily male is linked to the fact that a few better known mythologies (such as those of late classical Greece and late Roman mythology) rarely break from this rule, although closer examination of the earlier myths of those cultures reveal a very different distribution than the contemporary popular belief. The dualism of sun/male/light and moon/female/darkness is found in many (but not all) late southern traditions in Europe that derive from Orphic and Gnostic philosophies.

In Germanic mythology the Sun is female and the Moon is male. The corresponding Old English name is Siȝel (/ˈsɪ jel/), continuing Proto-Germanic *Sôwilô or *Saewelô. The Old High German Sun goddess is Sunna. In the Norse traditions, every day, Sól rode through the sky on her chariot, pulled by two horses named Arvak and Alsvid. Sól also was called Sunna, Sunne, and Frau Sunne, from which are derived the words, sun and Sunday.

Missing sun motif
Amaterasu finally emerges from the cave
Amaterasu finally emerges from the cave

The missing sun is a theme in the myths of many cultures, sometimes including the themes of imprisonment, exile, or death. The missing sun is often used to explain various natural phenomena, including the disappearance of the sun at night, shorter days during the winter, and solar eclipses. Even the Greek myth of Gaia as Demeter and her daughter, Persephone or Kore, imply that the latter was a sun goddess who went missing, bringing on winter when her mother failed to keep the earth bountiful as she searched for her missing daughter.

Some other tales are similar, such as the Sumerian story of the goddess, Inanna's descent into the underworld. These may have parallel themes, but do not fit in this motif unless they concern a solar deity.

In late Egyptian mythology, Ra passes through Duat (the underworld) every night. Apep has to be defeated in the darkness hours for Ra and his solar barge to emerge in the east each morning.

In Japanese mythology, the sun goddess Amaterasu is angered by the behavior of her brother, Susanoo, and hides in a cave, plunging the world into darkness until she is willing to emerge.

In Norse mythology, the gods Odin and Tyr both have attributes of a sky father, and they are doomed to be devoured by wolves (Fenrir and Garm, respectively) at Ragnarok. Sól, the Norse sun goddess, will be devoured by the wolf Skoll.

Solar deities throughout cultures
The winged sun was an ancient (3rd millennium BC) symbol of Horus, later identified with Ra
The winged sun was an ancient (3rd millennium BC) symbol of Horus, later identified with Ra

In different religions solarised supreme deities carry different names and are associated with different aspects of the cultural universe of the society, but for the most part its raw image remains identical.

The Neolithic concept of a solar barge, the sun as traversing the sky in a boat, is found in the later myths of ancient Egypt, with Ra and Horus. Earlier Egyptian myths imply that the sun is within the lioness, Sekhmet, at night and can be seen reflected in her eyes or that it is within the cow, Hathor during the night, being reborn each morning as her son (bull). Proto-Indo-European religion has a solar chariot, the sun as traversing the sky in a chariot.

During the Roman Empire, a festival of the birth of the Unconquered Sun (or Dies Natalis Solis Invicti) was celebrated when the duration of daylight first begins to increase after the winter solstice, — the "rebirth" of the sun. In Germanic mythology this is Sol, in Vedic Surya, and in Greek Helios (occasionally referred to as Titan) and (sometimes) as Apollo. Mesopotamian Shamash plays an important role during the Bronze Age, and "my Sun" is eventually used as an address to royalty. Similarly, South American cultures have emphatic Sun worship, see Inti. See also Sol Invictus. Svarog is the Slavic god sun and spirit of fire.

Africa

The Munsh tribe considers the Sun to be the son of the supreme being Awondo and the Moon is Awondo's daughter. The Barotse tribe believes that the Sun is inhabited by the sky god Nyambi and the Moon is his wife. Even where the sun god is equated with the supreme being, in some African mythologies he or she does not have any special functions or privileges as compared to other deities.

Ancient Egypt
Isis, bearing her solar disk and horns nurses her infant, Horus
Isis, bearing her solar disk and horns nurses her infant, Horus

Sun worship was exceptionally prevalent in ancient Egyptian religion. The earliest deities associated with the sun are Wadjet, Sekhmet, Hathor, Nut, Bast, Bat, and Menhit. First Hathor, and then Isis, give birth to and nurse Horus and Ra.

The Sun's movement across the sky represents a struggle between the Pharaoh's soul and an avatar of Osiris. The "solarisation" of several local gods (Hnum-Re, Min-Re, Amon-Re) reaches its peak in the period of the fifth dynasty.

In the eighteenth dynasty, Akhenaten changed the polytheistic religion of Egypt to a pseudo-monotheistic one, Atenism. All other deities were replaced by the Aten, including, Amun, the reigning sun god of Akhenaten's own region. Unlike other deities, the Aten did not have multiple forms. His only image was a disk—a symbol of the sun.

Soon after Akhenaten's death, worship of the traditional deities was reestablished by the religious leaders who had adopted the Aten during the reign of Akhenaten.

Chinese mythology

In Chinese mythology (cosmology), there were originally ten suns in the sky, and the world was so hot that nothing grew. A hero called Hou Yi shot down nine of them with bow and arrows. In another myth, the solar eclipse was caused by the dog of heaven biting off a piece of the sun. There was a tradition in China to hit pots and pans during a solar eclipse to drive away the "dog".

Hinduism
Surya at Konark Temple
Surya at Konark Temple

In the Vedas, numerous hymns are dedicated to Surya deva, the Sun personified, and Savitr, "the impeller", a solar deity either identified with or associated with Surya. Even the Gayatri mantra, which is regarded as one of the most sacred of the Hindu hymns is dedicated to the Sun. The Adityas are a group of solar deities, from the Brahmana period numbering twelve. The ritual of sandhyavandanam, performed by some Hindus, is meant to worship the sun.

The Mahabharata describes its warrior hero Karna as being the son of Kunti and the Sun. The Ramayana has its protagonist Rama as being from the Surya Vamsham or the clan of kings as bright as the Sun. The charioteer of Surya is Arun, who is also personified as the redness that accompanies the sunlight in dawn and dusk.

At Konark, a town in Orissa, a temple is dedicated to Surya. The Konark temple has also been declared a UNESCO world heritage site. Surya is the most prominent of the navagrahas or nine celestial objects of the Hindus. Navagrahas can be found in almost all Hindu temples.

Indonesia

The same swapping process is seen in Indonesia. The solar gods have a stronger presence in Indonesia's religious life and myth.

In some cases the Sun is revered as a "father" or "founder" of the tribe. This may apply for the whole tribe or only for the royal and ruling families. This practise is more common in Australia and on the island of Timor, where the tribal leaders are seen as direct heirs to the Sun god.

Some of the initiation rites include the second reincarnation of the rite's subject as a "son of the Sun", through a symbolic death and a rebirth in the form of a Sun. These rituals hint that the Sun may have an important role in the sphere of funerary beliefs. Watching the Sun's path has given birth to the idea in some societies that the deity of the Sun descends in to the underworld without dying and is capable of returning afterward. This is the reason for the Sun being associated with functions such as guide of the deceased tribe members to the underworld, as well as with revival of perished. The Sun is a mediator between the planes of the living and the dead.

Folklore

In folklore traditions there are many preserved archaic Sun cults which incorporate themselves into newer religions. For example, the burning wheels rolled down hills during sun equinox days, the ban on using jiggers on certain days of the year or the custom of tying a man to a wheel. The "sun-fertility-hero/representative of the underworld" cult complex is also evident in Japan where there is a custom that young people representing the Sun's ancestors (i.e. the dead) should paint their faces red and visit village homes, guaranteeing the land's fertility through this magical ritual.

Another important mythological complex is that of the "Sun Hero", typical of the nomad-herders. Such heroes are encountered among the African nomad tribes, the tribes from Central Asia (Gesen Khan), and among all Indo-European peoples. The Sun Hero always has a "dark" side - he has some sort of connection with the underworld, with the initiation ritual and with fertility. The Sun Hero myth contains many elements that link the Hero with the Demiurge. The Hero often saves the world, renews the world, opens a new epoch, and generally brings about some major renewal to the established cosmical order. These functions of the Sun Hero represent the demiurgical "legacy" left from the supreme celestial being. A typical example for such evolution is the god Mithras.

Solar myth

Three theories exercised great influence on nineteenth and early twentieth century mythography, beside the Tree worship of Mannhardt and the Totemism of J.F. McLennan, the "Sun myth" of Alvin Boyd Kuhn and Max Müller.

R.F. Littledale criticized the Sun myth theory when he illustrated that Max Müller on his own principles was himself only a Solar myth, whilst Alfred Lyall delivered a still stronger attack on the same theory and its assumption that tribal gods and heroes, such as those of Homer, were mere reflections of the Sun myth by proving that the gods of certain Rajput clans were really warriors who founded the clans not many centuries ago, and were the ancestors of the present chieftains.[5]

Egyptian soul

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ancient Egyptians believed that a human soul was made up of five parts: the Ren, the Ba, the Ka, the Sheut, and the Ib. In addition to these components of the soul there was the human body (called the ha, occasionally a plural haw, meaning approximately sum of bodily parts).
Contents


* 1 Ib (heart)
* 2 Sheut (shadow)
* 3 Ren (name)
* 4 Ba (individual personality)
* 5 Ka (life force)
* 6 Notes
* 7 References

Ib (heart)
jb (F34) "heart"
in hieroglyphs
F34

The most important part of the Egyptian soul was thought to be the Ib, or heart. To Ancient Egyptians, it was the heart and not the brain that was the seat of emotion and thought, including the will and intentions. In Egyptian religion, the heart was the key to the afterlife. It was conceived as proceeding at death to the future world, where it gave evidence for, or against, its possessor. It was thought that the heart was examined by Anubis and the deities during the Weighing of the Heart ceremony. If the heart weighed more than the feather of Maat, it was immediately consumed by the demon Ammit. This is evidenced by the many expressions in the Egyptian language which incorporate the word ib, Awt-ib: happiness (literally, wideness of heart), Xak-ib: estranged (literally, truncated of heart). This word was transcribed by Wallis Budge as 'Ab'.

Sheut (shadow)

A person's shadow, Sheut (šwt in Egyptian), was always present. It was believed that a person could not exist without a shadow, nor a shadow without a person, therefore, Egyptians surmised that a shadow contained something of the person it represents. For this reason statues of people and deities were sometimes referred to as their shadows.

The shadow was represented graphically as a small human figure painted completely black as well, as a figure of death, or servant of Anubis.

Ren (name)

As a part of the soul, a person's name (ren in Egyptian) was given to them at birth and the Egyptians believed that it would live for as long as that name was spoken, which explains why efforts were made to protect it and the practice of placing it in numerous writings. For example, part of the Book of Breathings, a derivative of the Book of the Dead, was a means to ensure the survival of the name. A cartouche (magical rope) often was used to surround the name and protect it. Conversely, the names of deceased enemies of the state, such as Akhenaten, were hacked out of monuments in a form of damnatio memoriae. Sometimes, however, they were removed in order to make room for the economical insertion of the name of a successor, without having to build another monument. The greater the number of places a name was used, the greater the possibility it would survive to be read and spoken.

Ba (individual personality)
The ba
The ba
b3 (G29)
in hieroglyphs
G29
b3 (G53)
in hieroglyphs
G53

The 'Ba' (b3) is in some regards the closest to the contemporary Western religious notion of a soul, but it also was everything that makes an individual unique, similar to the notion of 'personality'. (In this sense, inanimate objects could also have a 'Ba', a unique character, and indeed Old Kingdom pyramids often were called the 'Ba' of their owner). Like a soul, the 'Ba' is a part of a person that the Egyptians believed would live after the body died, and it is sometimes depicted as a human-headed bird flying out of the tomb to join with the 'Ka' in the afterlife.

The word 'bau' (plural of the word ba) is based on this concept. It meant something similar to 'impressiveness', 'power', and 'reputation', particularly of a deity. When a deity intervened in human affairs, it was said that the 'Bau' of the deity were at work [Borghouts 1982]. In this regard, the ruler was regarded as a 'Ba' of a deity, or one deity was believed to be the 'Ba' of another.

Ka (life force)

The Ka (k3) was the Egyptian concept of life force, that which distinguishes the difference between a living and a dead person, with death occurring when the ka left the body. The Egyptians believed that Khnum created the bodies of children on a potter's wheel and inserted them into women's bodies. Depending on the region, Egyptians believed that Heket or Meskhenet was the creator of each person's Ka, breathing it into them at the instant of their birth as the part of their soul that made them be alive. This resembles the concept of spirit in other religions.

The Egyptians also believed that the ka was sustained through food and drink. For this reason food and drink offerings were presented to the dead, although it was the kau (k3w) within the offerings (also known as kau) that was consumed, not the physical aspect. The ka was often represented in Egyptian iconography as a second image of the individual, leading earlier works to attempt to translate ka as double.

Ancient Egyptians believed that death occurs when a person's ka' leaves the body. Ceremonies conducted by priests after death, including the "opening of the mouth (wp r)", aimed not only to restore a person's physical abilities in death, but also to release a Ba's attachment to the body. This allowed the Ba to be united with the Ka in the afterlife, creating an entity known as an "Akh" (3ḫ, meaning "effective one").

According to Friedrich Junge, Giacomo Borioni proposes in his work "Der Ka aus religionswissenschaftlicher Sicht" that the Ka was the self of a human being.

Egyptians conceived of an afterlife as quite similar to normal physical existence — but with a difference. The model for this new existence was the journey of the sun. At night the sun descended into the Duat (the underworld). Eventually the sun meets the body of the mummified Osiris. Osiris and the sun, re-energized by each other, rise to new life for another day. For the deceased, their body and their tomb were their personal Osiris and a personal Duat. For this reason they are often addressed as "Osiris". For this process to work, some sort of bodily preservation was required, to allow the Ba to return during the night, and to rise to new life in the morning. However, the complete Akhu were also thought to appear as stars.[1] Until the Late Period, non-royal Egyptians did not expect to unite with the sun deity, it being reserved for the royals.[2]

The Book of the Dead, the collection of spells which aided a person in the afterlife existence, had the Egyptian name of the Book of going forth by day. They helped people avoid the perils of the afterlife and also aided their existence, containing spells to assure "not dying a second time in the underworld", and to "grant memory always" to a person.

The tomb of Paheri, an Eighteenth dynasty nomarch of Nekhen, has an eloquent description of this existence, and is translated by James P. Allen as:

Your life happening again, without your ba being kept away from your divine corpse, with your ba being together with the akh ... You shall emerge each day and return each evening. A lamp will be lit for you in the night until the sunlight shines forth on your breast. You shall be told: "Welcome, welcome, into this your house of the living!"

Ancient Egyptian burial customs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The ancient Egyptians had an elaborate set of burial customs that they believed were necessary to ensure their immortality after death. These rituals and protocols included mummification, casting of magic spells, and burial with specific grave goods thought to be needed in the afterlife.[1][2]. The burial customs used by the ancient Egyptians evolved throughout time as old customs were discarded and new ones adopted, but several important elements of the process persisted. Although specific details changed over time, the preparation of the body, the magic rituals involved, and the grave goods provided were all essential parts of a proper Egyptian funeral.
Contents


* 1 Mummification
o 1.1 Reason
o 1.2 Practice
* 2 Burial rituals and funerary literature
* 3 Burial goods
* 4 References

Mummification

See also main article, Mummy (Corpse)

Reason

Keeping the body of an individual intact after death was necessary so that the Egyptian soul or ka would have a place to live after death. Shallow burials in hot sand often brought about mummification. But once bodies were buried in tombs they decayed quickly. The ancient Egyptians used mummification to prevent the person's remains from decaying.

Mummification was first used in the Old Kingdom, but not fully developed until the New Kingdom. It continued to be practiced until the demise of the ancient Egyptian religion. Mortuary services were available to anyone who could pay for them, although only wealthy members of society could afford more elaborate services. Mummification was actually only available to the rich until the methods became easier and less time consuming. The average mummification process for a queen or king was 70 days.

Practice

Although no records exist that document the exact process ancient Egyptians used to mummify humans, documents describing the mummification of the sacred Apis bull, the descriptions of Herodotus combined with thorough examination of existing mummies allow scholars to deduce the most likely course of the mummification process.

They thought the heart was the center of intelligence and it was the magical part of the body.

The basic process involved laying the body on a flat board, and cutting a slit in the abdomen. In an elaborate mummification, this might be performed by a priest wearing a jackal mask to represent Anubis, the deity associated with mummification and the guardian of the Necropolis. Then the body would be washed inside and out with palm wine. The lungs, liver, intestines, and the stomach were removed, mummified separately, and put into canopic jars. The heart was left intact because Egyptians believed this is where the essence of a person resided. Because the ancient Egyptians did not recognize the cognitive function of the brain, the brain would be removed by breaking the thin bone separating the nasal and cranial cavities. This was accomplished by inserting a hooked rod through the nose, stirring the brain until it turned into a liquid, and pouring it out through the nose. The cranial cavity would then be swabbed with linen and hot resin poured into the cavity to seal it.

The body cavity and the separate parts might then be washed with palm wine again. The body was then placed in natron for about forty days, with packets of natron placed inside the chest cavity. Natron dehydrated the body, which, combined with the high salt concentration, prevented bacterial growth and the decay of the body.

The mummy was then wrapped in many layers of linen strips, sealed to the body by tar or resin. Magic amulets were put in the folds and were believed to protect the body from evil spirits and help the soul on its journey through the afterlife. The entire process was completed in seventy days, after which the mummy was delivered to the deceased person's family for burial.

Burial rituals and funerary literature
The book of the dead was a collection of spells designed to guide the deceased in the afterlife.
The book of the dead was a collection of spells designed to guide the deceased in the afterlife.

After the mummy was prepared, it would need to be re-animated, symbolically, by a priest. The Opening of the Mouth Ceremony was conducted by a priest who would utter a spell and touch the mummy or sarcophagus with a ceremonial adze - a copper or stone blade. This ceremony ensured that the mummy could breathe and speak in the afterlife. In a similar fashion, the priest could utter spells to reanimate the mummy's arms, legs, and other body parts.

In addition to the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, many mummies were provided with some form of funerary literature to take with them to the afterlife. Most funerary literature consists of lists of spells and instructions for navigating the afterlife. During the Old Kingdom, only the pharaoh had access to this material, which scholars refer to as the Pyramid Texts. The Pyramid Texts are a collection of spells to help the pharaoh in the afterlife. The Pharaoh Unas was the first to use this collection of spells, as he and a few subsequent pharaohs had them carved on the walls of their pyramids.[3]

In the First Intermediate Period and in the Middle Kingdom, some of the Pyramid Text spells also are found in burial chambers of high officials and on many coffins, where they begin to evolve into what scholars call the Coffin Texts. In this period, the nobles and many non-royal Egyptians began to have access to funerary literature, which later evolved into the well-known Book of the dead. By the time of the New Kingdom, any Egyptian who could afford a Book of the dead was able to take along to the afterlife a list of spells and instructions that would ensure safe passage.[4]

Burial goods

From the earliest periods of Egyptian history, all Egyptians were buried with at least some burial goods which they thought necessary after death. At a minimum, these usually consisted of everyday objects such as bowls, combs, and other trinkets, along with food. Wealthier Egyptians could afford to be buried with jewelry, furniture, and other valuables, which made them targets of tomb robbers. Mummies were also equipped with the Weres headrest amulet which were magical amulets that were designed to protect the mummy's head.

As burial customs developed in the Old Kingdom, wealthy citizens were buried in wooden coffins and were accompanied by more varied kinds of valuables. Starting in the First Intermediate period, wooden models became very popular burial goods. These wooden models often depict everyday activities that the deceased expected to continue doing in the afterlife. Also, a type of rectangular coffin became the standard, being brightly painted and often including an offering formula.
A selection of shabti statues
A selection of shabti statues

In the New Kingdom, some of the old burial customs changed. For example, an anthropoid coffin shape became standardized, and the deceased were provided with a small shabti statue, which the Egyptians believed would perform work for them in the afterlife. In later burials, the numbers of shabti statues increased; in some burials, numbering more than four hundred statues. In addition to these shabti statues, the deceased could be buried with many different types of magical figurines to protect them from harm. Although the types of burial goods changed throughout ancient Egyptian history, their functions to protect the deceased and provide sustenance in the afterlife remained a common purpose.

Ancient Egyptian religion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ancient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in Egypt from the predynastic period until the adoption of Christianity and later Islam. Religion in Egypt underwent evolution during its millennial history from the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms to the Late and Graeco-Roman periods.

There was no one singular religion in ancient Egypt, but a variety of intermixing local cults devoted to specific deities. Most of these were henotheistic and therefore polytheistic (and as such have often been refferred to as "pagan"), though there were exceptions such as Atenism.
Contents


* 1 Overview
* 2 Cults
* 3 History
o 3.1 Old Kingdom
o 3.2 Middle Kingdom
o 3.3 New Kingdom
+ 3.3.1 Atenism
o 3.4 Late period
o 3.5 Decline
* 4 Gods and goddesses
* 5 Cosmogonies
* 6 Death, burial and afterlife
* 7 List of temples
* 8 See also
* 9 References
* 10 Further reading
* 11 External links

Overview

Ancient Egyptian religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Egypt in form of cult practices. It is therefore the practical counterpart of Egyptian mythology. Within the Egyptian world, religious practice varied enough so that one might speak of Egyptian religions.

The majority of these religious cults were polytheistic, believing in a great number of deities, and were also henotheistic, focusing on the worship of only one of those deities. Some scholars, (such as Dr. Ramses Seleem) have detected elements of pantheism in scriptures such as the Book of the Dead, however this is disputed.

Cults

Regional cults (cities are listed north to south):

* in Heliopolis, the Ennead headed by Atum was worshipped.
* in Memphis, Ptah was the chief deity, later extended into the triad of Ptah-Sekhmet-Nefertem.
* the cult of Hermopolis had the Ogdoad headed by Thoth.
* Thebes had the triad Amun-Mut-Khonsu.
* The cult in Elephantine focussed on the triad Khnum-Satis-Anuket.

These regional cults were established by the end of the Old Kingdom. During the New Kingdom, the cosmogonies of the Ennead and the Ogdoad were merged (syncretized) into an overarching state religion of the Egyptian Empire, resulting in various identifications of formerly distinct deities. An example of such syncretism during is the unification of Ra and Amun as Amun-Ra,[1] or Ptah, Seker, and Osiris becoming Ptah-Seker-Osiris.

Syncretism should be distinguished from mere groupings, also referred to as "families" such as Amun, Mut, and Khonsu, where no "merging" takes place. Over time, deities took part in multiple syncretic relationships; for instance, the combination of Ra and Horus into Ra-Herakty. The Legend of Osiris and Isis originating in this reform has a long history of reception outside Egypt. In Ptolemaic times, it influenced Hellenistic religion (Osiris-Dionysus), and later Renaissance occultism and Hermeticism.
Egyptian goddess Isis protecting a mummified pharaoh, a late Ptolemic relief from the Philae Temple, which was first built in the thirtieth dynasty, c. 380-343 B.C. as a temple to Hathor and later enlarged by Greek and Roman rulers of Ancient Egypt who built temples to Isis and Osiris
Egyptian goddess Isis protecting a mummified pharaoh, a late Ptolemic relief from the Philae Temple, which was first built in the thirtieth dynasty, c. 380-343 B.C. as a temple to Hathor and later enlarged by Greek and Roman rulers of Ancient Egypt who built temples to Isis and Osiris

Ancient Egyptian religion notably included an imperial cult, with the Pharaoh considered a living deity, identified with Horus. In the Old Kingdom, the pharaoh was deified during his lifetime. From the Fifth Dynasty, deification took place only after the pharaoh's death. It was only New Kingdom pharaohs like Amenophis III who attempted to regain divine status during their lifetimes. After death, the pharaoh was identified with Osiris (who was identified with Horus in the New Kingdom state religion).

History

Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom period is most commonly regarded as spanning the period of time when Egypt was ruled by the Third Dynasty through to the Sixth Dynasty, from 2686 BC to 2134 BC. It was the beginning of the highest level of cultural development achieved by the ancient Egyptians, whose cultural roots extend six thousand years earlier, into prehistory.

Old Kingdom deities:

* the Ennead of Heliopolis, whose chief god was Atum, later Atum-Ra[2]
* the Ogdoad of Hermopolis,[3] where the chief god was Thoth
* the Khnum-Satis-Anuket triad of Elephantine, whose chief god was Khnum
* the Amun-Mut-Chons triad of Thebes, whose chief god was Amun[4]
* the Ptah-Sekhmet-Nefertem triad of Memphis, unusual in that the gods were unconnected before the triad was formalized, where the chief god was Ptah[2]

The Pyramid Texts (roughly 25th to 23nd century BC) contain spells, or "utterances" primarily concerned with protecting the pharaoh's remains, reanimating his body after death, and helping him ascend to the heavens. As such, they qualify as the oldest known religious texts worldwide, slightly predating the Sumerian hyms of Enheduanna. The "Coffin Texts" are funerary spells related to the Pyramid texts dating to the First Intermediate Period.

Middle Kingdom

The cult of Amun grew during the Middle Kingdom. Senusret III (1878 BC – 1839 BC) built a fine religious temple at Abydos; while it is now destroyed, surviving reliefs show the high quality of the decorations. He was deified at the end of the Middle Kingdom and worshipped by the pharaohs of the New Kingdom.

New Kingdom

Further information: Legend of Osiris and Isis

By the New Kingdom, the Ogdoad and the Ennead were merged into a single syncretized cosmology. In the Ennead, Osiris is the husband of Isis, and sibling of Seth, all of whom are the great-grandchildren of the creator god Atum, and Horus is not present within the system. In the Ogdoad, Osiris is not present within the system, and Horus is son of Atum, the creator god. When the Ennead and Ogdoad merged, Ra and Amun were identified as one, becoming Amun-Ra, and Horus was initially considered the fifth sibling of Osiris, Isis, Nephthys and Set. However, Horus' mother, Hathor, gradually became identified as a form of Isis, leading Horus to be Isis' son, and therefore the son of Osiris.

Atenism

Main article: Atenism

Pharaoh Akhenaten and his family praying to Aten
Pharaoh Akhenaten and his family praying to Aten

A short interval of monotheism (Atenism) occurred under the reign of Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) (1350s to 1330s BC), focused on the Egyptian sun deity Aten. The Aten is typically shown as a sun disk with rays coming out of all sides. Akhenaten built a new capital at Amarna with temples for the Aten. This was a symbolic act as Akhenaten wanted a place of worship for the Aten that was not tainted by the visage of other deities. The religious change survived only until the death of Akhenaten, and the old religion was quickly restored during the reign of Tutankhamun, Akhenaten's son by his wife, Kiya. Tutankhamun and several other post-restoration pharaohs were erased from the history, because they were regarded as heretics.

Late period

After the fall of the Amarna dynasty, the New Kingdom pantheon survived as the dominant religion, until the Achaemenid conquests. The Egyptian Book of the Dead was standardized (the "Saite Recension") during this time. Herodotus presents us a bleak portrait of Cambyses' rule, describing the king as mad, ungodly, and cruel. Herodotus may have drawn on an indigenous tradition that reflected the Egyptians' resentment, especially of the clergy, of Cambyses' decree[5] curtailing royal grants made to Egyptian temples under Amasis. In order to regain the support of the powerful priestly class, Darius I (522–486 BC) revoked Cambyses' decree. Shortly before 486 BC, a revolt broke out in Egypt, subdued by Xerxes I only in 484 BC. The province was subjected to harsh punishment for the revolt, and especially its satrap Achaemenes administered the country without regard for the opinion of his subjects.

Decline

When Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, he went on pilgrimage to the oracle of Amun at the Siwa Oasis. The oracle declared him to be the son of Amun-Re.[6] Egyptian religion continued to thrive during the Ptolemaic period; some cults were syncretized with Greek mystery traditions, exerting influence on Hellenistic magic. Under Roman rule (from 30 BC), the situation remained largely unchanged. The Romans like the Ptolemies respected and protected Egyptian religion and customs, although the imperial cult of the Roman state and of the Emperor was gradually introduced. Egyptian religion entered a period of decline following the Egyptians' adoption of Christianity in the first centuries of the common era. Remnants of native traditions lingered in traditionalist pockets such as temple hierarchies, free from persecution but gradually ousted by Early Christianity. The last vestiges of Egyptian religious traditions may have persisted into the 5th century, as reflected in the Hieroglyphica.

Gods and goddesses

Further information: List of Egyptian gods

Egyptian goddess Isis, tomb painting, ca. 1360 BC.
Egyptian goddess Isis, tomb painting, ca. 1360 BC.

Deities in the Egyptian pantheon sometimes played different, and at times conflicting, roles. As an example, the lioness Sekhmet being sent out by Ra to devour the humans for having rebelled against him, but later on becoming a fierce protector of the kingdom, life in general, and the sick. Even more complex are the roles of Set. Judging the mythology of Set from a modern perspective, especially the mythology surrounding Set's relationship with Osiris, it is easy to cast Set as the arch villain and source of evil. However this was not always so, as Set was earlier playing the role of destroyer of Apep, in the service of Ra on his barge, and thus serving to uphold Ma'at (Truth, Justice, and Harmony).

Cosmogonies
A stele depicting two triads of gods
A stele depicting two triads of gods

An ancient Egyptian origin myth holds that in the beginning, the universe was filled with the primeval waters of chaos, which was the god Nun. The god, Re-Atum appeared from the Water as the land of Egypt appears every year out of the flood waters of the Nile. Re-Atum spat and out of the spittle came out the deities Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture). The world was created when Shu and Tefnut gave birth to two children: Nut (Sky) and Geb (the Earth). Humans were created when Shu and Tefnut went wandering in the dark wastes and got lost. Re-Atum sent his eye to find them. On reuniting, his tears of joy turned into people.

Geb and Nut copulated, and upon Shu's learning of his children's fornication, he separated the two, effectively becoming the air between the sky and ground. He also decreed that the pregnant Nut should not give birth any day of the year. Nut pleaded with Thoth, who on her behalf gambled with the moon-god Yah and won five more days to be added onto the then 360-day year. Nut had one child on each of these days: Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys, and Horus-the-Elder.

Osiris, by different accounts, was either the son of Re-Atum or Geb, and king of Egypt. His brother Seth represented chaos in the universe. He murdered Osiris by tricking him to fit inside of a box, which was the nailed shut and thrown into the Nile. After killing Osiris, Seth tore his body into pieces. Isis rescued most of the pieces for burial beneath the temple, but first she resurrected Osiris so she could copulate with him to create their child Horus . Seth made himself king, but was challenged by Osiris's son - Horus. Seth lost and was sent to the desert. Osiris was mummified by Isis and became god of the dead. Horus became the king and from him descended the pharaohs.

Another version, this one by Plutarch[7] states that Set made a chest that only Osiris could fit into. He then invited Osiris to a feast. Set made a bet that no one could fit into the chest. Osiris was the last one to step into the chest, but before he did, Set asked if he could hold Osiris's crown. Osiris agreed and stepped into the chest. As he lay down, Set slammed the lid shut and put the crown on his own head. He then set the chest afloat on the Nile. Isis did not know of her husband's death until the Wind told her. She then placed her son in a safe place and cast a spell so no one could find him. When she searched for her husband, a child told her a chest had washed up on the bank and a tree had grown up. The tree was so straight the king had used it for the central pillar of his new palace. Isis went and asked for her husband's body and it was given to her. The god of the underworld told her that Osiris would be a king, but only in the underworld.

Death, burial and afterlife

Main article: Ancient Egyptian burial customs

Egypt had a highly developed view of the afterlife with elaborate rituals for preparing the body and soul for an eternal life after death. Beliefs about the soul and afterlife focused heavily on preservation of the body. The Egyptians believed the ka aspect of the soul needed to be reunited with the ba, to support the akh, the part of each being which ascends to the heavens to take its place among the stars.[8] This meant that embalming and mummification were practised, in order to preserve the individual's identity in the afterlife.

Bodies of the dead were coated inside and out with resin to preserve them, then wrapped with linen bandages, embedded with religious amulets and talismans. In the case of royalty, the mummy was usually placed inside a series of nested coffins, the outermost of which was a stone sarcophagus. The intestines, lungs, liver, and stomach were preserved separately and stored in canopic jars protected by the four sons of Horus.[9] The heart was left in place because it was thought to be the home of the soul. The standard length of the mummification process was seventy days.[10]

Embalmment was reserved for a selected few in the Old Kingdom, but it became available to wider sections of society in later periods. Animals were also mummified, sometimes thought to have been pets of Egyptian families, but more frequently or more likely, they were the representations of deities. The ibis, crocodile, cat, Nile perch, falcon, and baboon can be found in perfect mummified forms. During the Ptolemaic Period, animals were especially bred for the purpose.
The goddess Ma'at, showing her feather in her headdress
The goddess Ma'at, showing her feather in her headdress

The Book of the Dead was a series of almost two hundred spells represented as sectional texts, songs, and pictures written on papyrus, individually customized for the deceased, which were buried along with the dead in order to ease their passage into the underworld. In some tombs, the Book of the Dead has also been found painted on the walls, although the practice of painting on the tomb walls appears to predate the formalization of the Book of the Dead as a bound text. One of the best examples of the Book of the Dead is The Papyrus of Ani, created around 1240 BC, which, in addition to the texts themselves, also contains many pictures of Ani and his wife on their journey through the land of the dead.

After a person dies their soul is led into a hall of judgment in Duat by Anubis (god of mummification) and the deceased's heart, which was the record of the morality of the owner, is weighed against a single feather representing Ma'at (the concept of truth and order). If the outcome is favorable, the deceased is taken to Osiris, god of the afterlife, in Aaru, but the demon Ammit (Eater of Hearts) – part crocodile, part lion, and part hippopotamus – destroys those hearts whom the verdict is against, leaving the owner to remain in Duat. A heart that weighed less than the feather was considered a pure heart, not weighed down by the guilt or sins of one's actions in life, resulting in a favorable verdict; a heart heavy with guilt and sin from one's life weighed more than the feather, and so the heart would be eaten by Ammit. An individual without a heart in the afterlife in essence, did not exist as Egyptians believed the heart to be the center of reason and emotion as opposed to the brain which was removed and discarded during mummification. Many times a person would be buried with a "surrogate" heart to replace their own for the weighing of the heart ceremony.

List of temples

Some important temples include:

* Abu Simbel – Complex of two massive rock temples in southern Egypt on the western bank of the Nile.
* Abydos (Great Temple of Abydos) – Adoration of the early kings, whose cemetery, to which it forms a great funerary chapel, lies behind it.
* Ain el-Muftella (Bahariya Oasis) – Could have served as the city center of El Qasr. It was probably built around the 26th Dynasty.
* Karnak – Once part of the ancient capital of Egypt, Thebes.
* Bani Hasan al Shurruq – Located in Middle Egypt near to Al-Minya and survived the reconstruction of the New Kingdom.
* Edfu – Ptolemaic temple that is located between Aswan and Luxor.
* Temple of Kom Ombo – Controlled the trade routes from Nubia to the Nile Valley.
* Luxor – Built largely by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II, it was the centre of the Opet Festival.
* Medinet Habu (Memorial Temple of Ramesses III)– Temple and a complex of temples dating from the New Kingdom.
* Temple of Hatshepsut – Her mortuary temple complex at Deir el-Bahri with a colonnaded structure of perfect harmony, was built nearly one thousand years before the Parthenon.
* Philae – Island of Philae with Temple of Hathor which was constructed in the 30th Dynasty and expanded into a complex to include Isis (Aset) and Osiris under Greek and Roman rule.
* Ramesseum (Memorial Temple of Ramesses II) – The main building, dedicated to the funerary cult, comprised two stone pylons (gateways, some 60 m wide), one after the other, each leading into a courtyard. Beyond the second courtyard, at the centre of the complex, was a covered 48-column hypostyle hall, surrounding the inner sanctuary.
* Dendera Temple complex – Several temples but the all overshadowing building in the complex is the main temple, the Hathor temple.

Deir El Bahire; Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, also Chapel Dedicated to the worship of Hathor.