What were the ancient beliefs and how did they affect the Egyptians lives?
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The ancient Egyptians believed in polytheism (The belief of multiple gods or goddesses ) meaning my family and other gods were worshiped. The ancient Egyptians worshiped almost up to 2000 gods and goddesses. That included very important god that were known all throughout Egypt, to gods that only some people worshiped. Religion affected every aspect of the ancient Egyptians life, they believed farming and weather was decided by the gods, that the gods controlled their life, their government and everyday life decisions. The ancient Egyptians put a lot of time into praying and sacrificed a lot to please the gods.
Horus I am the god Horus, and I was a human with the head of a peregrine falcon. My father was Osiris and my mother, Isis. I was the god of kingship and ruled the sky. Which ever pharaoh ruled Egypt had the image of me. My amulet gave me power and protection and is called " The eye of Horus". Sometimes I would take the form of a heavenly falcon with my left eye being the moon and my right eye being the sun. I have two forms , a long time ago I was Horus the elder, the brother of Osiris and Isis, my mother being Nut and my father being Geb. My siblings were Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys . Isis and Osiris married, and Set, married to Nephthys. I grew old and feeble and died , but I was reincarnated to be normal Horus by Isis and Osiris, and I became their son.
Osiris Click here for the below picture My father Osiris was very brave and powerful, he was married to his sister, Isis. Osiris was the god of after life, death, and resurrection. His parents and my grand parents were Nut ( the goddess of the sky and heaven) and Geb ( the god of earth and land).Osiris had many children but some of the most popular and powerful were me, who was birthed by Isis, and Anubis( the god of preserving the dead) who was birthed by Nephthys. Some legends state that Anubis was not Osiris's son, but instead was Set's son( The god of chaos and deserts.).Osiris had green skin and was wrapped in mummy cloth. Osiris was rivals with set, and one day Set, who was very jealous of Osiris's position of eldest son and all his fame and glory, tricked Osiris to lie in a magnificent coffin as a part of a game, but instead sliced Osiris up into 14 pieces and threw him and the coffin down the Nile river. A tree at the end of the Nile river grew around the coffin and later, Isis found this tree and with the help of Anubis and Nephthys, revived Osiris. This is how Anubis became the god of mummification.
Amun Click herefor the below pic Amun was a very powerful god, He is not a blood relative of mine , but all the gods respect him. he is one of the oldest gods , the god of the air, sky, and the sun. Amun was part of a group of the eldest and powerful gods, the Ogdoad of Hermopolis. This group contained 8 gods, 4 gods, and 4 goddesses. The gods in this group were Amun and Amaunet(the god and goddess of air), Nun and Naunet ( the god and goddess of water), Heh and Hehet ( the god and goddess of time and eternity) and finally Kek and Keket (the god and goddess of darkness). In Egyptian times it was very common for two powerful gods to merge, this happened to both Ra(The sun god ) and Amun .This merge created a even more powerful god named Amun-Ra. Ra also merged with Horus. Amun started a minor god and was only worshiped in small towns, but soon he rose up to become on of the most popular and well known gods in ancient Egypt. Amun's symbols were the Amun crown, and his guardian or pet, the ram headed lion sphinx. Amun also had blue skin.
Set (Also know as Seth) Set usually took on the form of a human with the head of a fantastic animal named the set animal. This animal was a mixture of a aardvark with rectangular ears , and a dogs snout. Set was the god of evil and chaos, he represented the relentless battering of a sand storm in a desert. I was Sets nephew and rival, Set was very evil and killed my father (Osiris), causing chaos in the world, luckily Isis was there to save him. Often pictures of Seth show him holding an ankh in one hand and a ‘was’ staff in the other. The ankh was seen as ‘the breath of life’ while the ‘was’ staff was a long staff with a forked bottom and the head of the Seth animal on top. I later beat and killed Set because of Osiris's murder. Set was associated with the color red, which is why now red seems like a evil color. Some legends say that set was the father of Anubis, instead of Osiris. Click here for the above picture
Process of mummification Click here for the below pic The process of mummification was a immense part of the Egyptians lives, Egyptians believed in afterlife and that mummification guided the soul on the journey of afterlife. Anubis was the god of preserving death and afterlife. Pharaohs (kings) were buried with great treasures made of gold and expensive minerals.
Step 1: Insert a hook through a hole near the nose and pull out part of the brain Step 2: Make a cut on the left side of the body near the tummy Step 3: Expunge all internal organs and let the internal organs dry Step 4: Place the lungs, intestines, stomach and liver inside canopic jars, and then place the heart back inside the body Step 5: Rinse inside of body with wine and spices Cover the corpse with natron (salt) for 70 days Step 6: After 40 days stuff the body with linen or sand to give it a more human shape, after the 70 days wrap the body from head to toe in bandages. Place in a sarcophagus (a type of box like a coffin)
Pyramids in Ancient Egypt Pyramids in ancient Egypt were usually tombs for Pharaohs and their queens. Pyramids were very tall and were connected to the Egyptians religion because the Egyptians believed in after life. They also believed that the more gold and treasures you had when buried at death meant how rich you were in the after life, so for very important people such as pharaohs, they built humongous pyramid structures so that robbers would not easily find and steal the riches that the person was buried with. The inside of a pyramid was very much like a maze and was very hard to navigate. Click here for the above picture