Ancient Egyptian Religion: From Animal Worship to the Afterlife Beliefs

1. Religion In ancient Egypt

2. The oldest form of worship was animal worship Sometimes species of animals were worshiped and associated with other gods Then gods became more human like and eventually had human bodies. Different animals represented different attributes Sometimes an animal could have abnormal qualities For example Taurt. He had the head of a hippo, claws like a lion and the tail of a crocodile. Some Egyptians believed that the world was a flat disk that Egypt was the center of Others believed that the earth was made on a potters wheel by the ram-god Khnum Most people believed in the story of Ra the sun god who crated Shu the air god and Tefnut who gave birth to Nut the sky goddess, who gave birth to Osiris the god of the after life and Isis. Around 3200 B.C. priests organized the gods and their myths Osiris and Ra became very important in the religion Osiris was protector of the living and the judger of the dead The symbol of the pyramid was also the symbol of Ra. Royal people would worship Ra more. A Religious Outline

3. In the Afterlife • After death the body went through a series of imbalming processes that took over 70 days • In the tomb food and drinks, weponds and necessary articals needed in life were given to the dead • Caring for the dead was very important • Ancient Egyptians wanted to become a part of nature after death • The Ka and Ba were important for the afterlife • Ka- A “detached” part of the deceased that lead fortunes to the dead durring the afterlife. When people died they were believed to join with their ka • Ba- the “soul” of the deceased. • The Akh was also important. The akh represented the tranfomation that the dead took to become eternal objects • The Nobles of ancient Egypt believed that they became stars in the afterlife so that they could join the universe