Ancient Egypt:

1. Ancient Egypt: Religion and the Afterlife

2. The Egyptians were polytheistic – they believed in many gods They include: • Ra – sun god • Osiris – god of the dead and of agriculture • Isis – wife of Osiris, mother-goddess • Horus – son of Isis and Osiris, god of sky, war, and protection, falcon-headed

3. Khafre protected by Horus in falcon form • The pharaohs/ kings of Egypt were religious as well as political rulers • They were believed to be gods or sons of gods

4. The Egyptians believed in an afterlife – life after death • The bodies of kings and other royalty were mummified to preserve them to be used in the afterlife The god Anubis and a king’s mummy.

5. Mummification • The internal organs were removed from the dead body. • The body and organs were then dried using natron, a natural salt. • The dried body was then cleaned and bandaged in linen.

6. After mummification was complete, the bodies were placed in coffins. • Pharaohs often had three or four coffins, nested inside one another

7. Book of the Dead • Funerary text with spells to get to the afterlife was first written on walls of pyramids and other tombs. • The Book of the Dead was later written on papyrus with similar spells.

8. The internal organs were often placed in canopic jars, which were left near the coffin in a tomb