Religious Beliefs

People in Ancient Egypt worshipped many different This is Osiris,

gods that had different purposes or needs. god of the
underworld.
• They thought that the gods made and ruled the entire world, but some gods
were better and more significant than other gods.
• For example, Osiris was the God of the underworld, the home
of the dead. Osiris and other Gods and many judges
weighed the heart of a dead person against an ostrich feather.
If they balanced, they had everlasting life. If not, the heart was fed
to a monster called the “Swallower”. http://www.ancientegy
pt.co.uk/gods/explore/
• Some gods and goddesses helped with creation,
main.html
helped with the flood every year, gave protection, or took care of people
when they died. (British Museum)
• The rest were local gods that represented towns. Minor gods represented
animals and plants. (British Museum)
• The Egyptians believed that they needed to worship these gods, or else
everything would be a disaster. They needed these gods for daily life to
continue running smoothly. (British Museum)
Each Egyptian god looked different.
Below is Anubis, an
• Many gods had the body of a human being and the Ancient Egyptian god that
head of an animal. had thebody of a human
and the head of a jackal.
• Anubis was a god that had the body of a human and
the head of a jackal. He was the god of necropolis, which is the
place where dead bodies were gotten ready for the afterlife.
• Thoth, the God of writing and knowledge, had the head of the ibis,
which is a kind of bird, and the body of a human.
• Horus, the God of the skies, had the head of a falcon and the
body of a human.
Egyptians also believed that Gods’ and Goddesses’ earthly http://www.anci
homes were the temples. entegypt.co.uk/
gods/explore/ma
• The temples resembled palaces because a sacred statue of a in.html
God lived or “visited” there.
• If the sacred structure was inside the temple, high priests and priestesses
had to perform special rituals to honor them.
• For important festivals, the structure of a God was carried in a ceremony
through the courtyard to the holiest part of the entire temple.
• Only on special days for festivals were the commoners allowed to go in the
courtyards to watch the ceremonies.
• Commoners went in smaller structures outside the main temple to pray.
Even ordinary commoners respected Gods and Goddesses in their houses.
• Many people had an area in their houses to make offerings for local gods.

• They asked the gods and goddesses for many things.

• They asked to protect them.

• They asked gods for being able to have a child.

• They also asked gods and goddesses to keep away bad spirits and the spirits
of the dead.
Work Cited
British Museum. “The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt.” Ancient Egypt. Web. 8
September 2009.