GODS=Egyptians way to understand and manage their surrounds which are otherwise

inexplicable
Only god that is ridiculed=Seth
Temples filled with magicians, scholars, priests everything is connected to religion
Described as (from essay): the counterpart of [our] scientific textbooks
THREE KEY TERMS
1. Immanence
i. Indwelling
b. Analogy of the wind being identified with the air god Shu
c. Air is not just wind; it is also the breath in your lungs
d. Representation of an elemental force
2. Hypostasis trying to explain the unnatural, making manifest of the essence of
something, putting into concrete form which can be manipulated
a. Ex: if the winds are strong, you can pray to Shu and ask for lesser winds
b. Concretizing the forces of nature
c. Admitting that they surround us
3. Syncretism Amen, the god of mystery and Ra, the sun god
a. Combined in the New Kingdom to produce Amen-Ra
b. Fuse and become one, the hybridization of two or more gods
do ut des= I will give if you will give, Latin phrase that illustrates ideal relationship
between humanity and the divine
Medicine vs. spiritual healing
Balance between practical approach and religious approach
People that knew the most about human anatomy were the embalmers, as they
took bodies apart prior to mummification and extracted the organs
Knew about the systems of channels in the body (called Neptup)
Pharaoh killings:
Multiple wives Multiple sons battle for heirs: kill king but preserve the
office of kingship
Office of kingship was divine, but the people knew the king himself was mortal
Question: how do you philosophically deal with the fact knowing that your king
will die, yet you consider him to be divine?
Temples=centers of learning, only certain people allowed, yet these people were
permitted to go to the lower Egyptians

SCHEDULE OF THE PRIESTS CARING FOR THE GODS

1. Wake it, greet it
2. Provide incense
3. Bathe and clothe
4. Give flowers, food, make sure it is happy, put back in the shrine
a. When feeding, the god will take only the divine aspects of the food,
leaving the rest for the various grades of priesthood
i. Temples were the major food banks for Egypt
5. As you leave, erase your footprints as to leave no trace (withdrawing of the
footsteps ceremony)
Sistrum shakers= (sistrum=hand-held rattle, horizontal wires with disks of metal, shaken
to appeal to the gods)= female priests
Hierarchy:
1. Hem netjer
2. Hery Hebet lector priests, carrying the ritual books and read rituals/incantations,
like an ancient cantor (servant of the god)
3. Waab (pure)=the cleaners
Foundation ceremonies of the temple/foundation ritual =how the temple was turned over
to the gods to move in
Lots of theater involved
Goal is to also impress people, as well as the gods
STUMP THE CHUMP
Katya: mummification ritual
Curved beard divinized beings are given curved beards
Anthropoid sarcophagus
Either priest with a mask, or Anubis
Bed on which he is lying, an embalming bed, has lion feet

Private tomb in Medina workmans village

Matt-table
Animal wooden table
Outside of scheme of Egyptian kings
Made in Sudan around 670 BCE