Ancient Egyptian Religion

Ancient Egyptian religion
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See also: Egyptian mythology
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Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals
which were an integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It centered on the
Egyptians' interaction with many deities who were believed to be present in, and in
control of, the forces and elements of nature. The practices of Egyptian religion
were efforts to provide for the gods and gain their favor. Formal religious practice
centered on the pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who was believed to possess a divine
power by virtue of his position. He acted as the intermediary between his people
and the gods and was obligated to sustain the gods through rituals and offerings so
that they could maintain order in the universe. The state dedicated enormous
resources to Egyptian rituals and to the construction of the temples.
Individuals could interact with the gods for their own purposes, appealing for their
help through prayer or compelling them to act through magic. These practices were
distinct from, but closely linked with, the formal rituals and institutions. The popular
religious tradition grew more prominent in the course of Egyptian history as the
status of the Pharaoh declined. Another important aspect was the belief in the
afterlife and funerary practices. The Egyptians made great efforts to ensure the
survival of their souls after death, providing tombs, grave goods, and offerings to
preserve the bodies and spirits of the deceased.
The religion had its roots in Egypt's prehistory and lasted for more than 3,000 years.
The details of religious belief changed over time as the importance of particular
gods rose and declined, and their intricate relationships shifted. At various times,
certain gods became preeminent over the others, including the sun god Ra, the
creator god Amun, and the mother goddess Isis. For a brief period, in the theology
promulgated by the Pharaoh Akhenaten, a single god, the Aten, replaced the
traditional pantheon. Ancient Egyptian religion and mythology left behind many
writings and monuments, along with significant influences on ancient and modern
cultures.
Contents [hide]
1
Theology
1.1
Deities
1.2
Associations between deities
1.3
Unifying tendencies
1.4
Atenism
Other important concepts
2.1
Cosmology
2.2
Divine pharaoh
2.3
Afterlife
2.4
Judgment
Writings
3.1
Mythology
3.2
Ritual and magical texts
3.3
Hymns and prayers
3.4
Funerary texts
Practices
4.1
Temples
4.2
Official rituals and festivals
4.3
Animal cults
4.4
Oracles
4.5
Popular religion
4.6
Magic
4.7
Funerary practices
History
5.1
Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods
5.2
Old and Middle Kingdoms
5.3
New Kingdom
5.4
Later periods
5.5
Legacy
5.5.1 Modern times

6
See also
References
Bibliography
Further reading
10
External links
Theology[edit]
The beliefs and rituals now referred to as "ancient Egyptian religion" were integral
within every aspect of Egyptian culture. Their language possessed no single term
corresponding to the modern European concept of religion. Ancient Egyptian religion
was not a monolithic institution, but consisted of a vast and varying set of beliefs
and practices, linked by their common focus on the interaction between the world of
humans and the world of the divine. The characteristics of the gods who populated
the divine realm were inextricably linked to the Egyptians understanding of the
properties of the world in which they lived.[1]
Deities[edit]
Main article: Ancient Egyptian deities
The gods Osiris, Anubis, and Horus, in order from left to right
The Egyptians believed that the phenomena of nature were divine forces in and of
themselves.[2] These deified forces included the elements, animal characteristics,
or abstract forces. The Egyptians believed in a pantheon of gods, which were
involved in all aspects of nature and human society. Their religious practices were
efforts to sustain and placate these phenomena and turn them to human
advantage.[3] This polytheistic system was very complex, as some deities were
believed to exist in many different manifestations, and some had multiple
mythological roles. Conversely, many natural forces, such as the sun, were
associated with multiple deities. The diverse pantheon ranged from gods with vital
roles in the universe to minor deities or "demons" with very limited or localized
functions.[4] It could include gods adopted from foreign cultures, and sometimes
humans: deceased Pharaohs were believed to be divine, and occasionally,
distinguished commoners such as Imhotep also became deified.[5]
The depictions of the gods in art were not meant as literal representations of how
the gods might appear if they were visible, as the gods' true natures were believed
to be mysterious. Instead, these depictions gave recognizable forms to the abstract
deities by using symbolic imagery to indicate each god's role in nature.[6] Thus, for
example, the funerary god Anubis was portrayed as a jackal, a creature whose
scavenging habits threatened the preservation of the body, in an effort to counter
this threat and employ it for protection. His black skin was symbolic of the color of
mummified flesh and the fertile black soil that Egyptians saw as a symbol of
resurrection. This iconography was not fixed, and many of the gods could be
depicted in more than one form.[7]
Many gods were associated with particular regions in Egypt where their cults were
most important. However, these associations changed over time, and they did not
mean that the god associated with a place had originated there. For instance, the
god Monthu was the original patron of the city of Thebes. Over the course of the
Middle Kingdom, however, he was displaced in that role by Amun, who may have
arisen elsewhere. The national popularity and importance of individual gods
fluctuated in a similar way.[8]
Amun-Ra kamutef, wearing the plumed headdress of Amun and the sun disk
representing Ra
Associations between deities[edit]
The Egyptian gods had complex interrelationships, which partly reflected the
interaction of the forces they represented. The Egyptians often grouped gods
together to reflect these relationships. Some groups of deities were of indeterminate
size, and were linked by their similar functions. These often consisted of minor
deities with little individual identity. Other combinations linked independent deities
based on the symbolic meaning of numbers in Egyptian mythology; for instance,
pairs of deities usually represent the duality of opposite phenomena. One of the
more common combinations was a family triad consisting of a father, mother, and
child, who were worshipped together. Some groups had wide-ranging importance.
One such group, the Ennead, assembled nine deities into a theological system that
was involved in the mythological areas of creation, kingship, and the afterlife.[9]
The relationships between deities could also be expressed in the process of

syncretism, in which two or more different gods were linked to form a composite
deity. This process was a recognition of the presence of one god "in" another when
the second god took on a role belonging to the first. These links between deities
were fluid, and did not represent the permanent merging of two gods into one;
therefore, some gods could develop multiple syncretic connections.[10] Sometimes,
syncretism combined deities with very similar characteristics. At other times it
joined gods with very different natures, as when Amun, the god of hidden power,
was linked with Ra, the god of the sun. The resulting god, Amun-Ra, thus united the
power that lay behind all things with the greatest and most visible force in nature.
[11]
Unifying tendencies[edit]
Many deities could be given epithets that seem to indicate that they were greater
than any other god, suggesting some kind of unity beyond the multitude of natural
forces. In particular, this is true of a few gods who, at various times in history, rose
to supreme importance in Egyptian religion. These included the royal patron Horus,
the sun god Ra, and the mother goddess Isis.[12] During the New Kingdom (c.
15501070 BC), Amun held this position. The theology of the period described in
particular detail Amun's presence in and rule over all things, so that he, more than
any other deity, embodied the all-encompassing power of the divine.[13]
Because of theological statements like this, many past Egyptologists, such as

Siegfried Morenz, believed that beneath the polytheistic traditions of Egyptian
religion there was an increasing belief in a unity of the divine, moving toward
monotheism. Instances in Egyptian literature where "god" is mentioned without
reference to any specific deity would seem to give this view added weight.
However, in 1971 Erik Hornung pointed out that the traits of an apparently supreme
being could be attributed to many different gods, even in periods when other gods
were preeminent, and further argued that references to an unspecified "god" are
meant to refer flexibly to any deity. He therefore argued that, while some individuals
may have henotheistically chosen one god to worship, Egyptian religion as a whole
had no notion of a divine being beyond the immediate multitude of deities. Yet the
debate did not end there; Jan Assmann and James P. Allen have since asserted that
the Egyptians did to some degree recognize a single divine force. In Allen's view,
the notion of an underlying unity of the divine coexisted inclusively with the
polytheistic tradition. It is possible that only the Egyptian theologians fully
recognized this underlying unity, but it is also possible that ordinary Egyptians
identified the single divine force with a single god in particular situations.[14][15]
Atenism[edit]
Main article: Atenism
During the New Kingdom the pharaoh Akhenaten abolished the official worship of
other gods in favor of the sun-disk Aten. This is often seen as the first instance of
true monotheism in history, although the details of Atenist theology are still unclear
and the suggestion that it was monotheistic is disputed. The exclusion of all but one
god from worship was a radical departure from Egyptian tradition and some see
Akhenaten as a practitioner of monolatry rather than monotheism,[16][17] as he did
not actively deny the existence of other gods; he simply refrained from worshipping
any but the Aten. Under Akhenaten's successors Egypt reverted to its traditional
religion, and Akhenaten himself came to be reviled as a heretic.[18][19]
Other important concepts[edit]

Cosmology[edit]
The air god Shu, assisted by other gods, holds up Nut, the sky, as Geb, the earth,
lies beneath.
The Egyptian conception of the universe centered on Ma'at, a word that
encompasses several concepts in English, including "truth," "justice," and "order." It
was the fixed, eternal order of the universe, both in the cosmos and in human
society. It had existed since the creation of the world, and without it the world would
lose its cohesion. In Egyptian belief, Ma'at was constantly under threat from the
forces of disorder, so all of society was required to maintain it. On the human level
this meant that all members of society should cooperate and coexist; on the cosmic
level it meant that all of the forces of naturethe godsshould continue to function
in balance.[20] This latter goal was central to Egyptian religion. The Egyptians
sought to maintain Ma'at in the cosmos by sustaining the gods through offerings
and by performing rituals which staved off disorder and perpetuated the cycles of
nature.[21][22]
The most important part of the Egyptian view of the cosmos was the conception of
time, which was greatly concerned with the maintenance of Ma'at. Throughout the
linear passage of time, a cyclical pattern recurred, in which Ma'at was renewed by
periodic events which echoed the original creation. Among these events were the
annual Nile flood and the succession from one king to another, but the most
important was the daily journey of the sun god Ra.[23][24]
When envisioning the shape of the cosmos, the Egyptians saw the earth as a flat
expanse of land, personified by the god Geb, over which arched the sky goddess
Nut. The two were separated by Shu, the god of air. Beneath the earth lay a parallel
underworld and undersky, and beyond the skies lay the infinite expanse of Nu, the
chaos that had existed before creation.[25][26] The Egyptians also believed in a
place called the Duat, a mysterious region associated with death and rebirth, that
may have lain in the underworld or in the sky. Each day, Ra traveled over the earth
across the underside of the sky, and at night he passed through the Duat to be
reborn at dawn.[27]
In Egyptian belief, this cosmos was inhabited by three types of sentient beings. One
was the gods; another was the spirits of deceased humans, who existed in the
divine realm and possessed many of the gods' abilities. Living humans were the
third category, and the most important among them was the pharaoh, who bridged
the human and divine realms.[28]
Colossal statue of the Pharaoh Ramesses II

Divine pharaoh[edit]
See also: Pharaoh

Egyptologists have long debated the degree to which the Pharaoh was considered a
god. It seems most likely that the Egyptians viewed royal authority itself as a divine
force. Therefore, although the Egyptians recognized that the Pharaoh was human
and subject to human weakness, they simultaneously viewed him as a god, because
the divine power of kingship was incarnated in him. He therefore acted as
intermediary between Egypt's people and the gods.[29] He was key to upholding
Ma'at, both by maintaining justice and harmony in human society and by sustaining
the gods with temples and offerings. For these reasons, he oversaw all state
religious activity.[30] However, the Pharaohs real-life influence and prestige could
differ from that depicted in official writings and depictions, and beginning in the late
New Kingdom his religious importance declined drastically.[31][32]
The king was also associated with many specific deities. He was identified directly
with Horus, who represented kingship itself, and he was seen as the son of Ra, who
ruled and regulated nature as the Pharaoh ruled and regulated society. By the New
Kingdom he was also associated with Amun, the supreme force in the cosmos.[33]
Upon his death, the king became fully deified. In this state, he was directly
identified with Ra, and was also associated with Osiris, god of death and rebirth and
the mythological father of Horus.[34] Many mortuary temples were dedicated to the
worship of deceased pharaohs as gods.[22]
Afterlife[edit]
The Egyptians had elaborate beliefs about death and the afterlife. They believed
that humans possessed a ka, or life-force, which left the body at the point of death.
In life, the ka received its sustenance from food and drink, so it was believed that, to
endure after death, the ka must continue to receive offerings of food, whose
spiritual essence it could still consume. Each person also had a ba, the set of
spiritual characteristics unique to each individual.[35] Unlike the ka, the ba
remained attached to the body after death. Egyptian funeral rituals were intended
to release the ba from the body so that it could move freely, and to rejoin it with the
ka so that it could live on as an akh. However, it was also important that the body of
the deceased be preserved, as the Egyptians believed that the ba returned to its
body each night to receive new life, before emerging in the morning as an akh.[36]
Originally, however, the Egyptians believed that only the pharaoh had a ba,[37] and
only he could become one with the gods; dead commoners passed into a dark,
bleak realm that represented the opposite of life.[38] The nobles received tombs
and the resources for their upkeep as gifts from the king, and their ability to enter
the afterlife was believed to be dependent on these royal favors.[39] In early times
the deceased pharaoh was believed to ascend to the sky and dwell among the stars.
[40] Over the course of the Old Kingdom (c. 26862181 BC), however, he came to
be more closely associated with the daily rebirth of the sun god Ra and with the
underworld ruler Osiris as those deities grew more important.[41]
Judgment [edit]
During the late Old Kingdom (26862181 BC) and the First Intermediate Period (c.
21812055 BC), the Egyptians gradually came to believe that possession of a ba
and the possibility of a paradisiacal afterlife extended to everyone.[37][42] In the
fully developed afterlife beliefs of the New Kingdom, the soul had to avoid a variety
of supernatural dangers in the Duat, before undergoing a final judgment known as
the "Weighing of the Heart". In this judgment, the gods compared the actions of the
deceased while alive (symbolized by the heart) to Ma'at, to determine whether he or
she had behaved in accordance with Ma'at. If the deceased was judged worthy, his
or her ka and ba were united into an akh.[43] Several beliefs coexisted about the
akh's destination. Often the dead were said to dwell in the realm of Osiris, a lush
and pleasant land in the underworld.[44] The solar vision of the afterlife, in which
the deceased soul traveled with Ra on his daily journey, was still primarily
associated with royalty, but could extend to other people as well. Over the course of
the Middle and New Kingdoms, the notion that the akh could also travel in the world
of the living, and to some degree magically affect events there, became
increasingly prevalent.[45]
Writings[edit]
See also: Ancient Egyptian literature
While the Egyptians had no unified religious scripture, they produced many religious
writings of various types. Together the disparate texts provide a very extensive, but
still incomplete, understanding of Egyptian religious practices and beliefs.[46]
Mythology[edit]
Main article: Egyptian mythology
Ra (at center) travels through the underworld in his barque, accompanied by other
gods[47]
Egyptian myths were metaphorical stories intended to illustrate and explain the
gods' actions and roles in nature. The details of the events they recounted could
change to convey different symbolic perspectives on the mysterious divine events
they described, so many myths exist in different and conflicting versions.[48]
Mythical narratives were rarely written in full, and more often texts only contain
episodes from or allusions to a larger myth.[49] Knowledge of Egyptian mythology,
therefore, is derived mostly from hymns that detail the roles of specific deities, from
ritual and magical texts which describe actions related to mythic events, and from
funerary texts which mention the roles of many deities in the afterlife. Some
information is also provided by allusions in secular texts.[46] Finally, Greeks and
Romans such as Plutarch recorded some of the extant myths late in Egyptian
history.[50]
Among the significant Egyptian myths were the creation myths. According to these
stories, the world emerged as a dry space in the primordial ocean of chaos. Because
the sun is essential to life on earth, the first rising of Ra marked the moment of this
emergence. Different forms of the myth describe the process of creation in various
ways: a transformation of the primordial god Atum into the elements that form the
world, as the creative speech of the intellectual god Ptah, and as an act of the
hidden power of Amun.[51] Regardless of these variations, the act of creation
represented the initial establishment of maat and the pattern for the subsequent
cycles of time.[22]
The most important of all Egyptian myths was the myth of Osiris and Isis.[52] It tells
of the divine ruler Osiris, who was murdered by his jealous brother Set, a god often
associated with chaos.[53] Osiris' sister and wife Isis resurrected him so that he
could conceive an heir, Horus. Osiris then entered the underworld and became the
ruler of the dead. Once grown, Horus fought and defeated Set to become king
himself.[54] Set's association with chaos, and the identification of Osiris and Horus
as the rightful rulers, provided a rationale for Pharaonic succession and portrayed
the Pharaohs as the upholders of order. At the same time, Osiris' death and rebirth
were related to the Egyptian agricultural cycle, in which crops grew in the wake of
the Nile inundation, and provided a template for the resurrection of human souls
after death.[55]
Another important mythic motif was the journey of Ra through the Duat each night.
In the course of this journey, Ra met with Osiris, who again acted as an agent of
regeneration, so that his life was renewed. He also fought each night with Apep, a
serpentine god representing chaos. The defeat of Apep and the meeting with Osiris
ensured the rising of the sun the next morning, an event that represented rebirth
and the victory of order over chaos.[56]
Ritual and magical texts[edit]

The procedures for religious rituals were frequently written on papyri, which were
used as instructions for those performing the ritual. These ritual texts were kept
mainly in the temple libraries. Temples themselves are also inscribed with such
texts, often accompanied by illustrations. Unlike the ritual papyri, these inscriptions
were not intended as instructions, but were meant to symbolically perpetuate the
rituals even if, in reality, people ceased to perform them.[57] Magical texts likewise
describe rituals, although these rituals were part of the spells used for specific goals
in everyday life. Despite their mundane purpose, many of these texts also
originated in temple libraries and later became disseminated among the general
populace.[58]
Hymns and prayers[edit]

The Egyptians produced numerous prayers and hymns, written in the form of poetry.
Hymns and prayers follow a similar structure and are distinguished mainly by the
purposes they serve. Hymns were written to praise particular deities.[59] Like ritual
texts, they were written on papyri and on temple walls, and they were probably
recited as part of the rituals they accompany in temple inscriptions.[60] Most are
structured according to a set literary formula, designed to expound on the nature,
aspects, and mythological functions of a given deity.[59] They tend to speak more
explicitly about fundamental theology than other Egyptian religious writings, and
became particularly important in the New Kingdom, a period of particularly active
theological discourse.[61] Prayers follow the same general pattern as hymns, but
address the relevant god in a more personal way, asking for blessings, help, or
forgiveness for wrongdoing. Such prayers are rare before the New Kingdom,
indicating that in earlier periods such direct personal interaction with a deity was
not believed possible, or at least was less likely to be expressed in writing. They are
known mainly from inscriptions on statues and stelae left in sacred sites as votive
offerings.[62]
Funerary texts[edit]
Main article: Ancient Egyptian funerary texts
Section of the Book of the Dead for the scribe Hunefer, depicting the Weighing of
the Heart.
Among the most significant and extensively preserved Egyptian writings are
funerary texts designed to ensure that deceased souls reached a pleasant afterlife.
[63] The earliest of these are the Pyramid Texts. They are a loose collection of
hundreds of spells inscribed on the walls of royal pyramids during the Old Kingdom,
intended to magically provide pharaohs with the means to join the company of the
gods in the afterlife.[64] The spells appear in differing arrangements and
combinations, and few of them appear in all of the pyramids.[65]
At the end of the Old Kingdom a new body of funerary spells, which included
material from the Pyramid Texts, began appearing in tombs, inscribed primarily on
coffins. This collection of writings is known as the Coffin Texts, and was not reserved
for royalty, but appeared in the tombs of non-royal officials.[66] In the New
Kingdom, several new funerary texts emerged, of which the best-known is the Book
of the Dead. Unlike the earlier books, it often contains extensive illustrations, or
vignettes.[67] The book was copied on papyrus and sold to commoners to be placed
in their tombs.[68]
The Coffin Texts included sections with detailed descriptions of the underworld and
instructions on how to overcome its hazards. In the New Kingdom, this material
gave rise to several "books of the netherworld", including the Book of Gates, the
Book of Caverns, and the Amduat.[69] Unlike the loose collections of spells, these
netherworld books are structured depictions of Ra's passage through the Duat, and
by analogy, the journey of the deceased person's soul through the realm of the
dead. They were originally restricted to pharaonic tombs, but in the Third
Intermediate Period they came to be used more widely.[70]
As Egypt became more modernized, its archaic practices were substituted with new
and efficient scientific techniques. Some of these scientific advancements were
related to the development of mummification. By enhancing their advanced
practice of mummification, the Egyptians were able to reach a new level of
excellency concerning afterlife.
Practices[edit]
First pylon and colonnade of the Temple of Isis at Philae.

Temples[edit]
Main article: Egyptian temple
Temples existed from the beginning of Egyptian history, and at the height of the
civilization they were present in most of its towns. They included both mortuary
temples to serve the spirits of deceased pharaohs and temples dedicated to patron
gods, although the distinction was blurred because divinity and kingship were so
closely intertwined.[22] The temples were not primarily intended as places for
worship by the general populace, and the common people had a complex set of
religious practices of their own. Instead, the state-run temples served as houses for
the gods, in which physical images which served as their intermediaries were cared
for and provided with offerings. This service was believed to be necessary to sustain
the gods, so that they could in turn maintain the universe itself.[71] Thus, temples
were central to Egyptian society, and vast resources were devoted to their upkeep,
including both donations from the monarchy and large estates of their own.
Pharaohs often expanded them as part of their obligation to honor the gods, so that
many temples grew to enormous size.[72] However, not all gods had temples
dedicated to them, as many gods who were important in official theology received
only minimal worship, and many household gods were the focus of popular
veneration rather than temple ritual.[73]
The earliest Egyptian temples were small, impermanent structures, but through the
Old and Middle Kingdoms their designs grew more elaborate, and they were
increasingly built out of stone. In the New Kingdom, a basic temple layout emerged,
which had evolved from common elements in Old and Middle Kingdom temples.
With variations, this plan was used for most of the temples built from then on, and
most of those that survive today adhere to it. In this standard plan, the temple was
built along a central processional way that led through a series of courts and halls to
the sanctuary, which held a statue of the temple's god. Access to this most sacred
part of the temple was restricted to the pharaoh and the highest-ranking priests.
The journey from the temple entrance to the sanctuary was seen as a journey from
the human world to the divine realm, a point emphasized by the complex
mythological symbolism present in temple architecture.[74] Well beyond the temple
building proper was the outermost wall. In the space between the two lay many
subsidiary buildings, including workshops and storage areas to supply the temple's
needs, and the library where the temple's sacred writings and mundane records
were kept, and which also served as a center of learning on a multitude of subjects.
[75]
Theoretically it was the duty of the pharaoh to carry out temple rituals, as he was
Egypt's official representative to the gods. In reality, ritual duties were almost
always carried out by priests. During the Old and Middle Kingdoms, there was no
separate class of priests; instead, many government officials served in this capacity
for several months out of the year before returning to their secular duties. Only in
the New Kingdom did professional priesthood become widespread, although most
lower-ranking priests were still part-time. All were still employed by the state, and
the pharaoh had final say in their appointments.[76] However, as the wealth of the
temples grew, the influence of their priesthoods increased, until it rivaled that of the
pharaoh. In the political fragmentation of the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1070
664 BC), the high priests of Amun at Karnak even became the effective rulers of
Upper Egypt.[77] The temple staff also included many people other than priests,
such as musicians and chanters in temple ceremonies. Outside the temple were
artisans and other laborers who helped supply the temple's needs, as well as
farmers who worked on temple estates. All were paid with portions of the temple's
income. Large temples were therefore very important centers of economic activity,
sometimes employing thousands of people.[78]
Official rituals and festivals[edit]

State religious practice included both temple rituals involved in the cult of a deity,
and ceremonies related to divine kingship. Among the latter were coronation
ceremonies and the sed festival, a ritual renewal of the pharaoh's strength that took
place periodically during his reign.[79] There were numerous temple rituals,
including rites that took place across the country and rites limited to single temples
or to the temples of a single god. Some were performed daily, while others took
place annually or on rarer occasions.[80] The most common temple ritual was the
morning offering ceremony, performed daily in temples across Egypt. In it, a highranking priest, or occasionally the pharaoh, washed, anointed, and elaborately
dressed the god's statue before presenting it with offerings. Afterward, when the
god had consumed the spiritual essence of the offerings, the items themselves were
taken to be distributed among the priests.[79]
The less frequent temple rituals, or festivals, were still numerous, with dozens
occurring every year. These festivals often entailed actions beyond simple offerings
to the gods, such as reenactments of particular myths or the symbolic destruction
of the forces of disorder.[81] Most of these events were probably celebrated only by
the priests and took place only inside the temple.[80] However, the most important
temple festivals, like the Opet Festival celebrated at Karnak, usually involved a
procession carrying the god's image out of the sanctuary in a model barque to visit
other significant sites, such as the temple of a related deity. Commoners gathered
to watch the procession and sometimes received portions of the unusually large
offerings given to the gods on these occasions.[82]
Animal cults[edit]
The Apis bull

At many sacred sites, the Egyptians worshipped individual animals which they
believed to be manifestations of particular deities. These animals were selected
based on specific sacred markings which were believed to indicate their fitness for
the role. Some of these cult animals retained their positions for the rest of their
lives, as with the Apis bull worshipped in Memphis as a manifestation of Ptah. Other
animals were selected for much shorter periods. These cults grew more popular in
later times, and many temples began raising stocks of such animals from which to
choose a new divine manifestation.[83] A separate practice developed in the
Twenty-sixth Dynasty, when people began mummifying any member of a particular
animal species as an offering to the god whom the species represented. Millions of
mummified cats, birds, and other creatures were buried at temples honoring
Egyptian deities.[84][85] Worshippers paid the priests of a particular deity to obtain
and mummify an animal associated with that deity, and the mummy was placed in a
cemetery near the god's cult center.
Oracles[edit]
The Egyptians used oracles to ask the gods for knowledge or guidance. Egyptian
oracles are known mainly from the New Kingdom and afterward, though they
probably appeared much earlier. People of all classes, including the king, asked
questions of oracles, and, especially in the late New Kingdom their answers could be
used to settle legal disputes or inform royal decisions.[86] The most common means
of consulting an oracle was to pose a question to the divine image while it was
being carried in a festival procession, and interpret an answer from the barque's
movements. Other methods included interpreting the behavior of cult animals,
drawing lots, or consulting statues through which a priest apparently spoke. The
means of discerning the god's will gave great influence to the priests who spoke and
interpreted the god's message.[87]
Popular religion[edit]
While the state cults were meant to preserve the stability of the Egyptian world, lay
individuals had their own religious practices that related more directly to daily life.
[88] This popular religion left less evidence than the official cults, and because this
evidence was mostly produced by the wealthiest portion of the Egyptian population,
it is uncertain to what degree it reflects the practices of the populace as a whole.
[89]
Popular religious practice included ceremonies marking important transitions in life.

These included birth, because of the danger involved in the process, and naming,
because the name was held to be a crucial part of a person's identity. The most
important of these ceremonies were those surrounding death (see "Funerary
practices" below), because they ensured the soul's survival beyond it.[90] Other
religious practices sought to discern the gods' will or seek their knowledge. These
included the interpretation of dreams, which could be seen as messages from the
divine realm, and the consultation of oracles. People also sought to affect the gods'
behavior to their own benefit through magical rituals (see "Magic" below).[91]
Individual Egyptians also prayed to gods and gave them private offerings. Evidence
of this type of personal piety is sparse before the New Kingdom. This is probably
due to cultural restrictions on depiction of nonroyal religious activity, which relaxed
during the Middle and New Kingdoms. Personal piety became still more prominent in
the late New Kingdom, when it was believed that the gods intervened directly in
individual lives, punishing wrongdoers and saving the pious from disaster.[62]
Official temples were important venues for private prayer and offering, even though
their central activities were closed to laypeople. Egyptians frequently donated
goods to be offered to the temple deity and objects inscribed with prayers to be
placed in temple courts. Often they prayed in person before temple statues or in
shrines set aside for their use.[89] Yet in addition to temples, the populace also
used separate local chapels, smaller but more accessible than the formal temples.
These chapels were very numerous, and probably staffed by members of the
community.[92] Households, too, often had their own small shrines for offering to
gods or deceased relatives.[93]
The deities invoked in these situations differed somewhat from those at the center
of state cults. Many of the important popular deities, such as the fertility goddess
Taweret and the household protector Bes, had no temples of their own. However,
many other gods, including Amun and Osiris, were very important in both popular
and official religion.[94] Some individuals might be particularly devoted to a single
god. Often they favored deities affiliated with their own region, or with their role in
life. The god Ptah, for instance, was particularly important in his cult center of
Memphis, but as the patron of craftsmen he received the nationwide veneration of

many in that occupation.[95]
Magic[edit]
Main article: Heka
The word "magic" is used to translate the Egyptian term heka, which meant, as
James P. Allen puts it, "the ability to make things happen by indirect means".[96]
Heka was believed to be a natural phenomenon, the force which was used to create
the universe and which the gods employed to work their will. Humans could also
use it, however, and magical practices were closely intertwined with religion. In fact,
even the regular rituals performed in temples were counted as magic.[97]
Individuals also frequently employed magical techniques for personal purposes.
Although these ends could be harmful to other people, no form of magic was
considered inimical in itself. Instead, magic was seen primarily as a way for humans
to prevent or overcome negative events.[98]
Amulet in the shape of the Eye of Horus, a common magical symbol

Magic was closely associated with the priesthood. Because temple libraries
contained numerous magical texts, great magical knowledge was ascribed to the
lector priests who studied these texts. These priests often worked outside their
temples, hiring out their magical services to laymen. Other professions also
commonly employed magic as part of their work, including doctors, scorpioncharmers, and makers of magical amulets. It is also likely that the peasantry used
simple magic for their own purposes, but because this magical knowledge would
have been passed down orally, there is limited evidence of it.[99]
Language was closely linked with heka, to such a degree that Thoth, the god of
writing, was sometimes said to be the inventor of heka.[100] Therefore, magic
frequently involved written or spoken incantations, although these were usually
accompanied by ritual actions. Often these rituals invoked the power of an
appropriate deity to perform the desired action, using the power of heka to compel
it to act. Sometimes this entailed casting the practitioner or subject of a ritual in the
role of a character in mythology, thus inducing the god to act toward that person as
it had in the myth. Rituals also employed sympathetic magic, using objects believed
to have a magically significant resemblance to the subject of the rite. The Egyptians
also commonly used objects believed to be imbued with heka of their own, such as
the magically protective amulets worn in great numbers by ordinary Egyptians.[101]
Funerary practices[edit]
Main article: Ancient Egyptian burial customs
Because it was considered necessary for the survival of the soul, preservation of the
body was a central part of Egyptian funerary practices. Originally the Egyptians
buried their dead in the desert, where the arid conditions mummified the body
naturally. In the Early Dynastic Period, however, they began using tombs for greater
protection, and the body was insulated from the desiccating effect of the sand and
was subject to natural decay. Thus the Egyptians developed their elaborate
embalming practices, in which the corpse was artificially desiccated and wrapped to
be placed in its coffin.[102] The quality of the process varied according to cost,
however, and those who could not afford it were still buried in desert graves.[103]
The Opening of the Mouth ceremony being performed before the tomb
Once the mummification process was complete, the mummy was carried from the
deceased person's house to the tomb in a funeral procession that included his or
her friends and relatives, along with a variety of priests. Before the burial, these
priests performed several rituals, including the Opening of the mouth ceremony
intended to restore the dead person's senses and give him or her the ability to
receive offerings. Then the mummy was buried and the tomb sealed.[104]
Afterward, relatives or hired priests gave food offerings to the deceased in a nearby
mortuary chapel at regular intervals. Over time, families inevitably neglected
offerings to long-dead relatives, so most mortuary cults only lasted one or two
generations.[105] However, while the cult lasted, the living sometimes wrote letters
asking deceased relatives for help, in the belief that the dead could affect the world
of the living as the gods did.[106]
The first Egyptian tombs were mastabas, rectangular brick structures where kings
and nobles were entombed. Each of them contained a subterranean burial chamber
and a separate, above ground chapel for mortuary rituals. In the Old Kingdom the
mastaba developed into the pyramid, which symbolized the primeval mound of
Egyptian myth. Pyramids were reserved for royalty, and were accompanied by large
mortuary temples sitting at their base. Middle Kingdom pharaohs continued to build
pyramids, but the popularity of mastabas waned. Increasingly, commoners with
sufficient means were buried in rock-cut tombs with separate mortuary chapels
nearby, an approach which was less vulnerable to tomb robbery. By the beginning of
the New Kingdom even the pharaohs were buried in such tombs, and they
continued to be used until the decline of the religion itself.[107]
Tombs could contain a great variety of other items, including statues of the
deceased to serve as substitutes for the body in case it was damaged.[108]
Because it was believed that the deceased would have to do work in the afterlife,
just as in life, burials often included small models of humans to do work in place of
the deceased.[109] The tombs of wealthier individuals could also contain furniture,
clothing, and other everyday objects intended for use in the afterlife, along with
amulets and other items intended to provide magical protection against the hazards
of the spirit world.[110] Further protection was provided by funerary texts included
in the burial. The tomb walls also bore artwork, including images of the deceased
eating food which were believed to allow him or her to magically receive sustenance
even after the mortuary offerings had ceased.[111]
History[edit]
Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods[edit]
Narmer, a Predynastic ruler, accompanied by men carrying the standards of various

local gods
The beginnings of Egyptian religion extend into prehistory, and evidence for them
comes only from the sparse and ambiguous archaeological record. Careful burials
during the Predynastic period imply that the people of this time believed in some
form of an afterlife. At the same time, animals were ritually buried, a practice which
may reflect the development of zoomorphic deities like those found in the later
religion.[112] The evidence is less clear for gods in human form, and this type of
deity may have emerged more slowly than those in animal shape. Each region of
Egypt originally had its own patron deity, but it is likely that as these small
communities conquered or absorbed each other, the god of the defeated area was
either incorporated into the other god's mythology or entirely subsumed by it. This
resulted in a complex pantheon in which some deities remained only locally
important while others developed more universal significance.[113][114] As the
time changed and the shifting of the empires changed like the middle kingdom, new
kingdom, and old kingdom, usually the religion followed stayed within the border of
that territory.
The Early Dynastic period began with the unification of Egypt around 3000 BC. This
event transformed Egyptian religion, as some deities rose to national importance
and the cult of the divine pharaoh became the central focus of religious activity.
[115] Horus was identified with the king, and his cult center in the Upper Egyptian
city of Nekhen was among the most important religious sites of the period. Another
important center was Abydos, where the early rulers built large funerary complexes.
[116]
Old and Middle Kingdoms[edit]

During the Old Kingdom, the priesthoods of the major deities attempted to organize
the complicated national pantheon into groups linked by their mythology and
worshipped in a single cult center, such as the Ennead of Heliopolis which linked
important deities such as Atum, Ra, Osiris, and Set in a single creation myth.[117]
Meanwhile, pyramids, accompanied by large mortuary temple complexes, replaced
mastabas as the tombs of pharaohs. In contrast with the great size of the pyramid
complexes, temples to gods remained comparatively small, suggesting that official
religion in this period emphasized the cult of the divine king more than the direct
worship of deities. The funerary rituals and architecture of this time greatly
influenced the more elaborate temples and rituals used in worshipping the gods in
later periods.[118]
The pyramid complex of Djedkare Isesi

Early in the Old Kingdom, Ra grew in influence, and his cult center at Heliopolis
became the nation's most important religious site.[119] By the Fifth Dynasty, Ra
was the most prominent god in Egypt, and had developed the close links with
kingship and the afterlife that he retained for the rest of Egyptian history.[120]
Around the same time, Osiris became an important afterlife deity. The Pyramid
Texts, first written at this time, reflect the prominence of the solar and Osirian
concepts of the afterlife, although they also contain remnants of much older
traditions.[121] The texts are an extremely important source for understanding
early Egyptian theology.[122]
In the 22nd century BC, the Old Kingdom collapsed into the disorder of the First
Intermediate Period, with important consequences for Egyptian religion. Old
Kingdom officials had already begun to adopt the funerary rites originally reserved
for royalty,[42] but now, less rigid barriers between social classes meant that these
practices and the accompanying beliefs gradually extended to all Egyptians, a
process called the "democratization of the afterlife".[123] The Osirian view of the
afterlife had the greatest appeal to commoners, and thus Osiris became one of the
most important gods.[124]
Eventually rulers from Thebes reunified the Egyptian nation in the Middle Kingdom
(c. 20551650 BC). These Theban pharaohs initially promoted their patron god
Monthu to national importance, but during the Middle Kingdom, he was eclipsed by
the rising popularity of Amun.[125] In this new Egyptian state, personal piety grew
more important and was expressed more freely in writing, a trend which continued
in the New Kingdom.[37]
New Kingdom[edit]
The Middle Kingdom crumbled in the Second Intermediate Period (c. 16501550
BC), but the country was again reunited by Theban rulers, who became the first
pharaohs of the New Kingdom. Under the new regime, Amun became the supreme
state god. He was syncretized with Ra, the long-established patron of kingship, and
his temple at Karnak in Thebes became Egypt's most important religious center.
Amun's elevation was partly due to the great importance of Thebes, but it was also
due to the increasingly professional priesthood. Their sophisticated theological
discussion produced detailed descriptions of Amun's universal power.[126][127]
Increased contact with outside peoples in this period led to the adoption of many
Near Eastern deities into the pantheon. At the same time, the subjugated Nubians
absorbed Egyptian religious beliefs, and in particular, adopted Amun as their own.
[128]
Akhenaten and his family worshipping the Aten

The New Kingdom religious order was disrupted when Akhenaten acceded, and
replaced Amun with the Aten as the state god. Eventually he eliminated the official
worship of most other gods, and moved Egypt's capital to a new city at Amarna.
This part of Egyptian history, the Amarna period, is named after this. In doing so,
Akhenaten claimed unprecedented status: only he could worship the Aten, and the
populace directed their worship toward him. The Atenist system lacked welldeveloped mythology and afterlife beliefs, and the Aten seemed distant and
impersonal, so the new order did not appeal to ordinary Egyptians.[129] Thus, many
probably continued to worship the traditional gods in private. Nevertheless, the

withdrawal of state support for the other deities severely disrupted Egyptian society.
[130] Akhenaten's successors restored the traditional religious system, and
eventually they dismantled all Atenist monuments.[131]
Before the Amarna period, popular religion had trended toward more personal
relationships between worshippers and their gods. Akhenaten's changes had
reversed this trend, but once the traditional religion was restored, there was a
backlash. The populace began to believe that the gods were much more directly
involved in daily life. Amun, the supreme god, was increasingly seen as the final
arbiter of human destiny, the true ruler of Egypt. The pharaoh was correspondingly
more human and less divine. The importance of oracles as a means of decisionmaking grew, as did the wealth and influence of the oracles' interpreters, the
priesthood. These trends undermined the traditional structure of society and
contributed to the breakdown of the New Kingdom.[132][133]
Later periods[edit]
In the 1st millennium BC, Egypt was significantly weaker than in earlier times, and
in several periods foreigners seized the country and assumed the position of
pharaoh. The importance of the pharaoh continued to decline, and the emphasis on
popular piety continued to increase. Animal cults, a characteristically Egyptian form
of worship, became increasingly popular in this period, possibly as a response to the
uncertainty and foreign influence of the time.[134] Isis grew more popular as a
goddess of protection, magic, and personal salvation, and became the most
important goddess in Egypt.[135]
Serapis
In the 4th century BC, Egypt became a Hellenistic kingdom under the Ptolemaic
dynasty (30530 BC), which assumed the pharaonic role, maintaining the traditional
religion and building or rebuilding many temples. The kingdom's Greek ruling class
identified the Egyptian deities with their own.[136] From this cross-cultural
syncretism emerged Serapis, a god who combined Osiris and Apis with
characteristics of Greek deities, and who became very popular among the Greek
population. Nevertheless, for the most part the two belief systems remained
separate, and the Egyptian deities remained Egyptian.[137]
Ptolemaic-era beliefs changed little after Egypt became a province of the Roman
Empire in 30 BC, with the Ptolemaic kings replaced by distant emperors.[136] The
cult of Isis appealed even to Greeks and Romans outside Egypt, and in Hellenized
form it spread across the empire.[138] In Egypt itself, as the empire weakened,
official temples fell into decay, and without their centralizing influence religious
practice became fragmented and localized. Meanwhile, Christianity spread across
Egypt, and in the third and fourth centuries AD, edicts by Christian emperors and
iconoclasm by local Christians eroded traditional beliefs. While it persisted among
the populace for some time, Egyptian religion slowly faded away.[139]
Legacy[edit]
Altar to Thoth of a Kemetic follower.

Egyptian religion produced the temples and tombs which are ancient Egypt's most
enduring monuments, but it also influenced other cultures. In pharaonic times many
of its symbols, such as the sphinx and winged solar disk, were adopted by other
cultures across the Mediterranean and Near East, as were some of its deities, such
as Bes. Some of these connections are difficult to trace. The Greek concept of
Elysium may have derived from the Egyptian vision of the afterlife.[140] In late
antiquity, the Christian conception of Hell was most likely influenced by some of the
imagery of the Duat. Biblical accounts of Jesus and Mary may have been influenced
by that of Isis and Osiris.[141] Egyptian beliefs also influenced or gave rise to
several esoteric belief systems developed by Greeks and Romans, who considered
Egypt as a source of mystic wisdom. Hermeticism, for instance, derived from the
tradition of secret magical knowledge associated with Thoth.[142]
Modern times[edit]
Traces of ancient beliefs remained in Egyptian folk traditions into modern times, but
its influence on modern societies greatly increased with the French Campaign in
Egypt and Syria in 1798 and their seeing the monuments and images. As a result of
it, Westerners began to study Egyptian beliefs firsthand, and Egyptian religious
motifs were adopted into Western art.[143][144] Egyptian religion has since had a
significant influence in popular culture. Due to continued interest in Egyptian belief,
in the late 20th century, several new religious groups have formed based on
different reconstructions of ancient Egyptian religion.[145]
See also[edit]
Ancient Egyptian concept of the soul

Egyptian pantheon
Kemetism
List of Egyptian mythology topics
Prehistoric religion
Religions of the Ancient Near East
Traditional African religion
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Further reading[edit]
Clarysse, Willy; Schoors, Antoon; Willems, Harco; Quaegebeur, Jan (1998), Egyptian
Religion: The Last Thousand Years: Studies Dedicated to the Memory of Jan
Quaegebeur, Peeters, ISBN 90-429-0669-3.
Harris, Geraldine; Sibbick, John; O'Connor, David (1992), Gods and Pharaohs from
Egyptian Mythology, Bedrick, ISBN 0-87226-907-8.
Hart, George (1997), Egyptian Myths, Legendary Past, University of Texas Press,
ISBN 0-292-72076-9.
Hill, Marsha (2007). Gifts for the gods: images from Egyptian temples. New York:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9781588392312.
Bilolo, Mubabinge (2004) [Kinshasa-Munich 1987], Les cosmo-thologies
philosophiques d'Hliopolis et d'Hermopolis. Essai de thmatisation et de
systmatisation, Academy of African Thought (in French), 2, Munich-Paris, sec I.
(2003) [Kinshasa-Munich, 1986], Les cosmo-thologies philosophiques de
lgypte Antique. Problmatique, prmisses hermneutiques et problmes majeurs,
Academy of African Thought (in French), 1, Munich-Paris, sec I.
(2003) [Kinshasa-Munich 1995], Mtaphysique Pharaonique IIIme millnaire
av. J.-C., Academy of African Thought (in French), 4, Munich-Paris: C.A. Diop-Center
for Egyptological Studies-INADEP, sec I.
(2004) [Kinshasa-Munich 1988], Le Crateur et la Cration dans la pense
memphite et amarnienne. Approche synoptique du Document Philosophique de
Memphis et du Grand Hymne Thologique d'Echnaton, Academy of African Thought
(in French), 2, Munich-Paris, sec I.
Pinch, Geraldine (2004), Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and
Traditions of ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-517024-5.
Schulz, R; Seidel, M (1998), Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs, Cologne: Knemann,
ISBN 3-89508-913-3.
External links[edit]
Budge, EA Wallis, Legends of the Gods: readable HTML book with images and
footnotes
Egyptian Gods.
"Ideology and Belief in Ancient Egypt", Digital Egypt, UK: UCL.
"Ancient Egypt", The Internet Sacred Text Archive.
Religion in the Lives of the Ancient Egyptians, U Chicago.
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Ancient Egyptian Religion

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Ancient Egyptian Religion

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Ancient Egyptian religion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Associations between deities

Other important concepts

Ritual and magical texts

Hymns and prayers

Official rituals and festivals

Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods

Old and Middle Kingdoms

5.5.1 Modern times

Main article: Ancient Egyptian deities

The relationships between deities could also be expressed in the process of

Because of theological statements like this, many past Egyptologists, such as

Other important concepts[edit]

Colossal statue of the Pharaoh Ramesses II

See also: Pharaoh

Ritual and magical texts[edit]

Hymns and prayers[edit]

First pylon and colonnade of the Temple of Isis at Philae.

Official rituals and festivals[edit]

The Apis bull

Popular religious practice included ceremonies marking important transitions in life.

Memphis, but as the patron of craftsmen he received the nationwide veneration of

Amulet in the shape of the Eye of Horus, a common magical symbol

Narmer, a Predynastic ruler, accompanied by men carrying the standards of various

Old and Middle Kingdoms[edit]

The pyramid complex of Djedkare Isesi

Akhenaten and his family worshipping the Aten

probably continued to worship the traditional gods in private. Nevertheless, the

Altar to Thoth of a Kemetic follower.

Ancient Egyptian concept of the soul

Jump up ^ Dunand & Zivie-Coche 2005, p. 35.

^ Jump up to: a b Assmann 2005, pp. 38991.

Jump up ^ Quirke & Spencer 1992, p. 98.

Jump up ^ Dunand & Zivie-Coche 2005, pp. 7879.

Jump up ^ Hornung 2001, pp. 1, 911, 7375.

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