Egyptian ReligionGods, pyramids and the afterlife

Differences?

Nowadays Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt:

Larger burial ground

Expensive / timeconsuming to create

-> Everything they need to live on in the next life.

Conclusion: Religion and the belief in life after death played an important role in the life of the ancient Egyptians.

4 groups:

Group 1: polytheism

Group 2: monotheism

Group 3: journey to the afterlife

Group 4: mummification

Use the documents and questions you find on your desk to become an expert in your topic.

Religion played an important role in the life of the ancient Egyptians.Large graves, even pyramids were build for the pharaohs.In those pyramids we find many burial gifts which the dead person needed to live on in the next life.

The Nile is very important to the Ancient Egyptians. Thanks to the Nile they can farm.They have a god for each force of nature. This is called nature worschip.Polyheism is the belief in different gods.

They especially worshipped the sun because the sun is the source of all life. Each day the sun comes to life ( rises in the east )The ancient Egyptians buried their dead in the Western desert because the sun dies there ( sun sets in the west).

The pharaoh Akhenaton thought the sun was the most important and therefore only god they should worship. During his reign there was monotheism: the belief in one god.

Journey to the afterlife

The god Anubis guides de dead on his journey to the afterlife.This god weighs the heart of the dead person. On the other side of the scale is the feather of the goddess Maat.

If the heart is too heavy, the death gets eaten by the monster Ammit, who looks like a combination of a crocodile, a lion and a hippo.

If the heart is light enough, you can go to the underworld. The god leads you to the god Osiris, the ruler of the underworld.In the book of the dead they find all the spells and guidelines to guide them on the long and hard journey to everlasting paradise.

Mummification

Rich Egyptians had their corpse mummified because the spirit, Ka, can’t survive if there isn’t a body ( Ba ) on earth.Mummification is a long and complicated process. These are the steps you must follow to create a mummy:1.The brain is removed through the nose and the organs are removed, mostly through a cut in the belly.2.The organs are put in canopic jars.3.The empty body is put in a bath with natron ( type of salt ) for two monts

4.The body is rubbed with herbs and oils.5.The oiled body is wrapped in linen and resin.6.The mummy is put in a coffin.7.Those who could pay for it, had more than one coffin.The first one was put into a larger one, then that one again in a larger,….8.The mummy’s coffin is placed in a sarcophagus in the grave or pyramid.