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Ancient Egyptian Religion

Ancient Egyptian religion has always been a mystery and an interesting topic for many people. The reason behind this mystery is that their religion has a lot of rituals and is complicated unlike other religions. Egyptians were polytheistic from the start until the Amarna period. Polytheistic means that they had several Gods and each God was responsible for a different aspect of their lives. Temples also were a very important factor that shaped Ancient Egyptian history and religion. Egyptians took really good care of how to build a temple, design, and decorate it. “Temples were often called hwt-netjer, literally meaning, “houses of the gods”” says Salima Ikram. (Ikram)There are two types of temples, which make every one of them unique and different. Then the priests, there held a lot of different rankings and each rank had its own roles and rituals in the temple. Also there were priestesses in Ancient Egypt but men became more dominant compared to the old kingdom.

Another aspect of ancient Egyptian religion is the gods and their different roles. Ancient Egyptians believed that every god had a different purpose and had power over a certain thing. They praised the gods and made offerings, expecting what they wanted in return. These gods were worshipped by offerings that the priests offered them in addition to different other methods. Egyptians had different festivals with different purposes and each festival had a distinct way of celebration. To probe deeper in this topic, I will start by talking about Temples, then go to the priesthood who are responsible for such temples. Afterwards I will explain how the religion and rituals were practiced. At the end they paper will present the types of major ancient Egyptian Festivals.

Temples First, there were two types of temples each had a different purpose and use. The first type was the Cultus Temple, which was used to worship a single God, like the temple of Horus at Edfu. The other type is the Mortuary temple, which was used to honor and sometimes worship a deceased king, like Ramses II’s temple at Thebes. Ancient Egyptian temples were very unique yet similar to each other. Ancient Egyptian temples were built using stone, unlike Ancient Egyptian houses which were made of mud-bricks. The temple architecture consisted of six different phases, the first is the “Pylon” which is a huge entrance that was painted and carved with different writings and scenes of Ancient Egypt. Most of the times, statues of a king or god were placed in front of the pylon, and an obelisk too. After the Pantheon came the second phase which was the roofless Courtyard. The walls from the inside showed the king making offerings and from the outside showed the king in a battle. Courtyard was open to people only on the days of festivals, but not on normal days. Moving on to the third, which was the Hypostyle hall, or sometimes called the columned hall. Unlike the courtyard it had a roof and was dark from both sides and only the middle walkway was lighted by openings in the roof. The columns were built to look like the papyrus or lotus plants. The walls had carvings of religious scenes and rituals. This room could not be accessed by anyone except highly ranked priests and the kings and was used for religious rituals. The fourth part was the “Second Hall” which was a columned dark room that had carving of the king and the Gods. This part was accessible only by the highest priests and the king. The fifth part was the “Sanctuary” which was the holiest place in the temple. It was completely dark and had a statue of the God that was kept in a shrine in the middle of the sanctuary. The sanctuary’s walls were carved with scenes of the gods, and only the king and highest priests could enter. The final part was the sacred lake, which was used for preforming the rituals by priests. It was thought that it represented the world before time began. Figure (1) shows an overview of the temple. A full description of temple rituals can be found here



Ancient Egyptian temples were beautifully decorated whether by coloring or carvings on the walls or ceilings. This can be seen at the Karnak, which is the biggest ancient Egyptian temple located at Luxor. The temple was first designed to be surrounded by a rectangular brick wall, which was believed to protect the temple from the corrupted world outside. This wall also was used to protect many other buildings that were related to the temple. That wall was built in fourth dynasty to protect the temples from the Persian invasions. The courtyard was used for festivals and had a pylon at its entrance .The pylons had niches that were used to hold flagpoles. These flags had the word “God” written on them in hieroglyphic and were hung in the temples. Then came the Hypostyle hall, which was and filled with columns that were differently shaped. These pillars were shaped as papyri or lotus flowers because ancient Egyptians believed these flowers surrounded the creation march. They also believed that these columns held up the sky from falling down. The final part was the inner sanctuary, which had gold statues of the king or god and was filled with carvings of religious scenes on the walls. Egyptians drew scenes of the king making offering and performing religious rituals. It was believed that the coloring satisfied the gods that is why they took good care of that. Egyptians used relief art extensively in the temple and stelae carvings. Reliefs are a major contribution to our knowledge of the Ancient Egyptians because they held a lot of important information about Egypt at that time. Also the temple was filled with statues and obelisks of gods and kings that were believed to be the guardians of the temple. These statues were sometimes covered and decorated with gold and silver, making them very precious. Priests Unlike other religions, ancient Egyptian priests did not preach or tried to talk to people to believe in the gods. The reason behind that is that most of the ancient Egyptians were innate believers without being taught. Additionally they never even doubted their gods’ existence. The king was responsible for choosing the priests taking into consideration his family’s status and religious background during the selection. There were several priesthood rankings and each had its distinct benefits. The first ranking was the “wab”. They wore normal clothes and were not very different. Their role was to carry the offerings and also carried the gods’ sacred boat. However, they couldn’t enter anywhere beyond the first hall. The second rank was the “hem-ka” which means servant of the “ka” they did not wear any special dresses but in their tombs they identified themselves by stating their rankings. They carried food and offerings to the god in the temple. The next ranking was the “khery hebet” which were literate and were responsible for reading religious texts in the temple. They wore a sash and played an important role in funerals by reciting spells to protect the deceased. The next rank is the “Sem” priests, they wore leopard skin robes and side locked their hair. They had a major role at funerals, and in the process of mummification. The next rank is the Iwnmutef, which means “pillar of his mother” and had a role similar to the Sem and wore the same type of clothes. The highest rank was Hem Nechter which means God’s servant, there were four ranks and the highest of them is the high priest. They had power and were usually chosen by the king. Priests played a very vital role in ancient Egypt. They had absolute power over a lot of things and had full responsibility of the temples.

Ancient Egyptian Religion and rituals Ancient Egyptians were polytheistic, which means they worshipped a lot of gods and each god had power over a certain thing in their lives therefore they made offerings to this god in order to grant them what they need. In order to contact the gods, they adopted several ways. The first was to go to the god’s temple and pray in the area that was accessible to non-priests. The second was through “ … Khonsu chapels of the triple shrine of Hatshepsut were also sites of assembly and prayer for the faithful” says Emily Teeter (Teeter). The Third was through chapels that were devoted for the people to pray for the gods, one example is “ The Chapel of the Hearing Ear” the people approached the shrine and said their needs out loud as if they were talking to the gods. These were the ways to contact the gods inside a temple. Outside of the temple, Egyptians prayed in different ways, the first was the stelae that had images of ears, this means that the gods are listening. Ancient Egyptian villages had shrines through which the people spoke to the gods. They were really keen to offer their gods the offerings they were supposed to get. Gods in temples were fed three times a day, which resembles human meals. They gave them food daily in morning, noon and afternoon. Priests had to purify themselves in the sacred lake before offering the food to the gods. Additionally, they offered the gods flowers, food and drink when they woke up. They believed that god went out of his shrine and ate the food, and after the god finishes, they did a process called “bringing of the foot” which was done by the king; he swept the floor of the sanctuary on which the god stepped to remove footprints. They believed that it kept the sanctuary clean and prevented the evil from entering. This ritual was done three times a day with every meal. Egyptians had gods for everything and they are numerous, their full names and duties can be found here. Figure 2 shows Akhenaten making his offering to the Aten. Figure 2

Ancient Egyptian Festivals “Records at Karnak from the reign from the reign of Thutmose III indicate that 54 days of each 365-day year were dedicated to festivals. They increased to 60 under Ramses III’s reign” (Teeter) Emily Teeter about ancient Egyptian festivals. There were three main festivals; the first is the “Festival of Osirirs”, “Feast of the Valley”, and the final one was “the Festival of Amunhotep I”. Each festival was celebrated differently and its own rituals and cults.

Conclusion: Studying and researching the history of Ancient Egyptian Religion is very thrilling and interesting. Ancient Egyptians took really good care of their gods and afterlife, which sets an example for lots to follow. They were obedient and they followed the mandated and approved rituals at that time by the book without any deviation. Additionally, their modes of worship as well as the architecture of their temples were structured and well defined which left no room for improvisation. Researching this topic increased my understanding of the history of my country’s ancient religion, which enhanced my knowledge of how ancient Egyptians were. It also provides a practical application of how to be obedient, disciplined and respect whoever is in authority. Egyptology is a wide field that needs years to study and understand.

Sources

•	http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/temples/explore/main.html •	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_temple#Functions •	http://www.historylink101.com/n/egypt_1/religion_temples.html •	http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/religion/dailycult.html4 •	http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/articles/a/ancient_egyptian_temples.aspx •	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_temple#cite_note-Gundlach_371-122 •	Teeter Emily, “Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt” •	Ikram Salima, “The History of Ancient Egypt: An Introduction”