Religion of Ancient Egypt Booklet Assignment

Written by:

Sreeraam Sivaswamy

Chan Tze Yen Adeline

Cheah Yin Teng

Teoh Tien Tzern

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Summary of the Religion

For almost 30 centuries since the unification around 3100 B.C. to the
conquest of Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. Ancient Egypt was the
preeminent civilization in the Mediterranean world. From the great pyr-
amids of the Old Kingdom through the military conquests of the New
Kingdom, Egypt’s majesty has long entranced archaeologists and his-
torians and created a vibrant field of study all its own: Egyptology. The
main sources of information about ancient Egypt are the many historical
remains of monuments, objects and artifacts that have been recovered
from archaeological sites, covered with hieroglyphs that have taken years

Inside the temple of Abu Simbel

of research till it has been deciphered. The picture that emerges is of a
culture with few equals in the beauty of its art, the accomplishment of
its architecture or the richness of its religious traditions. Egyptian civ-
ilization has flourished continuously since prehistoric times. While the
civilization’s rulers, writing, natural climate, religion and borders have
continued to evolve and change over the millennia, Egypt still exists as a
modern-day country. The civilization has always been strongly connected
with other parts of the world, bringing in and exporting goods, religions,
food, people and ideas. At times ancient Egypt ruled territory outside the
modern-day country’s border, control and conquer lands in what is now
Sudan, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Palestine.

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Pillars of an Egyptian Building

The country was also occupied by other powers such as the Persians, Nu-
bians, Greeks and Romans all conquered the country at different points
in time. Several names of the country passed on the years before the
more modern name Egypt was found. A popular ancient name for Egypt
was “Kemet,” which means the “black land.” Scholars generally believe
that this name derives from the fertile soil that is left over when the Nile
flood recedes in August. The flooding of the Nile river occurred between
June and August and the fertile soil created was vital to the survival of
the people of ancient Egypt’s, with fertility playing an important role in
Egyptian religion. The burial of Tutankhamun in which his penis was
mummified erect is but one proof of how important fertility was in the
rituals and beliefs of the ancient Egyptians. Ronald Leprohon, an Egyp-
tology professor at the University of Toronto stated in his book “The
Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary” (Society of Biblical Lit-
erature, 2013) that the country’s ancient rulers are referred to today as
“pharaohs,” although in ancient times they each used a series of names
as part of a royal titular. The word pharaoh originates from the term “per-
aa” which means “the Great House,” wrote Leprohon. The term was first
incorporated into a royal titulary during the rule of Thutmose III (reign
ca. 1479–1425 B.C.) wrote Leprohon.

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Beliefs
of the
Religion

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The ancient Egyptians were a polytheistic people who believed that gods
and goddesses controlled the forces of the human, natural, and supernatu-
ral world. In traditional Egyptian belief, the fundamental governing prin-
ciple was the abstract concept of maat (represented by the goddess Maat)
which is often translated as truth, justice, and cosmic order. To maintain
maat, the living had to constantly worship and make sacrifices to the gods
to pacify the deities and spirits of the afterlife.

Ancient Egyptians believed that if a person were properly prepared for
the afterlife, his/her soul was immortal. The soul, known as ka, accompa-
nies an individual throughout life, and then after death, it leaves the body
to enter into the realm of the dead. An individual’s ka could not exist
without his or her body. Extensive rituals and preparation of the body
for death, which included tomb building, mummification, and funerary
ceremonies, was meant to protect the body and the soul for the afterlife.

Hieroglyphics on walls

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The Egyptian pantheon was composed of many gods and goddesses of-
ten arranged in family groups of three consisting of a mother, father, and
child. Each god or goddess was linked to one or more places where mon-
umental temples were built to house their images. Gods and goddesses
in Egypt took many different forms. Many were portrayed in Egyptian
art with both human and animal features. Horus, god of the sky, war, and
protection often appears with the body of a man and the head of a falcon.

The Egyptian god Osiris seated between his wife Isis and their son Horus. Solid Gold and
lapis lazuli pendant bearing the name of King Osorkon II. Third Intermediate Period,
22nd Dynasty, ca. 872-837 BC. Now in the Louvre, Paris.

Others were portrayed as divine humans. For instance, Osiris, who judg-
es the dead in the afterlife, was portrayed as a man with a face that is
either black (referring to the rich Nile soil) or green (representing new
life). Many Egyptian gods were also associated with attributes or objects
with which they perform their divine duties. Isis, goddess of magic and
motherhood, for instance, was often shown holding an ankh or a lotus.
In Egyptian society, the highest position was occupied by the pharaoh
who was believed to be semi-divine and who was credited with mediating
between humans and the gods.

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THE GODS OF
ANCIENT EGYPT
WERE SEEN AS THE

LORDS OF
CREATION &
CUSTODIANS OF
ORDER BUT

ALSO AS
FAMILIAR FRIENDS

WHO WERE
INTERESTED IN

HELPING &
GUIDING THE
PEOPLE OF THE

LAND.

Queen Nefertari

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Notable

Figures

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Nefertiti

Nefertiti (c. 1370 - c. 1336 BCE) was

the wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten of the

18th Dynasty of Egypt. Her name means,

`the beautiful one has come’ and, because

of the world-famous bust created by the

sculptor Thutmose (discovered in 1912

CE), she is the most recognizable queen

of ancient Egypt. She grew up in the roy-

al palace at Thebes, probably the daugh-

ter of the vizier to Amenhotep III, a man

named Ay, and was engaged to his son,

Amenhotep IV, around the age of eleven.

There is evidence to suggest that she was

Queen Nefertiti an adherent of the cult of Aten, a sun de-

ity, at an early age and that she may have

influenced Amenhotep IV’s later decision to abandon the worship of

the gods of Egypt in favour of a monotheism centred on Aten. After he

changed his name to Akhenaten and assumed the throne of Egypt, Nefer-

titi ruled with him until his death after which she disappears from the

historical record.

Nefertiti’s Disappearance

In the regal year 12, Nefertiti’s name ceases to be found. Some think she
either died from a plague that swept through the area or fell out of favour,
but recent theories have denied this claim.
Shortly after her disappearance from the historical record, Akhenaten
took on a co-regent with whom he shared the throne of Egypt. This has
caused considerable speculation as to the identity of that person. One
theory states that it was Nefertiti herself in a new guise as a female king,
following the historical role of other women leaders such as Sobknefe-
ru and Hatshepsut. Another theory introduces the idea of there being
two co-regents, a male son, Smenkhkare, and Nefertiti under the name
Neferneferuaten (translated as “The Aten is radiant of radiance [because]
the beautiful one comes” or “Perfect One of the Aten’s Perfection”).

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Some scholars are adamant about Nefertiti assuming the role of co-regent
during or after the death of Akhenaten. Jacobus Van Dijk, responsible for
the Amarna section of the Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, believes that
Nefertiti indeed became co-regent with her husband, and that her role as
queen consort was taken over by her eldest daughter, Meryetaten (Mer-
itaten) with whom Akhenaten had several children. (The taboo against
incest did not exist for the royal families of Egypt.) Also, it is Nefertiti’s
four images that adorn Akhenaten’s sarcophagus, not the usual goddess-
es, which indicates her continued importance to the pharaoh up to his
death and refutes the idea that she fell out of favour. It also shows her
continued role as a deity, or semi-deity, with Akhenaten.

On the other hand, Cyril Aldred, author of Akhenaten: King of Egypt,
states that a funerary shawabti found in Akhenaten’s tomb indicates that
Nefertiti was simply a queen regnant, not a co-regent and that she died
in the regal year 14 of Akhenaten’s reign, her daughter dying the year
before.

Some theories hold that Nefertiti was still alive and held influence on
the younger royals who married in their teens. Nefertiti would have pre-
pared for her death and for the succession of her daughter, Ankhesen-
paaten, now named Ankhsenamun, and her stepson and now son-in-law,
Tutankhamun. This theory has Neferneferuaten dying after two years of
kingship and being then succeeded by Tutankhamun, thought to have
been a son of Akhenaten. The new royal couple was young and inexpe-
rienced, by any estimation of their age. In this theory, Nefertiti’s own
life would have ended by year 3 of Tutankhaten’s reign. In that year,
Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun and abandoned Amarna
to return the capital to Thebes, as evidence of his return to the official
worship of Amun. A gold plate found in Tutankhamun’s tomb depicting
Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamen together.

As the records are incomplete, it may be that future findings of both ar-
chaeologists and historians will develop new theories vis-à-vis Nefertiti
and her precipitous exit from the public stage. To date, the mummy of
Nefertiti, the famous and iconic Egyptian queen, has never been conclu-
sively found.

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Hatshepsut

One notable figure in the history

of Ancient Egypt is the first fe-

male Pharoah, Hatshepsut. Hat-

shepsut, daughter of King Thut-

mose I, became queen of Egypt

when she married her half-broth-

er, Thutmose II, around the age

of 12. Upon his death, she began

acting as regent for her stepson,

the infant Thutmose III, but later

took on the full powers of a phar-

aoh, becoming co-ruler of Egypt

Hatshepsut around 1473 B.C. As pharaoh,
Hatshepsut extended Egyptian

trade and oversaw ambitious building projects, most notably the Temple

of Deir el-Bahri, located in western Thebes, where she would be buried.

Depicted (at her own orders) as a male in many contemporary images

and sculptures, Hatshepsut remained largely unknown to scholars until

the 19th century. She is one of the few and most famous female pharaohs

of Egypt.

Did you know? Hatshepsut
was only the third wom-
an to become pharaoh
in 3,000 years of ancient
Egyptian history, and the
first to attain the full power
of the position. Cleopatra,
who also exercised such
power, would rule some 14
centuries later To show her
male portrayal, Hatshep-
sut took a form of a sphinx.

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Anubis

Anubis is the Egyptian
god of mummification and
the afterlife. He is also the
patron god of lost souls
and the helpless. He re-
mains as one of the oldest
gods of Egypt, who most
likely developed from the
earlier jackal god Wep-
wawet with whom Anubis
is often confused to be.

Anubis’ image is seen on

royal tombs ever since the

First Dynasty of Egypt

(c.3150 – 2890 BCE) but

he had already developed

a cult prior to this period

in order to be invoked on

to the tomb walls for pro-

tection. God of Death, Anubis

He is thought to have been

developed in response of wild dogs and jackals which dig up newly bur-

ied corpses at some point during the Predynastic Period in Egypt. (c.6000

– 3150 BCE) as the Egyptians believed a powerful canine god was the

best protection against other wild canines.

He is depicted as a black canine, a jackal-dog hybrid with pointed ears,
or as a muscular man with the head of a jackal. The color black was cho-
sen for its symbolism, not because Egyptian dogs or jackals were black.
Black symbolized the decay of the body as well as the fertile soil of the
Nile River Valley which represented regeneration and life.

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Set

Set, also known as Seth and Suetekh,

was the Egyptian god of war, chaos

and storms, brother of Osiris, Isis,

and Horus the Elder, uncle to Horus

the Younger, and brother-husband

to Nephthys. His other consort was

the goddess Tawaret, a hippo-head-

ed deity who presided over fertility

and childbirth. He is one of the first

five gods created by the union of

Geb (earth) and Nut (sky) after the

creation of the world. His name is

usually translated as “instigator of

confusion” and “destroyer” and he

was associated with disorder, for-

eign lands and people, and the color

red. Set took his sister, Nephthys,

as his wife. Having formed a con-

nection in the womb, the two were

married before they were born. A

God of Chaos , Set key element of Set’s mythology was

his unrelenting jealousy of his elder

brother Osiris. Some of this jealousy may have been warranted—his wife

eventually bore an illegitimate child with Osiris.

Set always appeared as an unidentifiable aardvark/ant-eater headed man
in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. He could turn himself into an ox, an
oryx, a hippopotamus, a bull, a crocodile, and a panther and even Anubis.
As a trickster god, Set opposed the Egyptian concept of maat, or divine
order. Set was not simply a force of disorder, but instead served as the
god of khenenu, or confusion. He was often associated with sandstorms,
thunderstorms, and flash floods; given Egypt’s reliance on the Nile’s wa-
ters, all of these forces were regarded as destructive nuisances.

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Unlike his siblings, Set did not have a traditional birth. In some tellings,
he tore himself from Nut’s womb; in others, his mother spat him into
existence. In either case, his unconventional birth was thought to fore-
shadow his representation of disorder and chaos. One of the most popular
and important myths in Ancient Egyptian mythology was the murder of
Osiris where Set was jealous of his brother Osiris’s success in ruling
Egypt and plotted to depose him.

Working in secret, Set took precise measurements of Osiris’s body and
devised an incredibly ornate box to match them. Set presented the box at
a party, telling partygoers that whoever could fit in the box could keep
it. Each guest tried the box in turn, only to find it did not quite fit. Final-
ly, Osiris laid down in it and found he fit perfectly. As soon as the king
had laid down, Set and his 72 conspirators nailed the lid shut and sealed
the box with molten lead. As Osiris suffocated to death, the conspirators
tossed the chest into the Nile and watched it float out to sea. For a time, it
seemed that he had gotten away with his fratricide, as he went on to rule
Egypt as its king. Set imprisoned Isis shortly after coming to power; he
believed her to be a threat to his power.

Battle of Anubis and Set God of Chaos, Set

Set had succeeded in killing Osiris,
but he still needed to destroy his
brother’s body in order to defeat him
completely. After Osiris’s body was
recovered by Isis, Set plotted to steal
it back and complete its destruction.
During the embalming process of
Osiris’s body, the body was kept in
the wabet, or place of embalming.
Set took notice of Anubis leaving
the wavet every night and devised a
plan to infiltrate the wabet. Set took
the form of Anubis and strolled past
the unsuspecting guards and was
able to steal Osiris’s body.

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Set was unable to make it far before Anubis had discovered the theft and
had set out in pursuit of Set. Set attempted to ward off Anubis by turning
into a bull but he did not intimidate Anubis whatsoever. Upon capturing
Set, Anubis castrated him and imprisoned him in Saka, the 17th Nome of
Egypt. Although given such punishment, Set was not deterred and broke
out of his imprisonment in another attempt to complete his mission. Set
decided to steal his brother’s body in a form a great cat. The plan failed
once again, and Anubis threw him back in prison once again while also
branding him with hot irons. This myth explains how leopards became
spotted.

Battle of Anubis vs Set

Set had still not given up and tried to steal the body again but failed an-
other time and was forced to serve Osiris’s throne for all eternity until he
was able to escape again. Set’s last attempt got him killed by Anubis and
his skin was flayed while his body was set aflame. Anubis donned the
flayed skin and snuck into Set’s camp to decapitate his entire army with a
single slash of his sword. The army was killed in the 18th Nome, where a
reddish mineral makes the land seem to be stained with blood.

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“Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system
of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an in-

tegral part of ancient Egyptian culture. Rituals such

as prayer and offerings were provided to the gods to

gain their favor. Formal religious practice centered on

the pharaohs, the rulers of tEhgeyirppt,obseitliioenves.d”to possess
divine powers by virtue of

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Statue of Tutankhamun

Elements
of the

Religion

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Buildings

Temple of Hatshepsut

The Temple of Hatshepsut is situated in Deir el-Bahari on the west bank
of the river Nile, and it is also known as Djeser-Djeseru. The is a mortu-
ary temple of Queen Hatshepsut and it is built around 1479 – 1458 BCE
and it was inspired and modelled after the mortuary temple of Mentuho-
tep II (2061 – 2010 BCE) because Hatshepsut admired him so much. The
Queen built her temple right next to the older temple to make the com-
parison even more obvious as she has always been perceptive of ways to
increase her public image and immortalize her name.

Temple of Hatshepsut Olden Days

A little back story of Hatshepsut, she was the daughter of King Thut-
mose I (1520 – 1492 BCE), who is also the father of Thutmose II by the
King’s secondary wife. To keep the Egyptian royal tradition, Hatshepsut
married Thutmose II and was raised to the position of God’s Wife of
Amun, which is the highest honour a female could attain in Egypt after
the position of queen. Followed by the death of her husband, the throne
would have been pass on to Thutmose III (1458 – 1425 BCE), which is
Thutmose II and his secondary wife’s son, but he was too young to rule
the kingdom. Hatshepsut stepped in to help as her stepson’s regent but
eventually ruled alongside with him as a full-fledged pharaoh in the sev-
enth year of her regency.

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Temple of Hatshepsut drawing

During Hatshepsut’s reign, she raised the economy and built many mon-
uments, but the most outstanding and remarkable building was her mor-
tuary temple, the Temple of Hatshepsut also known as Djeser-Djeseru
(translated as ‘Holy of Holies’), and had it designed to the tale of the
female pharaoh’s life, accomplishments and reign, modelled based on

Mentuhotep II’s temple. Many subse-
quent pharaohs were inspired by the
temple to build their own extravagant
buildings, but none of them are able to
surpass the grandeur of Hatshepsut’s.
Hatshepsut’s stepson, Thutmose III
later ordered the eradication of Hat-
shepsut from historical record after
twenty years of her death. This indicat-
ed that he did not harbour any ill will
personally towards Hatshepsut but was
attempting to erase any overt evidence
of a strong female pharaoh, as it was
disturbing towards the Egyptian beliefs
that the kingdom should be ruled by
men only.

Statue of Senenmut

Hatshepsut’s steward and con-

fidante Senenmut, carefully

designed her temple larger,

longer and more elaborate as

compared to the older temple.

The temple design and layout

of Mentuhotep II’s temple

featured a large stone ramp

from the first courtyard to the

second level. To make it look Temple of Hatshepsut Present Days

more magnificent, Senenmut designed the second level of Hatshepsut’s

temple to have a longer and more detailed ramp that passes through the

lush gardens and an intricate entrance pylon flanked by towering obelisks.

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Karnak Temple

The Karnak Temple is an ancient Egyptian temple that is situated in The-
bes (modern-day Luxor) on the east banks of the Nile River, and it is also
known as Ipetsun (translated as ‘The Most Selected of Places’). It is a
city of temples built over 2,000 years, dedicated to the Theban triad of
Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. The original name of the temple has something
to do with the ancient Egyptian beliefs that Thebes was the first city to be
discovered on the primordial mound which rose from the waters of chaos
at the beginning of the world. During that time, the creator-god Atum was
believed to be standing on the mound and begin the work of creation, thus
the temple is built at this spot for that reason.

Karnak Temple Olden Days

Its construction was initiated from the beginning of the Middle King-
dom (2040 – 1782 BCE) through the New Kingdom (1570 – 1069 BCE)
throughout the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323 – 30 BCE). The Karnak Temple
is considered the largest religious building in the world, covering about
200 acres of land as structures were regularly removed, renovated or ex-
panded over the years with approximately 30 Egyptian rulers contributed
their own touch to the construction of this temple.
The first known builder of the Karnak Temple was the king Senusret
I (1971 – 1926 BCE) of the Middle Kingdom who built the temple to
Amun which has a courtyard that may have been intended to honour and

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Karnak Temple Drawing

replicate Mentuhotep II’s mortuary temple Engraving of Amun
across the river. The New Kingdom would
then transform the modest temple grounds
and monuments into a colossal complex of
immense range and detail. It is a compli-
cated site with four courtyards, ten pylons,
a sacred lake and many buildings.

The Great Hypostyle hall, which is about
16,459 meters featuring 134 columns,
is still the largest room of any religious
building in the world. In addition to the
main sanctuary, there are several smaller
temples and a vast sacred lake that was
used for ritual washing and ritual navi-
gation. On the outside walls are scenes
showing Seti I and his successor, Ramess-
es II, smiting enemies from Libya, Syria
and the Levant. Shortly after it was built,
the hall became the setting for coronation
and heb-sed ceremonies.

Karnak Temple Present Day

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Scriptures

The Gospel According to Matthew

There were no records of any scrip-

tures made by the Ancient Egypts.

Many scholars and researchers

were baffled that Egypt was found

written in a few bibles. One of the

gospels which mentions Egypt is

Gospel According to Matthew,

first of the four New Testament

Gospels (narratives recounting

the life and death of Jesus Christ)

and, with The Gospels According

to Mark and Luke, one of the three

so-called Synoptic Gospels (i.e.,

those presenting a common view).

It has traditionally been attributed

The Gospel According to Matthew to St. Matthew the Evangelist, one
of the 12 Apostles, described in the

text as a tax collector (10:3). The Gospel According to Matthew was

composed in Greek, probably sometime after 70 CE, with evident de-

pendence on the earlier Gospel According to Mark. There has, however,

been extended discussion about the possibility of an earlier version in

Aramaic. Numerous textual indications point to an author who was Jew-

ish Christian writing for Christians of similar background. The Gospel

According to Matthew consequently emphasizes Christ’s fulfilment of

Old Testament prophecies (5:17) and his role as a new lawgiver whose

divine mission was confirmed by repeated miracles.

After tracing the genealogy of Jesus back to Abraham, the evangelist
mentions certain details related to the infancy of Christ that are not else-
where recorded—e.g., St. Joseph’s perplexity on learning that Mary is
pregnant, the homage of the Wise Men, the flight into Egypt to escape
Herod’s soldiers, the massacre of the innocents, and the return of the holy
family from Egypt.

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Matthew then describes the preaching of St. John the Baptist, the call of
the Apostles, and major events in the public ministry of Jesus. The final
section describes the betrayal, Crucifixion, burial, and Resurrection of
Christ.
Exegetes view the main body of the Gospel as five extended sermons,
one of which includes the memorable Sermon on the Mount (chapters
5–7). Numerous parables are recorded, some very well known but not
set down by the other evangelists. One passage, “And I tell you, you are
Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church” (16:18), has become the
basis of Roman Catholic belief in the divine institution of the papacy.
Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer (6:9–15) is used in the liturgies
of the Christian churches.

A page of The Gospel According to Matthew

The Hebrew Bible

Egypt is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible almost seven hundred times,
and it is referred to another 25 times in the New Testament, making it the
most frequently mentioned place outside Canaan in the Bible. In biblical
times, Egypt was already an ancient civilization and the pyramids were
thousands of years old. Israel’s status as a relative newcomer can be seen
in the fact that many of the events described in the Hebrew Bible are set
in an era now known as the New Kingdom (1550-1069 B.C.E.), which
was the most recent of the major periods of ancient Egyptian history.
Egypt and Israel shared a border in antiquity as they do today, and this
led to occasional contact and interaction between the peoples of the two
lands. Certain biblical passages allow us to get some sense of the nature
of that relationship, but Egyptian texts are less helpful in that regard.

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The relationship between Egypt and the Israelites is complicated. Ac-
cording to several biblical passages, the Israelites spent about four hun-
dred years of enslavement in Egypt (Gen 15:13, Exod 12:40-41, Acts
7:6). That was their longest sojourn away from Israel, and Exod 14 de-
scribes it coming to an end in dramatic fashion when the Red Sea is part-
ed and the Israelites are able to escape to freedom. The great majority of
the biblical references to Egypt are related to the exodus tradition, which

Transcribe from The Hebrew Bible

describes Moses leading the people through the waters and on the road
to the promised land. That period of captivity is the basis for the biblical
view of Egypt as a place of banishment and bondage.
But that is only part of the story. The land of the pharaohs is also some-
times the Bible’s go-to place, and on occasion it was a destination for
people leaving Israel either on their own or because they were forced to
flee. In a reversal of the exodus journey, they headed south to seek asylum
or refuge from oppression and tough times. Among the biblical notables
who travel to Egypt in order to escape hardship are Abraham and Sarah
(Gen 12:10-20), King Jeroboam of Israel (1Kgs 11:40), a group of people
fleeing the Babylonians (2Kgs 25:26), the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 43:5-7),
and the newborn Jesus and his family (Matt 2:13-15). There are even
some passages in the prophetic books that refute the notion that Egypt
is a place of enslavement by advising Israelites to relocate there to avoid
exile in Babylon. The biblical view of Egypt is therefore a mixed one,
both an arrival point and a departure point, an ally and an adversary. So
the answer to the question of whether or not Egypt was enemy territory
depends on which part of the Bible you happen to be reading.

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Egypt is commonly referred to in the Bible, but the favor is not returned
in the Egyptian written material. The Egyptians were meticulous record
keepers, but in all of their annals there is not one reference to the exo-
dus or the events anzd individuals associated with it in the Bible. That
includes Moses, whose name is of Egyptian origin despite the attempt
to connect it to Hebrew in Exod 2:10. (It comes from an Egyptian word
that means “to give birth to a child” that is also found in the names of the
pharaohs Thutmose and Ramesses). Another biblical figure who had an
extended stay in Egypt is Joseph, but he too is not mentioned in Egyptian
sources even though the Bible reports that he rose to a position of great
authority there (Gen 37-50). That lack of attestation has raised questions
in the minds of many scholars about the historicity of these biblical tra-
ditions.

The lone mention of Israel in

an Egyptian text is found on a

stela, or stone slab, that com-

memorates a military campaign

of a pharaoh named Merneptah,

who ruled from 1213 to 1203

B.C.E. This stela dates to ap-

proximately 1208 B.C.E., and it

is important because it contains

the earliest reference to Israel

outside the Bible. Merneptah’s

campaign took him to Canaan,

and the inscription lists the var-

ious enemies he encountered

and defeated along the way.

Among those listed is one re- Cover Page of The Hebrew Bible

ferred to as Israel, and what is

particularly interesting is that the name is identified as a group of people

and not, as the others on the list, a place. This tells us that by that time

there was an entity in Canaan that was known as Israel. It sheds no light

on how they got there or how long they had been there, but this Egyptian

evidence provides the earliest clue we have that is related to the origin of

the people who would go on to produce the Bible.

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Rituals

Funerary Rituals

During the time someone died in ancient Egypt, the funeral was a public
event which allowed the living to mourn the passing of a member of the
community and enabled the deceased to maneuver on from the earthly
plane to the eternal. Although there were many expressions of grief and
deep mourning over the loss of someone they loved, they did not believe
the dead person had ceased to exist; they had merely left the earth for
another realm and did not treat death as a bad thing. In order to make
sure they reached their destination safely, the Egyptians developed intri-
cate funerary rituals to preserve the body, free the soul, and send it on
its way. These rituals encouraged the healthy expression of grief among
the living but concluded with a feast celebrating the life of the deceased
and their departure, emphasizing how death was not the end but only a
continuation.

- Mourning & the Soul

Egyptian rituals regarding burials were very dramatic in mourning of

the dead, although it had

been hoped that the de-

ceased would find bliss in

an eternal land beyond the

grave. Mummification was

practiced in Egypt as early

as 3500 BCE and is thought

to have been suggested by

the preservation of corps-

es buried in the sand. The

Egyptian concept of the soul

dictated that there needed to

be a preserved body on the

earth in order for the soul

to have hope of eternal life.

The soul was thought to con- Lamentation of Isis and Nephthys

sist of nine separate parts:

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- Khat was the physical body
- Ka was one’s double-form
- Ba was a human-headed bird aspect which could speed between

earth and the heavens
- Shuyet was the shadow self
- Akh was the immortal, transformed self
- Sahu and Sechem were aspects of the Akh
- Ab was the heart, the source of good and evil
- Ren was one’s secret name
- The Khat needed to exist in order for the Ka and Ba to recognize

itself and so the body had to be preserved as intact as possible.

After a person had died, the family

would bring the body of the deceased

to the embalmers where the profes-

sionals produce specimen models in

wood, graded in quality. They ask

which of the three is required, and

the family of the dead, having agreed

upon a price, leave the embalmers to

their task. There were three levels of

quality and corresponding price in

Egyptian burial and the profession-

al embalmers would offer all three

choices to the bereaved. The louder

the better for a mourning ritual. In the

households of the elites, there would

be screaming and wailing as the peo-

ple mourn the passing of the master

or mistress. In grandiose situations,

women, after smearing their heads

and faces with mud, would take to Papyrus of Isis and Nepthtys

the streets and round up their rela-

tives and friends. They would beat on their exposed breasts and grieve in

public. Lamentation was essential in a successful funeral.

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During the ceremony, professional mourners known as the “Kites of
Nephthys” would be employed to perform “The Lamentations of Isis and
Nephthys”. The Kites of Nephthys were women who were usually shown
wearing black robes, and would encourage mourners to grieve openly at
funerals by their emotional rendition of the poem. These women were
dressed in the color of mourning and sorrow, a blue-gray, and covered
their faces and hair with dust and earth. This was a paid position, and the
wealthier the deceased, the more kites would be present in the proces-
sion. The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys is an ancient Egyptian text
in which the two goddess-sisters call the soul of the god Osiris to rejoin
the living. Although originally recited to revive Osiris, it became a reg-
ular part of funeral services where it was intended to ‘wake the dead’ to
the afterlife. When a person died, it was thought their soul was trapped in
the body, the house they had grown used to, and the Lamentations would
wake that entangled soul and assist it in moving forward.

- Mummification
-Types of Mummification

In the Old Kingdom, the kings were buried in their pyramid tombs, but

from the First Intermediate Period of Egypt (2181-2040 BCE) onwards,

kings and nobles favored tombs cut into rock faces or into the earth. By the

time of the New Kingdom (c. 1570-1069 BCE) the tombs and the rituals

leading to burial had reached their highest state of development. There

were three methods of embalming/funerary ritual available: the most

expensive and elabo-

rate, a second, cheaper

option which still al-

lowed for much of the

first, and a third which

was even cheaper and

afforded little of the

attention to detail. The

first method is the most

elaborate option, which

Preparation of Mummification was performed for roy-
alty.

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The first one where the body of the deceased, in the most expensive type
of burial, was laid out on a table, and the brain was removed via the nos-
trils with an iron hook, and what cannot be reached with the hook is
washed out with drugs; next the flank is opened with a flint knife and the
whole contents of the abdomen removed; the cavity is then thoroughly
cleaned and washed out, firstly with palm wine and again with an infu-
sion of ground spices. After that it is filled with pure myrrh, cassia, and
every other aromatic substance, excepting frankincense, and sewn up
again, after which the body is placed in natron, covered entirely over for
seventy days – never longer. When this period is over, the body is washed
and then wrapped from head to foot in linen cut into strips and smeared
on the underside with gum, which is commonly used by the Egyptians
instead of glue. In this condition the body is given back to the family who
have a wooden case made, shaped like a human figure, into which it is
put.

The second most
expensive burial
differed from the
first in that less
care was given to
the body. No inci-
Nesyamun Mummy

sion is made and the intestines are not removed, but oil of cedar is in-
jected with a syringe into the body through the anus which is afterwards
stopped up to prevent the liquid from escaping. The body is then cured
in natron for the prescribed number of days, on the last of which the oil
is drained off. The effect is so powerful that as it leaves the body it brings
with it the viscera in a liquid state and, as the flesh has been dissolved by
the natron, nothing of the body is left but the skin and bones. After this
treatment, it is returned to the family without further attention.

The third, and cheapest, method of embalming was “simply to wash out
the intestines and keep the body for seventy days in natron”. The internal
organs were removed in order to help preserve the corpse but, because it
was believed the deceased would still need them, the viscera were placed
in canopic jars to be sealed in the tomb. Only the heart was left inside the
body as it was thought to contain the Ab(heart) aspect of the soul.

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-The Preparations and Aftermath
In early mummification, the organs of the abdomen and the brain were
placed in canopic jars which were thought to be watched over by the
guardian gods known as The Four Sons of Horus. In later times the or-
gans were taken out, treated, wrapped, and placed back into the body, but
canopic jars were still placed in tombs, and The Four Sons of Horus were
still thought to keep watch over the organs. The removal of the organs and
brain was all about drying out the body - the only organ they left in place
was the heart because that was thought to be the seat of the person’s iden-
tity. This was all done because the soul needed to be freed from the body
to continue on its eternal journey into the afterlife and, to do so, it needed
to have an intact ‘house’ to leave behind and also one it would recognize
if it wished to return to visit.
During the funeral procession service, the corpse and the tekenu were
followed by priests, and when they reached the eastern bank of the Nile,
the tekenu and the oxen who had pulled the corpse were ritually sacri-
ficed and burned. They were followed by others carrying grave goods
such as clothing and shabti dolls, favorite possessions of the deceased,
and other objects which would be necessary in the afterlife.

Canopic Jars

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The corpse was then

placed on a mortuary

boat along with two

women who symbolized

the goddesses Isis and

Nephthys. This was in

reference to the Osiris

myth in which Osiris is

killed by his brother Set

and returned to life by

Isis and her sister Neph-

Canopic Jars Contents thys. The women would
address the dead king

as the goddesses speaking to Osiris. The boat sailed from the east side

(representing life) to the west (the land of the dead) where it docked and

the body was then transported to its tomb. A priest would then perform

the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony during which he would touch the

corpse at various places on the body in order to restore the senses so the

deceased could again see, hear, smell, taste, and talk.

During this ceremony, the two women representing Isis and Nephthys
would recite The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys. The lid was then
fastened on the coffin and it was carried into the tomb. The tomb would
have the deceased’s name written in it, statues and pictures of him or her
in life, and inscriptions on the wall (Pyramid Texts) telling the story of
their life and providing instructions for the afterlife. Prayers would be
made for the soul of the deceased and grave goods would be arranged
around the coffin; after this, the tomb would be sealed.

The family was expected to provide for the continued existence of the de-
parted by bringing them food and drink offerings and remembering their
name. If a family found this too burdensome, they hired a priest (known
as a Ka-Servant) to perform the duties and rituals. Lists of food and drink
to be brought were inscribed on the tomb (Offering Lists) as well as an
autobiography of the departed so they would be remembered. The soul
would continue to exist peacefully in the next life (following justification)
as long as these offerings were made.

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-Journey to the Afterlife
For the soul of the departed, however, a new life had just begun. Fol-
lowing the mortuary rituals and the closing of the tomb, the soul was
thought to wake in the body and feel disoriented. Inscriptions on the wall
of the tomb, like the Pyramid Texts, or in one’s coffin, as with the Coffin
Texts, would remind the soul of its life on earth and direct it to leave the
body and move forward. These texts were replaced in the New Kingdom
of Egypt by the Book of the Dead. One of the gods, most often Anubis,
would appear to lead the soul forth towards the Hall of Truth where it
would be judged.
When one’s time came, one would move forward to where Osiris, An-
ubis, and Thoth stood by the scales of justice and would recite the Neg-
ative Confessions, a ritual list of sins one could honestly say one had not
committed. At this point one’s heart was weighed in the balance against
the white feather of truth; if one’s heart was lighter than the feather, one
was justified, and if not, the heart was dropped to the floor where it was
eaten by the monster Amut and the soul would then cease to exist.
If one had been justified by the weighing of the heart, Osiris, Thoth,
and Anubis would confer with the Forty-two Judges and then allow one
to pass on toward paradise. This next part of the journey takes different
forms depending on different texts and time periods. In some versions,
the soul must still avoid pitfalls, demons, and dangers, and require the
assistance of a guide book such as The Egyptian Book of the Dead. In
other depictions, once one had been justified, one went to the shores of
Lily Lake where a final test had to be passed.

Page from the Book of the Dead of Hunefer from Thebes

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Weighing of the heart against Ma’at’s Feather

The ferryman was an eternally unpleasant man named Hraf-hef to whom
the soul needed to be kind and gracious. If one passed this final test, one
was rowed across the lake to paradise in the Field of Reeds. Here the soul
would find everything and everyone thought to be lost through death.
Those who had passed on before would be waiting as well as one’s fa-
vorite pets. The house the soul had loved while alive, the neighborhood,
friends, all would be waiting and the soul would enjoy this life eternally
without the threat of loss and in the company of the immortal gods. This
final paradise, however, was only possible if the family on earth had per-
formed the mortuary rituals completely and if they continued to honor
and remember the departed soul.

However, if one’s heart was found to be heavier than Ma’at’s feather of
truth, it was dropped to the floor where it was consumed by a monster and
one ceased to exist. Even if one had lived an exemplary life, however, one
would not reach paradise if one’s body had not been properly buried and
all the funerary rites followed in accordance with tradition. It is for this
reason that proper burial rituals were so important and were so strictly
observed.

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Symbols

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The Ankh

The ankh remains famous and
clearly well-known when related
back to ancient Egypt. The mean-
ing of the symbol is that it repre-
sents the concept of eternal life in
its hieroglyphic system. The Ankh
is commonly seen in Egyptian
tomb painting and other arts. It is
also seen as “the Key of Nile” as
the union of Osiris and Isis.

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Name of Tutankhamun in hieroglyphics

Cartouche

A cartouche is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic nameplate. The cartou-
che has an obvious link and symbolism to the sun the cartouche Symbol-
izes of protection against evil spirits both in this life and the afterlife, The
symbol, which had the shape of a circle originally also shaped like an
oval with a horizontal bar, was sometimes used as a cartouche. This kind
of use aimed to represent divine protection also the cartouche closely
linked in appearance to the ouroboros serpent biting its own tail.

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Djed

The Djed is “the Backbone of
Osiris” which represents sta-
bility as an ancient Egyptian
symbol. The symbol represents
a look of a spine. This symbol
was originally Osirian and was
associated with themes of regen-
eration and rebirth.

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Eye of Ra

There are different myths about the origin of the Eye of Ra symbol. How-
ever, most experts believe that the symbol was actually the right eye of
Horus and it became known as the Eye of Ra in ancient times. The two
symbols mostly represented the same concepts. That said, according to
different myths, the Eye of Ra symbol was identified as the personifica-
tion of many goddesses in Egyptian mythology, such as Wadjet, Hathor,
Mut, Sekhmet, and Bastet.
Ra or also known as Re is the sun god in Egyptian mythology. Therefore,
the Eye of Ra symbolizes the sun.

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‘Was’ Symbol

The ‘Was Sceptre’ was one of the
most important Egyptian Symbols
Was sceptre was the symbol of pow-
er in ancient Egyptian culture also
represented the dominion of gods
and According to what the ancient
Egyptians believe it also ensured the
continuance of a king’s prosperity,
The ‘Was Sceptre’ has a straight
shaft, a crooked handle in the shape
of an animal head and a forked base
The crooked top of the staff mirrors
the strange animal shape of Set’s
own head.

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BA Symbol

It is often represented as fal-
con or a bird with the head of
a human. Others believe the Ba
is the emblem of the ascension
of the soul after death. Proba-
bly, the most politically correct
definition of the Ba is that it is
a spiritual manifestation of the
person that appears at the time
of his death.

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The Scarab Beetle

The Egyptian Scarab Beetle
was a symbol of death, re-
birth, great power, guide and
protect in the afterlife the
scarab beetle was one of the
most important and popular
and amulets in for hundreds
of years, worn by everyone
living and the dead. Its pop-
ularity even reached beyond
the borders of Egypt, to the
east There were many differ-
ent types of scarabs such as
scarab seals heart scarabs,
winged scarabs, wedding
scarabs, scarabs with spells,
scarabs with good wishes
and scarabs decorated with
figures of animals and Gods.

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Personal
Summaries

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Sreeraam Sivaswamy

DIBF 201904 - 005999

I have always been a
big reader of myth-
ological studies and
fantasy tales. This as-
signment has made
me learn more and in-
depth of ancient re-
ligion and the stories
within. Ancient Egypt
has been one of my
favourite topics of dis-
cussion. There is so
much to learn within
the religion of Ancient
Egypt. The attires, the
undeniably unique tra-
ditions, the magnifi-
cent creations in bring-
ing forth great advancement to Egypt and the interesting
tell tales of Gods and stories of righteous leaders, pharaohs.
The mysteries of the Ancient Egypt transverse way beneath
the sands of Egypt’s masked by the picturesque of sand. I
could easily say everything above the sand-stoned buildings
is just a cover-up to what is hidden under the sands of time.
I have learnt so much from the sacrifices made by the Gods
to vanquish the evil to noble female figures taking the reign
wielding their swords high into the sky and taking their nation
to greater heights. There is so much we still have yet to fig-
ure out and kept obscured from the world. Only time can tell
when the stories will emerge out of the dense sands bringing
forth more question and answers to unveil.

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Chan Tze Yen Adeline
DIBF 201904 - 006031

Doing this assignment, I
have learnt a lot of valu-
able information regard-
ing the Ancient Egyptian
religion by researching
the rituals of the an-
cient Egyptians; such
as what they believed
in back then and how
they executed such ritu-
als for different specific
reasons. The Egyptians
focused on mortuary/
funerary rituals and paid
extra attention to death
and mummification with
their belief in death not
being a bad thing but
being a plane for moving on, such as the Field of Reeds. Rit-
uals performed during the preservation of the soul and body
during mummification showed me how intricate their rituals
and what weight it held back then. Things such as the differ-
ent parts of the soul, The Book of the Dead, preparations and
mummification are further ingrained in my head now.
I am very grateful and fascinated to have been able to learn
about the history of the ancient Egyptians and this has piqued
my interest to continue learning more about it. Their portray-
al of death is a noble one compared to other religions who
seem to paint death as a bad thing. The backstory of the
Gods are also very interesting and the whole culture of An-
cient Egypt is compelling. This has been a very nice journey
delving into the religion and its beliefs.

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