...about ancient Egyptian culture is based on elaborate worship rituals related to death and the afterlife. Egyptians were devoted to their gods and to their pharaohs who were gods on earth, as demonstrated by their willingness to build the pyramids for the safe passage of their leaders into the afterlife. Understanding the development of Egyptian society and their theological system requires a basic knowledge of the geography of the area. The Nile River Valley and Nile Delta, circa 4000-5000 BCE, was comprised of about 12,000 square miles of arable land. The villages and towns of ancient Egypt were found up and down the length of the Nile with most of the population living below the First Cataract (located approximately at present day Aswan). The Egyptians were accomplished farmers. They knew the Nile would flood each year and bring new life and abundant grain. The Nile's flooding was predictable and left rich new deposits of silt for new crops, making irrigation easy to plan. A basin irrigation system allowed the flood waters to flow gently into each field, cleansing and renewing the earth each year. The virtual isolation of the Nile Valley allowed Egyptian civilization to develop unthreatened by its neighbors. The Mediterranean Sea lay to the north, vast deserts were found to the east and west, and dense jungle lay to the south. An invader would have to be quite determined to brave the elements that protected the Nile Valley civilization. Since Egyptian civilization was a product...
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...included their ancient gods, the mythology of the gods, and other parts of their religion. For example their religion explained and included creation, death and the afterlife, and the cults that worshiped the gods. In Egypt, the king or pharaoh played a very important part in their religion and what the gods expected of the people also. Egyptian religion consisted of many myths and rituals too. Religion was a very influential part of Ancient Egyptian culture and shaped their ancient civilization of the Nile greatly. Like most other cultures, the ancient Egyptians wanted to find the meaning for their existence, but there were also other influences on their religion, such as the need to justify kingship, along with many others. Egyptians have numerous Gods in there culture and they feel that the Gods walk among them, invisibly on Earth. Ra is the most central God of the Egyptian gods. Known as the sun god, Ra was the most important element of life in ancient Egypt and represented light, warmth, and growth. Ra embodies the Egyptian beliefs of order and truth, and he signifies the cycle of birth, life and death. Of all the ancient Egyptian Gods Anubis is frequently the one referred to as the gatekeeper of the underworld and god of death. The Egyptian goddess Isis was worshiped throughout Egypt. Isis was considered to the patron saint of women, mothers and children. Horus was always associated with the same symbol; that of the falcon. In almost all types, Horus was known as the...
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...date back thousands of years to the times of the ancient Pharaohs. While some of these ancient traditions remain evident, modern Egypt has evolved greatly due to influences of immigrants from other Arab nations. The Egyptians had a lot of designs through the years like: The Ancient Egyptian era, Colonial Egyptian style, Napoleonic and Post Napoleonic Styles. A lot of symbols were associated with the ancient pharaohs era. The beetle is unique because it represents strength and power; it’s also a symbol of protection because the god of sun “Ra” blessed it. Ra was depicted with the body of a man and head of falcon. Ra God who can appear in a lot of forms, depending on the situation at the moment as he...
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...creation of civilizations since the beginning of time, even before the existence of the religions we have today. In ancient civilizations, it was believed that rulers were the key to the gods and Ancient Egyptian history is an example of this. Egypt, although primarily known for their pyramids, has...
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...Ra /rɑː/[1] or Re /reɪ/ (Egyptian: ꜥ, rˤ) is the ancient Egyptian solar deity. By the Fifth Dynasty (2494 to 2345 BCE) he had become a major god in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the midday sun. In later Egyptian dynastic times, Ra was merged with the god Horus, as Ra-Horakhty ("Ra, who is Horus of the Two Horizons"). He was believed to rule in all parts of the created world: the sky, the earth, and the underworld.[2] He was associated with the falcon or hawk. When in the New Kingdom the god Amun rose to prominence he was fused with Ra as Amun-Ra. During the Amarna Period, Akhenaten suppressed the cult of Ra in favour of another solar deity, the Aten, the deified solar disc, but after the death of Akhenaten the cult of Ra was restored. The cult of the Mnevis bull, an embodiment of Ra, had its centre in Heliopolis and there was a formal burial ground for the sacrificed bulls north of the city. All forms of life were believed to have been created by Ra, who called each of them into existence by speaking their secret names. Alternatively humans were created from Ra's tears and sweat, hence the Egyptians call themselves the "Cattle of Ra." In the myth of the Celestial Cow it is recounted how mankind plotted against Ra and how he sent his eye as the goddess Sekhmet to punish them. When she became bloodthirsty she was pacified by drinking beer mixed with red...
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...Akhenaten was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who reigned about 3,500 years ago in the 18th dynasty. He made some major alterations to various aspects of Egyptian culture, the most notable one being his religious revolution. Akhenaten's reformation was meant to convert Egyptian polytheism, belief in Amun-ra, the god of gods, in favour of the worship of a single god, Aten the sun disk. He was seen as a reformer because his religion focused one god, but his major emphasis was on the Aten's realness and existence. By being able to see ones god, it provides a level of reality as opposed to believing the words of others. He was viewed as a tyrant for taking his religion too far, denying the existence of other gods, and destroying any evidence of the past religion of Amun-ra including the name of his own father. Even his name before embarking on this deity revolution was Amenhotep IV. In his 5th year of reign he rejected this name meaning “Amun is satisfied”, he changed it to Akhenaten, meaning “the living image of Aten”. Egyptians once followed several gods and goddesses, each of which had its own priests, temples, shrines and rituals. Akhenaten ordered the construction of a new capital city known as Amarna “the horizon of the sun” to escape priesthood of Amun-ra. Everything in Thebes was packed up and Akhenaten and his followers left for Amarna. By centralizing himself as the creator of the new god Aten, Akhenaten gave himself control over both politics and religion, two of the most...
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...The belief of one God or many gods depends on how one defines and perceives god. Creation is the act of bringing the world into order and existence. Whether it is through creation or evolution all of these religions have a starting point of how they believe the world came to exists. When your life is over, where do you go? That answer depends on faith, religion, and the path one chooses to follow. Even though these religions have different views, they all still share a common ground and believe in something. In religion you have two main beliefs polytheism and monotheism. Polytheism believes in multiple deities called god and goddesses. Monotheism is the belief that only one god exists. Some believers of polytheism include Hinduism, Buddhism, ancient Egyptians, and ancient Mesopotamia. Hinduism believes that all deities are separate entities. Most people believe in different deities expanding from a single God. That one single entity is never defined and for the most part Hindus continue to hold one God above all others. They believe in Brahman he is the universal soul, and it is said that all men are considered Brahmans. Buddhism believes in “the Buddha” Siddhartha Gautama. The Buddha looks with a kind heart equally on all living beings, and they call him father. Buddha can be anything you worship because in Buddhism there is no absolute god. In the ancient Egyptian religion they saw the actions of the gods behind all the elements and forces of nature. However, they...
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...I will be discussing a few of these in relation to ancient Egypt and ancient Persia. Two of the key markers of civilization are writing and religion. Ancient Egyptians used three different types of writing, they were: hieroglyphics, hieratic, and demotic. The latter two are essentially cursive derivatives of the hieroglyphic style. The ancient Egyptians called your script mdju netjer, or “words the god.” Hieroglyphs were the earliest form of the Egyptian script. Originally hieroglyphs used to write different kinds of texts on different surfaces. As hieratic developed, hieroglyphic scripts became confined to religious and monumental usage. Hieratic is an adaptation of the hieroglyphs script. The signs were simplified to make their writing quicker. The other style of writing is called demotic. The word demotic means “popular scripts.” Demotic was more commercially used than hieratic or hieroglyphic scripts and it was a more cursive form of hieroglyphics or hieratic In ancient Egypt the religion that was practiced there was a polytheistic one. The Egyptians had many gods that they worshiped in temples that they built. Some of these gods they combined into one god but not in a monotheistic way. Some of the gods that they worshiped are Osiris, Isis, Horus, Anubis, and Ra. Pharaohs were also believed to be gods but only when they took the throne and were essentially crowned as a pharaoh. During certain dynasties in ancient Egypt they also built pyramids for the pharaohs in...
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...In the ancient world, religion was a vital part of society. Many deified rulers, built massive temples, and offered sacrifices. The world was predominantly polytheistic at this time. The number of deities worshiped decreased over time as larger nations formed and revised their pantheons. Around 30 CE, Jesus Christ began teaching. He would start a religion, or an expansion of an existing one, that would grow to be the largest in the world. Due to that growth, the role of religion in society changed dramatically after the rise of Christianity. In ancient Mesopotamia, the gods were very important. The people built massive Ziggurats to honor their respective deities. Due to their size and the relative flatness of the lands around them, they were visible for miles. Through those constructions we can see that the people valued their gods. The gods were so vital to them due to the instability of the rivers surrounding them. They offered many gifts and sacrifices to...
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...Ancient Egypt was one of the great “river civilizations”. China and the Yangste, India and the Indus, Mesopotamia and the Tigris-Euphrates River, and Egypt and the Nile were labeled the four “river civilizations” because of the immense impact the Nile had on the Egyptian people. Egypt, at that time, was a powerful civilization. Their empire lasted thousands of years, beginning in 2920 BCE with the first pharaoh. But to become the prosperous civilization they became, the ancient Egyptians greatly relied on the Nile river. (Document BGE) So, how did the Nile forge the ancient civilization of Egypt into our modern-day history textbooks? Well, the importance of the Nile was reflected through the Egyptians’ everyday lives with settlement, economy, and spiritual life. One of the ways the Nile shaped Egypt...
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...known, the story of one God creating Earth and human life, but one of the less understood creation stories is from the Egyptian Civilisation. Egyptian cosmogonies were distinctly unique and directed more towards explaining the order of the world, also known as Maat, rather than the actual creation of mankind. It focused on more important factors like sun rising each day and annual Nile flooding. It was believed that Egyptian life would continue its orderly progression irrespective of whether humans lived or died. Egyptian kings and queens were regarded as incarnations of the gods and provided order with the help from symbolic rites and rituals. Differing Egyptian cosmogonies can be found where each world was created in diverse means according to their understanding and beliefs of the universe. A similarity of these stories was the world beginning from chaotic, lifeless water, described as Nu or Nun , when for the ‘first occasion’ the sun rose from a mound in a period sometimes called ‘Zep Tepi’. This ‘first occasion’ is referred to as the appearance of sun-god Ra or the god of the newly-risen sun, Khepri. Other versions of the sun rising include it having emerged from a lotus flower that grew from the mound, in the form of a heron, falcon, scarab beetle, or human child. The three main Egyptian cosmogonies were named of locations they were centred: 1. Hermopolis - Hermopolis Magna, located at ancient site of Khmun, central Egypt. Eight Gods known as the Ogdoad of...
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...Egyptian Statue of Horus vs Mesopotamia Plaque of Protection Abstract This document will compare two works of art from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The first piece from ancient Egypt is a Statuette of Horus from the Third Intermediate Period. The second piece is a plaque for protection from the Neo-Assyrian period. Both pieces of art are made by using the lost-wax bronze castings technique which this paper will examine. Statuette of Horus Horus was a falcon-headed man the son of Aset (Isis) and Osiris (McLeish, 1996). The falcon head is represented by a beak and bird like eyes. The statuette of Horus depicts a sun disk over his head and a cobra wrapped around the disk. The sun disk represents the sun god Ra, while the cobra goddess represents the nurse or protector of Horus. The statuette of Horus was produced using the lost-wax bronze casting technique and made in several parts. The lost-wax bronze casting was commonly used during the Third Intermediate Period (Edith Whitney Watts, 1998). His eyes represented the sun and the moon and are inlaid with gold and inlays of glass probably filled the eye sockets at one time. Horus’s body has a long bust with the pectorals placed high and a narrow waist. The body is smooth to represent his god like indestructibility. His left leg is striding forward and he is looking directly forward. His Egyptian loincloth has ribbed vertical lines. The statue is mainly smooth with some detail preciously carved for the features...
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...The origins of Rastafarian The name Rastafarian, which is derived from Ras, is the title given to Amharic Royalty in Ethiopia and Tafari, which is the pre-coronation name of His Imperial Majesty (HIM) Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia (1898-1975). A severe depression, racism and class discrimination during 1930 was the perfect environment for the rural and poor Jamaicans to embrace a new religion. This Poverty and disenchantment in the inner cities of Kingston gave way in the early 1930's to the black power movement through Marcus Garvey's "Back to Africa" movement. This movement is what eventually led to the emergence of Rastafari. In 1930, when Ras Tafari was crowned Emperor Haile Selassie and was given the ancient title given to all Ethiopian Kings " The King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Conquering Lion of Judah", the prophecy was said to have been fulfilled. Revelations 5:5 and Ezekiel 28:25 are references used by Rastafarians as proof of the deity of Emperor Haile Selassie. He was seen as the deliverer who would take his people back to their promised land as stated in Ezekiel 28:25. This however did not happen. Rastafarians compare their exile from Africa via the means of slavery with the Israelites exile to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chronicles 25). Hence the word Babylon is used for any system that oppresses. There is also a comparison to the Israelites who were enslaved in Egypt before they went to the Promised Land...
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...Rick Riordan Summary of the book: Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs. II – Personal Summarization When Julius Kane tries to summon Osiris through the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, he also releases Set, the Egyptian god of chaos, who seals him in a coffin, as his children Sadie and Carter Kane watch. He also releases the other children of the Demon Days:Nephthys, Isis, Horus, and Osiris. The British police come to Carter and Sadie's grandparents' home, as Carter is with Sadie because of the twice-a-year visit, and question Carter and Sadie. Amos Kane, a fairly eccentric, peculiar character, who is the children's uncle and Julius's brother, brings them to the family...
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...Ancient Connections Julia Wilson Kaplan University RELG-2001-5 October 27, 2013 This paper is a reflection on Ancient Connections. It contains a discussion on two ancient religions and four resemblance characteristics, which I compared to my own belief system. The paper ends with a summary of how ancient religions still connect to today’s modern beliefs. Concept of Ultimate Reality The practices of Egyptian religion were efforts to provide for the gods and gain their favor. These gods included the royal patron Horus, the sun god Ra and the mother goddess Isis. According to Nigosian (2008), “The worship of one god (monotheism) took place during the reign of Pharaoh Amen-hotep.” They concept of ultimate reality was that dead components passed into a dark bleak realm that represented the opposite of life. Pharaoh when he was deceased was believed to ascend to the sky and dwell among the stars. Mesopotamian religion referred to the religious beliefs and practices of Assyrian, Babylonian and Chaldean people living in Mesopotamia. There was one supreme god or absolute lord of the city.(Nigosian 2008, p.45) Their concept of ultimate reality was known as the great below. When comparing these tw0 religions with my own belief system, I recognize the similarities. My concept of ultimate reality is that I believe in one God, and I believe that the deceased go to dwell in either Heaven (above the earth) of hell (beneath the earth). Survival after Death According to...
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