Similarities Between Jewish And Egyptian Religions

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Julian Mayugba
Professor Antonio Acevedo
HIS 201-ONR01
3 February 2017
Unit 1 AS2: Jewish vs Egyptian Religion Religions in early civilizations differed a way similar to how different states in the United States of America differ with their accents. The Israelite civilization was formed after the Egyptian civilization and were heavily influenced by nations around them, such as Anatolia, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. However, like the separation of the United States from the United Kingdom, the separation between Israelites and Egyptians formed differences. The Egyptian civilization formed before the Jewish and had set standards that carried on to the Jewish. Egyptians were ruled by a single ruler, the Pharaoh. The pharaoh held great power, the power that was brought to the pharaoh by the gods. The Egyptians did not have a strong barrier between the normal people and the divine, and the pharaoh was identified as three different deities. The “son-god” Re, the “falcon-headed” Horus, and the pharaoh of the underworld “Osiris,” were his forms at birth, succession, and death. The land and everything within the land of Egypt belonged to the Pharaoh. The Egyptians lived along the Nile River and were polytheistic. After the year 1800 BC, they believed that the souls of the dead were to be judged by the rule of the underworld, Osiris. They also …show more content…

In both religions, the promise of everlasting life was an incentive to act ethically toward each other in order to receive their rewards when their life ends. Another similarity was that the people who did not act ethical, or righteous during their life were punished for it. In the Egyptian religion, despite being polytheistic, priests and rulers speculated that there was a single divine power that created the other gods, which is similar to the Jewish god who created