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At the temple, people would sing hymns, make prayers and make sacrifices and offerings to the gods. Art and
The people of Mesopotamia ( Tigris and Euphrates River Valley), and the Nile River Valley had a very strong belief in polytheism. The belief in a religion called polytheism, or the belief of many gods not just one in particular. The Egyptians worshipped as many as 2,000 gods, but the chief god was known as Ra the sun god,
Egyptians believed in the multiplicity of deities, as they differed in power and status, just as the people themselves did. Individuals would have gods they worshiped in the home or cities would have gods they thought watched over them, as well as the state ceremonies that brought them all together, there was no discrimination or persecution for one’s beliefs, only in monotheism does this
Ancient Egypt was ruled by a person called a Pharaoh. These Pharaohs were like kings and emperors. The Pharaoh in ancient Egypt was the political and religious leader of the people. They were about 170 pharaohs and they ruled from 3150BCE to about 31BCE. Out of 170 pharaohs, they were a few of them who stand out because of their accomplishment.
For centuries civilization has evolved and spread across the globe, causing for many cultures, traditions, and especially religions to develop. Even in ancient societies such as Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, religion was one of, if not, the most important aspect of an individual 's life. The religions found in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt would shape how relationships within society functioned, including how communities related themselves to the divine and the role of leaders and priests. Furthermore, these religions would also affect how each of these societies thought about justice and even influenced attitudes toward the afterlife.
While these cultures all inhabited the same region they developed individual styles of religious beliefs. Ancient Egyptian life was centered around religion with practices and ceremonies permeating to many of the daily activities preformed by citizens. Egypt's leader was the pharaoh who was viewed by the people of Egypt as a living god with divine authority over Egypt. The Egyptians had many gods and they preformed rituals daily to keep in good favor with them.
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 were Polytheistic, meaning that they believed in more than one god, such as Heka (The God of Magic) and Amon-Re (the Sun God). The pharaoh, or king, was also considered a god. The gods were believed to be happy, and their afterlife was seen as a so called “happy field of food”, which was looked forward to and prepared for as early as possible. This was due to the fact that the Nile River flooded regularly and was not very destructive.
Through the ages, religion consistently held a high place of importance in the ancient Egyptian civilization. Egyptians incorporated religious services and worship of their deities into almost every aspect of daily life in Egypt, from daily rituals to interactions with others. Thousands of gods and goddesses received worship from the people of Egypt; however, many gods and goddess never achieved a notable level of significance or impacted ancient Egyptian society like some Egyptian deities. Through the history of Egyptian religion, three deities steadily held a place of high importance and greatly impacted the basis of Egyptian society: Ra (god of the sun), Osiris (god of the underworld), and Isis (goddess of magic and motherhood). One of the most worshiped gods and centered deities of ancient Egypt was the sun god Ra.
Gods and Goddesses – There were an incredible number of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, one for almost every situation. In ancient times, it was believed that these almighty Gods and Goddesses took different roles in the creation of the earth. Some Gods were thought to maintain peace and harmony throughout the land of Ancient Egypt. Others were the cause of floods or other natural disasters. These Deities were represented as people wearing head masks of animals.
The ancient Egyptians believed that gods and goddesses created the earth and brought the yearly flood. Others took care of people after they died. Some represented towns, some represented animals. Overall there were many gods and goddesses in the ancient Egyptian religion. The Egyptians believed that the world used to have only one god, Atum.
Because of their regular weather patterns, good harvests, and relative isolation, ancient Egyptians believed that their gods were benevolent and understanding. For example, their goddess, Isis was seen as the mother of all pharaohs and she cared for all creatures as a mother would. This, again, was not the case in Mesopotamia. They had poor harvests due to the unpredictable weather and flooding, in addition to countless attacks from foreign societies. All of these factors contributed to how they felt about their gods; they viewed them as angry and were often scared of them.
However, Egyptian religions varied quite differently. In Egypt, Pharaohs were seen as supreme tyrants that were better than every other human being, causing for these rulers to become worshipped as “gods and goddess.” Pharaohs that had offspring would take the position of supreme ruler and would be then worshipped as “god/goddess” Because of this many religions have been created in order to fulfil the needs of the people as well as the Pharaohs. An example of the pharaohs that were worshipped as
The ancient Egyptians believed that people and nature are ruled by powerful gods. As Taylor says in his book “Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt”, the Egyptians believed that the universe consisted of three types of beings: the gods, the living, and the dead. Egyptians connected everything happening in their life in terms of relationship between
Each god and goddess had a unique/specific purpose, much like the roman and Greek mythology. For example: Ra, the god of the sun; Isis, the goddess of nature and magic; Horus, the god of war; and Osiris, the god of the dead (source 5). The gods and goddesses were worshipped in temples run by the priests, that were not open to the public. Due to this the citizens would have small statues to worship the gods. The citizens would also wear charms and amulets for protection against evil, according to source 5.
