Egyptian Religion

Journey to the West

Basic Beliefs

• Polytheistic• People did not gather to worship except for

special festivals.• Only Priests entered temples- was where

the gods lived.• Two types of priests- one group tended to

temple god (had to shave all hair, not eat fish and wear only pure cotton linens). Other type attended to business of religion.

Basic Beliefs continued

• Priests paid by pharaoh. • Human shaped coffins (from creation myth)• Resurrection (from creation myth)• Intact body needed for resurrection (from

creation myth)• Dreams were how gods communicated-

thus meant something. A dwarf= bad, life was half over. Picking dates= good, gods will lead to food or provide it.

Egyptian Creation Myth Deities- Horus, Seth, Isis and Osiris

Amulets

• Worn for protection• 75 types• Must be made of

correct material to work.

• Eye of Horus and Scarab two most popular.

Tombs and Mummies

• Though the Egyptians are known for their pyramids as tombs for the pharaohs, very few were built.

• Most were interred in the sides of cliffs in the Valley of the Kings

• Also, important people, tomb craftsmen and the wealthy were also known to build their own tombs.

A Sample Tomb

• The following is a tour of what a tomb would look like.

ENTER AT YOUR Own

PERIL!

Tomb Schematic

First Passage

• Tombs typically had 12 chambers, 1 for each hour of the night

• Passages connected these chambers

• This is the first passage.

• Note curse on frame.

“ To any who cross this threshold, may ammut swallow his heart!

Hall of Waiting/Hindering

Well Room

Hall of Chariots

Hall of Truth

“At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold - everywhere the glint of gold.” Howard Carter upon

entering King Tut’s burial chamber. November 1922

Burial Chamber

Canopic Room

Sarcophagus

Treasury Room