John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series EGYPT and the SAHARA www.johntyman.com/sahara |
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3.1 Religion of the Pharaohs - Part I: 127-145 |
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John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series EGYPT and the SAHARA www.johntyman.com/sahara |
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3.1 Religion of the Pharaohs - Part I: 127-145 |
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| .127. The original inhabitants of the Sahara would have been animists. In common with indigenous societies worldwide, who also depended on their environment for survival, people here lived in awe and/or fear of nature. Each tribe had its own God -- an animal or a tree perhaps -- and they continued this devotion after their move to the Nile valley. The different communities that dotted the river’s banks worshipped different gods at different (and rival) shrines. (Alabaster statue of a baboon god from about 3000BCE: courtesy Keith Schengli-Roberts at Wikipedia) |
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| .128. As a result ancient Egypt was a land of polytheism, with a multiplicity of gods and goddesses, mostly visualized in animal form. In other words particular animals were believed to house the soul of particular gods. The names given to different gods, and their place in the hierarchy evolved thereafter -- according to the ascendancy and power of particular priestly cults and the preferences of the pharaoh. Khephri was the god of scarab beetles and an aspect of Ra the sun god. (Stone scarab at Karnak) |
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| .129. In addition, over time, each god also acquired a wife (or husband), a child, and/or a new identity. As a result it is impossible to establish a precise hierarchy of deities, though most cosmographies place Ra (or Re) at the top (otherwise known as Aten). Ammon (or Amun) began life as the local god of Thebes, but later became god of both war and fertility, and eventually absorbed the attributes of the sun god to become Amon-Re. He is portrayed with a head surmounted by a sun disk, riding in a golden ship across the sky during the day and through the underworld at night. Mythencyclopedia.com |
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| .130. Nut, goddess of the sky, swallowed the sun each evening and gave birth to it each morning. She was the mother of Osiris who, because he was miraculously restored following his murder, symbolized eternal life. In this drawing Nut supports the sky with the help of Shu (god of wind and air) assisted by two lesser deities, while the earth god Seth reclines beneath them. (From the Greenfield Papyrus Book of the Dead, courtesy the British Museum at Wikipedia ) |
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| .131. Isis was the goddess of love, magic and motherhood. Her headdress is a throne (“isis” means “throne”) and as the personification of the throne she was an important representative of the pharaoh’s power.(Painting from the tomb of Seti I in the Valley of the Kings, at Wikipedia) |
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| .132. Isis is also honored as the protector of her brother Osiris (to whom she was married) and as the mother of Horus, god of the sky and war (whose emblem was the falcon). In this painting, from the tomb of Horemheb in the Valley of the Kings, Osiris is seated. Anubis stands between her and Horus. (Courtesy A. Parrot at Media.Tumblr.com) |
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| .133. But there were many other gods symbolized by creatures from the animal world ...the lion, ibis, goat, cobra, crocodile, cow, hyena, scorpion, and vulture; plus the black jackal no one could escape -- symbol of Anubis god of judgment and patron of embalmers. Here he compares the heart of the scribe Hunefer with the weight of a feather. On the right, Thoth, scribe of the gods (with the head of an ibis) records the result. If the heart is lighter than the feather, Hunefer will be allowed to enjoy the pleasures of the after-life -- banquets, music, hunting and fishing. Otherwise he will be eaten by Ammit the Devourer, who has the mouth of a crocodile and the body of a lion and a hippo. In the next panel, showing the scene after the weighing, a triumphant Hunefer, having passed the test, is presented by falcon-headed Horus to the shrine of the green-skinned Osiris, god of the underworld and the dead, accompanied by Isis and Nephthys. The 14 gods of Egypt are shown seated above, in the role of judges. (Courtesy the British Museum at Wikipedia) |
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| .134. Images of the Gods are displayed in the many temples that were built during the 3000 years during which Egypt was ruled by pharaohs. The temple at Edfu is the best preserved, having been built later than the rest, and been buried under sand for hundreds of years. It was built on the site of a much older temple and finished in 57 BCE by Ptolemy Xll, father of Cleopatra. It was dedicated to the falcon god Horus, shown here wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. |
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| .135. Temples were built on sites that were considered sacred, so when later pharaohs built new temples (to demonstrate their piety and win favour with the god who resided there) they used existing temple sites, either replacing the original structure or rebuilding sections of it. The buildings at Karnak, for example, are the product of 2000 years of reconstruction, and represent an amalgam of styles as each pharaoh tried to eclipse the architectural achievement of his predecessor. During the reign of Ramses ll close to 80,000 workers were employed here. (Colonnade with papyrus closed-bud capitals in the great court of the Amun temple at Karnak) |
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| .136. Egyptian temples were believed to be the residence of the god who lived there. It was not a place of assembly like a church or cathedral: and only those who had been properly initiated could enter it. Most temples were approached by a paved processional way, often bordered by sphinxes and formal gardens. (The approach to the first pylon at Karnak) |
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| .137. Karnak was for hundreds of years the most important place of worship in Egypt. Spread over 25 hectares the complex comprises three separate temple enclosures, but the chiefest of these was that dedicated to the god Amun. His symbol was the ram; hence the avenue of sphinxes with rams heads. Karnak lay close to Thebes (today’s Luxor) which was Egypt’s capital for hundreds of years: and the powers of the high priest of Amun rivaled, and sometimes exceeded, those of the pharaoh. |
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| .138. Entrance to most temples was gained by a monumental gateway (or “pylon”) frequently flanked by obelisks with gold-covered pinnacles to catch the first rays of the morning sun and transmit its life-giving powers into the temple. The pylon at Edfu (shown here) is 36 metres high, and is the second biggest in Egypt. That at Karnak is the largest. |
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| .139. The pylon at Edfu is decorated with colossal reliefs showing Ptolemy XII offering captives in sacrifice to the gods Horus and Hathor. |
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| .140. Beyond huge cedar doors lay a covered colonnade, then a “hypostyle” hall filled with stone columns symbolic of the reeds in the marshes that surrounded the mound of creation. This led through a vestibule to the sanctuary (representing the mound of creation) in which a statue of the god stood in a sealed tabernacle. (Hypostyle halls at Kom Ombo) |
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| .141. The inner walls and columns were often carved or painted ... with images or hieroglyphs honouring either the god who resided there or the pharaoh who had the temple built. The pharaohs believed that their authority was divine and that they were actually incarnations of their god, whose symbol/sign became theirs. Some even added the god’s name to their own. Devotees of the sun god, for example, incorporated the epithet “Son of Ra.” (Interior columns at Karnak) |
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| .142. The form of the capitals of each column was also significant. It usually represented a plant, but which plant depended on whether the temple was built in Upper or Lower Egypt, and when. That on the left shows a palm ... which was neutral ... but the other one is a significant composite, with a lotus blossom on top of bundled papyrus stalks. Papyrus symbolized Lower Egypt and Lotus the Upper kingdom. (Edfu) |
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| ..143. The temple at Kom Ombo is divided symmetrically into two equal and balanced halves since it was shared between two gods -- Haroeris (alias Horus) and Sobek (the local crocodile-headed god). It is also famous for its bas-reliefs, especially that described as “ a collection of surgical instruments” though they might also be artifacts used in temple ceremonies. (Bas-relief at Kom Ombo) |
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| .144. Other panels portrayed the rituals performed here. To ensure that the god’s spirit did not leave, it was waited upon daily. The priests served there in place of the pharaoh and were divided into teams, each of which served the cult for a month. (Bas-relief at Kom Ombo) |
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| 145. Rites were performed several times a day, and involved bathing, anointing, clothing and decorating the god’s image, followed by the offering of bread, meat, fruit and drink ... which were later consumed by the attendants. The god was then undressed, purified, and anointed. The priest would close the doors of the tabernacle, set his seal upon it, and withdraw backwards. Here the father of Ramses II, pharaoh Seti I, in his temple at Abydos, performs rituals before the god Amun whose crown is made of feathers. (Wikipedia) |
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