A Connection Between Religion and The Arts

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A Connection between Religion and the Arts

Egypt was an ancient civilization that thrived on the Nile River, and still exists today as a country. As new knowledge continued to flood into Egypt, the art, medicine and architecture of the civilization developed to produce great, notable achievements that are still admired and used to this day. The art, medicine and architecture, had been influenced by the religion of ancient Egypt. Egyptian religion held three main aspects: the worship of gods, the role of the king, and the belief in life after death (Marston 34). The ways which these three ideas influenced the Egyptian arts, is evident in the carvings within the art, the development of mummification, and the many pyramids that reside within Egypt.

Ancient Egyptians were a polytheistic people who would worship over 2,000 gods (Beck 36). Many of the gods were local gods, and only worshipped by a few towns. Only the few chief deities, gods of natural forces, were widely known and worshipped (Marston 35). For example, the king of gods, Horus, who held the title of ‘sky god’ and ‘protector of pharaohs’ had temples of worship, received offerings and statues in his honor. Egyptian gods were often depicted with a human body and an animal head. Each god had their own purpose, and was associated with symbols and traits. These characteristics were what ancient Egyptians used to depict their gods in paintings, carvings and sculptures.

Much of ancient Egypt’s art is based off of their gods and pharaohs. A statue of the pharaoh, Chephren, was found in 1860; in this sculpture, Chephren sits on his throne, his head and neck embraced by Horus (Morris 12). Chephren’s statue is adorned with the sky god, who in this case is depicted as a falcon. H...

... middle of paper ...

...far right is Isis, one of the most important goddesses in Egypt.

Works Cited

"Ancient Egyptian Medicine: The Study and Practice of Medicine in Ancient Egypt." Ancient History Encyclopedia. 2012. Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited. Web. 4 May 2014. .

Beck, Roger B., et al. Ancient World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2003. Print.

Dollinger, André. "Ancient Egyptian Medicine in Sickness and in Health: Preventative and Curative Health Care." Ancient Egypt: Medicine. 2000. W3C. Web. 4 May 2014. .

Marston, Elsa. The Ancient Egyptians. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1996. Print.

Morris, Neil and Lisa Springer. Arts & Culture of Ancient Egypt. New York: The Rosen Publishing group,

Inc., 2010. Print.

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