Death is inevitable. A fate of every living creature. Death has taken entire civilizations and creatures. It is the final destination every living thing will one day reach. The finish line of rot, ruin and decay. There are many dark deities in mythology. Male and Female deities in every different culture in the world. Two of the most interesting deities of death and darkness are Micteacaihatl the lady of death in Aztec culture, and the famous Anubis, guardian of the dead, and afterlife in Egyptian mythology.
In Egyptian culture they believe that death is only the beginning, much like Christian cultures today. If you were a pharaoh or of some importance, or rich in the world you were mummified, and in your tomb would have the markings of Anubis. Anubis is the Egyptian deity of afterlife, and also, known as the guardian of the dead. Anubis was originally a god deity of the underworld, but became associated with the embalming process and funeral rituals. “he was the Guide of the dead as they made their way through the darkness of the underworld. As a patron of magic, it was believed he could foresee a person’s destiny, in this role he was the announcer of death.” (Deurer 2010) Anubis is the Greek name for the deity Inpu which is the translated word in Egypt. Anubis is depicted with the head of a jackal and the body of a man. Anubis’s head is black which represents his position as a god of the dead. Since Anubis is the guardian of the Underworld, he takes the soul of the dead before the gods to give the dead a chance to confess. At the end of the underworld, the dead was taken to the Hall of Ma’at to be judged. Anubis watched over the weighing of the scale to see that it was in the proper position while the deity Thoth recorded the r...
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...estival lasted for an entire month, starting around the end of July to mid-August (the 9th month on the Aztec calendar), during the time of corn harvests.” (Day of the dead) Later on the festival got moved to November and is now known as all saints day. The reason Micteacaihatl is celebrated is because she is said to be a reminder that death is inevitable. That death is a fate the rich and famous cannot deny, or ignore.
In closing both cultures are strong believers in an afterlife. Death is completely inevitable no matter who you are, and what your status in this world may be. If you are a good person then the deity of your culture will take care of your spirit after death, and if not then your soul simply disappears. Both deities are still worshipped today, and will probably still be worshipped years from now because everyone wants to believe in life after death.
Contrary to the majority, the Aztecs did not believe that one's afterlife was determined by the way they lived. Rather they believed it was determined by the way one died. Aztecs believed that there were different realms you would go to depending on how you died. Growing old was not seen as a great achievement, therefore those who died a normal death would go to the underworld called Mictlan. The Aztec underworld consisted of nine levels. A person would start off on the top level and have to endure trials and rough terrain in order to get to the final ninth level where their soul would finally be at peace.
Ancient Egyptian culture was largely focused on the afterlife. One of their most important deities, Osiris, became the ruler of the Underworld through death. The pharaoh and elite class prepared for their impending deaths throughout their lives. Much of what survives from ancient Egypt today was found in tombs and temples of the dead. When one of the elite died, the process of laying him or her to rest was extensive. Harold Hays explains that “the ritualized process of embalming and mummification is usually stated as lasting seventy days” (Hays 5). "Funeral Procession, Tomb of Pairy" shows two of the processes that Hays details. The first depicted is the procession to the tomb. Pairy’s body would have already been through several processions, mummification, and embalming. This particular procession’s goal is to lead not just the body, but also the spirit into the afterlife. People of both high and low classes attended this procession, carrying with them the tomb goods (Hays 6-7). The second depicted
Anubis was the Egyptian god of embalming and the keeper of secrets. He was associated with the mummification and protection of the dead and journey to the afterlife. He was portrayed man with a jackal’s head, or in jackal form holding a flail in the crook of his arm and wearing a ribbon. In the Old Kingdom he was the most important God, where he was associated with the burial of the pharaoh. He was very important because the Egyptians worshiped two things: 1. the gods and 2. The dead. The ancient Egyptians also believed in the afterlife. So another reason why Anubis was so important was because, on your travel to the afterlife he was there waiting for you. He takes your heart, weighs it and decides your fate in the underworld depending on how heavy your heart is compared to a feather.
The grandeur with which Egyptians regarded their funerary customs does not come without explanation. They delighted in tying the occurrences of the natural world with supernatural dogma, and their burial practices exemplified this deluge of religion. A special deity was even attributed to cemeteries and embalmers: Anubis (Fiero, 46). Due to this deep sense of religion, a fixation with the afterlife developed within their culture. The Egyptian afterlife, however, is not synonymous of heave, but, rather, of The Field of Reeds, a continuation of one’s life in Egypt meant “to secure and perpetuate in the afterlife the ‘good life’ enjoyed on earth” (Mark 1; “Life in Ancient Egypt” 1). The pursuit of this sacred rest-place prompted the arousal of intricate Egyptian funeral rituals.
The Aztec Empire was the most powerful Mesoamerican kingdom of all time. They dominated the valley of Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Aztecs were an advanced and successful civilization that built beautiful, sophisticated cities, temples, and pyramids. They also created a culture full of creativity with mythological and religious traditions. Aztecs lead a structured and evocative life that let their society to become a very superior civilization. The Aztec’s communication skills were very well developed for their time; through religious beliefs, government involvement, and family life they lived a full and productive life. Until in 1519 when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, and defeated the Aztecs.
Have you ever thought how different and similar the Aztec religion was to the Egyptian religion they are different cultures but with similar and different things in them.They both worship many different Gods as a polytheistic religion and their different because they worship their Gods different.
The special priests who did this wore hooded black robes that laid on there feet. The robes had skulls and bones used as belts and decorative statements, along with burnt powdered spiders and scorpions. There hair had the blood of past victims in it . When killing they would use a dagger. Other times they had a special stone called techeatle.
In order to fully comprehend the significance of events that took place during the conquest, students must first know about the context of the cultures before their initial encounter. This way, students can better recognize that the Spanish and Aztecs learned about each other by looking for parallel frameworks within each other’s societies. Then, the information they learned about each other pressured them to examine their own religions. The initial exposure of the Spaniards and Aztecs to each other’s cultures forced them to critically examine their own – particularly their religions.
Anubis was the guardian of the dead, who greeted the souls in the Underworld and protected them on their journey. It was he who deemed the deceased worthy of becoming a star. Ancient Egyptian texts say that Anubis silently walked through the shadows of life and death and lurked in dark places. He was watchful by day as well as by night. He also weighed the heart of the dead against the feather symbol of Ma'at, the goddess of truth. One of the reasons that the ancient Egyptians took such care to preserve their dead with sweet-smelling herbs was that it was believed Anubis would check each person with his keen canine nose. Only if they smelled pure would he allow them to enter the Kingdom of the Dead.
Different religions, different ways, and one aim of maintaining religious identity. Hinduism and Judaism, two of the world’s biggest religions, are seemingly completely unalike. With differences such as their views of afterlife, death and birth Hindus believing in rebirth and “oneness” with Brahman, and Jews believing in a world to come, focusing more on God’s image, never really mentioning what happens after death. Yet when you take a closer look into both religions you find some similarities. Both religions’ rituals focus on the same things, they may be celebrated differently but the meaning behind the celebrations and the meaning behind some of their symbols are the same, and their purposes help people maintain their identity and keep the traditions of their cultures strong.
The Egyptians during this period took ample time and detail on the mummification process to ensure a successful transition from the netherworld to rebirth. The Coffin of Tentkhonsu, 1025-980 B.C., it’s a depiction of how the Egyptians valued and honored their elite members of society, as well as their gods. The Coffin of Tentkhonsu, itself dates back to the III intermediate period in Egyptian culture. The Egyptian believe was to join Osiris, whom was believed to have ascended to Netherworld and accomplished eternal life.
The universe will sing of death as long as it shall continue live. It is universally understood that everyone, someday, must die. Their life will be over for understood reasons or not, and we, as humans, must learn to accept that loss. For the ancient cultures to understand this concept of the end of life, they personified death as a god who was both keeper of souls and eternal punisher. Despite their many cultural differences the Greek Goddess Persephone and the Nordic Goddess Hel, both Queens of the Underworld, personify the divide and the unity of life and death through their physical appearance, their seemingly cruel treatment of heroes, and the importance of water in their otherworldly domains.
The concept of human mortality and how it is dealt with is dependent upon one’s society or culture. For it is the society that has great impact on the individual’s beliefs. Hence, it is also possible for other cultures to influence the people of a different culture on such comprehensions. The primary and traditional way men and women have made dying a less depressing and disturbing idea is though religion. Various religions offer the comforting conception of death as a begining for another life or perhaps a continuation for the former.
Death is natural. It affects everyone and everything that is living. It is something that every person comes to understand as being a part of life, yet people are so often afraid of it. Death reminds people of all the negative things that are a part of life, such as pain and sorrow. If an alternative to death comes around, or something makes death easier, people want to take a part of that. Many people jump to religious ideologies not always because they truly believe in them or want to follow them, but because they want to escape death. Yet in many eastern religions, death is unavoidable and cyclical. There is new life after death, but that life leads death again, and the cycle seemingly continues forever. This cycle of rebirth is often called reincarnation in western culture. It is one of the core beliefs in many eastern religions. Hinduism is one of those religions; in fact, it is likely the first religion to adopt this train of thought, as Hopfe and Woodward (2014) claim it is perhaps “the oldest and most complex of all religions in the world” (p. 78). Before one fully understands Hinduism, they must recognize the relation reincarnation has to it. Reincarnation is a foundational belief in Hinduism, and it
The chief deities include the Ra, the sun god, and Osiris, the god of the dead, which among many others, control many major and minute aspects of life in Egypt. The gods were often expressed in the forms of beings with heads of the animals sacred to them. “The hawk was sacred to Ra and Horus, the ibis to Thoth, and the jackal to Anubis.” (“Egypt, Ancient”) Which led to the idea that animals were very symbolic in the religious beliefs of Egypt, and exact symbols and images depicting this, can be seen in ancient Hieroglyphics found in Egypt. Hieroglyphics were the magic writing system conserved for the use of the Pharaoh and his closest advisors only. They believed it had been gifted from the god Horus himself, and to be used with care. The Pharaoh himself (and rarely, herself) were seen as gods. The Egyptians had vast beliefs in the idea of an afterlife, they took care to ensure proper measures were made to lead the dead to the afterlife in a sacred and organized manner. They would build pyramids out of stone blocks, placed in the form of a point, often to lead the spirit of the Pharaoh to the gods or afterlife. Eventually, the Egyptians began to use Hieroglyphics instead to ensure that the Pharaoh’s soul would make its way smoothly to the afterlife. The pyramids contained tombs, which consisted of items that would help the dead maintain success and happiness in the afterlife. “The