The Egyptian Culture Reflected in Worship

In this essay, the author

• Explains that ancient egyptian culture is based on elaborate worship rituals related to death and the afterlife. understanding the development of egyptian society and their theological system requires a basic knowledge of the area.
• Explains that egyptian farmers knew the nile would flood each year and bring new life and abundant grain. a basin irrigation system allowed the flood waters to flow gently into each field.
• Explains that the virtual isolation of the nile valley allowed egyptian civilization to develop unthreatened by its neighbors.
• Explains that egyptian civilization was a product of the natural forces that surrounded its people. egyptian gods were depicted as wise, caring, predictable, and forgiving, just as the nile was predictable and life sustaining.
• Explains that the creation myth of the ancient egyptians began with a vast waste of water called nu. nu gave birth to the sun god, who was called kheyera at dawn, ra at noon, and tum at dusk.
• Explains that ra is given credit for creating the heavens and earth and all creatures. ra created man from his eye, and became the first king on earth.
• Explains that after ra gave up his kingship to ride across the sky, osiris became king with isis as his queen. he taught men to be civilized, worship the gods, and build temples.
• Explains that several legends about the death of osiris exist, all of them credit his brother set with his death.
• Explains that ra ordered thoth and hourus to find the body of osiris and bind it in bandages. isis breathed life into the mummied form, and ra sent him to be the judge of the dead.
• Explains that the egyptians revered animals, including the cat, bull, fish, jackal, the ram, boar, and frog. the serpent became a symbol of the pharaohs themselves.
• Explains that egypt's history is divided into four periods: pre-dynastic, old kingdom, middle kingdom and new kingdom.
• Explains that the great pyramids were raised to protect the souls of the pharaohs from their enemies.
• Explains that the temple priests were the only ones who knew how to instruct the dead for their journey. the instructions were written on the inside of the coffin and in the tomb.
• Explains that they have not committed sins against men, opposed their family and kinfolk, defrauded a humble man of his property, encroached on the fields, and driven the cattle away from their pastures.
• Analyzes how the ka recites what it hasn't done rather than what has done. ancient egyptians believed they had a responsibility to their gods, fellow men, and nature.
• Explains that the soul was led before the seat of osiris, who sat as the judge of the dead.
• Explains that the hieroglyphs left by the priests of ancient egypt were meant to provide the dead with a guide to the afterlife, to instruct the ka what it should do in every test.