THE CONCEPT OF GOD AMONG THE
EGYPTIANS
Introduction
The
introduction tries to cover the following areas:-
ü Geographical
setting
ü Historical
setting
ü Social
setting
ü Cultural
setting and
ü Religious
setting (denominations around the area)
Geographical setting
Egypt is
located in the extreme Northeast of Africa,
Crossing from South to North and the Nile
flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The desert
covers more than 90 percent of Egypt. The Egyptians lived on the shores of the
Nile River or next to the channels. Each year the Nile would overflow and flood the fields next located at its
shores and fertilize them, producing big of feed. Egypt has an
area of 385,229 square miles (1,001,000 square kilometres). The country is
separated from its neighbours by either ocean or sparsely populated desert. To
the north is the Mediterranean Sea, and to the east the Red Sea. Egypt is
separated from Libya and North Africa by the western desert, from Palestine and
Israel by the desert of the Sinai Peninsula, and from the centres of population
in the Sudan by desert except along the narrow Nile River. Among the major
geographical features of Egypt are the Nile River and the Suez Canal, which
joins the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and also separates Egypt proper
from Sinai. The highest point is Mount Catherine in the Sinai, at 8,743 feet
(2,665 meters).
Rainfall is not adequate to sustain
agriculture or a settled population, and water instead comes from the Nile. The
Nile rises far to the south of Egypt, in Ethiopia and in the drainage basin of
Lake Victoria. It reaches Egypt in Lake Nasser, behind the Aswān High Dam.
After the dam, the Nile continues to flow north in a single channel paralleled
by irrigation canals until it reaches. North of Cairo, the Nile Delta begins.
The Nile breaks into two main channels, the western Rosetta branch and the eastern
Damietta branch, before the water reaches the Mediterranean.
Historical setting
The roots of Egyptian civilization go
back more than 6,000 years to the beginning of settled life along the banks of
the Nile River. Unification of upper and Lower Egypt helped much for
development of Egyptian society and culture.
Egypt became the first organized society. The ancient Egyptians were the
first people of antiquity to believe in life after death. They were the first
to build in stone and to fashion the arch in stone and brick. The Egyptians had
developed a plow and a system of writing. They had sailors and shipbuilders. They
learned to chart the heavens in order to predict the Nile flood. Their
physicians prescribed
Healing
remedies and performed surgical operations. They buried in stone and decorated
the walls of their tombs with naturalistic colors.
The modern history of Egypt is marked
by Egyptian attempts to achieve political independence, first from the Ottoman
Empire and then from the British. In the first half of the nineteenth century
they tried to form Egyptian empire from Arab Rule that extended to Syria
Cairo was
established as the capital of the country and became a center of religion,
learning, art, and architecture.
Social
setting
Egyptian
society was structured like a pyramid. At the top were the gods, such as Ra,
Osiris, and Isis. Egyptians believed that the gods controlled the universe.
Therefore, it was important to keep them happy. They could make the Nile
overflow, cause famine, or even bring death. The
Egyptians also elevated some human beings to gods. Their leaders called
pharaohs were believed to be gods in human form. They had absolute power over
their subjects. After pharaohs died huge stone pyramids were built as their
tombs. Pharaohs were buried in chambers within the pyramids. Because
the people of Egypt believed that their pharaohs were gods, they entrusted their
rulers with many responsibilities. Protection was at the top of the list. The
pharaoh directed the army in case of a foreign threat or an internal conflict.
All laws were enacted at the discretion of the pharaoh. Each farmer paid taxes
in the form of grain, which were stored in the pharaoh's warehouses. This grain
was used to feed the people in the event of a famine.
Greek language was the official
language for 1000years so that (demotic) Egyptian became a purely oral
language.
Cultural
setting
For Egyptians, the cycles of human
life, rebirth, and afterlife mirrored the reproductive cycles that surrounded
them in the natural world. After death, the Egyptians looked forward to
continuing their daily lives as an invisible spirit among their descendents on
Earth in Egypt, enjoying all the pleasures of life with none of its pain or
hardships. They were painting their tombs by taking painting from the tomb of a
man named Menna, believing that the pleasures of life could be made permanent
through scenes like of Menna. Apart from tomb biographies, monumental
inscriptions, prayers and hymns, there were others forms of writing.
Houses
were not built of stone but of mud bricks. Bricks
were made to a standard size in a mould out of wet mud strengthened with finely
chopped up straw and were put in the sun until they were hard.
Women
had legal rights. The queen had special privileges as mother or wife, of the
god-king. Women could buy and sell land. By the standards of those times, women
were fairly liberated. A married couple
were considered equal. Women occupied lowly positions in the temple
organisation, and possible subordinate positions in the civil bureaucracy. The
duty of upper class women was to support their husbands in their careers. They
were permitted to appear in public, had freedom to visit and mix with men at
banquets and could carry out acceptable activities outside the home. The chief
role of all women in all classes was a mistress of the house, but in upper
class household, with servants and slaves, this was purely supervisory. The
peasant women’s chief duty was in the home but evidence shows them helping
their husbands in the fields. Amongst
the slave class, women worked in the household as bread makers, personal
attendants for the mistress and entertainers. Women were employed as musicians,
dancers and acrobats.
Nuclear
family was the fundamental social unit. The father was the “breadwinner” and
cared for the children. Although children are often depicted playing with toys,
most of their childhood was spent preparing for adulthood. For example sons of
carpenters were often apprentices for their father. Children of wealthy families
sometimes received a formal education in order to become scribes or army
officers.
Furniture
in most households was simple, the most common item being a wooden stool used
by the pharaoh as well. Both
men and women decorated usually plain clothing with jewellery with minerals.
Due to superstition the Egyptians often included good luck charms called
amulets in their jewellery. Cosmetics
were used not only as an important part of dress but for a matter of personal
hygiene. Many items such as oils were used as protection against the hot, dry
Egyptian winds.
Cooking was done in clay ovens as well as over open
fires. Wood was used for fuel, even though it was scarce. Food was baked,
boiled, stewed, fried, grilled, or roasted. What is known about kitchen
utensils and equipment is from the items that have been found in the tombs.
Storage jars, bowls, pots, pans, ladles, sieves, and whisks were all used in
the preparation of food. Most of the commoners used dishes that were made of
clay, while the wealthy used dishes made of bronze, silver, and gold.
Beer was the most popular beverage, and bread was the
staple food in the Egyptian diet. The beer was made with barley. The barley was
left to dry, and then baked into loaves of bread. The baked barley loaves were
then broken into pieces and mixed with the dried grain in a large jug of water
and left to ferment. Wine was a drink that was produced by the Egyptians,
however, it was usually found only at the tables of the wealthy. To make the
bread, women ground wheat into flour. The flour was then pounded by men to make
a fine grain. Sesame seeds, honey, fruit, butter, and herbs were often added to
the dough to help flavor the bread.
Religious setting
Ancient
Egyptian religion
was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals which were an
integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It cantered on the
Egyptians' interaction with many deities who were believed to be present in,
and in control of, the forces and elements of nature. The practices of Egyptian
religion were efforts to provide for the gods and gain their favour. Formal
religious practice cantered on the pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who was
believed to possess a divine power by virtue of his position. He acted as the intermediary between his people and the gods and
was obligated to sustain the gods through rituals and offerings so that they
could maintain order in the universe. The state dedicated enormous
resources to Egyptian rituals and to the construction of the temples.
Individuals
could interact with the gods for their own purposes, appealing for their help
through prayer or compelling them to act through magic. These practices were
distinct from, but closely linked with, the formal rituals and institutions.
The religion had its roots in Egypt's prehistory and lasted for more than 3,000
years. The details of religious belief changed over time as the importance of
particular gods rose and declined, and their intricate relationships shifted.
At various times, certain gods became preeminent over the others, including the
sun god Ra, the creator god Amun, and the mother goddess Isis.
Egyptian god
As it is stated above that Egyptians were
having many gods who were changing over time. One of Egyptians god is Horus,
the Egyptian god of the sky whose father was murdered by his uncle.
Horus,
meaning one who is above, was commonly worshipped as the god of the sky, the
son of Osiris and Isis. Many historians believe that Horus eyes one dark and
one light representing the moon and the sun. Often represented wearing a double
crown, representing the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, Horus popularity
throughout the kingdom made him the subject of many cults of worship.
The
ancient Egyptian god Horus was often depicted as a falcon or as a man with a
falcon head. While at first the god of the sky, Horus importance grew until he
eventually became the most revered god in ancient Egypt. The Pharaohs were
intimately connected with Horus, and often an image of Horus was carved above
the doors of the Pharaohs' palaces. Since the Pharaohs were also closely
connected to the sun god, Ra, the mythology and importance of Ra and Horus
became increasingly interconnected.
Birth of Horus
Horus,
according to Egyptian myth, had a rocky conception. His father, Osiris had been king of all Egypt, and had
taken for his wife his sister Isis.
Osiris brother Set was jealous of Osiris, and was always
attempting to undermine Osiris and take the throne of Egypt for himself. When
Set finally succeeded and killed Osiris, he either cast down Osiris body or cut
it into pieces and distributed them throughout Egypt, depending on the
interpretation of the text.
With
the help of Set's wife, Nepthys, Isis searched tirelessly for the
body of her late husband. When the body was found, Isis momentarily resurrected
Osiris in order to have his child. The hawk she gave birth to became Horus.
Horus
and Set
The
birth story just related introduces one of the more important stories in
ancient Egyptian mythology. Due to the circumstances surrounding Horus' birth,
Horus made it his life's work to avenge his father's death at Set's hands.
Egyptians
have almost 114 deities and each has own function, below here are some of these
deities and their functions:-
- Amun
– A creator god, patron deity of the city of Thebes.
- Anat
– A war and fertility goddess, originally from Syria.
- Anhur
– A god of war and hunting
- Anti
– Falcon god, worshipped in Middle
Egypt, who appears in myth
as a ferryman for greater gods
- Anubis
– god of embalming and protector of the dead
- Apedemak
– A warlike lion god from Nubia
who appears in some Egyptian-built temples in Lower Nubia
- Apep
– A serpent deity who personified malevolent chaos and was said to fight Ra
in the underworld every nigh
- Apis
– A live bull worshipped as a god at Memphis
and seen as a manifestation of Ptah
- Arensnuphis
– A Nubian deity who appears in Egyptian temples in Lower Nubia in the
Greco-Roman era
- Ash
– A god of the Libyan
Desert and oases west of
Egypt
- Astarte
– A warrior goddess from Syria and Canaan
who entered Egyptian religion in the New Kingdom
- Aten
– Sun disk deity who became the focus of the monolatrous or monotheistic Atenist
belief system in the reign of Akhenaten
- Atum
– A creator god and solar deity, first god of the Ennead
- Baal
– Sky and storm god from Syria and Canaan, worshipped in Egypt during the
New Kingdom
- Ba'alat
Gebal – A Caananite goddess,
patroness of the city of Byblos,
adopted into Egyptian religion
- Babi
– A baboon god characterized by sexuality and aggression
- Banebdjedet
– A ram god, patron of the city of Mendes
- Ba-Pef
– A little-known underworld deity
- Bast
– Goddess represented as a cat or lioness, patroness of the city of Bubastis,
linked with fertility and protection from evil
- Bat
– Cow goddess from early in Egyptian history, eventually absorbed by
Hathor
- Bennu
– A solar and creator deity, depicted as a bird
- Bes
– Apotropaic
god, represented as a dwarf,
particularly important in protecting children and women in childbirth
- Buchis
– A live bull god worshipped in the region around Thebes and a
manifestation of Montu
Critics
1. The
Egyptians gods could gave birth and have babies, wife, uncles etc
2. They
could fight themselves and commit murder.
3. They
have over 114 deities which are so many apart from being many some of them were
doing bad things to Egyptians especially when they are offended.
4. Some
were bringing good things to Egyptians such as to prevent Nile from being
flooded.
Conclusion
Egyptians have many gods and
deities who demand many things from Egyptians, it is hard to observe all their
demands this gives hard time to Egyptians. This situation causes evangelism to
be tough to Egyptians with these many gods and deities.
REFERENCES
Reem,
saad, upper Egypt: Identity and change
(Cairo, Egypt, American Univ in Cairo, 2004)
Claude,
Traunecker, the Gods of Egypt
(Ithaca, Newyork, Cornell University press, 2001)
Richard,
H. Wilkinson, the complete Gods and
Goddesses of ancient Egypt (thames & Hudson, 2003)
Leon,
Gray, The new cultural Atlas of Egypt:
Volume 2 of the new cultural Atlas (Marshall Cavendish, 2010)
Klaus,
Roth & Robert, Hyden, Migration in,
from, and to south-eastern Europe: Historical and cultural aspects (LIT
verlang, munster, 2011)
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