Transcript Religions of Africa - University of Mount Union

Egypt
Encampment at the Nile
Egyptian Dynasties

Written records of Egypt began around
3100 BCE. The source of their trade,
commerce, development, etc was the
Nile. They invented hieroglyphics and
left written records about their religious
practices.
Worldview
Worldview

The sky, earth, river and sun are
sources of life and symbolized them
using the forms of human, animals and
human-animal combinations. The sun
was the highest god and had different
names depending on the time of day.
Egyptian Deities
THE ENNEAD: Ra, Geb, Nut, Shu, Tefnut, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephythys.
Images: http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptgods.html
Osiris and Isis

Osiris and Isis were
husband and wife
deities and
represented the
"self-renewing
vitality in nature."
Horus - The Offspring of the Gods

Horus was the offspring of Isis and
Osiris and was
symbolized by the
falcon and was king
of the gods.
The Composite

Amon-Re, a
composite of Ra,
was symbolized by
a headdress of the
noon sun.
Aton

Aton, the sun and
symbolized by a disk,
was declared by
Pharaoh Akhenaton
as the only god.
Hathor – The Creator

The Creator of Earth
– The creator of the
earth was a female
deity who had a
female body and the
head of a cow; her
name was Hathor.
Maat - Truth

The Truth
– Mayet, (Maat) symbolized by a feather, was the
the goddess of order and truth.
Egyptians’ Admired Traits

Egyptians admired traits of the animals
and thus used them to symbolize their
gods. The Egyptians "honored"
dependability.
Rituals and Symbols
Rituals and Symbols

“The Egyptian temple represented the
mansion of god, his home on earth. The
priests cared for the gods as if ‘literally
alive.’” The pharaoh was the
intermediary between the god and the
people. The high priests performed
priestly duties.
Life After Death
Life After Death

Immortality includes common people
and not just royalty. It was a
complicated process. There is "ka, a
spiritual form that mirrored the body."
Its physical needs were met after death
with food and offerings. Ba was the
spirit that flew like a bird to heaven. A
person could be recreated through the
mummified process and funeral rites.
Judgment & Afterlife

Each person's works had to be judged and
therefore that person appeared before Mayet
“in the kingdom of Osiris.” If one’s works
were judged a good one went to “heaven.”

Heaven was a place filled with plenty of food
and one could go in and out as one pleased.
Relationship to Other
Religions
Impact on Western
Cultures
Relationship to Other Religions

Ancient Egyptian religion has had a
tremendous impact on Western
civilization. It was admired by the
Greeks and Romans and many stories
can trace their origins to ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egyptian religion has influenced
Judaism and Christianity.