Ancient Egyptian Religion Beliefs and Afterlife

Without having the ancient Egyptian religion, there would more than likely be no reason for anyone to visit Egypt today. Of course, Egypt as we know it would be very different. If there were no religion in ancient Egypt, then there would be no pyramids, no fabulous temples, no tombs and no mummies or colorful decorations on these structures. As you see, the religion in Ancient Egypt had a lot to do with the things that exist in today‘s world.

Religion in ancient Egypt has guided every aspect of the Egyptian life. The religion in ancient Egypt was based on the worship of different deities or polytheism, except during the reign of Akenaton. The ancient Egyptians had many different gods and goddesses, totals have showed around 2000 gods and goddesses. Some of the gods that were worshipped throughout the Egyptian country were Amun. Many times, the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt appeared to be part human and part animal. As an example, Horus, who is the sky god, had the body of a human, but for his head, he had a hawk head.

The ancient Egyptians considered certain animals such as the cat, bull and the crocodile to be holy animals. Ancient Egypt‘s two chief gods were Osiris and Amon-Ra. Amon-Ra was known for being the lord of the universe and the sun god, while Osiris was known as the underworld god. If you have ever looked at some of the inserts from the “Book of the Dead”, you will find there are some major ideas and beliefs contained inside it from the Egyptian religion. Many of the Egyptians who followed the Egyptian religion focused on the afterlife. In fact, individuals in Egypt put a lot of their time and wealth preparing for the world they would be facing when they die. When it comes to the Egyptian religion, there are many different talks on how the world first started out. One legend that sticks out is the fact that the world started with an ocean that was in the darkness. Then there was a mound of dry land that rose up, and then out of nowhere Re, the sun god showed up. Re created light and all of the other things.

In ancient Egypt, the priests had a number of different duties. These duties involved caring for the gods, supervising the works of artists, advising individuals in Egypt on the problems they were faced with and funeral rights.