Religion of Ancient Egypt

Transcription

1 Religion of Ancient Egypt

2 Early Mummies Early Egyptians bodies were buried in desert sand Dry, hot sand preserved the bodies sand absorbed the bodies moisture so bacteria couldn t decay the bodies skin dried along with most organs

3 Early Mummies Strongly believed in afterlife Believed spirits of the dead lived in the sand Buried jars of food and water in case the spirit was hungry or thirsty

4 Mummification Egyptians began to improve grave sites when they saw that the bodies were well preserved by sand Kings, queens, and nobles were prepared more carefully and wrapped in linen strips Linen was woven from flax which grew along the Nile Why do you think king, queens, and nobles were prepared more carefully than other Egyptians?

5 Mummification Pouring warm resin over bandages helped better preserve the bodies Resin is an oily substance that came from plants Resin would harden on the body Bodies began to decay from the inside out

6 Why did Egyptians make mummies? Egyptians had strong belief in afterlife Once the body died, the soul lived on in the afterlife If a person s body was destroyed in any way, the spirit might not be able to live on

7 Ka A life force, like the soul of a human, and it looked like its person If the body is not kept neatly, the ka wouldn t live on. Went to Field of Reeds for eternity

8 Ba is the personality of its person Shown as a human head that resembled the deceased person with a body of a bird Could leave the Field of Reeds Needed a recognizable body to return to at night

9 Other Parts of the Soul Khat: physical body Shuyet: the shadow self Akh: the immortal, transformed self after being judged by Osiris and highest form of the soul Ab: the heart Northern Bald Ibis

10 Field of Reeds A mirror image of one s life on Earth Aim of the Egyptians was to make life in the Field of Reeds as worth living as possible Also called A aru by Ancient Egyptians

11 Embalming Improvements Let the bodies dry out before burials to ensure they would last Cut open the body and remove organs Organs mainly kept bodies from drying out Placed organs in four jars that resembled the four sons of Horus Keep watch on organs

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13 Beginning of Pyramids Mastabas House of Eternity made of mud bricks and had a flat roof with long sloping sides. kings would be buried anywhere from feet deep

14 Beginning of Pyramids Mastabas were decided to be unstable and not impressive for king s burial Step Pyramids High as 200 feet Inside was nearly solid stone King s burial chamber laid out 100 feet below tomb

15 Pyramids Made of limestone bricks Great Pyramid was built for Khufu 480 feet tall Attracted tons of attention...especially by grave robbers Pharaohs were then buried in rock-cut tombs

16 Tomb Robbers Any man caught robbing a tomb was punished greatly Stake stabbed through the heart Cut off hands, nose, or ears Being tied and left in the desert

17 Ancient Egyptian Funerals Family would mourn the deceased for as long as the 70 day prep period Family and close friends would wail loudly to show sadness Offerings were placed in tombs to help the deceased in the afterlife

18 Shabti Dolls Dolls that were inscribed with a spell from the Coffin Texts to help the deceased in the afterlife if Osiris had a task Citizens obligated their time to labor for pharaoh s work projects according to that person s skill and a shabti would reflect that skill

19 Weighing of the Heart Ceremony On one end of the scale is a feather on the other end is a heart, the heart of whomever had died. If the person s heart is so full of evil that it is heavier than the feather he will not be able to enter into the afterlife.