No.1 Amil baba in Pakistan amil baba in Lahore amil baba in Karachi
Religion & superstitons of egypt
1.
2.
3. Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex
system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals which
were an integral part of ancient
Egyptian society. It centered on the Egyptians'
interaction with a multitude of deities who
were believed to be present in, and in control of,
the forces and elements of nature.
The myths about these gods were meant to
explain the origins and behaviour of the forces
they represented. The practices of Egyptian
religion were efforts to provide for the gods and
gain their favour.
4. Theology
The beliefs and rituals now referred to as "Ancient
Egyptian religion" existed within every aspect of
Egyptian culture. Indeed, their language possessed
no single term corresponding to the modern
European concept of religion. Ancient Egyptian
religion was not a monolithic institution, but
consisted of a vast and varying set of beliefs and
practices, linked by their common focus on the
interaction between the world of humans and the
world of the divine. The characteristics of the gods
who populated the divine realm were inextricably
linked to the Egyptians' understanding of the
properties of the world in which they lived.
5. Depiction of Gods
The depictions of the Gods in art were not meant as
literal representations of how the gods might appear if
they were visible, as the gods' true natures were
believed to be mysterious. Instead, these depictions
gave recognizable forms to the abstract deities by using
symbolic imagery to indicate each god's role in
nature. Thus, for example, the funerary god Anubis was
portrayed as a jackal, a creature whose scavenging
habits threatened the preservation of the body, in an
effort to counter this threat and employ it for
protection. His black skin was symbolic of the colour of
mummified flesh and the fertile black soil that
Egyptians saw as a symbol of resurrection. However,
this iconography was not fixed, and many of the gods
could be depicted in more than one form.
6.
7. Amun
Appearance:
0 Man with a ram-head
0 A ram
0 Man wearing an ostrich plumed
hat
Amun was one of the most
powerful gods in ancient Egypt.
At the height of Egyptian
civilisation he was called the 'King
of the Gods'.
8. 0 Amun was important
throughout the history of
ancient Egypt. However,
when Amun was combined
with the sun god Ra he was
even more powerful. He
was then called Amun-Ra.
0 A large and important
temple was built
at Thebes to honour Amun.
9. Anubis
Appearance:
Man with a jackal head
A jackal
Anubis was the god
of embalming and the
dead. Since jackals were
often seen in cemeteries, the
ancient Egyptians believed
that Anubis watched over
the dead.
10. 0 Anubis was the god who
helped to embalm Osiris
after he was killed by
Seth. Thus, Anubis was
the god who watched
over the process
of mummifying people
when they died.
0 Priests often wore a
mask of Anubis during
mummification
ceremonies.
11. Aten
Appearance:
0 A sun disk with rays
which end in hands
Aten was a form of the
sun god Ra.
0 During the reign of
Akhenaten, the Aten was
made the 'king' of the
gods.
12. Atum
'The All' or 'Perfection’
Appearance:
0 Man with the double
crown
Atum was a creator god.
0 The ancient Egyptians
believed that Atum was
the first god to exist on
earth.
13. 0 The ancient Egyptians
believed that Atum rose
from the waters of chaos
(Nun) and created all the
gods.
14. Bastet
0 Appearance:
0 Woman with the head of a
cat
Bastet was a protective
goddess.
Bastet was usually seen as a
gentle protective goddess.
However, she sometimes
appeared with the head of a
lioness to protect the king in
battle.
15. 0 The cat was a symbol of
Bastet. The ancient
Egyptians made many
statues of cats like this
one to honour Bastet.
0 Bastet was one of the
daughters of the sun
god, Ra.
0 A great temple was built
in her honour at
Bubastis in the Delta.
16. Bes
Appearance:
0 Dwarf with lion and
human features
0 Dwarf wearing the skin of
a lion
Bes was the protector of
pregnant women, newborn
babies and the family.
17. 0 The ancient Egyptians
also believed that Bes
protected against snake
and scorpion bites.
0 Amulets of Bes were
popular at all levels of
Egyptian society.
18. Geb
Appearance:
0 Man lying down below
the arch of the sky
goddess Nut
0 Man with a goose on his
head
Geb was the god of the
earth.
19. 0 Geb was the husband
and brother of the sky
goddess Nut. He was
also the father of Osiris,
Isis, Nepthys and Seth.
0 When Seth and Horus
fought for the throne of
Egypt, Geb made Horus
the ruler of the living.
0 The ancient Egyptians
believed that
earthquakes were Geb's
laughter.
21. 0 Hapy was especially
important to the ancient
Egyptians because he
brought the flood every
year.
0 The flood deposited rich
silt on the banks of the
Nile, allowing the
Egyptians to grow crops.
22. Hathor
Appearance:
0 Woman with the ears of a
cow
0 A cow
0 Woman with a headdress
of horns and a sun disk
Hathor was a protective
goddess. She was also the
goddess of love and joy.
Hathor was the wife of
Horus, and was sometimes
thought of as the mother of
the pharaoh
23. 0 Hathor was connected
with foreign places and
materials. For instance,
Hathor was the goddess
of the desert and the
turquoise mines in
the Sinai.
0 A large temple was built
to honour Hathor at
Dendera.
24. Horus
'The One Far Above'
Appearance:
Man with the head of a
hawk
A hawk
Horus was a god of the sky.
0 He is probably most well-
known as the protector of
the ruler of Egypt.
0 The Egyptians believed
that the pharaoh was the
'living Horus'.
25. 0 The ancient Egyptians
had many different
beliefs about the god
Horus. One of the most
common beliefs was that
Horus was the son of Isis
and Osiris.
0 After Osiris was
murdered by his brother
Seth, Horus fought with
Seth for the throne of
Egypt.
26. 0 In this battle, Horus lost
one of his eyes. The eye
was restored to him and
it became a symbol of
protection for the
ancient Egyptians. After
this battle, Horus was
chosen to be the ruler of
the world of the living.
0 One of the bestpreserved temples in
Egypt today was
dedicated to Horus. It is
located in Upper Egypt
at a town called Edfu
27. Isis
Appearance:
0 Woman with headdress
in the shape of a throne
0 A pair of cow horns with
a sun disk
Isis was a protective
goddess. She used
powerful magic spells to
help people in need.
28. 0 Isis was the wife of
Osiris and the mother of
Horus.
0 Since each pharaoh was
considered the 'living
Horus', Isis was very
important.
0 Isis is often shown
holding Horus on her
lap. Isis is associated
with thrones because
her lap was the first
'throne' that Horus sat
upon.
29. 0 This amulet is called the
'Isis knot' and is a
symbol of protection.
0 A temple was built to
honour Isis at Philae. It
is still standing today.
30. Khnum
Appearance:
0 Man with the head of a
curly-horned ram
Khnum was a creator
god, and a god of the
innundation.
31. 0 Khnum was a creator-
god, moulding people on
a potter's wheel. Since
potters used Nile mud,
Khnum was also
connected with the
innundation.
32. Khepri
'He Who is Coming into Being'
Appearance:
0 Man with the head of a
scarab
0 A scarab beetle
Khepri was a god of
creation, the movement of
the sun, and rebirth.
The scarab beetle lays its
eggs in a ball of dung. Then,
it rolls the ball along the
ground until the young
beetles are ready to hatch.
33. 0 When the young beetles are
ready, they crawl out of the
ball.
0 The ancient Egyptians
believed that the beetles just
appeared from nowhere- as
they believed that their
creator god had appeared
from nowhere. Thus, they
thought that the scarab
beetle was special.
0 In certain creation stories,
Khepri is connected with the
god Atum. He is also
connected with the sun god
Ra who pushed the sun
through the sky every day.
34. Ma'at
Appearance:
0 Woman with a feather
on her head
0 A feather
Ma'at was the goddess of
truth, justice and
harmony. She was
associated with the
balance of things on
earth.
35. 0 Ma'at was the daughter of
the sun god Ra.
0 Pharaohs are frequently
shown in wall reliefs
making an offering of
Ma'at to the godsshowing that they are
preserving harmony and
justice on earth.
0 The vizier who was in
charge of the law courts
was known as the 'priest
of Ma'at'.
36. Nephthys
'Lady of the Mansion'
Appearance:
0 Woman with headdress
showing her name
in hieroglyphs
Nephthys was a
protective goddess of
the dead.
37. 0 Nephthys was the sister of
Isis and Osiris, and the
sister/wife of Seth.
Nephthys was also the
mother of Anubis.
0 She is often shown on
coffins, or in funerary
scenes.
39. 0 Nun was the only thing
that existed on Earth
before there was land.
Then, the first land (in
the form of a mound)
rose out of Nun.
0 Nun was also associated
with the chaos that
existed at the edges of
the universe.
40. Nut
Appearance:
0 Woman whose body
arches across the sky,
wearing a dress
decorated with stars.
Nut was the skygoddess, whose body
created a vault or
canopy over the earth.
41. 0 Nut was the sister/wife
of Geb, the god of the
earth. She was also the
mother of Isis, Osiris,
Nepthys and Seth.
0 The ancient Egyptians
believed that at the end
of the day, Nut
swallowed the sun-god,
Ra, and gave birth to him
again the next morning.
42. Osiris
Appearance:
0 A mummified man wearing a
white cone-like headdress
with feathers
Osiris was the god of the
dead, and ruler of the
underworld.
Osiris was the
brother/husband of Isis, and
the brother of Nepthys and
Seth. He was also the father of
Horus.
43. 0 As well as being a god of
the dead, Osiris was a
god of resurrection and
fertility. In fact, the
ancient Egyptians
believed that Osiris gave
them the gift of barley,
one of their most
important crops.
0 A large temple was built
to honour Osiris
at Abydos.
45. 0 In one creation myth
Ptah was a creator god.
He spoke the words and
the world came into
being.
46. Ra
'Sun'
Appearance:
0 Man with hawk head
and headdress with a
sun disk
Ra was the sun god. He
was the most important
god of the ancient
Egyptians.
47. 0 The ancient Egyptians
believed that Ra was
swallowed every night by
the sky goddess Nut, and
was reborn every morning.
0 The ancient Egyptians also
believed that he travelled
through the underworld at
night. In the underworld,
Ra appeared as a man with
the head of a ram.
48. Ra-Horakhty
'Horus in the Horizon'
Appearance:
0 Man with the head of a
hawk, with a sun disk
headdress
Ra-Horakhty was a
combination of the gods
Horus and Ra.
49. 0 Horus was a god of the
sky, and Ra was the god
of the sun. Thus, RaHorakhty was thought of
as the god of the rising
sun.
52. Seth
Appearance:
0 Man with the head of a
'Seth animal'
(unidentifiable)
Seth was the god
of chaos.
Seth represented
everything that
threatened harmony in
Egypt.
53. He was the brother of Osiris
and Isis, as well as the
brother/husband of Nepthys.
He murdered his brother Osiris,
then battled with his nephew
Horus to be the ruler of the
living.
At certain times in the history
of ancient Egypt, Seth was
associated with royalty.
54. Sobek
Appearance:
0 Man with the head of a
crocodile and a
headdress of feathers
and a sun-disk
Sobek was a Nile god.
55. Sobek was connected with
the Nile, and protected the
king. Live crocodiles were
kept in pools at temples
built to honour Sobek.
56. Tawaret
'The Great One'
Appearance:
0 Head of a hippopotamus
with the arms and legs of a
lion, the back and tail of a
crocodile, and the breasts
and stomach of a pregnant
woman.
Tawaret was a goddess
who protected women
during pregnancy and
childbirth.
57. Many of the gods and
goddesses in ancient Egypt
had temples built to honour
them. Other gods and
goddesses like Tawaret and
Bes were worshipped by
people in their own homes.
The amulet of the goddess
Tawaret are often wore by
people, or kept them in their
homes.
58. Tefnut
Appearance:
0 Woman with the head of
a lioness
Tefnut was the goddess
of moisture.
She was the wife of Shu
and the mother of Nut
(the sky) and Geb (the
earth).
59. Thoth
Appearance:
0 A man with the head of
an ibis holding a writing
palette
0 An ibis
0 A baboon
Thoth was the god of
writing and knowledge.
60. The ancient Egyptians
believed that Thoth gave
them the gift
of hieroglyphic writing.
Thoth was also connected
with the moon.
61.
62. At first there was only Nun. Nun was the dark water of
chaos.
63. One day, a hill rose up out of water. This hill
was called Ben-Ben.
68. Nut and Geb had four children named
Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys.
69. Osiris was the King of the Earth and Isis was
the Queen. Osiris was a good king, and he
ruled over the Earth for many years.
70. However, every thing was not well. Seth was
jealous of Osiris because he wanted to be the
ruler of the Earth. He grew angrier and
angrier until one day he killed Osiris.
71. Osiris went down into the underworld
and Seth remained on earth and became
King.
72. Osiris and Isis had one son called Horus. Horus
battled against Seth and regained the throne.
After that, Horus was the King of the Earth and
Osiris was the King of Underworld.
73. Divine Pharaoh
Egyptologists have long debated the degree to which the
pharaoh was considered a god. It seems most likely that the
Egyptians viewed royal authority itself as a divine force.
Therefore, although the Egyptians recognized that the
pharaoh was human and subject to human weakness, they
simultaneously viewed him as a god, because the divine power
of kingship was incarnate in him. He therefore acted as
intermediary between Egypt's people and the gods.
He was key to upholding Ma'at, both by maintaining justice
and harmony in human society and by sustaining the gods
with temples and offerings. For these reasons, he oversaw all
state religious activity. However, the pharaoh's real-life
influence and prestige could differ from that depicted in
official writings and depictions, and beginning in the late New
Kingdom his religious importance declined drastically.
74. The King was also associated with many specific
deities. He was identified directly with Horus, who
represented kingship itself, and he was seen as the son
of Ra, who ruled and regulated nature as the pharaoh
ruled and regulated society. By the New Kingdom he
was also associated with Amun, the supreme force in
the cosmos.
Upon his death, the king became fully deified. In this
state, he was directly identified with Ra, and was also
associated with Osiris, god of death and rebirth and the
mythological father of Horus. Many mortuary temples
were dedicated to the worship of deceased pharaohs as
gods.
75.
76. The ancient Temples were considered to be the homes of the gods.
Each temple was devoted to specific gods or goddesses and they were
worshipped there by the temple priests. The locals built small shrines
the local deities. They then designated the priests that would serve the
gods in the temple. Then they would bring offerings to the gods for
protection or favors. They expanded the temple by adding sections as
needed.
The general public played a little role in worshiping the gods
and had limited access to the temples. The early temples were made of
mud. The temples of the new kingdom were constructed of stone and
painted elaborately. Many scenes painted in temples depicted the
pharaoh in battle. The Pharaoh was considered to be the son of the
gods and was thought of as the highest priest. Temples usually
included great statues of the god or gods that were worshiped there.
Outside the Temples were sacred lakes. This is where the
common people would perform their religious rituals and attend
religious festivals. According to the Aldokkan website developed by
Ayman Fadl, an Egyptian who received his MA Architecture at Cairo
University 1990 there were Five components of Egyptian temples:
77. 1- Pylons: These are the large gates of the temple, carved
and painted with scenes of the Pharaoh, gods and
goddesses. In front of the pylon were obelisks and statues of
the Pharaohs.
2- Outer Court: This was a large open Hall, which decorated
walls showing scenes of the Pharaoh and the gods. .It had a
transitional purpose, serving as an interface between the
outside world and the sanctified regions deeper within the
temple.
People were only allowed to enter the Outer Courtyard on
festival days. Sometimes there was a second pylon leading
to the Hypostyle hall deeper in.
3- Hypostyle Hall: This is a large colonnaded hall entirely
roofed except for the central aisle which was lit by windows;
Scenes of religious rituals were carved into the walls. the
capital of the massive column often in the shape of the
papyrus Flower. Only priests and the Pharaohs were
allowed to enter the hypostyle hall, which was used for
religious rituals.
78. 4- Sanctuary: The sanctuary was the most special and
important part of the temple. It was a very dark and
relatively small room. Only the High Priest and the
Pharaoh could ever enter the sanctuary. In the middle of
the sanctuary there stood a shrine with a statue of a god.
5- Sacred Lake: Most temple precincts included a sacred
lake. Archaeologists have excavated a number of these in
temples of the New Kingdom; the priests used water
from the sacred lake to perform rituals in the temple."
81. From funerary items, Mummies and Tombs we can get a
pretty clear picture of what the Egyptians believed the
afterlife to be. The early Egyptians buried their dead in pits
in the desert that would naturally mummify the corpse.
However, as time progressed the mummification progress
did also. The priests would go through an elaborate process
of removing the internal organs and placing them in jars.
These jars represented four different gods that would
protect them on their journey through the afterlife and are
referred to as canopic jars. After the body was preserved the
tombs were often loaded with material items that the dead
would need in the afterlife.
82. The dead would first arrive at the Hall of Judgment
where they would have to answer for their deeds on
earth. They would then go to the Field of Reeds. This
was a land where your wishes would be granted. Here
they would have to travel through the seven gates. On
the other side of the seven gates was Osiris god of the
netherworld. Here Osiris would weigh their Heart along
with forty-two other gods. If your heart balanced with
your deeds then you received eternal life, if not Amemet
devoured it, and Seth would eat the body.
The Egyptian afterlife seems to be a terrifying place.
This is probably why they put so much emphasis on
worshiping as many gods as they could.
83.
84. The Egyptians - Society
0 The ancient Egyptian people were grouped in a
hierarchical system with the Pharaoh at the top and
farmers and slaves at the bottom. The groups of
people nearest the top of society were the richest and
most powerful.
0 The diagram below shows the structure of ancient
Egyptian society.
85.
86. SACRED ANIMALS
0 Animals were important in the religious life of ancient
Egyptians in both their deified forms as half-animal
Egyptian gods and as the animals themselves.
87. SUPERSTITIONS
0 The superstition that spilling salt is bad luck and
the custom of throwing salt could cancel bad luck .
It is believed to have been practiced since 3500
B.C.
0 Walking under a ladder is superstition that has
been dated to 3000 B.C. in Egypt.
0 Fear of the "evil eye" is a superstition found in
many cultures and is quite common in the
Mediterranean. Egyptians wore kohl, the world's
first mascara, in a circle or oval around their eyes,
in part to ward off the evil eye.
