Egyptian Afterlife

Table of Contents ·         Introduction2 ·         General Information, master(prenominal).3-6 o         Mummification...3 o         Journey to Yaru..4 o         Recitation to the Gods4 o         Myth and Rituals.5 o          fountain of the M let onh solemnity5 · Conclusion5-6 · Bibliography.7 Egyptian aft(prenominal)wards keep Introduction          approximately(prenominal) antediluvial patriarch civilizations of the earthly concern ad think been unraveled, nevertheless virtuoso in go againsticular interests me the most. The astonishing legal opinions and lifestyle of the antique Egyptians are irrelevant some(prenominal) different of its m or either time at all. These Egyptians had developments and beliefs that are still in some ways a mystery, only if as the years go by, we fuck score to learn more. If you ever wondered what the bastardlyings of some burial traditions or what mummies sincerely were, youll find discover as you add wind on. I exit discuss the procedures and beliefs of Egyptian time to come.          Egyptian Afterlife General/Main Information at one time an Egyptian dies, there are several(prenominal) things that can be through with(p) with their contribute a br sweep awayhers. whiz thing that we abide by that can be done with the remains is the bidding of mummification, which was provided performed on certain people. So lets expound there. The process of mummification is the form of embalming practiced by the antediluvian Egyptians that changed oer time from the Old Kingdom (ca. 2750-2250 B.C.), when it was available leave off to kings, to the virgin Kingdom (ca. 1539-1070 B.C.), when it was available to everyone. The level of mummification depended on what one could afford. The most fully developed form hard five basic steps! : 1. All of the subjective organs, merely the intent, were removed. Since the organs were the first factors of the organic structure to dissect but were necessary in the afterlife, they were mummified and put in canopic jars that were set in the tomb at the time of burial. They would take out the contain and clean it with palm wine. The heart was believed to be the potty of intuition and emotion and was, therefore, left in the corpse. The brain, on the former(a) hand, was regarded as having no significant value and, beginning in the tonic Kingdom, was removed by the nose and discarded. 2. The body was jammed and cover with natron, a salty drying agent, and left to dry out for forty to fifty sidereal days. By this time all the bodys fluid had been mantled and only the hair, skin, and bones were left. 3. The body cavity was stuffed with resin, sawdust, or short lettern and shaped to restore the dead soulfulnesss form and features. They would besides surfeit the body with myrrh and other spices. 4. The body was so tightly wrapped in many layers of linen with numerous broad(a) part charms, or amulets, wrapped between the layers. The most substantial amulet was the scarab beetle, which was located over the heart. Jewelry was overly placed among the bandages. At separately stage of neglige, a non-Christian priest recited spells and prayers. This entirely procedure could take as long as cardinal days. After the wrapping was complete, the body was put into a shroud. The entire mummification process besidesk about seventy days. 5. coif the sacrament of opening the mouth of the milliampere - if this were non done the florists chrysanthemum would non be able to eat, drink, breathe or talk. The mummy would hence be placed in a coffin, which thusly would be placed at bottom a tomb, the sterling(prenominal) of tombs universe a pyramid but only Pharaohs and queens could contain pyramids built. Egyptians stipendiary vast amounts of money to begin their bodies properly pres! erved. They would involve all the things they had used when they were alive, so their families would put those things in their graves. The Egyptians believed that when they died they would assoil a journey to a nonher world where they would lead a sunrise(prenominal) life. The Egyptians believed that to get to the afterlife they would mother to pass through a dangerous place with perils such as monsters, turn lakes, fires and specially nasty snakes that spat out poi boy. These evils could be spank by the right spells and the Egyptians often wrote down the spells on piece of medicinal drug and left them in or near the coffin. If they overcame the evils they would reach the grant of Yaru (the Egyptian afterlife) and meet their friends again. But first they had to pass the grea judge streak of all in the house of Two Truths. This test involved weighing the heart, the only organ which had been left in the body. The heart was placed on one side of a balance and in the other side was placed the raise of Truth: the Feather of Truth held all the lies and sins of their past life. The 3 enormous gods, Osiris, Anubis and Thoth, decided the result of the weighing. If the heart passed the test then the doomed person was allowed to enter the gates of Yaru. This was where he went to take over his eternal reward where he wandered the shadow land that was the throw of the Nile Delta. No famine or sorrows bothered him in this form up afterlife. But if the heart failed the test then a terrific monster have sexn as the Devourer ate it. The devourer was part crocodile, part hippopotamus, and part lion and once it had eaten a heart the dead person was gone forever. Other translations just believed that if the heart weighed too heavy, he would be thrown to the animal gods who jerk him to shreds. Here, I have found a recitation that some whitethorn have said to the Gods upon his/her encounter with them: Homage to thee, O great God, Lord of Maat i! I have come unto thee, O my Lord, and I have broug! ht myself hither that I may recognize thy beauties. I know thee, I know thy name, I know the name calling of the forty-two Gods who live with thee in the Hall of Maati...I have non committed sins against men. I have not opposed my family and kinfolk. I have not acted fraudently in the stinkpot of Truth. I have not known men who were of no account. I have not defrauded the humble man of his property. I have not done what the gods abominate. I have not vilified a striver to his master. I have not inflicted pain. I have not caused anyone to go hungry. I have not made any man to weep. I have not committed murder....I have not encroached on the fields (of others). I have not added to the weights of the scales...I have not driven the kine away from their pastures. I have not snared the geese in the goose-pens of the gods. I have not caught fish with bait made of the bodies of the a identical(p) kind of fish. I have not stopped irrigate when it should flow...I am pure, I am pure. I a m pure...         This recitation, when studied, was seen as a disallow one. Instead of stating what the Ka had done, the Ka stated what he has not done. The Ka was the duplicate world that was stored in the heart as a vital describe possessed by every being. In addition to a ka, each person had a ba. The ba was the soul of the person. After closing, the ka and the ba were united into one entity called the akh, which is an setting of the sun. They thought that if the body was preserved after death the ka and ba would still remain alive. This is why the Egyptians thought mummification was so important. Myth and Rituals         A popular idea of death and metempsychosis was ground on the legend of King Osiris, whom the Egyptians believed was killed and dismembered by his envious brother Seth, reassembled by his faithful wife Isis, and brought punt to life by his son Horus. When the Opening of the Mouth ceremony was done at Egyptian funerals , it was a reenactment of the ceremony Horus had perf! ormed for his father. After his changeover Osiris became known as the god of the underworld.

        The Opening of the Mouth ceremonial occasion         On the ordinal day after a persons death, when the embalming and wrapping were completed, the mummy was placed in a coffin and interpreted to the tomb. The body was transported as part of a long line of people and possessions. neighboring to the mummy were two women representing the goddess Isis and her sister Nephthys. fag end these two was a multitude including mourners, priests, and servants carrying tomb furnishings. The canop ic chest with the mummys internal organs was carried one after another in line. one of the priests burned incense and sprinkled milk along the path. At the tomb, the group was met by dancers and a priest who read spells in delight in of the dead. Next came the very important Opening of the Mouth ceremony, based on the Osiris legend. A priest eroding a jackal-headed hide representing the god Anubis held the mummys coffin upright time another priest touched the mouth of the mummy with rite instruments. The Egyptians believed that from a persons death until the performance of this ceremony the body could not hear, see, or speak. Once the ceremony was finished, the use of the senses returned and the deceased could eat and drink in the afterlife. After the ceremony an offering of food, ointment, and habilitate was portrayn to the deceased. With this completed, a colossal funerary banquet was enjoyed by the mourners, with entertainment in approbation of the dead provided by mus icians and dancers. plot the banquet was going on, t! he deceased was placed inside the tomb, and the footsteps of those who had been inside were swept away. Now the deceaseds soul could return to the body. Conclusion         Without any further discoveries, this is what is known of the afterlife procedures, beliefs, and rituals. Of course, their beliefs are directly linked with the Egyptian religion, just like other religions have their beliefs of a blissful afterlife. The Egyptian polytheistic views are unique though, and powerfully emphasize the preservation of the somatogenetic body. Like the Hindu belief of reincarnation, the Egyptian beliefs slightly jibe that idea of being brought back to life. As aforementioned, the myth of Osiris claims he was reincarnated by his son, and could possibly mean that those who die strive for the akin goal of being brought back.         One thing that I did not find was anything regarding to Ancient Egyptians having a religious law that would incur if the heart would fail or pass. From previous education, though, I call back that Egyptians did have a statute to live by, such as the code of Hammurabi and rules for praising each divine being. But the Code was more of a diversity of set of government kinda of an order of religion. It gave them rules of what to do and what to do and the punishments for not enforcing each law. irrelevant Christianity and some other religions that give sets of rules to live by day by day, the ancient Egyptian religion, from my knowledge, only gave sets of rules of how to respect and measure the Gods and Goddesses.         We still have often to learn about the ancient Egyptians and their customs. The unique characteristics of this culture unquestionably draw my interest, but after researching and analyzing, I find the ancient Egyptians fairly simple-minded in the lifestyle area but impressively advanced in technology compared to the rest of the world at that time. I also wonder, b ecause of their simplicity in beliefs, how these beli! efs began and who introduced their religion. Bibliography: Brewer, Douglas, and Emily Teeter. Egypt and the Egyptians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Spencer, A.J. devastation in Ancient Egypt. New York: Penguin Books, 1982. http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Egypt/religion_report.html http://www.paganculture.com/egyptian.html (and other website) If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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