ancient egyptian cultures and tradition

7/24/2019 Ancient Egyptian Cultures and Tradition

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Ancient Egyptian Cultures and Tradition:

Life in ancient Egypt was largely based uponagriculture. The main populations of the people wereinvolved in farming, and the growing season that lastedeight-nine months. heat, fruits and vegetables werethe principle corps however Egyptians also cared forcattle, sheep!s or goats. "armers in theancient Egypt wor#ed to reach a level so sustenance sothey could feed themselves and pay their ta$es. Annual%ooding of the &ile '(uly )&ovember* made farming

impossible. +owever when the %ood was over and thewaters sun# into the ground, thin# layers of fertile soilwas left to insure rich soil for the crops of the framersand thic# grasses for the animals.

The &ile was the Lifeblood of Egypt. The cycle of%ooding, death and growth was the cycle of everydaylife and also of Egyptian religion and understanding ofafterlife. Egyptians were depended on the river for their

main their source food. t insured them a life ofcommunication and transportation. The pharaoh!s usedthe &ile to transport their armies and maintain andunied nation. y /011 C Egypt became a centrali2edgovernment with a royal line or rulers. 3ingsin Egypt were #nown as pharaoh and #ept a royal courtof advisors, nobility and oversaw the governors of the

provinces of their #ingdom. 4haroses were alsocommanders of the Egyptian army. 4riest and priestesswho were o5ciated at the comple$ religious ceremoniesand attended on the gods observed the pharaoh. Therule of the 4haraoh was dynastic and the pharaoh came



to be considered as the representations of 6od!s onearth.

Religion:n Egyptian culture and tradition, religion was part ofevery aspect of their lives. Egyptian was religion wasmainly polytheism7 meaning they worshiped many6ods, e$cept for the reign of the 4haraohA#enaton. The Egyptians li#e the 8omans and 6ree#sworshiped many 6ods up to 9111 gods andgoddess. ome li#e Amum, who was worshiped

throughout the whole country and then there were thelocal 6ods. ;nderneath is a list of some of the AncientEgyptian 6ods:

Nekhbet vulture goddess of Upper Egypt

Wadjet cobra goddess of Lower Egypt

Meskhenet childbirth goddess, represented by a tile

Tawerethippopotamus goddess, also childbirth goddess and

protectoress

Bet childbirth god and protector of children

AtumHeliopolis (ancient On) sun god, self-created from theatery aste of !un

Shu god of air, created by "tum

Tefnutgoddess of moisture, created by "tum, sometimes a

lion goddess

Geb earth god, created by #hu and $efnut

Nut s%y goddess, also goddess of death and burial, created



by #hu and $efnut

Osirisfertility god, later %ing of the dead, child of &eb and

!ut

Isis

'istress of 'agic and #pea%er of #pells, also goddess

of the dead, sister-wife of Osiris, child of &eb and

!ut, mother of young Horus and therefore symbolic'other of the Egyptian ing

Sethrival of young Horus, destroyer of Osiriss body, child

of &eb and !ut

Nehth!sone of the goddesses of the dead, sister-wife of #ethand child of &eb and !ut

"orus the$lder

often shown in mans form, or as a haw%, child of &eband !ut

!oung"orus

son of *sis

"athor powerful s%y and cow goddess, fertility figure, consort

of young Horus but %ept a separate temple, associatedwith tirual music

ThothHermopolis god, moon god and rec%oner of time,

depicted in human form with an ibis mas%

Neithnational goddess of Lower Egypt, huntress with

crossed bow and arrows as her symbol, also goddess

of the dead, sometimes supreme creator

Serkhet a goddess of death and burial

Resun god, in the creation myth with !eith as supremegod, wept men and women from his eyes

%tah 'emphis god, considered primeval being first createdto ta%e precendence over "tum

Sekhmetrepresents the rays of the sun at midday, consort of+tah and daughter of e, the sun god, lion goddess of

'iddle Egypt

Aton"ye at el-"rmana tomb chapel, also claimed to ta%e

precedence over "tum

&hnum irst .ataract deity, ram-headed supreme creator god

Satet andAnuket

represent the !ile in flood, helpers to hnum

Nun andNunet

Ogdoad of hemenu gods (.ity ofEight), represent

the primeval abyss

"eh and"auket

Ogdoad of hemenu gods, represent infinity

&ek and&auket

Ogdoad of hemenu gods, represent dar%ness

Amun andAmunet

Ogdoad of hemenu gods, represent the un%nown

gods, also male and female principles in the cosmic



system, "mun later a chief god

Mut both lion and warrior goddess, consort of "mun

at $hebes, replacing "munet

Bastetcat goddess, important in the last /000 years 1,

originally a lion goddess

Meretseger cobra goddess of the pea% overloo%ing the 2alley ofthe ings, name means 3she who loves silence3

Renenutetsna%e goddess and protector of the %ing and the

harvest

<ost often many gods and goddesses were presented as part human and partanimal.A prime e$ample is +orus, the s#y 6od. +orus had a head of haw# and the body ofa human. Egyptians considered animals li#e the bull, cat and the crocodile to beholy.

Egyptians had two main 6od!s who were Amon ) 8a, the son 6od and rulerof the universe, and =siris, the 6od of the ;nderworld. <any stories about =sirisrevolved under the idea of immortality. +e was to believed to be the 6od that madethe afterlife peaceful and tran>uil. The Egyptian ?oo# of the @eath is similar tothe ible to the Catholics, containing the main ideas and beliefs of the Egyptianreligion. Egyptian religion mainly stressed the afterlife which is why many Egyptiansspent so much time and wealth preparing for afterlife. Egyptian temples were considered homes for the 6ods. Every city had atemple for the 6od of the city. The purpose of the temple was to be a cosmic centerby men to have communication with the gods. 4riest, were considered to be morepowerful and their duty was to care for gods and attends to their needs. Their mainduties were funeral rights, teaching schools, supervising the artist and wor#s, alongwith advising the people on their problems. Egyptians saw death as a transitional stage to the afterlife. They believedthat they could only reach their full potential after their death. They believed thateach person contained three souls, the ?#a the ?ba, and the ?a#ah "or all three

souls to survive they believed that the body needed to be preserved. Their belief inthe afterlife and rebirth after death became their driving force behind their funeralpractices 'a#a embalming* hen a person died they were embalmed. A priest would recite prayers anda nal attempt to revive the deceased. The body was washed and puried in aspecial shelter. The body was then ta#en to the wabet, which was the embalmerswor#shop. There a cut was made in the left side and all the organs were thenremoved and stored in containers #nown as canopic Bars. The body was bac#ed witha salt for a period of forty days. After that the insides were then lled with linen or



sawdust, resin and natron. The body was then wrapped in bandages with Bewelryand amulets were put between the layers. The portrait mas# that was placed overthe head of the deceased by the Chief Embalmer and then the wrapped body ormummy was then put into a co5n. Then with a period of 1 days in which the mummication too# place, themummy is then placed in a decorated co5n. "urniture, carved statues, games food

and other items were buried along with the mummy for the afterlife. The last ritualperformed by the pries on the mummy was called the ?=pening of the <onth. Thisceremony was to magically give the deceased the ability to spea# and eat againand to be bale to use their body again. After that the mummy was then but into istomb or sarcophagus and sealed.

Egyptian Landmar#s:'os4ue of *bn $ulun



Bullt between 876 and 879 AD, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun is one of the oldest mosques in Cairo.

It was commissioned by Ahmad ibn Ţūlūn, the Abbassid governor of Egypt. The mosque is

constructed around a courtyard, with one covered hall on each of the four sides. The minaret,

which features a helical outer staircase similar to that of the famous minaret in Samarra, was

probably built several centuries later. Parts of the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me

were filmed at the Mosque of Ibn Tulun.

5ahab



Dahab is located some 85 km (53 miles) north of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Gulf of Aqaba, near

the southern tip of Sinai. Once an isolated coastal village, Dahab turned into a hippie hangout in

the 1980s and became something of an “alternative resort”, mixing cheap accommodation with′

a laid back lifestyle. Activities such as wind surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving and camel and jeep

trips make it one of the most popular destinations along the Red Sea.

#iwa Oasis



Located in the Libyan Desert, Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt’s isolated settlements, with 23,000people, mostly ethnic Berbers. Located on an old date trade route, Siwa was an oasis vital to the

trade route, as the natural springs and shade giving palm trees gave travelers respite from the

desert. With the collapse of the Roman Empire, Siwa began its decline. In recent decades

tourism has become a vital source of income. Much attention has been given to creating hotels

that use local materials and play on local styles.

ancient egyptian cultures and tradition

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