This week you were provided with an introduction to Egyptian mythology through the Quirke reading (PDF under course documents on Blackboard)and Prof. Morris's lecture. As most of you are newcomers to the study of Ancient Egypt and haven't dealt extensively with their religious beliefs I would like to hear your thoughts about the Egyptian religious worldview.
Based on your reading of Quirke (which presumes prior knowledge and does jump around a lot I know), what do you think are the major themes of Egyptian religious belief? What patterns and overarching motifs can you tease out from the information provided? One way to approach this question may be to think about the geography of Egypt and how its character is manifested in the Egyptian view of the universe.
Specific examples from the lecture and reading are welcomed. 1-2 paragraphs in the comment section.
Life, death, power, and the afterlife all seem to play an important role in Egyptian mythology. There is no doubt that the Egyptians loved to tell stories and create comparisons between their daily lives and these fabrications. From the very beginning, the Egyptians gave their highest honor and respect to the sun, giving it the name Ra (Re) and turning it into a god. From that, I began to assume that the Egyptians derived all other aspects of their culture from the sun..the ultimate source of life and power.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the Egyptians focused on light as a source of energy to fuel the rest of their beliefs. To counter the "light," they created this sense of darkness in the underworld or afterlife. While the Egyptians by no means viewed the afterlife in a negative manner, it provided them not only with an antithesis to light/life, but added another element as well. The Egyptians created this sense of eternal life, which would be pleasant or horrific depending on a person's actions in life.
In terms of mythology, Osiris represents death positively, while Seth seems like the god of chaos or destruction. Ra (as an eye) represents light, sun, and power, and Horus (as a falcon) represents power and life on Earth.
To kind of bring everything back to the beginning, I realize that the different geographic areas of Egypt had different mythological views, but I think it's reasonable to say that the Egyptian people as a whole focused on the duality of life.
I think the idea of resurrection (coming from the sun rising and setting every day) and more generally the idea of cycles play a key role in Egyptian religious beliefs. Like it says in the text, the myth of Osiris, Isis and Seth is a classic example of how Egyptians believed that death is not the end; in fact, it is the beginning of another life.
ReplyDeleteEgyptians also represented deities with animals, but did not deify others (like plants) in their environment (except for the Nile flood) which I found very interesting.
As Dan said, I also think that Egyptians emphasized different aspects of their religion in different regions. Some only praised the creator and erased all other deities, while others continued to worship more "humanlike" gods and goddesses of craftsmanship and metal craft.
As Dan mentioned in his comment and as the reading says the “sun embodied for the Egyptians more than power in heaven or power over earth…it was considered the central and original power of creation.” (Quike, 23). Another powerful creation myth includes Atum spitting, sneezing or masturbating two offspring from himself—a narrative that echoes the central theme of Egyptian spirituality, dichotomous deities. Within that story there is the fissioning of how one being produces two, which indicates how Egyptians see wholeness of comprising two halves.
ReplyDeleteI noticed a lot of paradoxes within the Egyptian culture. I see the duality within a single symbol, the sun (capable of giving off light and dark) and within sets of binary symbols. When Professor Morris lectured she spoke of the divide of Lower and Upper Egypt and that each section had a ruling goddess, crown and plant symbol (which diametrically opposed one another in a way that gave balance).
I also thought that the story of Nun with 4 principles personified as male and female represents this desire to find balance within opposites since each principle has two different gendered deities representing it: Amun and Amunet (hidden) Hehu and Hebut (water) Tenem and Tenemet (straying) and Kuku and Kekut (darkness). (Quike, 25).
Perhaps the Egyptians geographical terrain shaped their experience and therefore way of thinking on a spiritual level? While doing the reading I noted that Egyptians experienced sea/land and barren and fertile soil, saw birds and fish--- they had Northern and Southern territory. Dualism defined the concrete so it makes sense that it began to represent the abstract. While the geography of Egypt is manifested in the Egyptian view of the universe, the ornate and beautiful mythic quality of their spirituality speaks to their character and values, regardless of the land they inhabited.
Like it says text the myth of Osiris, Isis and Seth underscores the importance of afterlife to Egyptians. They believed death marks the beginning of another life. The image of the serpent eating its tail or of a falcon’s feathers rising from the flame comes to mind to further animate this infinite cyclical rebirth, a keystone in the Egyptian arc of spiritual values. Lastly, I notice that the deities depend on one another for meaning: Shu and Tefnut can’t represent dryness and moisture without linking back to their creator, Atum and without being juxtaposed by the existence of the other.
Quirke: Mythology
ReplyDeleteAs previously mentioned, the role of the Sun God was vital to the workings of the universe, in regards to the conception of “resurrection” and creation (23). Since the rise and set of the sun signified the beginning and end of another day, “the power of creation” seemed to ascend in correlation to its motions (23). The Sun’s positioning allowed the Egyptians to regard it as a force which “embodied power in heaven and over earth” (23). Creatures such as scarabs and dung beetles also instituted symbols which depicted “solar regeneration”, as they simply pushed dung forward to create an image of the sun’s movements throughout a typical day (35). Similarly the flooding of the Nile was utilized as a means to express the “moment of creation” every time it flooded (26).
Nature’s acts and creations upon Egypt also seem to be basis for the production of such intertwined characters in Egyptian mythology. Intricate relationships between gods are a result of the way in which their duties are assigned. For example, Shu embodies “the concept of dryness”, while Tefnut exemplifies the “concept of moisture” (46). Horus communicates a sense of order as he is declared its “champion”, in contrast to Seth who brings about chaos and disorder from his evil actions (65). Isis is deemed the healer as she alleviates “bites of wild animals” such as “scorpions and poisonous snakes” (61).
I definitely notice a focus on duality and the gods having a strong connection with nature/the natural world. The pairs of male and female in the four principles of Nun, the two life-giving principles, Sekhmet and Hathor as opposing personalities of passion; all show an obvious recognition in the contrasts present in the world of the ancient Egyptians, namely, the fertile, inhabitable Nile surrounded by harsh, unforgiving desert. The clear connections - the scarab imitating the sun-god, gods represented by animals with which they share common traits - suggest a close tie of religion to everyday life. Not something mystical and far, but something that could be related to and understood.
ReplyDeleteThere is also much focus on cycles, be it the cycle of the sun or that of death/rebirth as told by Osiris' tale. A cycle in general seems to represent everlasting, something that keeps going or returning, as the Nile nurtured crops or perhaps so went the flow of the seasons.
As many have mentioned, the element of nature is prevalent in Egyptian mythology. The Egyptians believed that the creator of the Universe is Ra, the Sun God. It is understandable that the Egyptians believed that there was a deity who governed the seemingly unruly and confusing world they lived in. It is also interesting to note that many of the deities are portrayed in the paintings with Egyptian kings. The kings interact with the Gods, implying that kings have more power than civilians. With that added power, kings can find it easier to maintain control over their people.
ReplyDeleteAnother prominent theme of Egyptian mythology is that of the balance of opposites. For instance, the God Shu represents dry air and the force of preservation. In contrast, the deity Tefnut stands for most and corrosive air, representing the rule of change and variability. Many other opposite deities exist within Egyptian mythology. I believe that the presence of these beliefs of forces of opposition stems from the need for balance. The Egyptians found that balance by creating deities for the opposite forces found in nature.
I hope I am not the only one who had hard time reading this… and when I printed, the letters came out tiny, making it even harder to read… haha
ReplyDeleteWhen I started reading, I initially identify the major theme of Egyptian religion as "nature". As all of you have mentioned, nature seem to take an important part in Egyptian beliefs. Sun is obviously a big part. The sun embodied for the Egyptians more than power in heaven or power over earth. It was promise of resurrection, and sun-god was considered the central and original power of creation (23).
Then I realized "nature" doesn't quite seem to be an appropriate word. The Egyptian religion comes from their meticulous observation of their environment (35). YES. "Environment" seems to be a better choice of word. Egyptian religion was not only about it's surrounding nature, such as the sun, sky, water, and earth, but also about everyday life. It seems Egyptian religion included their daily tasks, judging by the god Ptah, a patron of craftsmen (45). I believe the environment that Egyptians lived in was a theme of religious belief.
On unrelated notes, I found it interesting how the stories of Egyptian religions seemed to overlap other religions and myths. The narrative of divine birth(37) for instance, reminds me the story of a birth of Hercules (I believe) in Greek mythology.
A common theme to most of ancient Egyptian life seems to be the reoccurrence of different types of muses, or other sources of inspiration. Even the creator Atum needed a sense of motivation to create the world and emerge out of Nun. Without any source of inspiration, Nun would be absolute and we would cease to exist; “Without the impulse of the creator Atum ‘all matter’ would never become distinguished from Nun” (46). In this respect, the Egyptians viewed all aspects of life as having profound impacts on each other. “Horus cannot be the embodiment of order unless the observer also has a notion of Seth, embodiment of disorder” (48). Without this distinct relationship, life wouldn’t have order. The Egyptians also stressed “emphasis placed on relationships” (48). The relationship between Osiris and Seth, which led to the ultimate demise of Osiris by the hands of Seth, is the cause of the annual flood of the Nile and the great harvest. As in much of Egyptian mythology, this story presents two opposing forces that need to coexist, as Dan and some others phrased as “the duality of life.” Without the destruction of Osiris, there wouldn’t be new life in the harvest.
ReplyDeleteIt would also seem that Egyptians believe in the abstract concept of fate, as each event in mythology seems to have dire and consequential results. If Osiris never died at the hands of Seth, then Isis wouldn’t have resurrected him. So then, perhaps, Horus wouldn’t have been born to fight Seth. Although Egyptians seem to have a high regard for fate and order, they do not seem to be afraid of the afterlife or death. With death, their “ka” is sent free. Much of the Egyptians daily and religious lives were dedicated to the afterlife, as many of the step pyramids were created for a final resting place of the actual body of the deceased. Architects of the pyramids often buried the mummies with a statue of the deceased and an opening in the pyramid so that the ka would remember where its body was located. Though there are many trends and patterns, almost each pattern returns to this concept of life and the afterlife. Life is, essentially, eternal for ancient Egyptians.
The feeling of fear and awe towards nature, particularly the sun, is depicted in every aspect of ancient Egypt. Sun is the center of Egyptian mythology，the origin of human being. It later becomes the most powerful sun-god in Egyptian mythology. The king is believed to be the sun-god who participated in human life. The image of sun is inscribed on tombs, temples and pyramids, representing divine powers.
ReplyDeleteThe Egyptians have faith in the existence of the opposing force, or dualism. The god of Right and Wrong, peace during life and evil in afterlife, and rebellion against the king create a balance in Egyptian society. The Egyptians also believe in life cycle. One must be punished in afterlife if he mistreats someone during lifetime. Beside life cycle, natural cycle also play an important role in Egyptian mythology. The flood and rebirth of the land long the Nile each year is a good example of it.
The ancient Egyptians seem to have created a belief system based on the observance of natural phenomena that occurred around them. From what we learned in the last lecture the geography they inhabited was a fragile and isolated ecosystem. There are several examples of the natural world being rationalized using mythology. The idea that the "world" was created from Nun, "an infinite expanse of dark and directionless waters", likely a reference to the Mediterranean Sea, which was seen as mysterious and impassible (Quirke, 25). Every year the Nile River would flood and recede leaving behind fertile silt that was essential to the amazing fertility of the Nile Valley. Every dusk the sun would set for it to rise the following dawn. The Egyptians incorporated these natural cycles (neheh, as they might have been called) into their mythology, as life, death and resurrection.
ReplyDeleteThe ancient Egyptians also heavily relied on the larger theme of balance. Using the same principle of explaining natural occurrences with mythology, but on a broader scale, the ancient Egyptians could have been emulating the balance they observed in their natural world. The Nile Valley was a particularly fragile ecosystem that would alter significantly with the slightest changes. One in five floods was either too much or, too little resulting in significant repercussions. Several deities and forces have an opposite, such as the air deities Shu and Tefnut who represent many different opposite natural forces.
One of the major themes in Egyptian mythology is the idea opposites and complements. One very prominent example of opposite pairs, which can also be drawn from Egypt's geography, are the gods, Shu, dry air, and Tefnut, moist air. The two can be seen as direct representation of the corroding moisture near the Nile, where the land changes after every flooding, and the dry and preserving air around the desert. The idea of opposites indicates that there are many opposing forces in nature, but the Egyptians saw these gods as not constantly pitting against each other, by complementing each other. This idea of completeness was also discussed in the killing of Osiris by Seth. Although Seth can obviously be seen as the evil god in this story, his act of murder was necessary for the resurrection of Osiris (Quirke, 57)
ReplyDeleteEven though many gods, and the values and aspects of nature they represent change over time, the idea that all of nature is intermingled seem to remain a constant. As stated in the reading, "The notion of most fundamental importance is that relations between things, rather than the things themselves, are to be expressed as divine" (48). This idea is key to a religion in which multiple objects and animals can represent on god, and multiple gods can be represented as similar animals. To understand the ideas behind the myths and gods, one can not look at each individually but all of them as a whole.
The beginning of the passage focused on the idea of light through the sun-god, Ra. Because of this, I was certain that the major theme of Egyptian religious belief is light. This light can be associated with goodness, forgiveness, and other heavenly ways of living. However, as I continued reading, I realized that not only did the ancient Egyptians focus on the light of life, but they respected the light of death as well: “the sun is the principal heavenly body that moves across the heavens,” (Quirke 22) but the sun did not always shine. This brings the idea of resurrection as an important part of Egyptian religious belief. Because “the daily guarantee of sunrise after the sunset of yesterday offer a bright and tangible promise of resurrection,” (Quirke 23) their religious beliefs often depict endless cycles of birth, death, and afterlife.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, duality is an important aspect of Egyptian religion and culture. As we learned during the lecture, Egyptians are into dualism because of the geography of the land (Red land vs Black land, Upper Egypt vs Lower Egypt). The Egyptians used opposing forces to strengthen their overall divine power to explain the natural phenomenon of life. For example, the god Shu symbolizes dry air while Tefnut symbolizes moisture. These dualities are often related to nature. Egyptians used forces of nature that surrounded them, such as the Nile River, to justify the unjustifiable. “The Egyptians, in their meticulous observation of environment perceived in the scarab or dung-beetle pushing a ball of dung the pattern of the sun-disk propelled across the sky…” (Quirke 35). The Egyptians used every resource in their view of vision to expand their stories and power which is why “the eye,” is one of their most dominant symbols.
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ReplyDeleteThe ancient Egyptians had an intricate polytheistic system of beliefs that were an integral part of their society. Egyptian myths, as with many ancient myths, help to explain the inexplicable. Their gods, many of whom had multiple manifestations, were often represented in the form of animals and governed separate aspects of Egyptian life. “Although modern onlookers are often baffled by the use of the same imagery for different deities, image and name combine in every instance to form a differently nuanced expression of one central theme…”(Quirke 31). Ra, for example, has seventy-four forms as addressed in the Book of the Adoration of Ra. There also appears to be multiple versions of the same myth, which have evolved from generation to generation. The myth of creation alone is often attributed to different gods, such as Atum or Khepri, although there are similar elements in each version.
ReplyDeleteEgyptian mythology utilizes different shapes in their symbolic representation of gods. The wings of the soaring falcon is a “perfect metaphor for majesty” (Quirke 21), “the pyramidal form concentrates the cult itself on lifting the king from his body in the chamber beneath the earth up to the heights of heaven” (Quirke 22), and the scarab became a symbol of solar generation because it was perceived “pushing a ball of dung the pattern of the sun-disk propelled across the sky” (Quirke 35).
This reading was so confusing to me...this is the best I got out of it :X
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone's comments above. But what I thought was interesting was how although they were united, their beliefs proved otherwise. There was so much variety and many differences among the focuses of which god reigned supreme as I continued the reading. I always believed that it was Ra (the sun god) who was the ruling god, who was the main god described in the beginning. But there were many other gods that the Egyptians equally, if not more, respected. As far as afterlife goes, my belief that the Egyptians depended their consequences on their own actions still remains. Having their hearts judged by a scale shows the importance of each action they make.
It's interesting to find that for almost everything the Egyptians always had a counterpart to balance. Gods always seemed to be paired with another who seemed to often be the opposite of them.
The god Seth captured my attention the most because of how bad or evil he was. It made me relate to my Christian religion. Although the Egyptians believed in gods that were pure and do good, they also believed in gods who were evil and do nothing but bad. Even though there was no specific "heaven" and "hell" in their beliefs, the judgment for their afterlife closely compared to this idea. Balance was definitely a dominant theme in this reading and of the Egyptians' lives.
I believe that fertility is a driving force in Egyptian culture and this is illustrated through Egyptian Mythology. Throughout the reading and in class today fertility is constantly on the forefront, beginning with the primeval mound. Before the primeval mound, there was nothing, until the cosmic egg was laid. This is the first illustration of fertility; it is also a blatant sign that without it there would still be nothing. Obviously, fertility would be an overarching theme in many early civilizations because in order to survive the population needs to flourish; however, the concept of controlling fertility struck me as a contradiction to this idea. An example of when fertility is controlled occurs when Nut is not allowed to conceive children because her father takes this ability away. I really question what this says and how it pertains to Egyptian life and culture; was it common for a father to control their daughter’s fertility?
ReplyDeleteFertility in Egyptian mythology not only involves reproduction, it also refers to agriculture. As in any religious text, Egyptian mythology discusses good, evil, life, death, but unlike most texts, it blends the concept of god and earth in an interesting way. In Christian beliefs, agriculture is seen first in the Garden of Eden then later as Adam and Eve are forced out of Eden and forced to work the land. Conversely, in Egyptian mythology, Earth is a god and agriculture is brought to the people through the gods. It is Osiris that brings agriculture to the people, first by bringing civilization and then by controlling the grain in the afterlife. I believe these small differences create a rift in cultures. In Western religion, agriculture is perceived as something we control, unless we are cursed by God creating damage and chaos. While it seems that Egyptian, religion perceives agriculture as being controlled by the Gods and as long as they are happy, the crops will be plentiful.