This week you will be reading a variety of texts dealing with religious practice and celebration as well as beliefs and rituals concerning the afterlife. Both are really meaty topics and there are so many interesting points to draw from these texts.
For this week I want you to think about either 1) different identities and their connection to religious experience or 2) state vs. personal religion (more to do with class than individual profession)
One goal of this course is to demonstrate how ancient Egypt (or any society)was comprised of different groups of people who experienced the world differently despite belonging to the same social fabric. Use one or more of the texts do demonstrate how a social identity or belonging to a specific class engendered multiple religious experiences. You can also think about shifts in practice over time. For example, Pyramid Texts date to the Old Kingdom and were meant for the king only while Coffin Texts were available to private individuals and signify the more equal playing field during and after the First Intermediate Period.
The modernly titled "Book of the Heavenly Cow" is an Egyptian composition that alludes to the time of the First Intermediate Period and was probably written in the time of the Middle Kingdom. It summarizes the state of mankind at the time and depicts Egyptians as having been rebellious and the empire in a state of disarray. Because people are showing opposition towards the sun god Re, he sends the goddess Hathor to annihilate all those who disobey him. Eventually, his anger turns to compassion and Re prevents Hathor from causing any more destruction by getting her, for all intensive purposes, extremely drunk.
ReplyDeleteThe composition is extremely important, not only because of its role as a mythological Egyptian story, but also because of its availability to the common folk. "Unlike the Pyramid Texts, composed primarily for the king's afterlife, "The Heavenly Cow" was a non royal composition whose narrative myth and the directions fro its use by nonroyalty were quite mechanically inscribed in New Kingdom royal tombs" (289). It then goes on to infer that despite a person's station in life, they were still able to take part in religious practices and could participate in the sun god's process of renewal.
In some ways, it seems that this story could be used as a way of showing everyone's equality after death, as all good people were able to move on to the "Fields of Paradise" or "Fields of Rushes" as they are described in the story (293). However, depending on a person's social class or even gender, they were expected to act in certain ways and be responsible for different religious duties. For example, "The preparation of intoxicating draughts became the assignment of maidservants on the Feast of Hathor on the part of all people since the first day" and "So originated the custom of giving a nurse to a son or daughter" (292-93).
This text explores both the idea of how important religion was to Egyptians in both life and death. They were expected to appease the gods and to obey them. It was a crime to disrespect any of the divine in any way. Of course, the higher up in society a person was, the more liberties they were able to take. For example, since the Pharaoh was divine and considered to be Horus and the son of Re, he was able to communicate more efficiently with the gods. He took part in religious ceremonies but also emanated religion to other Egyptians. Lower caste members, such as farmers and peasants had to rely on the higher officials to take care of religious deeds for them (such as delivering prayers and messages to gods within temples), but still had roles to play. As Egypt modernized and entered the New Kingdom, religion was a more universal aspect of everyone's lives and was more equalized. Eventually, even lower members of society were able to have engravings within their tombs and were buried with artifacts that they treasured in life and would possibly need in the eternal afterlife.
While different social classes in Egypt shared some similar religious practices, there were many religious practices that were exclusive to members of a particular caste. For instance, temples were usually not used for worship by the public, and entrance to temples were often restricted. Even if the public could enter a temple, the icon of the deity associated with that temple was usually located deep within the temple, and commoners could not advance further than the first forecourt. The inner sections could usually only be accessed by the high priest, forming another divide between the lower and upper classes.
ReplyDeleteThe public, did, however, get chances to see depictions of deities. During festivals, everyone got to see the gods and partake in rituals. The public also received portions of the goods offered to temples. Workmen were given time off to attend these festivals, along with women, children and elders. These festivals, then, were crucial in generating a sense of community. A prominent example of how the non-elite practiced religion can be found in the Salakhana tomb at Asyut. In the tomb lies over 500 stelae, along with titles of the lower classes and the elite. Many of the uninscribed clay stelae could have easily been made by the poorer members of society. Thus, though non-elites were denied entrance to most areas in the temples, there were still numerous opportunities for them to practice their religious beliefs.
Those who occupied the lower end of the social strata found their own means to access their gods. People maintained their own “private shrines”, had “figurines”, supplied “offerings” to the gods and used magic to participate in religion. Magic was utilized to request either protection from nature’s dangers, to heal wounds and ailments, and to preserve the ultimate well-being of oneself or one’s family. Since people were only permitted in the “first forecourt” of the temple, festivals granted the average man access to view and participate in rituals, and to receive offerings from the temple. Women, children…and elders” joined in on these festivals. Chapels were specifically created or a more direct means to communicate with the gods. People erected “stela”, created “hymns”, and gave “offerings” to the gods on behalf of family members. “Letters” were written on items of pottery such as “bowls or vases” to communicate with the dead, as well as providing offerings simultaneously (Szpakowska)
ReplyDelete“Alabaster stela” was typically used by affluent people, while those with less affluence erected “ones made of clay”(Szpakowska). In The Stela of Iykhernofret, he receives the special duty of restoring various god statues and claims that this was a special task assigned by Senwosret III (Simpson, 426). A shared opportunity by both the rich and the poor was the ability to consult the oracles for their own purposes.
Book of the Dead 125 details prayers and rituals for what appears to be the average man. Whereas priests are usually the ones who act as the intermediary to the gods (for the king), here we have praises to all sorts of gods - dozens that usually common men could not interact with. The end of Book 125 details when a man should say these words or "say this spell", detailing how to cleanse oneself and be anointed. This focus on cleanliness and making images is usually associated with priests and their ritual cleansing; therefore, preparations for/the afterlife acted as an equalizer of sorts in which all men could be with Osiris.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most noticeable differences I observed while reading, was the difference in thought process and tone between the “Book of the Dead 125” and the “Coffin Texts.” The differences between these two texts show a significant shift in class and entitlement. For starters, as we have learned in class and as mentioned in the preface before the “Coffin Texts” higher up officials and those who could afford coffins were the people purchasing them. Without that even being said, the text is indicative of a person with a great sense of entitlement. For example, the story of Horus is associated with the manifestation of the pharaoh himself so for a noble man to take this text and use it in his coffin speaks volumes to how he perceives himself. I think one of the most notable lines of the Horus spell is “The fiery blast of your mouths shall not assail me, and what you might say against me cannot reach me. I am Horus, more distant of place than him as and gods. I am son of Isis.” To me this demonstrates a person who is not fearless of the afterlife and believes he has the power to rise against it. Similarly, the last lines of the second spell in the “Coffin Text,” “Then I will take possession there of a barque of a thousand cubits overall, and I will sail in it to the Stairway of Fire at the same time as Re, when he sails to the Stairway of Fire” also conveys a sense of might and defiance.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the two spells from the “Coffin Text,” it is very clear that noble people did not fear death but pursued it head on, believing that the Gods walked hand in hand with them. Unfortunately, there is a considerable difference between the thought process of the nobles and those who are less fortunate as evident by the passage from the “Book of the Dead 125.” Throughout this passage, the person is constantly attempting to prove himself worth a peaceful prosperous afterlife. He goes on for pages about how did not comment any mistreatments throughout his life, followed by discussing every person he did not commit a foul against. To me this illustrates a great desire to be accepted in the afterworld and a person who has done everything possible in his life to make this possible. This is very different from the “Coffin Texts,” in that it does not present an entitlement to the afterlife but a strong devotion to moving towards the afterlife.
Following the fall of the central government that ushered in the First Intermediate Period there was, for the first time, the opportunity for the non-elite population to gain access to the magical texts that the elite classes have always had access to. Texts like, Book Of The Dead and the Coffin Texts, were of great importance to enter the afterlife without a hitch. Having access to these texts afforded the commoner with the same amount of magic as the elite classes. This is something that was tightly controlled in the Old Kingdom, as they believed that magic was finite. From an elites' perspective, why should they waste good magic on the commoners? But, once these texts were disseminated amongst the population, the dogma had to be altered. I found it really amusing to find this as the last line from Book of the Dead, “Truly effective, millions of times”. I interpret this line as a kind of advertisement. Something that tells the elites they shouldn't worry about the commoners using up all the magic. Or, to the commoners that the magic wasn't all used up during the thousands of years elites had exclusive control over magic.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that in The Book of the Heavenly Cow, there is a strong relation between the mortal king and the gods. The two are in direct contact with each other and are more or less viewed as peers. This is seen on page 291 where it states, “Then the Majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Re came with these gods to inspect this beer.” In this quote, the mortal king is walking and acting among the gods. This demonstrates how truly powerful the king was and how much power he had when not only dealing with religion, but in general.
ReplyDeleteIt is seen in this text that scribes are also viewed highly when dealing with religion and the afterlife. This is seen on page 297 where it states, “As for any able scribe who knows the divine words that are in his mouth, he can ascend and descend within the sky.” This shows that in the afterlife, a scribe has the power to roam freely if he wishes without anyone stopping him.
"Book of the Heavenly Cow" is a great indication of how Egyptian people experienced religion across social levels and showed how the emphasis on order over chaos (maat) engendered different roles within the society. For an Egyptian experiencing and participating in religion was set based on the different classes of people they fit into and it was then adhered to.
ReplyDeleteAt the top of the food chain was the king, whose role was to act like a god among them. In the book the scribes and the Kings are viewed highly. For example, the "Majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Re came with these gods to inspect this beer (291)." In this quote, the king is moving about among the gods. While Kings were viewed with great esteem the peasants and common people were allowed to take part in ceremonies and festivals.
"The Heavenly Cow" is important to examine because as a non-royal text it dictates in a way that is very "mechanically inscribed" what are on the tombs of the royal in the New Kingdom (289). I like to think about the way that all people were included in the idea of an afterlife. But it is not as pleasant to think about the way a person's social class (and especially gender) dictated a certain set of laws they must obey and disqualified them from taking on certain religious duties.
A good example of this is the preparation of intoxicating draughts became the work of maidservants during the Feast of Hathor and ..." {it} originated the custom of giving a nurse to a son or daughter" (292-93). What interests me most is the role of these lower-status people like the maidservant or the peasant and how their experience of religion changed over time. The way the farmers and peasants were dependent on the higher officials to deliver prayers and messages to gods within temples shows another example of status shaping experience in Egypt.
The person in the Book of the Dead 125 is continuously emphasizing his purity. Person goes on and on about what he have not done, claiming, “I am pure, I am pure, I am pure, I am pure!” Then he goes on again, addressing each of the followers of the great god (270). But one line in the text seems to well summarize the whole point of writing this text: “I have made divine offerings for the gods, invocation-offerings for the blessed dead. Save me, then. Protect me, then.” (274). Basically, this person, most likely an ordinary man, is saying he should be saved after death, for he is a good person who is “pure of mouth, pure of hands, one to whom ‘welcome!’ is said at seeing him” (274). His rambling on and on reminds me of nervous responses one has when they are not sure if the person he is speaking to is buying his words. The person seems to be very uncertain about his afterlife.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, people who wrote on coffins seemed to be more confident facing their death. To me, the first lines of each spell, “To make a transformation into a falcon,” and “to gain control over the four winds of the sky” suggests that they believed they could ‘control’ things that not everyone can, such as afterlife.
I found it interesting that the speaker in The Book of Dead seems to spend a lot of time convincing each an every god he addresses about how righteous and pure he was during his life time. This is almost the complete opposite in the case of the Coffin Texts. There is almost no self aggrandizing in the Coffin Text. Instead the Coffin Text is mainly composed of mythical stories, instead of personal stories. I was wondering, if in death, all things are equal, why does one worry so much about his afterlife, while the other one mentions nothing about the good he has done in his life.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that stood out the most in the Book of the Dead was the line, "I have not commanded to kill" (269). I was thinking, why do the commanders of troops not worry about slaughtering hundreds or thousands of people? It seems that the ones who do the hardest work, the lower class people have to worry the most when they are being judged in the afterlife. On the other had, the higher classes feel as if they have nothing to worry about, so much so that they feel as if they might have an automatic pass into the afterlife.
Ancient Egypt comprised of different social groups of people who experienced and viewed the world and its religion differently. The Book of the Dead 125 and The Coffin Texts both convey different aspects of religion through points of view from different social class. “Book of the Dead 125 ‘The Negative Confession,’” depicts a man ascending to his death. The man starts off by declaring his innocence repeatedly in different variations. “I have not committed wrongdoing against anyone… I have not debased a god… I have not diminished the offering loaves in the temples…” (Simpson 269). In his declaration of innocence, his tone demonstrates a common man. He talks about Gods, farms, government, land, floods, etc, all of which are commonly discussed topics of any average man in ancient Egypt. The man continues to stress the important of purity and truth that he has exhibited. He keeps blabbing away about innocence. Is this because of his uncertainty to attain an appreciative afterlife? If a man of an upper class were to similarly undergo a journey to the afterlife, his pleas and his declaration would not have been as in-depth and repetitive. The higher ranked man would initially be more connected to the Gods and the afterlife beings. This average man’s declaration seems a bit unnecessary, but to him, it will accurately present him well in the Hall of Two Truths. “He cannot be turned back from any portal of the West. He will be ushered in with the kings of Upper and Lower Egypt. He will be a follower of Osiris. Truly effective, millions of times,” (277). This shows even though he may be “ushered in with the kings of Upper and Lower Egypt,” the two social classes do not belong in the same category even in the afterlife. Their process to attain that point is done differently. The last sentence shows that this is a common process done my average beings of ancient Egypt.
ReplyDelete“Selections from the Coffin Texts,” illustrate afterlife with someone who is higher ranked than an ordinary man. These inscriptions on the coffins depict that the owners of these coffins had to be wealthy enough to afford the coffins and inscriptions. In general, the coffin texts seem more proper. Each spell seems to be attached to a title/rank. Spell 148 talked about the story of Horus. This story often goes hand in hand with the kings since kings act under the provisions of the Gods. To have this story engraved on the coffin, the owner is probably of great important/stature.
One very common theme in the texts is the overwhelming desire to receive penance for the afterlife. The Pentitential Hymns were written on votive stelae in the village of Deir el-Medina to show “personal piety”. It is an example of common, middle class people and their belief in praising the gods in repentance for sins: “You give breath (to) him who is weak; you rescue him who is in dire straits” (285). In these lines, Nebre, on whose stela these words are described, is basically sucking up to the gods. He has repented for his sins and is showing praise to the gods. Similarly on Neferabu’s stela, he writes, “I called out to my mistress. I found that she came to me as a pleasant breeze. She forgave me after she had made me see her hand” (287). What is curious in this line is that there is a hint of punishment at the “hand” of the god before an absolution was made. However, all these lines make it evident that personal grievance and repentance were essential in Egyptian culture, as the gods would forgive those who were sorry and reward them: “Just as is done for a righteous person, who places Amon in his heart” (287).
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, just as praising to the gods and personal repentance were common religious rituals for eternal life for workmen, so was the practice of presenting oneself as holy for different classes. In contrast to stressing the importance of remorse as shown in the Pentitential Hymns, The Book of the Dead 125 deals with the presentation of purity before the weighing of the hearts. The speaker presents himself by saying, “My purity is the purity of that great phoenix” (270). In order to present himself as this pure being, he states all the things that he has refrained from, including killing and random acts of wrongdoing. Though it is not stated what class the author was from, I assumed that it was from a higher or different class from the workmen at Deir el-Medina, as the author portrayed himself as a highly holy person with almost no flaws, instead of a repented sinner as in the Pentitential Hymns.
In both these cases, it is evident that happiness and eternal life were only possible through belief in the gods. The gods had to approve of a person, specifically through the weighing of the hearts, and if a person never repented for his sins, then the gods would punish him. However, the Pentitential Hymns show that sins could be resolved if a sinner started following the ways of the god. In contrast, if a person was seemingly good throughout their life, they still had to represent themselves and beg before the gods in order to achieve this eternal life. Either way, a person had to perform religious rituals and praise the gods in order to fulfill eternal life.
With respect to number 2, state vs. personal religion, it is obvious that the religious practices and responsibilities of these two groups differed greatly.
ReplyDeleteThose who can be classified as being state religious are the higher members of society: the pharaoh, who was the beacon of all religion because he himself was considered a god; the priests, who tended to the god and provided all care, etc, and were thus allowed to communicate and interact with the god; various other high officials such as scribes, who were able to interact with the gods or with certain aspects of religion because of literacy or talents or family money. These people were obviously more involved because they could afford to be involved: they could afford schooling, they could afford to be literate, they could afford incense, etc., and were thus allowed to participate in religion on a state-level, which was important and a high honor because of the value the Egyptians placed on religion.
On the other hand, those who could not afford to participate in religion were often left out because they were not literate or did not possess the cleanliness or money to be able to impress the gods. They did not have the privilege of interacting with the gods on a personal level through the state, and thus they were less involved. However, religion did have a place in the home at times, though this was not as effective a means of communicating with the divine as the church was. Thus, the average people were excluded, and religion was a benefit reserved for the wealthy and the hereditary elite.
In the Book of the Dead, the speaker tried to convince the gods/demons that he was righteous. This is interesting because in most religions one does not defend himself but is rather judged. For example, in the Christian religion, one is judged by God and judged on the basis of the sins that they “did” commit. In this spell, the speaker actually lists all of the sins he did not do. I found this backwardness to be pretty amusing. Then he had to identity each demon/god/spirit in the Hall of Two Truths and he had to say each one’s name exactly and couldn’t miss once.
ReplyDeleteGenerally speaking, the gods are still influential in the afterlife. I love comparing Egyptian mythology to that of other religions. So in Greek mythology each person has their own “private” specialized eternity. However, in Egypt, each person has the chance to communicate with the gods. Osiris plays a big role here as he is essentially a kind of embodiment of “a king of the afterlife”. I also found the idea of corvee labor and shabptis (replacement workers) amusing as the Egyptians still had to work in a place where there should be peace.
As with most other aspects of Egyptian culture, religious practices and beliefs were influenced by social class as well. However, because many people followed the same basic beliefs and traditions there seemed to be less division in this area of Egyptian life, especially after the Old Kingdom when power within the elite began to wane. As stated in the intro to “The Coffin Texts”, after the fall of the Old Kingdom anyone could access the Pyramid Texts and certain spells, whereas before only the king or the elite could use them. In “Spell 162” it asks for the Four Winds of the sky to accompany the individual on their journey through death. “Come now yourself and journey with me that I might let you see the barque which you shall board and in which you shall sail” (Simpson 266). Because everyone including commoners had access to spells such as these it meant that not just kings or the wealthy could have the benefits of funerary rites.
ReplyDeleteThe influence of the state on religion can be seen in “Book of the Dead 125”. Just as an individual must present him or herself in front of a court and state their case to a jury, so must the deceased present themselves to the 42 gods in the Hall of Two Truths to prove they are pure enough to deserve the afterlife. At the very end of the spell, it states that “a man should say this spell when pure and clean, dressed in clothing, shod in white sandals, painted with black eye-paint, anointed with the finest myrrh oil”, etc. This indicates that in order to fulfill this spell, many arrangements must be made, meaning probably only individuals who could afford these special ceremonies could take part in them, further exemplifying the division of classes.
in the Book of the Heavenly cow, we can see what if humankind rebel against god. in the text, it describes the imperfect state of the world caused by rebellion against Re. Death is brought to this world as a punishment; paradise is built for the innocent. The text states very clear the punishment human will get if they rebel against God.
ReplyDeletein the Stela of Iykhernofret, the proper carrying to refurbish god's statue on behalf of the King. Iykhernofret is chosen because he is "one excellent of counsel, eloquent, one who had come forth from the womb as one already wise", a person who has the ability to accomplish the mission. According to what Iykhernofret has done, "I embellished the breast of the lord of Abydos with lapis lazuli and with turquoise, fine gold, and all precious stones which are the ornaments of the god's body", we can that he is capable of rebuilding God's statue. Through the story, we can also see the responsibilities of the King and treasurer when practicing religion. The king picks one who he thinks is capable, and the chosen treasurer has to pay attention to every detail.