Ancient Egypt : Magic, Superstitions And Beliefs

The Egyptians were very successful at just about everything they came across. As far as clothing, temples, social classes, and religion. The Egyptian religious beliefs tend to differ from many of the other religions. Since the beliefs are so different, it makes it much more interesting. They were affiliated with many deities, which made it a polytheistic religion. Their religious behaviors relied on contact with the dead, and practices such as magic and oracles. The King had a unique status between humanity and the gods, partook in the world of the gods, and constructed great, religiously motivated funerary monuments for his afterlife. Although there were many Gods the Egyptians worshipped, the most important one was the Sun God, known as Ra. He was known to be the King of the Gods, as well as the creator of everything. The fact that Ra was very popular and

Nearly everything could be represented by a god or goddess. Death and the afterlife was represented by Osiris. Aten and Ra were sun gods. The Egyptians felt that they needed to pray and build temples for these gods and goddesses to stay in their favor. These gods were believed to control everything, and if the Egyptians pleased them they would be rewarded. They worshipped their gods by making offerings. They would leave flowers and food in temples to show their respect. Commoners were not often allowed in temples. Priests had plenty of power because the gods were often feared. Most Egyptians did not actually love the gods, but feared their wrath. Commoners could occasionally attend ceremonies. At these ceremonies animals were often sacrificed.

Welcome, I am an Egyptologist from the British Museum, and I am here to talk to you about a fantastic civilization called Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egypt was an empire that began in approximately 3100BCE, and ended in 30BCE. In the time of Ancient Egypt, funerary customs were an important part of the Egyptian’s culture and beliefs and these customs evolved through time to become more elaborate, and common. The artefact I have chosen to explore with you is the book of the dead as it will provide you with a greater understanding of the complex funerary customs, and their beliefs in the afterlife.

The deities of ancient Egyptian gave its people an understanding of the immense unknowns in their world. The gods gave insight into the creator and how their people came to exist. Each god and their responsibility of events allowed the people a place to place ‘blame’ good and bad occurrences but also a means of changing things they did not like. Gods allowed control over the society to maintain peace and harmony because of the believed consequences for angering or pleasing one of the gods. In many ways, Egyptian deities helped its people so that they would not have to go through life not knowing who to blame, why they are on the earth, or how they even got

Religion guided Egyptians in their everyday life. Their religion was based in polytheism, which means they believed and worship many gods. Egyptians believed that the deities were in control of the Earth and its nature. The physical form of the gods were usually a combination of human and animal.Each region or village had their own local deities to worship, but Egyptians also liked to adopt other foreign deities as their own. It is said that they worshiped up to 2,000 gods and goddesses. Each village built a large temple to honor their gods. These large temples were used to communicate with the deities. Priests were in charge of the temples and had to attend the god’s needs in order to gain their favor. Chief priest and kings was the only people

Religion was a very big part in every ancient Egyptians life much like the Mesopotamians the Egyptians with great distinction considered themselves laborers with the gods. The Egyptians also believed their gods would prevent the reoccurrence of previous states of chaos and that a mortal human’s duty was to give thanks and

The belief in the afterlife answered the enduring questions of purpose and destiny. Ancient Egyptians lived their lives preparing for the afterlife. As soon as a pharaoh came into power he began planning and constructing his tomb, so that if he died early, his journey to the afterlife would not be delayed. The ancient Egyptians' attitude towards death was influenced by their belief in immortality. They regarded death as a temporary interruption, rather than the cessation of life. To ensure the continuity of life after death, people paid homage to the gods, both during and after their life on earth. When they died, they were mummified so the soul would return to the body, giving it breath and life this is known as. The deceased organs were taken out and stored in canopic jars. There were four jars, each for the safekeeping of particular human organs: the stomach, intestines, lungs, and liver, all of which, it was believed, would be needed in the afterlife. There was no jar for the heart as the Egyptians believed it to be the seat of the soul, and so it was left inside the body. When the soul left the body at death, it was thought to appear in the Hall of Truth to stand before Osiris for judgement. The heart of the deceased was weighed on a golden scale against the white feather of Ma’at. If the heart was found to be lighter than the feather, the soul was allowed to move on to the

“Heka” (this is what the magic they used were called) was believed to be a natural source, the force which created the universe and was used to work the will of the ancient Egyptians. Some of them applied it in their daily lives for their own purpose. Some people used magic to overcome negativity in their life. Magic was linked with their rituals. Although these ends could be harmful to other people, no form of magic was considered as harmful magic. Most of these magical writings were in temples and became an everyday use among the ancient Egyptian civilization. The ancient Egyptians believed they could possess supernatural powers by prayer, sacrifice, or invocation. The Egyptians believed that Heka could be used to influence the gods and gain

The Egyptians experimented with magic to make plants grow and to build structures, as well as heal. Egyptians also used magic to ward off evil spirits. Shamans also experimented with magic to heal and tell prophecies, as well as make potions.

As It was the core of their religion, Egyptians of every social class, whether king or peasant, relied on magic in their lives. Evidence for this, comes from the number of materialistic pieces they believed protected them. A few examples consist of- • Amulets- amulets were believed to provide protection and give good luck. As a result of this belief, all ancient Egyptians carried amulets, and never left their house hold without one.

They believed that there was some sort of force of evil actually lurking around trying to get you to do evil things. In the Ancient Egyptian polytheistic belief, the Egyptians believed that there were good and bad gods and goddesses , and bad gods caused bad things to happen, unless you upset one of the gods and they were punishing you for doing something that did not please them. To try and please a god or goddess the Ancient Egyptians believed that you had to go to the temple of the god or goddess that you would like to worship or that you believe that you have up set for whatever reason and offer sacrifices, and say certain sayings to please

The ancient Egyptians had a very strong religious belief but they also made use of magic in their everyday lives. Instead of pleading with one of the many gods of their religion, they would say incantations accompanied by certain gestures in hopes of either getting something good or to ward off something evil.

¨The Ancient Egyptians believed in many gods and goddesses,¨ each having there own thing to control in everyday life. For example, the god Khepri appeared as a dung beetle each day he slowly rolled through the sun across the sky. Each of the god have different stories and have different parts they cover in everyday life. The gods could not interfere on how people live, the Egyptians prayed to the gods and gave them gifts to keep them happy. In Ancient Egypt, there were two Kingdoms called Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt.

There are many Egyptian superstitions. Some are: Never leave a pair of shoes upside down. If they are facing someone, it is considered rude. If it is facing the sky, that means it is facing God, and that is extremely rude and sinful. Also, if you cut scissors in the air, it is considered shredding the spirits and they will come back for revenge! Some people believe that a woman should shake salt behind their shoulder before cooking or gasp before broiling garlic would make the food very good. Owls can bring bad luck to anyone who sees or hears it! Sudden awakenings are considered bad luck because the soul might leave the body. The egyptians took the saying “jumping out of one’s skin” very seriously! If you have a figure of a blue eye, blue

The ancient Egyptians relied heavily on their religion. In addition to their religion, the Osiris myth was famous among the people because it implied that any deceased individual can get to the afterlife. The deceased would endure a ritual of mummification. Their organs