Essay about Egyptian Funerary Practices

The Egyptian during this time used the coffin to house the dead person’s body, as it was believed that only after

Egyptians would bury their dead with treasures like gold and other things that they believed that they could use in the afterlife. Egyptians also mummified the people so that they could preserve their bodies. Nowadays people just have a funeral or cremate the

Funerary customs are practises and beliefs that the Ancient Egyptians used to respect their dead, and preserve their bodies in preparation for the afterlife which was a universe that mirrored their life on Earth, where they would live with the Gods in eternal Egypt. The body of the deceased could be mummified, which was where a body is dried, packed with minerals and wrapped in linen cloths, whereas another form would be embalming which is the use of salts and spices to preserve a body and took 70 days in total. However, there were many tests and dangers on the way to the afterlife, including fire-filled lakes, poisonous snakes and executioners. Because of this, there were many ceremonies and tests to see if the deceased person was worthy of the Afterlife. Such as the opening of the mouth ceremony which was when a priest touched parts of the deceased body at a funeral in order for the

Ancient Egyptian embalming was a very sacred process performed by experienced embalmers. Ancient Egyptians used to bury the deceased underground, but because of that they decayed faster in a coffin when they aren’t exposed to the hot sand of the desert. That is how they developed the process of embalming to preserve the bodies.

The sun god Ra was the most important and powerful of all in the polytheistic Ancient Egyptian religion (Shaw, 273). Not many of the images that come to mind when “Egypt” is mentioned contain clouds, and that is because the land of Egypt has sweltering weather. A direct influence from the environment can be seen on the religion as the sun had a huge impression of the lives of Ancient Egyptians and the sun god is the most worshipped and important of all. From their elaborate mummies and huge pyramids, it can be seen that the Ancient Egyptians concerned themselves a great deal with the afterlife. They believed that a person would not be able to proceed to the afterlife without recognising their secular body and therefore as many as could afford it mummified their relatives. Before mummification became a common practice, it often happened accidentally when bodies

The Egyptians also worried very much about the after life and made many preparations before the afterlife. There graves were very important to them, and they also did much to keep them from decaying after they passed. That is why they had the idea of mummification to allow them to not decay long after they passed. We also pay a lot of money to allow us to keep from decaying on our burials and the coffins.

The Egyptians believed very much in life after death. As Taylor states in Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, “It is often observed that they appear to have devoted greater efforts and resources to preparing for the afterlife than to creating a convenient environment for living” (Taylor, 2001:12). The Egyptians viewed life on earth as one stage and death as the beginning of another. They believed that, “human existence did not end with death and that survival of the body played a part in the new life” (Taylor, 2001:12). One of the key elements in the Egyptian culture and religion was the preservation of the body. The body was the most important aspect because it was like a portal through which an individual could continue to live

Regardless of social strata, death and the afterlife were almost always valued by the living in ancient Egypt. The afterlife was birthed and designed for great societal rulers but eventually trickled down and was adopted by other levels of society (Murnane in Obayashi, 1992, p. 42). Death was interpreted as “new life in another state” by ancient Egypt, and the ultimate goal of immortality could be attained if specific burial arrangements were made for the dead. This was to avoid a final death of the soul known as the “second death,” and measures such as burial with food, drink, and personal possessions, were taken to aid the soul on its journey into immortality (Murnane in Obayashi, 1992, p. 36).

Ancient Egypt is the origin to one of the most intricate belief systems in the world. This polytheistic religion was composed of various beliefs and rituals. Polytheistic means that they believed in many deities. All of which were linked to the common theme of immortality. Religion laid the foundation for all aspects of Egyptian lives, political structure, cultural achievement and art. Their religion consisted of up 2000 gods and goddess. Only some were worshiped universally throughout Egypt. They were often represented as being half human and half animal. As an example, the Egyptian god Anubis was half man and half jackal. He is associated with mummification and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology. Egyptian religion was oriented toward people 's’ attainment of immortality signified by mummification/preservation of the dead.

Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece both believed in life after death, though the process in which they follow that belief differ greatly. The Greeks believed that at the moment of death the spirit leaves the body in the form of a little gust of wind or a puff of breath. The Greeks believed in proper burial rights that were performed in three parts, and the relatives mostly women are the ones that conduct these rituals for the deceased. Much like the modern world these rituals consist of the first step; laying out the body to be dressed, the second funeral procession, and the third step was the cremation of the body. Unlike the Greeks the Egyptians developed a process in which they prepared and preserved the dead for the afterlife, known as mummification. This process is believed to have been the purpose of the Egyptians famous pyramids, believed to be the stairs that would lead the Pharaohs to their kingdom in the afterlife. Artifacts are buried in their tombs such as gold, wine, and sculptures to accompany the dead in life after death.

In ancient Egypt, food offerings were made to the dead. In ancient Greece, pictures of feasts and their favorite things along with food were offered. The overall funeral between the two cultures was very similar in the way things were conducted, however grievers were different. In ancient Greece, people wore black robes and women cut their cheeks and hair to show their grief. In ancient Egypt, people showed their grief through the floral collars they wore . While the beliefs of the afterlife and funerals don’t differ tremendously between the two places, the way they handled the actual body did. In ancient Greece, they buried the dead so the dead who had good hearts would be ensured to make it to the good parts of the afterlife. In ancient Egypt, they used their advanced technologies to preserve bodies through mummification, so the dead could come out of the dead to accept offerings and essentially live forever. Sometimes, afterlife religious practices involved sacrifices which were found in different parts of life leading to the next idea.

form of a bird usually a falcon and fly around in the world of the living

Egyptians strongly believed in the afterlife. By preserving the body, they could ensure that the soul of the person would successfully transfer to the next life. They thought that without mummifying the dead, the body would rot and the soul would be obliterated. Mummifying Egypt’s people was essential because the people in those times had very short life spans. Typically only 40 years, this is why the mummification process and the statistics are so important.

The Egyptians also believed in the afterlife, which means they believed they live as they were on earth in the afterlife. Ancient Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was one of the gods. They also believed in mummification, which was the preservation of the corps for burial. In Ancient times you were wrapped in animal skins and organs then buried. If you were a part of the royal family you were put in a tomb or burial chamber.

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