The Possibility Of Monotheism In Ancient Egypt

This investigation attempts to correctly analyze in what way the geography of Egypt influenced the ancient Egyptian religion. This query is very relevant because, certain geographical items influenced the creation of the ancient religion that helped shape many religions that are very prevalent today such as Christianity and Judaism. The issues that will be addressed are how the great Sahara Desert surrounding the civilization, the Nile river that nourishes the whole population, and how the overall common beliefs and myths built the foundation of the ancient Egyptian religion and subsequently influenced modern day religions. This analysis will focus on the time period of 3110 BCE to 550 CE and the place being examined is the country of Egypt. This will be accomplished through the exploration of research documents and informational novels.

The ancient egyptians religion was complex in some ways. Ancient Egyptians were polytheistic meaning they believed in more than one god. Many temples were built in honor of the gods. The only people that were allowed in the temples were the priests, priestesses, queens, and pharaohs, other people could only go as far as the temple gates. In total there was about 700 different gods and goddesses and many were combined to create new gods and goddesses. Ancient Egyptians were always polytheistic besides one brief change. King/Pharaoh Akhenaten changed it to monotheism but it didn’t stick and died with him. The most worshiped gods were Isis, Osiris, Horus, Anubis, Ra, Nu, and Set. Isis was the goddess of marriage, fertility, motherhood, magic,

The Ancient Egyptian society’s beliefs based their religion on polytheism which is defined as multiple ‘gods’ which were in charge of an area of life. There were up to 2,000 ‘gods and goddesses’ which controlled every aspect of the Egyptians lives. As a result the beliefs and religion belonging to the society affected the Egyptians to an ample extent. This can be observed through the values of : everyday life - , the judicial system - which was founded on religion and monitored by the religious leaders, the afterlife - to be believed that your body needed to be prepared for the afterlife and your honourable works on earth was judged by Osiris and the approach to the status of animals - for example cats were believed to be an earthly form of

In addition, it was an effort to institute a monotheistic tradition in the country that was quite unfamiliar for that era and unexpected for that level of the expansion of ancient Egyptian philosophy and evolution. In fact, religion was extremely important to ancient Egyptian society because people at the era deeply trusted on the natural forces and they created different cults worshiping gods of the sun, earth, and water. In such a way, they believed that through reverencing these gods they could merit their provision and, therefore, ancient Egyptians totaled for higher harvests, revenue and improved existence which they could achieve only with the support of various deities. Moreover, it is obvious the amount to which the attempt of Akhenaten to introduce monotheism in ancient Egypt was radical. It is obvious that the honoring of one god, Aten, should change the opinion of the surrounding world and the position of gods in the life of ancient Egyptian people.

Religion in the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia played a significant role in developing and organizing the society. Based on the common belief of the world’s divine creation, both civilizations had regular rituals and ceremonies to honor the supernatural beings. In rituals and ceremonies, the cult was expressed as the manifestation of components that symbolized the divine such as the cult images, temples, and shrines. Since religion was an important aspect in the people’s daily lives, it also had an impact on the ruling system in the two civilizations. Even though Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia have similar foundational beliefs about the cult, different cultic practices imply the difference in the structure and the scope of

In modern times when one thinks of Monotheism, the first religion that comes to mind is Christianity. But what is Monotheism? Monotheism is the belief that there is only one god. But is Christianity the first group of people to believe in one god? The answer is no, monotheism comes a long way. Zoroastrianism was the first monotheistic religion approximately 3500 years ago. The religion was founded by Prophet Zoroaster in ancient Iran. The second monotheistic religion known to man kind is Atenism founded by the Pharaoh Akhenaten. And the third Monotheistic religion is Judaism.

The Amarna Period is a time in Egypt’s history regarded with mystery and revolutionary rebellion towards tradition. Egypt is a region bound by its tradition and ritual. Throughout time Egypt has been attached to durable and consistent customs backed by a long and rich history. The Amarna style emerges at a time where the Egyptian people experience great conflict and turmoil. Changes break the back of Egypt for eighteen years of distortion and modification.

The Egyptians had a very strong religion. The characteristics of the Ancient Egyptian religion can be divided into five elements of authority, faith, rituals, moral code, and the gods worshipped. The main authority of the Egyptian religion was the Pharaoh, he had divine right over the people and was considered a god. Also, he could change the religion any way he wanted. Religion in Egypt played a very significant role.

The cultures of Mesopotamia had a polytheistic belief system, which means that the people believed in multiple gods instead of just one. They also believed in demons created by the gods, which could be good or evil. The people of Mesopotamia worshiped these other worldly beings to keep the beings happy, because if one of these powerful beings was angered then the people of Mesopotamia would, in some way, be punished for that unhappiness. They believed that when something bad happened, whether a natural disaster or not, it was because the correlating god was angry at them, so they did their best to keep the gods happy.

In 3000 B.C. the people in ancient Egypt practiced a polytheistic religion. This religion included over two hundred gods and goddesses that each represented a certain element. These deities were often associated with animals. The gods were considered superior, being able to control life, death, fortune, and the weather. The belief in gods influenced the ancient Egyptians’ thoughts on the afterlife, animals, and worship rituals.

In ancient Egyptian society, religion and politics in were inseparable. Religion affected everything in ancient Egypt. Every community had a guardian deity or “Lord of the city” who illustrate the powers of nature. Art, literature, and philosophy were all influenced by religion. In Egypt, gods and goddesses represented different aspects of life, “natural forces and phenomena”, and the Egyptians would appease them through their offerings and rituals held at temples and elsewhere, so that they would continue to function in accordance with divine order. “Gods were assumed to be present throughout the world, capable of influencing natural events and the course of human lives. People interacted with them in temples and unofficial shrines, for personal reasons as well as for larger goals of state rites. Egyptians prayed for divine help, used rituals to compel deities to act, and called upon them for advice. Humans' relations with their gods

“The single most important belief in Islam, and arguably the central theme of Islam, is that there is one God. The Muslim name for God is Allah, which is simply Arabic for "the (al) God (Ilah)." The term is related to Elohim, the Hebrew word for God.

Today’s society doesn’t take care of or prolong its resources. The people of America waste their resources without taking notice of how valuable they are. Egypt used its resources in order to help its civilization grow. Egypt’s major resource was the Nile River. “The Nile, the longest river in the world, literally defines the country of Egypt…95 percent of the population has lived in the Nile valley and delta.”[i] Where the water was near, the soil was fertile, which meant that the crops were flourishing, and the people could survive with an abundance of food.

Religion in ancient Egyptian times was a very complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals performed in ancient Egyptian society. This centers on the Egyptian interaction with many deities (deities means supernatural figures or Gods) who the people of ancient Egypt believed to be present in and in control of, the forces and elements of nature. The practices performed in Egyptian religion were efforts to provide for the gods and gain there favor.

The Hebrew faith introduced the idea of monotheism which is the belief in only one god. The Jews saw God as an all powerful being that is severe but just, who believed in righteousness. The Jews were bound by the covenant Abraham made with God, which stated that the chosen people would receive rewards for following God’s commandments and the laws he revealed to Moses. This gave the Jews a special strength in their belief of the Hebrew religion. The Jews and the prophets thought that God brought about punishment, in the form of misfortunes, when misdeeds occurred. However, Jews were promised redemption in the form of a Messiah who would restore the house of David, if they repented. Many civilizations believed that multiple gods were