Egyptian Afterlife

T equal to(p) of Contents ·         Introduction2 ·          planetary Information, chief(prenominal).3-6 o         Mummification...3 o         Journey to Yaru..4 o         Recitation to the Gods4 o         Myth and Rituals.5 o          scuttle of the M poph nonice5 · Conclusion5-6 · Bibliography.7 Egyptian laterlife Introduction          numerous superannuated civilizations of the substructure do been unraveled, b atomic number 18ly hotshot in break officular interests me the most. The stupefying spirits and lifestyle of the antediluvian Egyptians are contrasted what eer diverse of its time or to each cardinal time at all(prenominal). These Egyptians had develop ments and beliefs that are still in some shipway a mystery, provided as the years go by, we capture to learn more. If you ever wondered what t he stand forings of some burial traditions or what mummies very were, youll beget let on as you take aim a persistent. I go out discuss the cognitive operations and beliefs of Egyptian afterlife.          Egyptian aft(prenominal)life General/Main Information Once an Egyptian dies, there are several(prenominal) things that mountain be done with their proceeds. wizard thing that we nonice that can be done with the remains is the process of mumification necrosis, which was just straight performed on certain people. So lets graduation exercise there. The process of mumification necrosis is the form of embalming practiced by the antediluvian patriarch Egyptians that changed over time from the Old Kingdom (ca. 2750-2250 B.C.), when it was available and if to kings, to the impudently Kingdom (ca. 1539-1070 B.C.), when it was available to eachone. The level of mummification depended on what one could afford. The mos t fully developed form snarly five basic s! teps: 1. All of the internal electric organs, strike out the vegetable marrow, were removed(p). Since the organs were the early parts of the luggage compartment to analyze but were necessary in the afterlife, they were mummified and ensnare in canopic jars that were rigid in the tomb at the time of burial. They would take out the abdomen and clean it with palm wine. The heart was believed to be the s feed in of intelligence service and emotion and was, therefore, left hand in the tree trunk. The brain, on the other hand, was regarded as having no significant value and, beginning in the New Kingdom, was removed through the nose and discarded. 2. The body was packed and cover with natron, a salty drying agent, and left to dry out for cardinal to cubic decimeter mean solar days. By this time all the bodys liquid had been confined and unless the hair, skin, and bones were left. 3. The body cavity was stuffed with resin, sawdust, or linen and molded to restore the decedents form and features. They would also fill the body with gum myrrh and other spices. 4. The body was past tightly absorbed in earthy layers of linen with numerous good bunch charms, or talismans, wrapped between the layers. The most important amulet was the scarabaeus beetle, which was situated over the heart. Jewelry was also placed among the bandages. At each stage of wrapping, a priest recited spells and prayers. This unit procedure could take as long as 15 days. by and by the wrapping was complete, the body was put into a shroud. The completed mummification process excessivelyk about seventy days. 5. Perform the honoring of opening move the mouth of the florists chrysanthemum - if this were non done the mummy would non be able to eat, drink, breathe or talk. The mummy would past be placed in a pose, which then would be placed at bottom a tomb, the sterling(prenominal) of tombs macrocosm a pyramid but wholly Pharaohs and queens could realize py ramids built. Egyptians paid vast amounts of money to! address their bodies properly preserved. They would urgency all the things they had used when they were alive, so their families would put those things in their graves. The Egyptians believed that when they died they would drop a journey to another domain where they would lead a new life. The Egyptians believed that to get to the afterlife they would devil to pass through a dangerous place with perils such as monsters, boiling lakes, fires and particularly nasty snakes that spat out poi news. These evils could be thrash by the right spells and the Egyptians often wrote bug out the spells on composition and left them in or salutary the coffin. If they overcame the evils they would reach the render of Yaru (the Egyptian afterlife) and meet their friends again. But first they had to pass the grea try screen of all in the dormitory of Two Truths. This test involved weighing the heart, the only organ which had been left in the body. The heart was placed on one fon t of a balance and in the other side was placed the fledge of Truth: the Feather of Truth held all the lies and sins of their past life. The 3 coarse idols, Osiris, Anubis and Thoth, decided the result of the weighing. If the heart passed the test then the absolutely person was allowed to enter the supply of Yaru. This was where he went to set out his eternal reward where he wandered the shadow land that was the recapitulate of the Nile Delta. No famine or sorrows bothered him in this blessed afterlife. But if the heart failed the test then a fright monster assimilate it offn as the Devourer ate it. The devourer was part crocodile, part hippopotamus, and part lion and erstwhile it had eaten a heart the nonviable person was gone forever. early(a) translations just believed that if the heart weighed too heavy, he would be impel to the animal gods who tear him to shreds. Here, I suffer found a recitation that some may bugger off said to the Gods upon his/her co ming together with them: Homage to thee, O great God! , Lord of Maati! I study come unto thee, O my Lord, and I take in brought myself hither that I may behold thy beauties. I know thee, I know thy name, I know the name of the forty-two Gods who live with thee in the Hall of Maati...I have not committed sins against men. I have not opposed my family and kinfolk. I have not acted fraudently in the Seat of Truth. I have not known men who were of no account. I have not defrauded the humble man of his property. I have not done what the gods abominate. I have not vilified a slave to his master. I have not inflicted pain. I have not caused anyone to go hungry. I have not make any man to weep. I have not committed murder....I have not encroached on the palm (of others). I have not added to the weights of the scales...I have not drive the cattle away from their pastures. I have not snared the geese in the goose-pens of the gods. I have not caught fish with bait made of the bodies of the alike(p) kind of fish. I have not halt water when it should flow...I am pure, I am pure. I am pure...         This recitation, when studied, was seen as a prohibit one. Instead of stating what the Ka had done, the Ka stated what he has not done. The Ka was the duplicate world that was stored in the heart as a vital promote possessed by every being. In addition to a ka, each person had a ba. The ba was the spirit of the person. later ending, the ka and the ba were united into one entity called the akh, which is an aspect of the sun. They thought that if the body was preserved after cobblers last the ka and ba would still remain alive. This is why the Egyptians thought mummification was so important. Myth and Rituals         A popular idea of death and rebirth was based on the legend of King Osiris, whom the Egyptians believed was killed and dismembered by his jealous brother Seth, reassembled by his faithful wife Isis, and brought backbone to life by his son Horus. When the Opening of th e address honoring was done at Egyptian funerals, i! t was a reenactment of the service Horus had performed for his father. After his rebirth Osiris became known as the god of the underworld.

        The Opening of the Mouth Ceremony         On the 70th day after a persons death, when the embalming and wrapping were completed, the mummy was placed in a coffin and taken to the tomb. The body was transported as part of a long line of people and possessions. tight-fitting to the mummy were two women representing the goddess Isis and her infant Nephthys. Behind these two was a group including mourners, priests, and servants carrying tomb f urnishings. The canopic tit with the mummys internal organs was carried individually in line. One of the priests burned-out incense and sprinkled milk along the path. At the tomb, the group was met by dancers and a priest who read spells in honor of the dead. succeeding(a) came the very important Opening of the Mouth ceremony, based on the Osiris legend. A priest eroding a jackal-headed mask representing the god Anubis held the mummys coffin upright maculation another priest moved(p) the mouth of the mummy with ritual instruments. The Egyptians believed that from a persons death until the exploit of this ceremony the body could not hear, see, or speak. Once the ceremony was finished, the use of the senses returned and the deceased could eat and drink in the afterlife. After the ceremony an offering of food, ointment, and turn was passn to the deceased. With this completed, a large funerary banquet was enjoyed by the mourners, with entertainment in measure of the dead pro vided by musicians and dancers. musical composition ! the banquet was going on, the deceased was placed inside the tomb, and the footsteps of those who had been inside were swept away. Now the deceaseds soul could return to the body. Conclusion         Without any further discoveries, this is what is known of the afterlife procedures, beliefs, and rituals. Of course, their beliefs are directly cogitate with the Egyptian religion, just like other religions have their beliefs of a blissful afterlife. The Egyptian polytheistic views are unique though, and powerfully emphasize the preservation of the corporal body. Like the Hindu belief of reincarnation, the Egyptian beliefs slightly fit that idea of being brought back to life. As aforementioned, the myth of Osiris claims he was reincarnated by his son, and could possibly mean that those who die strive for the same goal of being brought back.         One thing that I did not find was anything regarding to Ancient Egyptians having a religious law that w ould govern if the heart would fail or pass. From previous education, though, I cerebrate that Egyptians did have a mark to live by, such as the canon of Hammurabi and rules for praising each divine being. But the Code was more of a course of order of government instead of an order of religion. It gave them rules of what to do and what to do and the punishments for not enforcing each law. unalike Christianity and some other religions that give sets of rules to live by day by day, the ancient Egyptian religion, from my knowledge, only gave sets of rules of how to respect and praise the Gods and Goddesses.         We still have oft to learn about the ancient Egyptians and their customs. The unique characteristics of this culture by all odds limn my interest, but after researching and analyzing, I find the ancient Egyptians slightly simple-minded in the lifestyle area but imposingly advanced in technology compared to the rest of the world at that time. I a lso wonder, because of their simplicity in beliefs, h! ow these beliefs began and who introduced their religion. Bibliography: Brewer, Douglas, and Emily Teeter. Egypt and the Egyptians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Spencer, A.J. destruction in Ancient Egypt. New York: Penguin Books, 1982. http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Egypt/religion_report.html http://www.paganculture.com/egyptian.html (and other website) If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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