Egyptian Religion

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Egyptian Religion
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Polytheism

• Egyptians were polytheists (believed in many
  gods, up to 2000 Gods)
• Egyptians worked hard to make their Gods happy
• Gods were usually half human and half animal
• Believed that all of Egypt belonged to the Gods

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Beliefs

• They Believed that the pharaohs could talk to
  Gods
• They mummified bodies so they could go onto the
  afterlife-you need your body after you die
• All areas of Egyptian life were connected to
  Gods/Goddesses
• Had statues of Gods/Goddesses in homes

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Temples

• Each city had a temple
• devoted to their special
• god or goddess
• Temples had to be clean or
• gods would be angry
• People came to temple to communicate with god
• Only pharaoh and priests could go in the temples

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THE TEMPLE OF HORUS
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Ankh

• Symbol of life and life in death
• A lot of the gods carry one
• When a pharaoh is mummified one is
  placed in their wrappings

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Cats

• Cats were treated as gods
• If you killed a cat you would be killed
• Egyptians mummified cats and in the cats tomb
  they would place mice, rats and milk.
• Made statues of cats wearing jewelry

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Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
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Re

• Role God of the sun
• Appearance Falcon-headed man with the
• sun disc on his head
• Center of worship Heliopolis

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Osiris

• Role god of the afterlife
• Appearance a green-skinned man
• wrapped up like a mummy, wearing the
• Atef crown and holding a crook and flail
• Sacred animals bull
• Center of worship Abydos

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Bastet

• protectress of women, children,
• and domestic cats. She was the
• goddess of sunrise, music, dance,
• and pleasure as well as family,
• fertility, and birth.
• Had the head of a cat and the body
• of a human

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Isis

• Role Goddess of motherhood, women,
• magic goddess of the South protector of
• Imseti (the son of Horus who watched over
• the canopic jar containing the liver)
• Appearance Woman wearing the hieroglyph for
  "throne" on her head

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Horus

• Role God of the pharaoh
• Appearance Form of a falcon-
• headed man, wearing the double
• crown of Upper and Lower Egypt

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Thoth

• Role God of wisdom, scribes, and writing
• Appearance An ibis-headed man, or a
• baboon. Often seen with the moon on his head in
  either of these forms.
• Sacred animals ibis, baboon
• Center of worship Hermopolis

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Geb

• Role God of the earth
• Appearance Green-skinned man,
• with leaves all over his body and a
• goose on his head.
• Sacred animals goose

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Aten

• Role The sun itself
• Appearance Sun disc whose rays
• end with hands, each of which is
• holding an ankh to symbolize that
• the sun gives life.
• Center of worship Akhetaten
• Akhenaten knocked them down a few pegs by
  declaring that that all the other gods of Egypt
  no longer existed, and that there was only one
  god, the Aten, and it was the sun itself. After
  Akhenaten died and King Tut became pharaoh he
  restored all gods.

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Anubis

• Role God of mummification
• Appearance Jackal or a jackal-
• headed man
• Sacred animals jackal