Egyptian Religion

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

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

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

THE TEMPLE OF HORUS

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

Cats

Cats were treated as gods If you killed a cat you would be killed Egyptians mummified cats and in the cat’s

tomb they would place mice, rats and milk. Made statues of cats wearing jewelry

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

Re

Role: God of the sun Appearance: Falcon-headed man with the

sun disc on his head Center of worship: Heliopolis

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

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

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

Horus

Role: God of the pharaoh

Appearance: Form of a falcon-headed man, wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt

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

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

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.

Anubis

Role: God of mummification Appearance: Jackal or a jackal-

headed man Sacred animals: jackal