Oral folk art contributed to the emergence fiction and myths of the ancient Egyptians. The large number of works of Egyptian literature preserved thanks to the presence of writing testify to the high level of cultural development and the talent of the Egyptian people.
Fine art, like literature, was strongly imbued with religious ideology. Having arisen in ancient times, in the archaic era, it developed until the late decline of Egyptian culture, when Egypt was under the rule of the Romans.
For the ancient Egyptians, the gods were not only the creators of cities, nomes, rulers, their own cult, order and law, but also the creators of crafts and arts, writing and calculation, science and magic. Hieroglyphic, i.e. Sacred, writing was understood as the “word of God,” and the most important role here belonged to the god of wisdom Thoth - the Lord of the word of God, the creator of writing, the patron of literature and scribes. He was also called the Lord of Counting and the Calculator of Years; he was the patron saint of healers and magicians. According to legend, some of the most important ritual and magical texts were found at the foot of the statue of this god in Hermopolis back in the era of the Old Kingdom. The goddesses Maat and Seshat, who were in charge of counting, writing, chronicling and construction, were often associated with Thoth. The patron of the ancient center of Egyptian artistic creativity, Ptah was considered the creator of arts and crafts.
The role of temples in the spiritual life of the Old Kingdom was undoubtedly great. Even then, probably in close connection with them, special scriptoria of the “house of life” arose, where religious, magical, literary, medical and other texts were compiled. There were libraries and archives here, records were kept on the years of the reign of the kings, on the basis of which chronicles were compiled.
Feeling powerless before nature, ancient egyptian endowed natural phenomena and individual objects with supersensible power, while at the same time trying to use this power in his own interests. The cult of fetishes dates back to the archaic era. Leftovers primitive fetishism were preserved for a long time Egyptian religion. The cult of the sacred stone, which apparently arose in the desert, dates back to ancient times in Egypt. The use of obelisks in architecture is associated with the cult of stone. In the shape of the king's sacred tomb - the pyramid - perhaps a distant memory of the cult of mountains and rocks has been preserved.
With the growth of agriculture, ideas about the “sacred land”, the “goddess - mother of nature” and the primordial ancient god of the earth Gebe began to penetrate into the religion of the Egyptians. In the conditions of the Nile Valley, agriculture was possible only on the basis of artificial irrigation. Therefore, the Egyptians saw water as a great primordial element that gives life and food to man. The cult of divine water found its expression in a complex ritual of purification and libation, which all priests, including the high priests and the pharaoh himself, had to perform.
The Egyptian looked with hope and fear at the element of fire, which is necessary and useful for people. Special magic spells were supposed to protect a person from the power of fire and give him power over the fire element.
The Egyptian populated the entire flora and fauna with spirits, gods and goddesses, seeing in individual plants, trees and animals the abode and embodiment of a certain deity. The cult of animals - one of the forms of ancient totemism - has been widespread since the archaic era. In the ancient capitals of Egypt - in Memphis and Heliopolis - the sacred bulls Apis and Mnevis were worshiped. The image of the sacred bull subsequently merged with the image of the deified king, as if endowed with supernatural power. The god of creative power, Khnum, was depicted as a ram. The cult of the sacred cow, the goddess Hathor, became widespread. The worship of sacred animals was reflected in the cult and titles of the king. Patrons royal power They considered the sacred falcon, bee, kite and snake. The king himself was often depicted as a mighty lion with the head of a man (sphinx).
The cult of ancestors and the funeral cult contributed to the ideological strengthening of the power and authority of the ancestor. The Egyptians believed that death was not the destruction of a human being, but only its transition to another supersensible world. Believing that afterlife is only a kind of continuation of earthly existence, the Egyptians tried to give the deceased the opportunity to use in this world all the objects that he used during life.
The desire to preserve eternal life for the deceased was expressed primarily in the burial of the body. The body of the deceased was artificially preserved for eternal life. For this purpose, the insides were removed and stored in special vessels (canopic jars), and the body was soaked in salt solutions and resinous compounds. The mummy was carefully wrapped in many linen covers. The walls of the rooms inside the tomb usually depicted the deceased, his family and his belongings. Scenes of hunting, fishing, artisans at work and various pictures of domestic life were also painted here. These images were provided with explanatory inscriptions and even numbers. In hidden, walled-up burial chambers, art unfolded a long and detailed story about earthly life. And no one saw all these reliefs, statues and paintings, no one admired them.
Art was assigned an extremely important role: it had to, no less, give immortality, be a direct continuation of life. Therefore, it seemed unimportant whether anyone saw the work of art. It was not intended for inspection, but was presented as something existing in itself, containing the principle of life in itself.
Deifying the phenomena and forces of nature, the Egyptians tried to connect the idea of the eternity of an ever-regenerating nature with the idea of the resurrection and eternal life of a deceased and deified ancestor. During the Old Kingdom, when these beliefs began to take on theological form, ancient god water and vegetation, Osiris became the central figure of the funeral cult.
With the advent of the average free people during the Middle Kingdom, the funeral cult changed somewhat. Religious and magical inscriptions, which previously “provided” an afterlife only for kings and aristocrats, began to appear on the walls of even modest sarcophagi that belonged to people of average income. Prayers and spells, written during the Middle Kingdom on the walls of sarcophagi, in the New Kingdom are already written on papyrus scrolls, forming the “Book of the Dead,” which contains numerous spells, hymns to the gods, descriptions of the afterlife and the fate of man after death.
The Egyptians considered the sun to be a formidable element of heavenly fire that reigned in the dead desert. The center of the solar cult in ancient times was the city of Iunu, which the Greeks called “the city of the sun” (Heliopolis). During the Old Kingdom, the cult of the sun gradually transformed, due to the centralization of government of the country, into the state cult of the supreme sun god Ra. During the Middle Kingdom, when Thebes became the center of Egypt, the local Theban god Amon was proclaimed the supreme god. Hymns composed in honor of the new god Amun-Ra depict him as the original supreme god who created the entire world. The cult of the sun reached its highest development under Pharaoh Akhenaten, when the god of the solar disk Aten was declared the single supreme state god. After the death of Akhenaten, his religious reform was eliminated, and the cult of Amon was restored. hieroglyph egyptian pyramid
Religion was used to strengthen the power of the king and the authority of state power. The doctrine was preached that he was endowed with power directly by the gods and therefore the king must be obeyed as an earthly god. Egyptian pharaoh called “good god” and “great god”, “son of the sun in his flesh”; temples were erected in honor of the deified king; the king was buried in grandiose tombs; in art and literature the king was portrayed as a supernatural being born of God. In the pyramids of the V - VI dynasties, the “Pyramid Texts” were preserved, which described in detail the afterlife bliss in heaven of the deified ruler, whom the gods accepted into their midst. The development of the cult of the king greatly changed the basic forms of Egyptian religion. The ancient gods of nature gradually turned into state gods - patrons of the state, royalty and pharaoh. Thus, the god of dying and resurrecting nature Osiris turned into the king of the underworld, and the ancient god of the sun, who retained his totemic appearance of a falcon, the god Horus, became the guardian of the king, his name “Horus” was one of the sacred titles of the pharaoh.
Introduction
Despite the high level of astronomical knowledge of peoples ancient East, their views on the structure of the world were limited to direct visual sensations. Therefore, in Babylon there were views according to which the Earth has the appearance of a convex island surrounded by an ocean. There is supposedly a “kingdom of the dead” inside the Earth. The sky is a solid dome resting on the earth's surface and separating the “lower waters” (the ocean flowing around an island on earth) from the “upper” (rain) waters. Heavenly bodies are attached to this dome; gods seem to live above the sky. The sun rises in the morning from the eastern gate and sets through the western gate, and at night it moves under the Earth.
According to the ideas of the ancient Egyptians, the Universe looks like a large valley stretching from north to south, with Egypt in the center. The sky was likened to a large iron roof, which is supported on pillars, and stars are hung on it in the form of lamps.
In ancient China, there was an idea according to which the Earth had the shape of a flat rectangle, above which a round convex sky was supported on pillars. The enraged dragon seemed to bend the central pillar, as a result of which the Earth tilted to the east. Therefore, all rivers in China flow to the east. The sky tilted to the west, so all the heavenly bodies move from east to west.
Original culture Ancient Egypt since time immemorial has attracted the attention of all mankind. She aroused surprise among the Babylonian people, proud of their civilization. Philosophers and scientists learned wisdom from the Egyptians Ancient Greece. Great Rome worshiped the harmonious state organization of the country of the pyramids.
With the help of some books about ancient Egypt, I will try to find out how the ancient Egyptians saw the world in different areas of their lives.
Myths of ancient Egypt
The first myth about the creation of the world in Ancient Egypt was the Heliopolis cosmogony:
Heliopolis (biblical) has never been the political center of the state, however, from the era of the Old Kingdom until the end of the Late Period, the city did not lose its significance as the most important theological center and the main cult center of the solar gods. The cosmogonic version of Gapiopolis, which developed in the V dynasty, was the most widespread, and the main gods of the Heliopolis pantheon were especially popular throughout the country. The Egyptian name of the city - Iunu ("City of Pillars") is associated with the cult of obelisks.
In the beginning there was Chaos, which was called Nun - an endless, motionless and cold surface of water, shrouded in darkness. Millennia passed, but nothing disturbed the peace: the Primordial Ocean remained unshakable.
But one day the god Atum appeared from the Ocean - the first god in the universe.
The universe was still shackled by cold, and everything was plunged into darkness. Atum began to look for a solid place in the Primordial Ocean - some island, but there was nothing around except the motionless water of Chaos Nun. And then God created Ben-Ben Hill - the Primordial Hill.
According to another version of this myth, Atum was himself a Hill. The ray of the god Ra reached Chaos, and the Hill came to life, becoming Atum.
Having found the ground under his feet, Atum began to ponder what he should do next. First of all, it was necessary to create other gods. But who? Maybe the god of air and wind? - after all, only the wind can set the dead Ocean in motion. However, if the world begins to move, then whatever Atum creates after that will be immediately destroyed and will again turn into Chaos. Creative activity is completely meaningless as long as there is no stability, order and laws in the world. Therefore, Atum decided that, simultaneously with the wind, it was necessary to create a goddess who would protect and support the law established once and for all.
Having made this wise decision after many years of deliberation, Atum finally began to create the world. He spewed the seed into his mouth, fertilizing himself, and soon spat Shu, the god of wind and air, from his mouth and vomited Tefnut, the goddess of world order.
Nun, seeing Shu and Tefnut, exclaimed: “May they increase!” And Atum breathed Ka into his children.
But light had not yet been created. Everywhere, as before, there was darkness and darkness - and the children of Atum were lost in the Primordial Ocean. Atum sent his Eye to search for Shu and Tefnut. While it wandered through the watery desert, God created a new Eye and called it “Magnificent.” Meanwhile, the Old Eye found Shu and Tefnut and brought them back. Atum began to cry with joy. His tears fell on Ben-Ben Hill and turned into people.
According to another (Elephantine) version, not related to the Heliopolis cosmogonic legend, but quite widespread and popular in Egypt, people and their Ka were fashioned from clay by the ram-headed god Khnum, the main demiurge in Elephantine cosmogony.
The Old Eye was very angry when he saw that Atum had created a new one in its place. To calm the Eye, Atum placed it on his forehead and entrusted it with a great mission - to be the guardian of Atum himself and the world order established by him and the goddess Tefnut-Maat.
Since then, all the gods, and then the pharaohs, who inherited earthly power from the gods, began to wear the Solar Eye in the form of a cobra snake on their crowns. The Sol Eye in the form of a cobra is called by rei. Placed on the forehead or crown, the uraeus emits dazzling rays that incinerate all enemies encountered along the way. Thus, the uraeus protects and preserves the laws of the universe established by the goddess Maat.
Some versions of the Heliopolis cosmogonic myth mention the primordial divine bird Venu, like Atum, not created by anyone. At the beginning of the universe, Venu flew over the waters of Nun and built a nest in the branches of a willow on Ben-Ben Hill (therefore, the willow was considered a sacred plant).
On Ben-Ben Hill, people subsequently built the main temple of Heliopolis - the sanctuary of Ra-Atum. Obelisks became symbols of the Hill. The pyramidal tops of the obelisks, covered with sheet copper or gold, were considered to be the location of the Sun at noon.
From the marriage of Shu and Tefput a second divine couple was born: the earth god Geb and his sister and wife, the sky goddess Nut. Nut gave birth to Osiris (Egyptian Usir(e)), Horus, Set (Egyptian Sutekh), Isis (Egyptian Iset) and Nephthys (Egyptian Nebtot, Nebethet). Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Nephthys, Set, Isis and Osiris make up the Great Ennead of Heliopolis, or the Great Nine of Gods.
In the Predynastic era, Egypt was divided into two warring regions - Upper and Lower (along the Nile). After their unification by Pharaoh Narmer into a centralized state, the country continued to be administratively divided into South and North, Upper (from the second cataracts of the Nile to Ittawi) Egypt and Lower (Memphite nome and Delta) and was officially called the “Two Lands”. These real historical events were also reflected in mythology: according to the logic of mythological stories, Egypt from the very beginning of the universe was divided into two parts and each had its own patron goddess.
The southern part of the country is under the patronage of Nekhbet (Nekhyob(e)t) - a goddess in the guise of a female kite. Nekhbet is the daughter of Ra and his Eye, the protector of the pharaoh. She is depicted, as a rule, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt and with a lotus flower or water lily - the emblem of the Upper Reaches.
The cobra snake Wadjet (Uto) - the patroness of Lower Egypt, the daughter and Eye of Ra - is depicted in the red crown of the Lower Reaches and with the emblem of the North - papyrus stems. The name "Wadget" - "Green" - is given by the color of this plant.
The gods, under whose supervision and protection state power resides in Egypt, wear the “United Crown of the Two Lands” - the “Pschent” crown. This crown is a kind of combination of the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt into one whole and symbolizes the unification of the country and power over it. On the Pschent crown a uraeus was depicted, rarely - two uraeus: one in the form of a cobra and the other in the form of a kite; sometimes - papyri and lotuses tied together. The united crown "Pschent" was crowned with the heirs of the gods after the Golden Age - the pharaohs, the "lords of the Two Lands".
The supreme deities also wear the “atef” crown - a headdress of two tall feathers, usually blue (heavenly) color - a symbol of deity and greatness. Amon is always depicted wearing the atef crown. The "atef" crown can also crown the head of a god in combination with other crowns, most often with the crown of Upper Egypt (the most common headdress of Osiris).
Religion of Ancient Egypt.( Mummification, gods of Egypt)
1.Gods of Egypt:
During the centuries-long development of the Egyptian state, the meaning and nature of various cults changed. The beliefs of ancient hunters, cattle breeders, and farmers were mixed; they were layered with echoes of struggle and political growth or decline in different centers of the country.
From about 3000 BC. e. official religion Egypt recognized the pharaoh as the son of the solar god Ra and thus as the god himself. There were many other gods and goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon, who controlled everything from natural phenomena like air (the god Shu) to cultural phenomena like writing (the goddess Saf). Many gods were represented as animals or half-human-half-animals. A well-organized and powerful priestly caste created family groups of various deities, many of whom were probably originally local gods. The creator god Ptah (according to Memphis theology) was, for example, united in the war goddess Sekhmet, and the healer god Imhotep entered into the father-mother-son triad.
Typically, the Egyptians attached the greatest importance to the gods associated with the Nile (Hapi, Sothis, Sebek), the sun (Ra, Re-Atum, Horus), and the gods who help the dead (Osiris, Anubis, Sokaris). During the Old Kingdom period, the solar god Ra was the main god. Ra was supposed to bring immortality to the entire state through the pharaoh, his son. The sun seemed to the Egyptians, like many other ancient peoples, to be clearly immortal, for it “died” every evening, wandered underground and was “born again” every morning. The sun was also important for the success of agriculture in the Nile region. Thus, since the pharaoh was identified with the sun-god, the inviolability and prosperity of the state were ensured. In addition, Ra was the stronghold of the moral order of all things, Maat (Truth, Justice, Harmony) was his daughter. This created a set of life rules for the masses and an additional opportunity to please the sun god in the interests of the state and their own. This religion was not individualistically oriented; Apart from the royal family, no one could hope for an afterlife and few believed that Ra was capable of paying attention or providing service to an ordinary person.
Egyptian religious temples were not only places of religious worship: they were also centers of social, intellectual, cultural and economic life. During the Middle Kingdom and the reign of the Egyptian emperors, temples surpassed pyramids as the dominant architectural form. The large temple at Karnak was larger in area than any of the known religious buildings. As in the pyramids, the absolute size of the temples embodied indestructibility, symbolically expressing the immortality of the pharaoh, the state and, finally, the soul itself.
The priests formed only a small part of the vast staff that served the temple, including guards, scribes, singers, altar servers, cleaners, readers, prophets and musicians. During the heyday of temple architecture, around 1500 BC. e. temples were usually surrounded by several massive structures, and along the wide alley that led to their territory, sphinxes stood in rows, acting as guards. Everyone could enter the open courtyard, but only a few high-ranking priests could enter the inner sanctuary, where a statue of the god was kept in a shrine kept in a boat. Daily ceremonies at the temples involved the priests burning incense on the temple grounds, then waking up, washing, anointing and dressing the statue of the deity, sacrificing fried food, then resealing the sanctuary until the next ceremony. In addition to these daily temple ceremonies, holidays and festivals dedicated to various deities were regularly held throughout Egypt. The festival was often held in connection with the completion of an agricultural cycle. The statue of the deity could have been taken out of the sanctuary and solemnly carried through the city, and perhaps she had to observe the festival. Sometimes plays were performed describing individual events in the life of the deity.
Probably not in Egypt one religion. Each nome and city had its own especially revered god and pantheon of gods (Fayum, Sumenu - Sobek (crocodile), Memphis, She - Amon, the bull Apis, Ishgun - Thoth (ibis, a cave in which birds from all over the country were buried), Damanhur – “City of Chora”, Sanhur – “Protection of Chora” - Horus (falcon), Bubast - Bastet (cat), Imet - Wadjet (snake) They worshiped not only gods and animals, but also plants (sycamore, sacred trees).
2.Graves and funeral rites
The ancient Egyptians believed that the dead might need the same items they used during life, partly because people, in their view, consisted of body and soul, so the continuation of life after death should have affected the body as well. This must have meant that the body had to be well prepared for revival and that useful and valuable things had to be prepared for it. Hence the need for mummification and supplying the graves with all the necessary things that can keep the body safe. Preserving the body and providing it with basic necessities was thus consistent with religious beliefs that life does not end. (Some of the ancient grave inscriptions reassured the dead that death was, after all, just an illusion: "You did not go away dead; you went away alive.")
Culture ancient Egypt (26) Abstract >> Culture and artOther countries and peoples Ancient peace. Ancients Egyptians created a high in their own way... Egyptian religious thought.4 According to ideas ancient Egyptians, their gods were omnipotent and... seeking to convey characteristic features models, they over-sharpened and...
Describe the specifics of culture Ancient Egypt and its influence on culture ancient civilizations
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Culture Ancient Egypt 2 Ancient Egypt
Course work >> Culture and artEast by desert sands - limited world ancient Egyptians. Their civilization existed for thousands of years and... for a very long time. By ideas ancient Egyptians, a person is endowed with several... age traits were recorded models, elements of disclosure have appeared...
Primary or primitive mythology is that figurative
poetic language used by ancient peoples to explain natural phenomena. Everything visible in nature was accepted by the ancients as a visible image of a deity: the earth, sky, sun, stars, mountains, volcanoes, rivers, streams, trees - all these were deities whose history was sung by ancient poets, and their images were sculpted by sculptors. Egyptian mythology is closest to Greek mythology. The Greeks, having conquered Egypt, became interested in its history and culture and studied its beliefs; they gave Egyptian myths their own coloring and identified many Egyptian gods with the Olympian gods. "At the pinnacle of the divine Egyptian pantheon“,” says Mariette, the famous French Egyptologist, “there sits one god, immortal, uncreated, invisible and hidden for ordinary mortals in the depths of his essence. He is the creator of heaven and earth, he created everything that exists, and nothing was created without him. This is a god who exists exclusively for those initiated into the mystery of the sanctuary." Latest discoveries Egyptologists confirmed these assumptions. But outside the sanctuary, God takes on a thousand forms, the most diverse. All the varied forms which the Egyptian gods take in the depictions of artists can be explained by the different conditions of the country and beliefs. Egyptian mythology is not similar to any of the mythologies of other peoples.
It turned out, for example, that the Egyptians did not even have rules that would dictate how the gods should be depicted. The same god was depicted either in the form of some kind of animal, or in the form of a man with an animal head, or simply in the form of a man. Many gods were called differently in different cities, and some of them changed their names several times even within a day. For example, the morning sun was embodied by the god Khepri, who, according to the Egyptians, took the form of a scarab beetle and rolled the solar disk to the zenith - just as a dung beetle rolls its ball in front of itself; the daytime sun was embodied by the god Ra - a man with the head of a falcon; and the evening, “dying” sun is the god Atum. Ra, Atum and Khepri were, as it were, three “varieties” of the same god - the sun god.
But the countless number of gods that the Egyptians worshiped could not completely erase in them the concept of the highest and only deity, which, no matter what name he was called, the sacred myths define everywhere with the same expressions, leaving not the slightest doubt that it is precisely this supreme and united being. Osiris is the sun god, Isis is his sister and wife, and Horus is their son. Mythological legends have developed about these gods, retold to us by Greek writers, and these myths seem to be symbols of the struggle between sun and darkness, light and darkness. The details of these legends, or, better said, Greek retellings, are interesting in that they explain to us the many Emblems and symbols often found on monuments Egyptian art.
Isis was the first to give people rye and barley, and Osiris, the inventor of agricultural tools, founded a society and social life Having given people laws, he also taught them to reap the harvest. Succumbing to his brother’s cunning, he was killed. Several versions of the death of Osiris are known. His body was divided into fourteen parts and sent to all the branches of the Nile. According to legend, Osiris, before becoming a god, reigned in Egypt, and the memory of his good deeds forced him to be identified with the principle of good, while his murderer, Set (Typhus), identified with evil. This same legend also had another religious, moral explanation: Osiris is the setting sun, killed or absorbed by darkness. Isis - the Moon absorbs them and hurts them as much as possible, the rays of the sun, and Horus - rising Sun- avenges his father, dispelling the darkness. Agricultural tribes inhabiting the Nile Valley. they worshiped Apis, this incarnation of Osiris in the form of a bull - a symbol of agriculture, and the bull was dedicated to Osiris. And the nomadic tribes of the desert, always despised by the sedentary inhabitants of the cities, used a donkey for riding, and the donkey is an animal sacred to Typhon. But since the destructive fumes of swamps are also a product evil spirit, then they were embodied in the crocodile, an animal also dedicated to Typhon. Horus did not kill Typhon, because evil continues to exist on earth, but he weakened it and thereby strengthened the victory of divine law over the disorderly forces of nature. Osiris was often depicted as a mummy; his usual attributes are a hook or whip, a symbol of power, and the emblem of the Nile in the form of a cross with an eye at the top; this, however, hallmark all Egyptian gods and is called by many scientists - researchers of mythology the key of the Nile.
The religion of Egypt is a very diverse phenomenon. For more than three thousand-year history Egypt, its religion underwent various changes, the gods of individual nomes became the main gods of the state, changed their names or merged with other gods, but the basic concept remained unchanged. Belief in an afterlife, judgment over actions committed during life, the need to take care of the safety of the body of a deceased person, the deification of the pharaoh, etc. persisted until the advent of Christianity, and later smoothly passed into Christianity in the form of veneration of the bodies or their remains of various martyrs, saints, etc. guardians for all humanity.
It should be mentioned that in Egypt there was no state religion V modern understanding, just as there was no single church organization. Although each god had his own high priests, they were not united and there was constant rivalry between priestly groups for influence. In this regard, there were no religious dogmas obligatory for the entire country, and there was no unification of religious views. The religion of the Egyptians was a combination of often contradictory and sometimes mutually exclusive beliefs that arose in different times and in different parts countries. The Egyptians themselves felt these contradictions; the priests of such large religious centers as Heliopolis, Hermopolis, Memphis, Thebes and others sought to bring order to the chaotic pile that had arisen historically religious beliefs. But the psychological impossibility of abandoning ancient religious views, even if they contradict new religious concepts, and a deep commitment to tradition are characteristic of the Egyptian religion.
Egyptian magic, originating in pre-dynastic times, became the basis of religion. It existed in two varieties: on the one hand, it was used for the benefit of the living and the dead, on the other, it was an instrument of secret conspiracies and was designed to harm those against whom it was used. Important The ancient Egyptians attached amulets; they were designed to protect the body of a living or dead person from the disastrous influences and attacks of visible or invisible enemies.
Along with amulets, the Egyptians also believed that it was possible to transfer to a figurine of any living creature the soul of the one it depicts. These include the so-called “ushebti”, which were placed with the deceased, so that in the afterlife he would perform all the duties that the gods would order for the deceased. Figures of people or animals with corresponding magical words were also used to protect people from evil forces.
Great importance was also attached to magical drawings and spells. The Egyptians believed that without food, the soul of the deceased could begin to harm the living. Initially, food was left next to the mummy and new food was brought at regular intervals.
The Egyptians also knew well the movement of celestial bodies, on the basis of this they laid the foundation for astrology. They also introduced the concept of happy and unlucky days.
Most of the elements of the Egyptian religion penetrated into Christianity in their original form, the other part of the elements in a modified form, but with clearly traceable Egyptian roots. The main one, of course, is the myth of the resurrection of Christ, a complete analogy to the myth of the resurrection of Osiris. Christ, like Osiris, dies in suffering, but after death, ascends to heaven, where he becomes a god. The battle between Satan and Christ, after which the Kingdom of God will come on earth, an analogy of the battle between Horus and Set. Immaculate Conception The Virgin Mary also corresponds to Egyptian mythology, after Set killed Osiris and threw the dead body into the soda lakes for 40 days.
The ancient Egyptians settled on the eastern bank of the Nile. The West Bank was given over to “eternity”—the afterlife. Pyramids were erected here and tombs were built. This custom was also based on symbolism: just as Ra, that is, the sun, is “born” on the eastern bank of the celestial river and “dies” on the western, so people, “the cattle of the god Ra,” spend their earthly life in the east, and after death they move to the west - to the Reed Fields, an afterlife paradise, a place of peace, bliss and eternal life. For the Egyptians, death was simply a departure to another world, which was in every way similar to the earthly world: the dead ate, drank, harvested, and had fun hunting and fishing. Only there was no death in the Afterlife: the Egyptian lived there forever.
In Egypt, there was a cult of ancestors and a funeral cult associated with it, which contributed to the ideological strengthening of the power and authority of the ancestor. The Egyptians, like other ancient peoples, believed that death is not the destruction of a human being, but only its transition to another world. This world of the afterlife was depicted by him in the form of fantastic, distorted forms of the earthly world. Believing that the afterlife is only a kind of continuation of earthly existence, the Egyptians tried to give the deceased the opportunity to use in this imaginary world all the objects that he used during life. The funeral cult was clearly expressed in the method of burying the body - the bodies of the dead were wrapped in leather, mat or cloth, often buried lying on their side in a crouched position, imitating the position of a sleeper.
The body of the deceased was artificially preserved, for which the entrails were removed and placed in special vessels, and the body was mummified - soaked in special saline solutions and resinous compounds. The mummy made in this way was wrapped in many linen covers soaked in special resins and placed in the tomb. On the walls of the rooms located inside the tomb, scenes of the life of the deceased and his family were usually depicted, providing them with explanatory inscriptions and texts; household items, food, wine, etc. were placed inside the tomb. This was supposed to enable the deceased to continue to lead his usual lifestyle and use his property in the afterlife. In addition to these religious and magical inscriptions, hymns, prayers and spells appear, which were first also written on the walls, and then on papyrus scrolls, forming the so-called “Book of the Dead,” which described the fate of a person after his death. " Book of the Dead"was the largest and most widespread religious and magical collection.
Sometimes Egypt is called the most religious culture in the history of mankind, and this statement has sufficient grounds. In any traditional society religious-mythological systems are thought-forming, largely determining the specificity of civilization and the originality of culture, but in Egypt the religious system was distinguished by its special integrity and immutability, as well as the important social role played by the priesthood.
The mythological system of Egypt can be characterized as polytheism, since it included the cults of many gods (about 2000). The gods were local and general, most of the gods had their own hometown, where main temple. As certain Egyptian centers became stronger and capitals were moved, the places of the gods in the hierarchy changed.
Supreme God there was a god Ra - the god of the Sun. All cosmogonic myths are associated with him; he acted as a demiurge - the creator and ruler of the world. The Egyptians had many names and appearances for the sun, but the main one was the god Ra. At the same time, there were ideas about the goddess of Heaven - Nut, who gives birth to the sun in the morning, and in the evening swallows it - and night comes. The multivariate explanation of one and the same natural phenomenon (the myth of the god Ra sailing in a golden boat along the celestial Nile has already been mentioned) is a characteristic feature mythological consciousness in general, and Egyptian mythology in particular. Some gods and goddesses personified natural elements or phenomena, many had the appearance of animals and birds. Most gods and goddesses were related by kinship. God Osiris belongs to the type of cultural heroes: according to myths, he was the first pharaoh of Egypt, taught people agriculture and cattle breeding, and gave them wine and cereals. During the Middle Kingdom, the cult of Osiris became the central link of funeral beliefs; he was revered primarily as god of the dead. Egyptian beliefs include a very complex system of myths that defies logical ordering, since it was a system of figurative thinking. The most famous is the myth of Osiris and Isis, retold in detail by the Roman historian Plutarch. According to the myth, Osiris was an exemplary ruler, but his brother Set, jealous of him, tricked Osiris into a magnificent sarcophagus and killed him. The wife of Osiris, Isis goes in search of the body of Osiris and, with the help of Anubis, brings him back to life.
The son of Osiris and Isis, Horus, becomes the ruler of Egypt, and Osiris rules in the Kingdom of the Dead.
In the era of the Old Kingdom, it was believed that only the pharaoh, thanks to the magical funeral rite can come to life after death just as Osiris came to life. During the Middle Kingdom, every dead Egyptian was identified with Osiris. It was assumed that with strict observance of the funeral ritual, every Egyptian, like Osiris, could be reborn for an eternal afterlife.
The goddess Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, was the goddess of fertility and navigation, a symbol of femininity, family fidelity and motherhood. Isis gained particular popularity in the Greco-Roman world. The cult of Isis influenced Christian dogma and art. The image of the Mother of God with a baby in her arms goes back to the image of Isis and her son Horus.
The Osiris myth is related to the myths of the dying and rising god or to the calendar myth (since it was supposed to be associated with seasonal changes in nature). Researchers working within the framework of the psychological approach to mythology (the so-called transpersonal psychologists) believe that in myths about a dying and resurrecting god, religious experience reflects the unconscious mental experiences of a child in the womb and during childbirth, thus this type of myths does not reflect the regularity of natural changes, but is, in their opinion, a special form of psychotherapy, removing and healing mental trauma.
The god Thoth, the god of wisdom and knowledge, time of reckoning, and the patron god of the priesthood, also belongs to the type of cultural heroes.
Zoomorphic (beast-like features) can be seen in the depiction of many Egyptian gods. Characteristic feature Egyptian mythology was the deification of animals as embodiments of various deities. Animals such as the bull (Apis), cat (Bayet), crocodile (Sebek), lioness (Tefnut), jackal (Anubis) were revered. Zoomorphic features in the appearance of deities were preserved in mythology, combined with anthropomorphic ones. For example, the god Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, was depicted with the head of a falcon, and the god Thoth with the head of a baboon or ibis bird.
The funeral cult played a huge role in Egyptian mythology: the afterlife was presented as a direct continuation of the earthly, a necessary condition there was the preservation of the body of the deceased (due to which the ritual of mummification became widespread), the construction of dwellings (pyramids and tombs), and the sacrificing of gifts as food. The Egyptians viewed death not so much as a transition to better life in another world (the position to which Christianity has taught us), as much as a continuation of life on earth. In ancient Egyptian papyri, modern researchers find the principles of the ethics of hedonism (the ethics of pleasure). Life, its value and uniqueness, beauty and happiness were so valued that it was assumed in the afterlife, where people continue to live as on earth.
Art of Ancient Egypt
The mythological views of Ancient Egypt were reflected in literature, music and various types visual arts: architecture, painting, decorative arts. The early invention of writing contributed to the development of major literary genres. Researchers note that many motifs of the lyrics of Ancient Egypt entered as eternal themes in world literature. “The morning song of lovers, after a night of embraces and pleasures, calling to the birds with a request to delay the return of a new day, an appeal to the door that separates the young man from the girl he loves; description and praise of her virtues and beauty, etc. All this will then be sung and repeated countless times in the artistic work of almost all peoples, and above all in the “Sands of Songs.” Then these motifs will be heard by the great lyricists of Greece and Rome: Sappho, Anacreon, Theocritus, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Propertius, Ovid, will be perceived by troubadours and minnesingers and from them will be passed on to the poets of the Renaissance" (Polikarpov V.S. Lectures on cultural studies. M., 1997. P. 64.).
The monuments of Egyptian architecture that have come down to us are temples and tombs. One can get an idea of the dwellings of the Egyptians only by looking at the clay models of houses that were placed in the tombs. The houses themselves were made of clay and reeds - a material that could not withstand millennia.
The pyramids were built during the era of the Old and Middle Kingdoms, then, due to the fact that even in those days the pyramids were already plundered, the pharaohs began to be buried in tombs carved into rocks in desert gorges on the western bank of the Nile. From the outside, the tombs of the kings were invisible, their places were kept secret. Largely thanks to this mystery, the only tomb of Tutan Khamon, who reigned in the 14th century, has been preserved intact. BC e. In 1922, it was found by the English archaeologist Gozard Carter and Lord Carnarvon, who worked with him and financed the expedition. The discovery in the Valley of the Kings aroused such interest and enthusiasm as no other archaeological discovery.
In the burial chamber, statues were found, including an image of the god Anubis in the form of a jackal, furniture, ceremonial weapons, models of ships, and chariots. The most remarkable discovery was the mummy of Tutankhamun with the famous golden mask on his face. The mummy was placed in several sarcophagi, the last of which was made of pure gold. Tutankhamun did not reign for long and died very young, and his burial, of course, did not belong to the most luxurious. One can imagine what treasures of Egyptian culture could not reach us.
In the tomb of Tutankhamun, the Egyptian art of an entire era was represented in diversity and such perfect works that the 14th century. BC e. was unanimously recognized as the golden age of Egyptian culture, the highest rise of its art. Two images became famous worldwide. One of them - an image of Pharaoh Tutankhamun with his wife on the back of the throne from the tomb, made of wood, gold leaf and decorated with paintings, was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The English art critic Ernst Gombrich notes: “On the back of the throne, the royal couple is presented in the setting of a home idyll. The sitting position of the pharaoh could shock some Egyptian conservative with its freedom. The queen (her figure is no less than the figure of the king) affectionately touches her husband’s shoulder, and the solar deity extends his blessing palms to them” (E. Gombrich. History of Art. M., 1998. P. 68.). The second of them is the image of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti with their children on the altar relief, found in Akhetaten. Under the outstretched palms of the new and only deity - Aten, the solar disk with rays-palms, a happy married couple plays with children.
Akhetaton was discovered by archaeologists at the end of the 19th century. The new capital was built in a short time. The palace was decorated with statues of Amenhotep II (Akhenaton), multicolor paintings, and inlaid reliefs. The sculptural images of the pharaoh, his wife Nefertiti and their daughters are distinguished by the absence of canons. Akhenaten is depicted in statues and reliefs kissing his wife and playing with his children. The image of the pharaoh himself is devoid of monumentality. Researchers are still at a loss, trying to explain the reason for these changes. “Amarna art” is what art historians call works from the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (from the modern name of the settlement on the site of the ancient capital of the reformer pharaoh - Amarna). The most famous monument of this period is the famous bust of Nefertiti, giving an idea of the queen's perfect beauty. It is not for nothing that her name itself means “The Beautiful One has come.” The bust of Nefertiti has become one of the most remarkable symbols of female beauty in the world history of art.
Akhenaten ruled for about 20 years and went down in history as a religious reformer. Pharaoh Amenhotep adopted a new name, changing it to Akhenaten (i.e., “useful Atom”), and attempted to establish a new cult of the single god Aten (god of the solar disk). Akhenaten founded a new capital, Akhetaten, dedicating it to a new deity. This event is sometimes called a religious revolution. Apparently, this was the first attempt to establish monotheism in the history of mankind, since the population was prohibited from worshiping all deities of Egypt except Aten. The motives for Akhenaten's activities are assessed differently. His actions can be considered both as a result of mystical insight (the most poetic hymns to the new deity, composed by the pharaoh himself, have been preserved), and as a result of the pharaoh’s struggle for power with influential priests.
In the artistic thinking of the Egyptians, a developed system of canons and important aesthetic principles of Egyptian art was developed. The higher the social position, the status of the person depicted, the stricter the canon. For example, the statues of pharaohs rarely conveyed portrait likeness; their authority, equanimity and monumentality became symbols of power. At the same time, the surviving frescoes show that the Egyptians were able to convey movements and plasticity in scenes from Everyday life. The mineral paints used by Egyptian artists have preserved to this day their amazing sonority, brightness and richness of transitions. Reliefs and frescoes, decorating the walls of tombs and temples, serve for us as a real encyclopedia of the life of the Egyptians.
In addition to the tombs of the pharaohs, majestic temples were built in honor of numerous gods. The temple buildings were gigantic in size and distinguished by luxurious decoration. At the end of the temple there was a sanctuary where a statue of the deity was kept, access to which was open only to priests and pharaohs. Egyptian temple was not intended for believers, it served as the house of God on earth, it was assumed that part of the divine substance resided in a small golden figurine located in the altar (naos). The priests addressed this image as a creature of flesh and blood. They washed and dressed the figurine, and made sure there was enough food for it. The best preserved temples dedicated to god Amun-Ra at Karnak and Luxor. The wall paintings recreated the world in which the Egyptians lived, and the ceiling was decorated with images of stars and constellations.
Everyday world
Egyptian culture has become ancient civilization in history. There seemed to be no occupation or activity in which the Egyptians did not show amazing success. Since the majority of the population lived in close proximity to the Nile, water transport developed: reed papyrus boats and wooden ships.
In the 60s XX century Norwegian explorer Thor Heyer-dahl tried to prove that the Egyptians, using their papyrus boats, using sail and ocean currents, could reach the shores of America. Having built a boat from papyrus according to ancient drawings. Thor Heyerdahl made two expeditions. After the first unsuccessful attempt, the second expedition on the papyrus boat “Ra-2” turned out to be successful: the small Boat was able to cross the Atlantic Ocean!
By examining tomb burials and frescoes, we can imagine what the clothes, jewelry, shoes, and even cosmetics of the Egyptians looked like. The craftsmen who made them were distinguished by their extraordinary skill. From the wall paintings you can learn about the leisure time of the Egyptians: entertainment and games, music and dancing.
Craftsmen in Egypt were well paid and respected members of society. Women could also engage in some types of crafts. In general, the women of Ancient Egypt were in many respects more privileged than in other countries of the East and even ancient countries, where it is difficult to find images of married couples (reflecting the difference in the social roles of men and women). In contrast, in Egypt, images of husband and wife sitting side by side are common. A woman affectionately hugs or supports a man. Women could also be rulers of Egypt (such outstanding personality was Queen Hatshepsut, who lived in the 15th century. BC e., not to mention the famous Cleopatra). Even the throne was passed on female line. The pharaoh could appoint any of his sons as heir, but in order to become king, the young man had to marry the queen’s eldest daughter, the “heir princess.”
In Egypt, marriage contracts already existed that determined the rights of spouses to property; a woman could freely obtain a divorce, then continue to raise her children and have the right to marry again.
In general, women in Egypt enjoyed great personal freedom and had the same rights and responsibilities before the law as men. Women could become priestesses in temples and could manage estates and engage in trade themselves. The Egyptians valued the joys of love and family life, which is reflected in literary monuments and fine arts.
Knowledge
Within the framework of the mythological system of thinking, the Egyptians accumulated serious knowledge. They made the greatest contribution to medicine. Ancient Egyptian priests were valued Ancient world as the best specialists and enjoyed high prestige. Ancient Egyptian doctors were both priests and magicians, they knew how to use hypnosis, and were well versed in the structure human body. First of all, this knowledge was obtained thanks to the existing tradition of embalming the body of the deceased and its mummification. All these operations required a good knowledge of anatomy and pharmacology. Can we consider that medicine emerges as a science in Egypt? No, serious medical knowledge appears there for the first time, but it is still woven into the system of mythology and obtained largely thanks to religious rituals.
The Egyptians had medical reference books and schools. They used instruments during surgical operations and even used opium for pain relief. The Medical Knowledge accumulated by the Egyptians once again shows that elements of rational knowledge are already emerging within the framework of the mythological system.
Their extensive knowledge of mathematics and astronomy was also associated with the religious-mythological system of the Egyptians. The results of centuries-old astronomical observations were used by priests to predict floods of the Nile and solar eclipses. The knowledge was esoteric (belonging to a narrow group of people) and could be used for mysteries and hoaxes. For example, in some surviving sculptural images of Egyptian gods in the form of animals, special engineering devices were found with which the animal could open its mouth or turn its head. The mystical tradition was widely represented in Egyptian culture. The Egyptians used various methods to determine the will of the gods, interpreted dreams, explained heavenly signs, and often turned to the cult statue for advice, through which the god could talk to people.
Many achievements of ancient Egyptian culture, assimilated by the ancient world, came to European culture; the religion of Egypt, its art, knowledge and mysticism lie at its origins.
It should be noted that Egyptian culture is included in a special way in the cultural dialogue with the West. The West, based on the principles of rationalism, saw in Egypt a world as mysterious and enigmatic, mystical and unrevealed. A kind of nostalgia for Egyptian culture indicates that not a single culture, even the most successful, can embrace all the spiritual riches. Egypt is a memory of a path that was lost, from which it was turned away. But it is possible that this is also a “memory of the future.” This fact is quite curious: the most popular course in American universities is a course... in Egyptology. Feature films about Egyptian secrets and mysteries are coming in succession. They are even trying to see in the Egyptians the oldest African ethnic group, and therefore the ancestors of today's African Americans. It is unlikely that the Egyptian theme is just a fashion; rather, it indicates some underlying trends modern culture. European culture, changing during the life of one generation of people, perhaps intuitively strives for inviolability and stability.
Plato in the dialogue “Timaeus” conveys the conversation of the Egyptian priest from Sais with the Greek ruler Solon: “Ah, Solon, Solon! You Hellenes always remain children and there is no elder among the Hellenes!” - the Egyptian priest addresses the Greek ruler. "Why do you say that?" - asks Solon. “You are all young in mind,” he replies, “for your minds do not preserve any tradition, which has been passed down from generation to generation, and no teaching that has grown gray with time” (Plato. Collected works: In 4 vols. M., 1994 . T. 3. P. 426.).
Turning to Egyptian culture makes us wiser and older. An understanding is emerging of how little we know about the past and how little we think about the fact that people thousands of years before our era remained the same people as us. The past is approaching modern man, and it seems that the Egyptians understood much of what modern man seeks to rediscover and learn about oneself.
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Related information.
Astronomy in ancient Egypt
Around the 5th millennium BC. A state was formed in the Nile Valley - Ancient Egypt.
1. The Egyptians left no evidence that they carried out astronomical observations (except for recording solar eclipse in 600 BC e.
2. For the ancient Egyptian astronomers, the main task was to calculate and predict the time and place of the appearance of their gods in the sky, especially their sun god Ra. Therefore, observing the Sun throughout the year was important for the Egyptians. Their ability to do this led to the division of day and night into 12 parts (hours), to the creation of the lunar and solar calendars with 12 months (30 days each) and an additional 5 days.
3. According to the ideas of the ancients
Egyptians, the Universe looks like a large valley stretching from north to south, with Egypt in the center. The sky was likened to a large iron roof, which is supported on pillars, on which
stars are suspended in the form of lamps
Ancient Egypt had a complex mythology with many gods. The astronomical ideas of the Egyptians were closely related to it. According to their beliefs, in the middle of the world was Geb, one of the ancestors of the gods, the breadwinner and protector of people. He personified the Earth. Geb's wife and sister, Nut, was Heaven itself. She was called the Huge Mother of the Stars and the One Who Gives Birth to the Gods. It was believed that she swallows the stars every morning and gives birth to them again every evening. Because of this habit of hers, there was once a quarrel between Nut and Geb. Then their father Shu, Air, raised the Sky above the Earth and separated the spouses. Nut was the mother of Pa (Sun) and the stars and ruled them. Ra in turn created Thoth (the Moon) as his deputy in the night sky
Books on astronomy
Those books on astronomy that were in ancient Egypt were not intended for printing: they were used only in worship. Therefore, the books can only be judged by the mention of the Greek Clement of Alexandria, who gave them a list of their titles:
a) About the positions of stars and stellar phenomena b) About the positions of the Sun, Moon and five planets c) About the phases of the Moon
d) About rings
According to myth, the sky goddess Nat gave birth to the god Ra. Goddess Nat usually
depicted as a naked woman against a starry background. The sun (Ra) enters her mouth, passes through her body and
is born after 9 months (this is the period between
spring equinox and winter solstice).
2. Ideas about the world of the ancient Egyptians
In their ideas about the world around them, the ancient peoples proceeded, first of all, from the testimony of their senses: the Earth seemed flat to them, and the sky was a huge dome stretching over the Earth. The picture shows how the firmament rests on four high mountains located somewhere on the edge of the world! Egypt is in the center of the Earth. The heavenly bodies seem to be suspended on the vault.
In Ancient Egypt there was a cult of the sun god Ra, who circles the sky in his chariot.
This drawing is on the wall inside one of the pyramids.
According to another myth, during the day Ra floats along the celestial Nile and illuminates the Earth, and in the evening he descends into the Duat (underworld).
During the night services of the cult of Ra, the priests had to help the god as he made his difficult voyage along the underground Nile. To do this, they needed to determine the time at night. Evidence has reached us of three attempts by the Egyptians to create a sidereal clock.
The most accurate of these were the third ones, which used observational instruments. This method of measuring the night hours by the stars was invented around 1500 BC. e. It was carried out by noting the time of passage of certain stars through the celestial meridian and neighboring areas of the sky. The observer sat on the platform facing south, opposite the figure of a man sitting “on the meridian.” Whether it was a temple servant or a mannequin is unknown. The observer, using a sighting device - a board with a cutout in the upper part - monitored the passage of the "hour star" over the "figure".
Tables have been preserved indicating the stars and their positions for each of the 12 hours of the night. The positions were indicated by the phrases: “opposite the heart” (in the middle of the figure), “above the right eye”, “above the left ear”, “above the right shoulder” - a total of seven positions. Like the first two, this method of determining time, tied to a sliding calendar, required constant updating 7
tables and turned out to be short-lived.
The oldest Egyptian water clock was found at Karnak, near Thebes. They were made in the 14th century. BC e. The water clock, which the Greeks later called the clepsydra, was a bowl with a small hole from which water gradually flowed or dripped. On the inside of the bowl there were scales, by which one could judge how much time had “flowed by.” The Egyptians of that era divided night and day into 12 hours, and the hours were different depending on the seasons. Therefore, for each month we used a separate scale with its name. The clock was filled with water at the beginning of the night, and the starting point could be, for example, sunset, and then during the service the priests no longer needed to look at the sky.
Birthdays
