Ancient Egypt

Religion and Science

Jose Rapheal
Egyptian Religion
• One of the most interesting aspect of ancient Egypt
• Their thoughts, rich imagination, displayed in the images of Gods and
Goddess
• In elaborating their beliefs, the Egyptian were working on the cosmic
plane, searching for the most basic law of Universe.
• Developed the earliest known form of Godhead
• This beliefs slowly developed into a comprehensive world view shared
by the people of Nile
• Religion binds the local community into nationhood and creates
common understanding and shared values- growth of civilization
• Looking at the Egyptian religion one can see the evolution of the
belief system evolved to become the driving force of cultural
expression.
• There was a stage in the development of the religion where the
people worshipped natural phenomena where they did not
worshiped a personalized form of God- this stage referred as ‘Magical’
• In Egypt before the concept of God magical power was encapsulated
in the hieroglyph of a sceptre- one of the most enduring symbol of
divine power present in the images of Pharoah and Gods
Development of religion
• Religion developed over centuries – one that emphasized local deities
into national religion with smaller number of principle deities
• Some theologians think that the Egypt was moving towards a
monotheistic faith in a Single creator – Sun God
• But there was no single belief system – but the Egyptians shared a
common understanding about the creation of the world
• They believed that the a chaos occurs if the destructive forces of the
universe were unleashed
• In the earlier stage of Egyptian Society – particular deity manifested in
a material or has the shape of an animal- Cat God, Ibis God or Jackal
God
• Later these Gods and Goddesses were given human body and
credited with human attributes and activity
• The Temples were constructed in Various cities venerated local Gods
• During the New Kingdom these temples honoured a triad of Gods
based on the patterns established by mythical family of Osiris, Isis and
Horus
Gods and Goddesses
• The Egyptian gods are confusing
• There are a large number of them and they are not always depicted
the same way.
• Egyptian Gods and Goddesses symbolizes the aspects of life, human
emotions and the physical world
• The Gods and Goddesses are often grouped in pairs to represent the
dual nature of life – the negative and positive forces of the cosmos
• An example is Osiris representing life and order, and Seth
representing death and destruction
Amemet

• – Depicted with the rear of

a hippopotamus, the fore of
a lion and the head of a
crocodile- devoured the
heart of those judged guilty
when their hearts were
weighed in the afterworld
Amun
• Chief of the Gods during the New
Kingdom
• Depiced as the man with two tall plumes
rising above the headdress or as a ram
or a goose
• He, His wife Mut and Son Khonsu –
represented in Theban Triad- sacred
family of the Thebes
• Amun rose tin the prominence but did
not become a state deity
• He was associated with the God Re and
venerated as Amun-Re
Amun Re
• Amun Re is the form of Sun God- depicted as
Sphinx or a human with the head of a hawk
• The disk of the sun is the symbol of this God
• The word Amun means ‘the hidden’ or the
‘hiddenness of divinity’ Re means the Sun ‘
divinity in the power of the sun’
• The God Amun Re is a representation of these
two ideas – the ever present invisible power
and radiant light of the divine force that
sustain life.
• In the middle kingdom when the Amun
became the most important God- Re was
fused with him to become Amun-Re
• Re is sometimes spelled as Ra
Anubis
• Jackal Headed deity- Son of Osiris
and Nephthys, Presided over the
embalming process, accompanied
the dead Kings in the afterworld
• When the Kings were judged by the
Osiris, Anubis placed their heart on
one side of the scale and a feather
(Maat) on the other
• The God Thoth recorded the result,
which indicated whether the king
could entre the afterworld
Atum
• A primeval cosmic God- Atum is the
Sun God as creator, the substance from
which all creation unfurled
• He is the Lord of the Universe
• In his human form he represents the
king of Egypt, who wears the double
Crown of Egypt
Bastet
• Bastet – Represent the most
protective aspect of motherhood,
compared to the aggressive Lion-
Headed Sekhmet
• A female body and a cat’s head,
she is often seen holding a sistrum
Bes
• Dwarf God has a grotesque mask- like
face and protruding lips.
• He oftern shown as carrying musical
instruments, Kives or the hieroglyph-
representing protection.
• He is the protector of the family and is
associated with sexuality and childbirth
 Horus
• The falcon headed God – become one of the most
commonly used symbol of Egypt – seen in the
Egyptian Air planes and on the hotels and
restaurants throughout the land
• Horus is the son of Osiris and Isis, the divine child
of the holy family triad
• His name means ‘he who is above’ and ‘he who is
distant’.
• Falcon has been worshipped from the earliest
times as a cosmic deity whose body represents the
heavens and eyes represents sun and moon.
• Associated with the title of Kingship, the
personification of divine and regal power.
• Kings believe they descended from Horus- who is
consided as the first divine king of Egypt.
Osiris
• God who first appeared in funerary text
during the pyramid age when the
practice of Mummification began
around 2400 BC
• He presided over the court when the
King died
• Portrayed as a mummified man
wearing a tall white crown adorned
with two ostrich feathers
• Osiris is also equated with the miracle
of Nile and the rich harvest.
• The cycle of destruction, death and
rebirth which is repeated each year in
the annual flood of the Nile
Sekhmet
• Depicted as a women with a Lion head
wearing a sun disk and a Uraeus(Cobra)
• An important Goddess in the Thebian
capital during the New Kingdom
• Her name means ‘she who is powerful’
• She personifies the aggressive aspect of
the female deities
Sphinx
• Body of a lion and head of a human
or animal
• Represent a form of Sun God
Other Gods
• Geb, Hapi, Hathor, Isis, Khnum, Khonsu, Maat, Min, Mut, Neith,
Nekhbet, Nephthys, Nut, Ptah, Re, Selkis, Seth, Shu, Sobek, Taweret,
Tefnut, Thoth, Wadjet
Science
• Egyptians had an advance knowledge in the science of
Mathematics, Medicine, and astronomy compared to
the contemporary counterparts
• The size and scope of the structures like the Great
Pyramid at Giza or the temple of Amun at Karnak or
the Colossi of Memnon etc.
• Some of their inventions are the one which we take
for granted in the modern day- Paper and Ink,
cosmetics, the toothbrush and toothpaste, the proto
form of breadth mint etc.
• Simple household goods to Beer brewing ,
engineering and construction, agriculture, medicine,
astronomy, mathematics etc.
Ancient Egyptian Brewery
Calender
• Based on 365 days with 12 months and 3
seasons
• Each month had a total 30 days
• The last five days of the year corresponds to
the birth of five deities: Osiris, Isis, Horus, Seth,
Nephthys
• Since the Egyptians did not taken leap year
into consideration their calendar got further
and further away from the seasons
• Only every 1460 years did their calendar
synchronized with the seasonal year
Three Seasons
• The three season corresponds to the cycle of Nile and Agriculture
• The New year day was on July 19 (Julian calender)
• Marked the beginning of the first season akhet, the time of flooding
of Nile
• The next season called Peret started from Nov. 16.
• Beside the civic calendar, there are religious calendar that marked the
festivals and ceremonies.
• This was based on 29.5 days month which is more accurate according
to the phase of agriculture and the astronomical cycle of stars
Astronomy
• Studied the night sky- measurements from
stars accurately aligned their pyramids and
sun temples with the earths four cardinal
points
• Sighting of the Great Bear and Orion with the
instrument called Merkhet (astrolabe)
• The concept of creating sacred landscapes –
reflecting the night sky is not uncommon in
other ancient cultures.
• The monuments like Pyramids, temples, and
tombs aligned with stars and the earths
cardinal points, people believed that they are
bringing the divine energy to earth
• Eg. The Pyramid of Giza- covers 13 acres,
6.5 million limestone blocks
• Four sides accurately aligned to North,
South, east and west-with error less than
half a degree.
• Egyptian believed that the Gods Lived in
Duat- Kingdom of Osiris- where the Orion
and Sirius rise just ahead of the Sun at
dawn on the summer solstice
• Giza Plaza with 3 large Pyramids, the
Sphinx and Nile is a mirror reflection of the
Duat.
• The 3 Pyramids corresponds to the 3 stars
in the belt of Orion, the Sphinx to
constellation Leo, Nile – to Milkyway
Mathematics
• Lacked the Symbol of Zero
• Calculated numbers based on the decimals and the repetitive
numbers based on the power of 10
• The numbers were usually written left to right, starting with the
highest denominators. Eg. 2525 – will be 2000 then 500 then 20 then
5
• They didn’t developed abstract mathematical formula
• They used simple arithmetic of addition and subtraction
Multiplication
• To Multiply and divide they used the table of duplication
• Eg. To multiply 9/15, they would double and redouble the multiplier

• Multiplier Multiplicand
• 1 X 15 =15
• 2 X 15 =30
• 4 X 15 =60
• 8 X 15 =120
• 16 X 15 =240
• To arrive the 9 X 15 (8 X 15 Plus 1X15) so it would be 120 + 15 = 135
Fraction
• Special signs for 2/3, 1/3, 4/5 etc.
• Geometry – area of a rectangle equal to length multiplied by its width
• Area of a circle according to the length of its diameter
• Hypostyle halls at Karnak- Gigantic pillars and colossal statues – used
the knowledge of mathematics to design and develop the
specifications
• To calculate the length, they used a cubit – length of a forearm from
elbow to the tip of the thumb (appx. 52.5 cm)
Medicine
• Doctors of ancient Egypt combined the magic
spell with remedies
• Doctors had there own specialization – At top
most is Greatest Physician of the Upper and
lower Egypt- followed by chief medical officers-
Superintendent- inspectors of physician- Chief
Physician at the bottom- then Physician
• Though mummification was practiced – no idea
of the internal functioning of the human body-
• Heart was the organ for reasoning- They
believed that the blood, urine, excrement and
semen circulated constantly throughout body
• Women practiced contraception by using the concoction such as
honey and natron
• Devised the earliest known pregnancy test- women moisture
barley and emmer (wheat) with urine. If the barley grew it
would be a male child and if the emmer grew it would be a
female child.
• Remedies for various aliments, wounds, stomach complaints,
skin irritation, broken bones. Some have physical benefits others
would have purely Phycological effects.
• Modern Symbol for prescription might have evolved from the
‘eye of Horus’.
Papyrus and Ink
• Used Cyperus Papyrus plant – found throughout the
Mediterranean region, into sheets which could be
rolled into scrolls
• Earliest evidence of Papyrus was unearthed in 2012 at
Waldi al-Jarf- ancient Egyptian harbour located oon the
Red sea Coast- 2560-2550 BC
• Describes the last year of the building of the Great
Pyramid of Giza
• For ink – Mixed Vegetable gum, soot and bee wax to
make black ink
• Replaced soot with other materials – red ocher
Ship Building
• Early boats were made of Papyrus plants- used for fishing and short trips
• These boats were small and were steered with oars and poles
• The typical boat was small and were steered with oars and poles- long and
thin where the ends came to a point that stuck out of the water
• Wooden boats- used acacia wood from Egypt and Cedar from Lebanon-
behan using the masts for manoeuvre by wind
• These boats were without nails – the boats were made by short planks –
hooked together and tied with ropes
• Steering was accomplished by using large rudder oar at the back of the ship
• Large sturdy cargo ships- Overseas trade- can carry stones upto 500
tons
• Funeral boats – belief that Pharoah need boat in the afterlife for
journey to heaven
• A small model of boat was buried with a person
• Often full size boat was included in the tombs of Pharoah
• There are 35 boats of such type in Tutankhamun’s tomb
• When the ships are travelling north in the Nile river , the river
currents will aid the navigation
• While it is travelling south, the wing would aid the navigation
Mirror and cosmetics
• Mirror as early as 2900 BC. Polished bronze shaped
into flat round discs- in representation of the sun God
Re- handle made of wood or ivory
• Blush powders discovered in the tombs of Eretria,
Greece and other pigments found in Egyptian burial
chamber –reign of Amenhotep III and Tutankhamun
• Malachite, a copper ore, provides the green eye
makeup colour, Kohl (Galena) to make black lines giving
an almond shape to the eyes, Red ochre used as rouge
or lip colour
• Henna to stain the fingertips and toes
• Minerals were grounded into powder and mixed with
animal fat to stay on skin
• Eg. Cleopatra wore unique red lipstick created from
flowers, red ochre, fish scales, crushed ants, carmine
and beeswax
Agriculture and Irrigation
• Used Ox drawn Ploughs
• Irrigation canals
Ikhnaton or Akhenaton
• Also called as Amenhotep IV- Pharaoh from
1350-1334 BC.
• He was the son of Amenhotep III and Tiy
• His wife was Nefertiti
• He was the last and important king of 18th
dynasty- religion based on monotheism- the first
historical figure
• He established the cult of Aton or Aten- the sun
God or the solar disc- he considered it as
universal, omnipresent sprit and the sole creator
of the universe
• Some scholar believe that the later period
Hebrew prophets concept of universal God
derived from his cult
New Religion
• Sometimes referred to as Solar Monotheism.
• He changed his royal designation Amenhotep
IV to Akhenaton- ‘Aton is satisfied’
• In the honour of Aton he shifted the capital
from Thebes to Akhetaton- now the site of
Tall al Amarinah
• He ordered the obliteration of the Gods
worshipped by his ancestors
• He fought against the powerful priests who
attempted to maintain the worship of the
state God Amon or Amen.
Implications
• Religious revolution had a profound effect on
the Egyptian art
• They turned from the ritualistic forms to more
realistic representation of nature- all
embrasing power of Aton
• A new religious literature also arose.
• But this religion did not survived the
Akhenaton’s death.
• His son in Law Tutankhamen moved the capital
back to Thebes.
• Restored the polytheistic religion and the
Egyptian art once more became ritualized