Religious beliefs were a fundamental basis in Ancient Egyptian culture. This thesis reviews the Egyptian polytheistic way of religion and its famous aspect of afterlife. Two art forms are included to demonstrate that religion influenced Egyptian art. The two art forms that will be analyzed in this excerpt are The Tomb of Seti I, and pyramid texts such as The Cannibal Hymn. Egyptian Art and Religious Influences The art of Egypt is heavily influenced by spiritual and religious ideas and culture that extends back thousands of years” (Dagan, 2008).
The Egyptians wrote their history and painted images on their palace walls. They painted pictures that were symbolic to their belief systems from the gods that they worshiped to their belief of the “afterlife”. Even their column designs took a symbolic form to represent the vegetation of Egypt. This thesis states that Ancients Egyptians were a religious peoples and their art serves as hardcore proof of that.
Polytheism is the belief of more than one god. Ancient Egyptians were polytheistic. Egyptian gods influenced the lives of those who lived in Ancient Egypt in all aspects of life especially in the aspect of harvesting. Egyptian gods took both human and animal form and sometimes a combination of the two. Some gods were local gods only, and some were national. Different gods played different roles in Egyptian society, for example, the god Bes was a helper of women when they were in labor, and the goddess Hathor was the protector of the royal palace.
The Term Paper on Egyptian Gods
Amen, The Hidden One (Amon, Amun, Ammon, Amoun) Amen's name means "The Hidden One." Amen was the patron deity of the city of Thebes from earliest times, and was viewed (along with his consort Amenet) as a primordial creation-deity by the priests of Hermopolis. His sacred animals were the goose and the ram. Up to the Middle Kingdom Amen was merely a local god in Thebes; but when the Thebans had ...
Over time foreign gods were also accepted into Egyptian religion. They incorporated other deities in combination of their own gods or as a single god. There are various art forms that characterize royal high priests and royals paying tribute to many different gods as well as being presented unto them (Adams, 2011).
The afterlife was one of the most famous and important part of ancient Egyptian religion. Because Egyptian gods were gods of nature – the sun god, god of the Nile River, the storm god, and others of that sort.
Egyptians believed that if they did good unto nature they would e rewarded by the gods in the afterlife. The afterlife was a beautiful world where the dead lived their lives exactly the way they lived it in the previous life, the difference being that turmoil did not exist. Peace overflowed in the afterlife. The afterlife was to be the perfect version of Egypt. The land was to be plentiful and generations of families were to be reunited in the afterlife. In order for physical existence to be possible, the body had to be preserved to allow a place for their spirit to dwell in the afterlife.
Because of this, mummification was performed to preserve the body. If the body did not last than image of the person was used to substitute the body. The organs were also preserved. Once organs were removed from a body, they were placed in different jars. Jewelry and other valuables were concealed with mummies in their tombs. Before the afterlife, it was believed that the dead would be sent to an Underworld. The Underworld was believed to be a terrible place comparable to the view of hell.
In order to make it to the afterlife and enjoy its pleasures, one had to pass certain trials in order to crossover to the next life. “The religion of the Ancient Egyptians was extremely important to them and their belief in various gods and goddesses was fundamental to their religion. Some of the gods looked after matters of daily importance and others governed the realms of the dead. The Egyptian priests created legends and myths about the Egyptian Afterlife and every Egyptian aspired to this perfect existence” (Alchin, 2009).
In c. 2649 – 2150 B. C.
The Old Kingdom period – large pyramids were constructed as tombs for the pharaohs as a passage way into the afterlife. Among these pyramids is the pyramid of Unas in which pyramid texts were found in his tomb. The first text that appears in the tomb of Unas is the Cannibal Hymn which was probably created sometime between c. 2378 – 2348 B. C. The Cannibal Hymn consists of a spell which metaphorically portrays the supreme power of pharaoh over the gods. The texts draw the picture of King Unas consuming the gods. More specifically King Unas butchers, cooks, and eats the gods as sacrificial bull.
The Essay on Ancient Egyptians Pyramids Pharaoh Life
Hypothesis: The elaborate construction and unique purpose of the pyramids was linked to the Ancient Egyptians desire to preserve and honor the dead. The Ancient Egyptians strong beliefs towards death inspired them to build elaborate pyramid structures. The purpose of the pyramids being constructed in such detail was in order to try and preserve and honor the dead of the highest social status. The ...
Wim van den Dungen states that, “The object of this song of praise, usually a deity, is Pharaoh… Pharaoh reigns over the deities and is feared by them… He is a god, who as a divine cannibal, metaphorically eating the other deities and gulping down their spirits”… (2009).
It is also learned that in acquiring and exercising the powers of the gods it facilitated his passage and confirmed his transformation as a god ruling in the sky (Eyre, 2009).
Later during The Middle Kingdom period, rock cut tombs were used to bury the pharaohs.
Among all tombs is The Tomb of Seti I which is the most developed. It is the deepest and most completely finished of all tombs. The Litany of Re is a religious piece of art that appears for the first time in the tomb of the Seti. The Litany of Re was a composition that was first found in the tomb of Tuthmosis III and the tomb of Useramun and later an actual figure in relation was found in the tomb of Seti. The composition starts with the sun god Re being invoked a total of seventy-five time by different names and by various forms.
A lot of the figures appear in a mummified state, with a few in the form of animals. It was written by the deceased to establish that the dead king and the sun god were equal and to praise his functions as a god, for example, “…he is called “The Weeping One”, referring to the theology of human beings emerging from the tears of the creator god, and as a corpse, he is “He in the Sarcophagus” The double aspect of the sun during the night hours is presented. He is referred to as “The Dark One” or “The One with the Dark Face”, but also as “The Shining one” whose rays are longed for by the dead.
The Essay on Art Analysis: An Ancient Greek Gravestone
"Why me? Why did I have to go so soon? I could have done more with my life. Who is going to take care of the children?" These are thoughts that could have poured through the mind of the woman in the marble stele. The chosen piece is a marble grave marker from the mid-fourth century B.C. It depicts a woman sitting to the right side, with her left side facing the world, in a chair with her head half ...
Re’s beneficent deeds for the blessed dead, as well as his function as in punishing the damned are represented, for he is “The One Who Enchains” and “The One from the Cauldron and generally “The One who Destroys his Enemies”. He is also the one who “has arranged the heat in the Place of Destruction”” (Dunn, 2011).
The relationship between the religion and the art of Ancient Egypt is a topic that cannot be broken down into an expression of two pieces of art. While these works of art are not the only pieces of art that express Ancient Egyptian religion, they served a purpose.
The analysis of these art works and like various others, tell us the very story of how and what the people of Ancient Egypt lived for. They lived to honor the gods in hope of someday living in paradise for all eternity.
