Cults were sects dedicated to serving one deity. From the Old Kingdom onwards, priests were usually the same sex as their god or goddess. Priests and priestesses were allowed to marry, to have children and to own property and land. Aside from ritual observances requiring purification prior to officiating at rites, priests and priestesses lived […]

Alongside the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, when we think of ancient Egypt, we immediately summon an image of an eternal mummy, swathed in bandages. Initially, it was the grave goods that accompanied the mummy into the afterlife that attracted the attention of Egyptologists. Howard Carter’s remarkable discovery of King Tutankhamun’s intact tomb triggered a frenzy of Egyptomania, […]

  Religion influenced nearly every aspect of the ancient Egyptians’ lives. As it was very important to them, they were bound by tradition and unwilling to change. The history of ancient Egyptian religion is rooted in Egypt’s prehistory and it lasted for 3,000 years. With the exception of the Amarna Period (when King Akhenaten practiced […]

Ancient Egyptians loved life, but their life expectancy reached only 40 years old at best. They wanted their lives to continue beyond death, and strongly believed in preservation of the body and providing the deceased with all of the essentials they would need in the afterlife. To them, death was merely a brief disruption in life, […]

Ma’at ruled everything, which made her a very busy goddess. Every day she helped Ra to steer his boat across the sky, making a path for the sun. She was the partner of Thoth and the mother of the eight deities known as the Chief Gods and Goddesses of Hermopolis. Beyond being the force which […]

Ma’at (aka Maat) was the ancient Egyptian concept of cosmic order and balance. The philosophy of Ma’at allowed them to rationalize the events occurring around them. As long as the universe revolved around Ma’at there would be a purity that ensured balance and justice. Through this ideology, Ma’at became the basis of Egyptian culture. The […]

Despite being known for long and peaceful reign within Egypt, Senusret I devoted his rule to offensively protecting Egypt’s borders. Egyptologists consider him the most powerful pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. Prepared for Power Senusret was the son of Amenemhat I and his chief wife Nefertitanen. His birth name meant “Man of […]

The Egyptian God Seth is also known as the god of chaos. According to popular Egyptian mythology it would certainly seem that he created plenty of mayhem. Scholars believe Seth’s cult was one of the oldest in Egypt. Some pharaohs honored him and used his name as part of theirs during certain periods. Who was the […]

At first, nothing existed except Nun, the celestial waters. Ra sprang from Nun with words on his lips and those words created the first firmament. Then he created his daughter Tefnut from his spit and his son Shu from his breath. They lived together until Tefnut and Shu wandered away and Ra missed them. He plucked […]