Divine Pharaohs

One of the strongest traditions in ancient Egyptian life was Divine Kingship. This was the belief that the Pharaoh (King) didn’t just hold the title as political ruler of Egypt, he was also a God. The divine pharaoh was closely associated with Horus, who was the son of Ra, the Sun God.

Because of this, the pharaoh was very powerful, as were the priests. In times of plenty, ancient Egyptians believed it meant that the priests and the pharaoh were doing their job, while during bad times; it meant that the pharaoh and the priests were to blame.

The belief in divine pharaohs likely rose from one of two occurrences:

1. The king, fearful that his power and influence would be taken away, told his people and the public that the gods told him he was to be their earthly delegate. This would make the king untouchable in the eyes of the public and others, securing his position on the throne.
2. The second likely occurrence is that upon a king’s return home after a long absence, he found his queen pregnant. She may have said that a god impregnated her to continue the succession of godly kings. The ancient Egyptians’ lives were wound so tightly with their religion, that neither idea would be challenged. Nobody wanted to incur the wrath of the gods.

Documents of Religion

• The Pyramid Texts: The Pyramid Texts are the oldest collection of religious inscriptions dating back to 3100 B.C. These texts are funerary inscriptions and were eventually divided and categorized. They eventually became part of The Book of the Dead.
• The Rosetta Stone: Carved in 196 B.C., the Rosetta Stone was found in 1799 A.D. by French soldiers in a town called Rosetta. The Rosetta Stone is important because a man by the name of Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered it in 1822, allowing Egyptologists from there on to be able to read hieroglyphics. Although not itself a religious document, the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone enabled historians to read other religious documents of ancient Egypt.
• The Coffin Texts: Partially derived from the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts contain nearly 1,200 spells. Identified first during the First Intermediate Period, the Coffin Texts signified that those who were wealthy enough (not just the Pharaohs) could have an afterlife.
• The Book of the Dead: Containing some of the information from the Pyramid Texts, the Book of the Dead was used as a funerary text in the New Kingdom to about 50 B.C. It can be translated to “Book of coming Forth by Day or “Book of the Emerging forth into the Light.”

Ancient Egypt Religion Facts

• The most worshiped gods were Isis, Osiris, Horus, Anubis, Re, Nu and Seth.
• Villages often chose a specific god to represent.
• Individuals sometimes chose gods to support their profession.
• Gods were often represented by animals like crocodiles, rams, lions and cats.
• Afterlife rituals included the process of embalming (so the spirit would have a place to reside), the “opening of the mouth” ritual (to invoke the senses so they could be used in the afterlife), wrapping the body in cloth that contained jewels and amulets, and placing a mask over the face that closely resembled the deceased.
• Local village gods were worshiped at shrines and privately in people’s houses.
• Polytheism was practiced for 3,000 years, with a brief stint when the Heretic Pharaoh, Akhenaten, worshiped only Aten.
• Many creation myths were developed over time and throughout Egypt.
• Important religious centers were called cult centers and included the Ogdoad of Hermopolis (8 gods), the Ennead of Heliopolis (9 gods), the Triad of Thebes and the Elephantine Triad of Memphis.
• Only the pharaoh, the queen, priests and priestesses were allowed inside temples. Others could only go as far as the temple gates.