Mallory Hogan Core Periods 1 & 2 March 1st, 2013 I Search Egypt Essay Myths and Mysteries of Ancient

t Egyptian Times The study of Egyptian history spans more than 3,000 years. Over this period time, archeologists and historians have found so much information on the ancient Egyptian culture. Over time, the culture has flowered and developed. I was fascinated about the interesting beliefs and myths this ancient culture believed in. There are countless amazing stories and beliefs but I was fascinated in things such as the creation story, the Egyptian soul, and daily temple rituals. What are some of the most famous Egyptian myths? I want to take you on my journey through discovering these interesting topics of an ancient world. One of the most well-known myths is the story of how everything came to be. Each culture usually has a different creation myth or belief that is told through a story. It was believed that at the beginning, the only thing that existed was the ocean. Then, an egg that rose up out on the surface of the water containing the sun god, Ra, appeared. Ra brought with him four children. The gods Shu and Geb, and the goddesses Tefnut and Nut. Together, Tefnut and Nut became the atmosphere of the world. They both stood upon Geb, who became the earth. Ra then raised up his fourth child, Nut, whom became the sky. However the sun god, Ra, ruled over all. The god Geb and the goddess Nut later had two sons. Their names were Set and Osiris. They also had two daughters named Isis and Nephthys. The son Osiris succeeded Ra as the king of all earth, with the help of his sister-wife. Set hated his brother very much and killed him. However, Isis embalmed her husbands body while the god Anubis helped her. Isis used powerful charms and eventually resurrected Osiris. Osiris then became the god of the underworld. The son of Osiris, Horus, defeated Set in a battle and took over and became king of the earth. Egypts belief about the creation of the world is intriguing like many of their other thoughts on topics like this one. The Egyptian people of the ancient world were deeply involved with religion. In the daily life of Ancient Egypt, they had daily temple rituals. The most important rituals would occur early at sunrise. There was also one at mid-day and when the sun set again. The morning service would flood with priesthood and other servants of the temple. The

servants were usually preparing food, drinks, flowers, etc. Everything was et up to appeal the main god as well as the other gods existing in shrines set up around the temple. In the morning service, the Ritual Purity ceremony, the Awakening of the god ceremony and completed with the serving the god ceremony. On the other hand, the midday and sundown rituals were much shorter. Libations and the burning of incense were the only acts performed. This was believed to assure the gods presence in the temple. The temples were thought of as the home of the gods. It was believed that if the god was cared for and happy, it would stay with its people. But, if the god was treated poorly, it would mean very hard times for Egypt itself. As you can see, the people loved their gods and wanted them to remain happy. There are two elements that made up mysterious and beautiful Egyptian soul. There were the roles of Ba and Ka. Ba was the conscience and Ka was the physical soul. Bas most important function was to guide each individual humans conscience. He was to bring on kindness honor, and compassion. After the death of the human, Ba had the power to have the deceased to exit his tomb and join his Ka. They would fly together into the journey of the afterlife, and the judgment in the Hall of Maat. Ka, who was the physical soul, was not a piece of the personality, but a separated part of the self. Sometimes it had to guide fortunes of the individual in life, but was mostly associated with the persons fortunes. Ka was a spiritual twin born with every soul and lived on after he died. However this was only if he had a place to live. This place was the body of the person. Ka was also associated with objects that were considered inanimate. For example, Osiris was called the Ka of the Pyramids. This was the Egyptian belief and was described to be the Egyptian soul. The topics that I looked in to were the most fascinating for me. I thought of several cultures when I was beginning to think of a research topic. When I finally got the idea of Egyptian myths, I started looking into mummification. I ended up not looking deeper into mummification, but into different myths. I realized that there was so much to the Egyptian culture and it could not be described easily. I hope readers realized how spectacular this culture really is.

Bibliography "Ancient Egypt." - What Were the Beliefs and Values of Society? WPMU DEV -The WordPress Experts, 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Fadi, Ayman. "Egyptian Soul - Ba and Ka." Egyptian Soul - Ba and Ka. N.p., 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2013. Robert. "Ancient Egyptian Creation Stories." Ancient Egyptian Creation Stories. N.p., 2001. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.