Egypt in the Ancient World - Essay Example

The gods, who were believed to be manifested in their cult images, were taken care of by the priests. Offerings were made to them regularly to bring their blessings upon the people. There was a sense of hierarchy about the gods as well with Isis enjoying a higher position than the local gods like Tawaret. The primary difference in this came from the institutional gods being there to help in concerns of kingship whereas the local gods were prominent among the locals of Egyptian towns. There was a kind of ascendency involved with the higher state gods starting out as local deities but climbing slowly to a higher level as more temples were built in their name and opportunities for their worship increased.

The New Kingdom prominently saw the combination of different gods as well. Amun and Ra, two separate higher-order gods were assimilated into one god Amun-Ra. There was a brief period during the reign of Amenhotep the fourth where the vast collection of gods was set aside in favor of the one sun-god Aten but he was soon displaced again by the multiple god system. In the twelfth dynasty, the long-held state god Montu's position was taken over by Amun, the god of war, who came to dominate most of the period during the New Kingdom.

The ruling princes at that time even claimed their great victory against the Hyksos to have been his blessing. This ascendence by Amun was solidified by the later assimilation with Ra and this combined new god became the chief patron of the royal family.The new deity of Amun-Ra was dedicated to a great temple complex at Karnak which was a place of competition for the kings. Each wanted to outdo the previous in terms of its splendor and offerings. The greatest temple was to Amun, surrounded by temples to smaller deities but they all came under the subservience of the Amun priesthood.

This was fitting in a way as Amun was raised to the position of the creator god. The cult statue of Amun was paraded in one huge festival of Opet for more than three weeks as a celebration which highlights his importance. The affluence of the temple complex also naturally increased with the offerings and the level of estates it once held reached great figures at its peak which highlights the importance of the Karnak complex.