Effect of Religion on Ancient Egypt - Research Paper Example

Number] Effect of Religion on Ancient Egypt Religion has always played a very integral part in the ancient societies of the world. The religion of ancient Egyptians was a complicated mixture of polytheistic ideologies and beliefs (Brewer and Teeter 54). The Egyptians believed that all the natural elements and forces were controlled by a group of deities and their religious practices were centered on worshipping, praising and pleasing their gods in an attempt to gain favors. The pharaoh, or the Egyptian king, was thought to be a direct descendant of the gods. Therefore, he was believed to be a symbol of communication between the gods and the people and the Egyptians were obligated to perform rituals and offerings in honor of the pharaoh. Religion in Egypt was a central part of the daily routine and believed to be the reason for existence. The Egyptian gods had the most important role to play in the society. The gods were believed to be in control of all natural and human aspects of the society. For example, the god Ra was associated with the sun while Anubis was responsible for resurrection. The purpose of the lives of the ancient Egyptians was to keep their gods pleased. If a farmer needed rain for his crops to grow well that season, he will pray to the gods and offer favors in exchange of his wish; so will a boy longing to have a camel or a woman wanting to get married. Thus, every need of the Egyptians was linked with the gods. Magical acts were also used to interact with gods (Brewer and Teeter 132). This helped in bringing unity within the ancient Egyptian society as every individual turned towards the same source to plead. The Egyptian religion taught the people the lesson of good and bad. Every child born in an Egyptian household was made to believe that if s/he does not pray or offer the rituals, the gods will be displeased with him/her and punish him/her (Allen 79). Likewise, if s/he would perform good deeds and prayed regularly, s/he would be rewarded with a perfect life and all his/her wishes would be fulfilled. This helped develop a strong conscience within the Egyptians and prevented them from committing acts that were ethically, morally and religiously wrong. The fear of gods also made them loyal to the pharaoh and brought law and order to the country because the word of the pharaoh was considered to be the word of gods (Allen 80). Thus, the chances of rebellions against the authority of the pharaoh were also minimal and the pharaoh had a strong hold over is empire and the people living in it. ‘Ma’at’ was another important concept of the Egyptian religion. It encompassed the ideas of justice, truth and order and was the central theme for the balance of the universe for the Egyptians. They believed that the balance of this universe or Ma’at was under a constant threat of being disordered by the evil forces and the people of the world were responsible for saving it. The Egyptian priests taught the people that the key to maintaining Ma’at was to coexist in the society and cooperate with each other (Assmann 5). This helped promote peace and harmony in the society and removed many of the evil acts. Religion also helped the Egyptians to organize their lives. They would try to get the approval of their gods in every action they were about to perform. They had a strong faith that their gods were all-knowing; thus, they sought their advice and help in everything. A landowner would pray before selling his land, a soldier would offer a ritual before joining the army, etc. Religion and worship allowed the Egyptians to understand their gods and, thus, lead a better life. Religion was reflected in almost all the activities of the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptian time had a close relation with the Ma’at. They sought recurring patterns in nature and linked them with the renewal of Ma’at. Some of the patterns were the flooding of the Nile each year, successions of the pharaohs and, most importantly, the daily ascent and descent of Ra, the sun god. The Egyptian time system of the sundial was also based on Ra. A value system was also set up the pharaoh with the ‘guidance’ of Ma’at which defined what was ethically right and what was ethically wrong for the Egyptians (Assmann 5). This helped maintain social order in his empire and set up a criminal system under which the guilty were punished for their actions. An important constituent of the Egyptian religion was the concept of life after death (Brewer & Teeter, chp 6). The beliefs relating this idea were quite elaborate. The Egyptians believed that they possessed a ‘force of life’ called ka which enabled them to live (Allen, 79-80). It was further thought that the sustenance of ka was from the food that they ate and the water that they drank. That is why the people of ancient Egyptian society used to give food and water as offerings at many rituals. The offered items were actually for sustaining the ka of the people who had passed away (Allen 79). This was important because they believed in life after death or resurrection. Traditions told them that the ka, usually that of the pharaohs, could return to the body of the dead and form the akh, or the revived form (Allen 80). However, this could only happen if the funeral rituals were performed properly and extravagantly. Hence, only the pharaohs were able to afford this luxury. Every pharaoh got himself a tomb made in his lifetime which was actually one of the pyramids that can still be seen in contemporary Egypt. The construction of pyramids had a huge economic benefit on ancient Egypt as well (Allen 80). They provided employment to hundreds of Egyptian men and allowed them to earn their family’s bread and butter. This is seen as one of the most significant effect of religion over the people of ancient Egypt. In case of common ordinary people, life after death still meant something. They believed that the after lives of the people depended on their behavior and actions in the first life (Allen 80). Therefore, it was again important to keep the gods pleased. This was done through offerings, rituals and sacrifices. The Egyptian temples had different rooms for each of their gods as every god only ruled one element of nature and there was plenty of them. Visits to the ceremonies held at the temples were made on a daily basis rather than merely on weekends or holidays and prayers of having a prosperous after life were usually made. Some people also worshipped the gods to seek refuge from the evil spirits which would harm them and the society and motivate the people to do evil (Allen 79). Thus, religion was seen as means of safeguarding the Egyptian society. Egyptian gods played a role similar to the one the Romans and the Greek ones did; they were a means for the pharaoh and the priests to grab money and assets of the common people. The ceremonies and rituals performed were on a very large scale where people turned up with their food, drinks, jewelry, clothing and other prized possessions and exchange them for the blessings of the gods. After the ceremonies ended, the collected wealth was distributed among the country’s priests. Very rarely, some of the commoners were given a portion of the royal wealth as a symbol of open-heartedness from the gods. The gods also were important characters in the stories that the Egyptians told each other for entertainment and educational purposes (Brewer and Teeter 26). Most of them were often personified for the forces of nature such as weather, fertility, water, etc. Many of the religious characters and traditions were even part of children’s bedtime stories. Religion also had a crucial role to play in the social class differences that arose within the Egyptian society. There were basically two social classes in ancient Egypt: the upper class which comprised mainly of the religious leaders and the lower class which comprised of all the ordinary people of Egypt. As usual, most of the luxuries were enjoyed by the upper class because they were thought to be closer to the gods. Only the priests had access to the inner areas of the temple. The common people could only go as far as the courtyards. The priests also received spoils of wars and shares in crops and livestock by the pharaohs. They were also served food of high quality from the pharaoh’s personal storehouses ("Eternal Egypt"). Moreover, the priests usually wore white linen or leather, both of which were quite expensive pieces of clothing at that time ("Eternal Egypt"). Such discrimination was deeply resented by the common people and several serious rebellious movements by masses were experienced by ancient Egypt. Even the taxation system of ancient Egypt had a relation with the religion of the country. The poor lower class was forced to give large amount of taxes in various forms of labor which was needed for the construction and maintenance of the temples, statues and pyramids. Anyone who failed to pay the demanded tax was threatened to suffer from the wrath of the gods both in the living world and the afterlife. S/he was also dealt with severely by the pharaoh himself. The only ones who had immunity from the tax were the priests and the religious leaders which, undoubtedly, created further differences in the society. Religion, indeed, had very significant effects of ancient Egypt and its people. It helped the country unify under one single ruler or leader who governed with a set of laws that was unchallenged and unopposed. It had a good value system, a just criminal system and a legal taxation system. It gave the Egyptians the opportunity to hold someone accountable for the state of the county; if the country prospered, food was widely available and life was comfortable, they were to thank the pharaoh for it was because of his successful communication with the gods that they were pleased. However, in times of droughts and famines, the pharaohs received the blame. In both cases, one must note, the trust the ancient Egyptians put in the divinity of the pharaoh is clearly seen. Though the religion brought discrimination and social class differences within the society, the ceremonies and spiritual and religious festivals held at a regular basis managed to bridge the gap between the classes and bring the Egyptians together as one nation. Above all, the religion gave the Egyptians the most important thing in life: a reason for existence or, to be more specific, an honorable existence.   Works Cited Allen, James P. Middle Egyptian: an Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Print. Assmann, Jan. The Search for God in Ancient Egypt. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001. Print. Brewer, Douglas J, and Emily Teeter. Egypt and the Egyptians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Print. "Religious Leaders." Eternal Egypt. Web. 17 Oct 2012. http://www.eternalegypt.org/EternalEgyptWebsiteWeb/HomeServlet?ee_website_action_key=action.display.topic.details&trait_item_id=10000231&language_id=1&text=text&page.refresh=Y. Read More