Ancient Egyptian Gods and Beliefs    

By: Lukas 

    Did you know  ancient Egyptians had over 20 gods? The Ancient Egyptians believed in polytheism, which means many gods. The ancient Egyptians had so many gods to explain life and how  it came to be. They also believed in many gods to explain natural events.

    Most Ancient cultures believed in polytheism . monotheism which means one god wasn’t popular until after the death of Christ.                                                                                                                            

      The Ancient Egyptians believed in over 20 gods. Below I've listed some...

Osiris- Said to have once ruled Egypt with his sister Isis. He also was the lord of the underworld. Taweret (taw-ere-ette)- The goddess of childbirth. Amun (ah-moon)- The god of Thebes. Thoth (the-oth)- The god of wisdom and writing. Ra (Rah)- The Egyptian sun god when the sun is at  full strength. In the morning the sun god is reborn as Khepri (k-he- pree), the scarab beetle. In the evening he is an old man., Atum (au-tome), then he dies. Horus (hore-us)- the hawk god, the son of Isis and Osiris. Amun- re, The state god, he was also the king of the gods. Hathor (haw-thore) The love goddess, she was also the wife of Horus. Khons- the moon god. Hapy (happy)- the Nile god. Nut- The sky goddess. 

    One of the most famous of all ancient Egyptian beliefs was that cats were   believed to be the guardians of the underworld.

    The greatest known ancient Egyptian belief is in the Afterlife. The preparation for the afterlife was done in many steps. The ritual was often done by the family members. There were Priests that said prayers while a man who wore a mask of Anubis did the mummification. Anubis- (a-new-bis)  was the the Jackal headed god that  showed the way to the afterlife. Then he judged the heart. If the person was bad in his life, he went to the deep fiery underworld!!  If the person had a nice heart, Anubis showed the way to the afterlife to the dead person.

     First of all,  the mourners cut you open with a scalpel and removed your vital organs such as your kidneys, lungs, heart, and more. Then they took out your brain by shoving a red hot poker with a hook on the end up your nose.  then they ripped it out piece by piece. They filled you up with salt for 42 days, at least, to dry out. After that they put honey on you and other preservatives. Next, they wrapped you up in up to 4" of cotton and/or linen.  the mourners then put you in up to three coffins after which they locked you up in a sarcophagus. Finally, If you were a pharaoh they buried you in a pyramid in the kings chamber with all of your belongings.  

    The pyramid was usually armed with booby traps such as darts or had fake king's chamber to fool grave robbers.  

    In conclusion the ancient Egyptians were highly sophisticated and religious for their time. By mummifying people they learned how to operate on people to treat injuries and illnesses. 

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