Ancient Egypt Religion

Since the pharaoh was also viewed as a force, he was also considered a god and thus controlled the religion of the time. This made different gods popular during certain periods in ancient Egypt religion.

At no point in time did Egypt have a consistent form of religion. There were certain deities that were popular and worshipped across the country, gods like Osiris Horus, Amun, Ra and Isis. Amun was the closest god to become a monotheistic deity.

It was believed that Amun represented the essential and hidden forces.

The Egyptians also believed that gods could merge and become another god. For awhile Horus merged with Ra becoming Re-Horakhty - Ra, who is Horus of the Two Horizons. He was believed to be in command of the sky, the earth, and underworld. He was also represented by the falcon (see above picture.)

At another point Ra merged with Amun. Amun was believed to create breath therefore was associated to wind not the sun. This god originated in Thebes. Believers of Ra and Amun began to get popular in the New Kingdom so to help unify them the god Amun-Ra was created.

Osiris was the beloved King of Egypt who became lord of the Afterlife when he was brutually murdered.

Isis was a goddess in ancient Egypt whose worship managed to spread to the ancient Roman and Greek cultures. Iris represented the perfect mother, nature, magic and fertility. She was also Horus's mother.

The god Horus is one of the oldest gods worshipped in ancient Egypt religion. Horus was represented by the falcon and was the king. He was also known as the god of the sky, war and protection.

To find out more about ancient Egypt religion and the gods they believed in, click here.

The Egyptians believed in the afterlife. They thought that once you died, you still had ka in your body. Ka which needed food and water to survive.

They also believed that the body had ba still attached. Ba which was the person's personality. And the only way to remove Ba was a ceremony. Once Ba was free it could rejoin ka and live as an akh.

The Egyptians thought that the body needed to be preserved because Ba returned to the body every night to receive new life and join akh in the morning.

In early Egyptian history only the pharaoh's had Ba, so only they would be mummified with a tomb built to protect them. Usually this tomb was a pyramid.

During the late old kingdom, the ability to have Ba and the possibility of an afterlife encompassed all Egyptians.

Funerary Texts were an important part in ancient Egypt religion. These texts were created to ensure souls made it to the afterlife.