Afterlife: Better Version of Earthly Existence

Afterlife: Better Version of Earthly Existence

Ancient Egyptian Religion
Would you ever devote your life and wealth preparing for survival intended for the next world? All ancient Egyptians believed in afterlife and spent their lives preparing for it, as religion guided every aspect of Egyptian life. Egyptian pharaohs built the finest tombs, collected funerary equipment, and were mummified in the most expensive way. Regardless of Egyptians wealth, they all expected the afterlife to be a better version of their earthly existence. Egyptian religion was based on polytheism, or the worship of many deities. The Egyptians had as many as 1500 gods and goddesses (Watson 7). Often gods and goddesses were represented as part human and part animal. For example, Horus, the sky god, had the head of the hawk, and the body of a human. Egyptians considered animals such as the bull, cat, and crocodile to be holy. In addition, ancient Egyptians’ informed many stories of how the world started. According to one legend it started with an ocean in darkness, then a mound of dry land rose up and the sun god appeared, Re (the god of sun) created light and all things. Moreover, the spiritual world that was created by the ancient Egyptians is fascinating, which remains unique in the history of human religion, but somehow familiar in many ways. Without the ancient Egyptian Religion, there would probably be little reason for one to visit Egypt today. The great pyramids would not exist, nor would the famous temples, or even the tombs.
Unlike many modern religions, there was no single or only a few textual source that bound up the religious principals of the ancient Egyptians. There was no bible, this was because the beliefs sometimes varied form region to region, and the myths changed over time. Like the members of any other human culture, the ancient Egyptians were driven to find meaning in existence, but there were also other influences on their religion, such as the need to justify kingship, among others. The king was the link...

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