Egyptian Gods

Essay by Anonymous UserA, February 1997

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The daily life of the Egyptian was greatly influenced by their gods and worshipping practices.

From childbirth to death, the gods ruled over the lives of every Egyptian. Their importance was

felt in every home and their ever presence depicted through statues, wall paintings and personal

talismans on the individual.

Their worshipping practices towards the numerous gods provides an opportunity to understand

the people, their culture and overall life style.

The Egyptians way of life and religion are closely linked. The power or leadership of chiefs or

heads of the clans during the early development of Egyptian life were connected with some force

of nature. Leaders were linked to 'gods' and were depicted with having animal heads. This

belief evolved to the point where gods such as Horus, the faclon-headed god of Behdet in

northern Egypt, was linked with the life-giving sun. Soirees, another god worshipped in the

Delta, was related to fertility.

Through conquest and expanding territories, the role and position

of the gods took on new dimension. Horus, through the unification of the two Egypt's became

the national god.

Egyptians loved life and were encouraged by the continual renewed landscape of the Nile valley

to believe that life continued after death. Osiris, god of fertility and the Nile became

worshipped as the god of death and rebirth. The people believed that when the Nile was low,

Osiris died, and that he was reborn bringing forth new life when the waters rose again. This life

and death, birth and rebirth worshipping was a continuous circle in the life of the people. Along

the way of this life, hundreds of deities had to be appeased with chants, rituals and offerings. The

gods of sun, moon, earth and water had to be showered with favour to assure the yearly

life-giving flood...