Egyptian Life: A Cycle of Sunrises and Sunsets
Present day Egypt is filled with pyramids, tombs, hieroglyphs on stone, and other
relics documenting a complex religious history. Understanding a religion full of stories, family trees, and many gods and their relation to one another, is one of the biggest mysteries Egypt has to offer. While scholars differ on the names and purposes of the gods and their relation to one another, there is an agreement that Egyptians were searching for an understanding of the formation and basic laws of the universe. The Egyptian concept of the world centered around their observation of nature, their land and their experience on this land and of course, the Nile River. The depiction of the world on the lid of the sarcophagus of Wereshnefer, shown below, is one of the first known representations of the world as round. The map is framed by the arching body of Nut, goddess of the sky, who is supported by the outstretched arms of god Shu, representing the atmosphere. At Nut’s feet is the earthy god Geb, with uplifted arms for support. Nut has winged sun disks at her mouth and crotch area which represents sunrise and sunset. The world is shown in …show more content…
Allen (Allen, p. 127). This view presented the world as land below and sky above separated by the atmosphere and within this the cycle daily life takes place with time being defined by the rising and setting of the sun. What existed outside of this picture of the universe was unknown even to the gods, but was highly speculated by Egyptians. This preserved map gave a fairly concise picture of the Egyptian’s understanding of the universe and was thought to be shared with all Egyptians remaining essentially unchanged throughout
Present day Egypt is filled with pyramids, tombs, hieroglyphs on stone, and other
relics documenting a complex religious history. Understanding a religion full of stories, family trees, and many gods and their relation to one another, is one of the biggest mysteries Egypt has to offer. While scholars differ on the names and purposes of the gods and their relation to one another, there is an agreement that Egyptians were searching for an understanding of the formation and basic laws of the universe. The Egyptian concept of the world centered around their observation of nature, their land and their experience on this land and of course, the Nile River. The depiction of the world on the lid of the sarcophagus of Wereshnefer, shown below, is one of the first known representations of the world as round. The map is framed by the arching body of Nut, goddess of the sky, who is supported by the outstretched arms of god Shu, representing the atmosphere. At Nut’s feet is the earthy god Geb, with uplifted arms for support. Nut has winged sun disks at her mouth and crotch area which represents sunrise and sunset. The world is shown in …show more content…
Allen (Allen, p. 127). This view presented the world as land below and sky above separated by the atmosphere and within this the cycle daily life takes place with time being defined by the rising and setting of the sun. What existed outside of this picture of the universe was unknown even to the gods, but was highly speculated by Egyptians. This preserved map gave a fairly concise picture of the Egyptian’s understanding of the universe and was thought to be shared with all Egyptians remaining essentially unchanged throughout