The Ancient Egyptian Culture

The ancient Roman and Greek societies received the most recognition but my interest resides elsewhere. The one civilization that drew much attention and had a lot of interaction with Rome and Greece is ancient Egypt. To the Roman and Greek peoples the Egyptian civilization was seen as a mysterious realm of exotica, power, and wealth. For these reasons I, just like the ancient world, wanted to know more about this culture. My main focus was the unique belief system the Egyptians possessed. I was most interested in their deities and their stance on the afterlife. The questions that fueled my research are as follow: Who were the deities that the Egyptians worshiped. How did the Egyptian religion function? How did the Romans view the Egyptian …show more content…
The Book of the Dead is a religious Egyptian text that was used during funeral ceremonies. The book contains many rituals and spells that are meant to aid in the deceased person pass through the underworld on their way to the afterlife. Egyptians believed that after death an individual faced 42 gods and testified about his or her behavior on Earth. That testimony was called the negative confession. This is what a common confession would consist of, “Hail, Hept-khet, who comest forth from Kher-aha, I have not committed robbery with violence,” or “ Hail, Ari-em-ab-f, who comest forth from Tebu, I have never stopped [the flow of] water.” (Budge) It was believed in the Egyptian religion that humans possessed a life force or their ka as it was called. This ka left the body at the point of death, during life the ka was sustained by the food and drink the person consumed. After death the ka must still be fed so offerings of food and drink were often brought to the gravesite of the deceased person. Although a person’s ka moved on their ba, spiritual characteristics that make us unique would remain with the body. …show more content…
This belief is how the practice of mummification began. Mummification is a process used by the Egyptians before burial to ensure that the body will be well preserved. The process of mummification is a very long process and is only performed by specific individuals known as embalmers. First the body is washed by the water of the Nile River. Then the organs are removed and dried, the brain is removed with a long hook pushed through the nose. The body is covered and filled with natron to dry it out. The body sits for forty days then is washed and rubbed with oil in an attempt to make the skin look healthy. The organs are then placed in containers called canopic jars which are thought to protect the organs. After all this the body is finally prepared to be wrapped in linens and placed in its