Lauren Gebhardt
Professor Paga
Urbanism in the Ancient World
22 February, 2016
Religion in the Ancient Egyptian City of Thebes Religion and ritual practices played a big role in the process of urbanization in ancient times. A major source of evidence of urbanization in Ancient Egypt is the city known as Thebes. To Ancient Egyptians, the city was known as Waset or Niwt, meaning “The City,” but the Greeks changed the name to Thebes because it was “the model for every city” (Snape 150). In Thebes, having common ritual practices and religion encouraged urbanization because it brought the people together under a common belief system, led to the building of monumental structures, and affected the politics of the city. There is a lot of evidence …show more content…
There are two main religious temples in Thebes, one is in Luxor and one is in Karnak. Both are dedicated to the god Amun, but also have chapels dedicated to other deities within them. The two temples, though in different locations, are linked together by rituals (Gates 105). In ancient times, there was a road that lead between the two temples and was lined with sphinxes. The sphinxes were unique in that they had ram heads, to honor the god, Amun, but were later replaced with the more typical human-headed sphinxes (Sullivan 2001). Other temples in Karnak include the temple of Mut, the temple of Aten, the temple of Khonsu, and the temple of Montu (Sullivan …show more content…
The sanctuary was the most sacred part. It was a home for the god, Amun, and it was where his statue was kept. Not only was the room itself significant, but its location had meaning as well. The sanctuary of a temple was to be built on the highest ground so as to represent earth, or order, emerging from water, or chaos, at the time of creation. Courtyards were open to the sky in order to allow for worship of the sun, Amun-re. The pylons were sloped to represent mountains on the horizon where the sun would rise and set. Hypostyle halls had symbolic meaning as well. The floor represented “the marshy ground of the earliest world,” the columns represented “the reeds that grew there,” and the ceiling was a representation of the sky (Gates
Professor Paga
Urbanism in the Ancient World
22 February, 2016
Religion in the Ancient Egyptian City of Thebes Religion and ritual practices played a big role in the process of urbanization in ancient times. A major source of evidence of urbanization in Ancient Egypt is the city known as Thebes. To Ancient Egyptians, the city was known as Waset or Niwt, meaning “The City,” but the Greeks changed the name to Thebes because it was “the model for every city” (Snape 150). In Thebes, having common ritual practices and religion encouraged urbanization because it brought the people together under a common belief system, led to the building of monumental structures, and affected the politics of the city. There is a lot of evidence …show more content…
There are two main religious temples in Thebes, one is in Luxor and one is in Karnak. Both are dedicated to the god Amun, but also have chapels dedicated to other deities within them. The two temples, though in different locations, are linked together by rituals (Gates 105). In ancient times, there was a road that lead between the two temples and was lined with sphinxes. The sphinxes were unique in that they had ram heads, to honor the god, Amun, but were later replaced with the more typical human-headed sphinxes (Sullivan 2001). Other temples in Karnak include the temple of Mut, the temple of Aten, the temple of Khonsu, and the temple of Montu (Sullivan …show more content…
The sanctuary was the most sacred part. It was a home for the god, Amun, and it was where his statue was kept. Not only was the room itself significant, but its location had meaning as well. The sanctuary of a temple was to be built on the highest ground so as to represent earth, or order, emerging from water, or chaos, at the time of creation. Courtyards were open to the sky in order to allow for worship of the sun, Amun-re. The pylons were sloped to represent mountains on the horizon where the sun would rise and set. Hypostyle halls had symbolic meaning as well. The floor represented “the marshy ground of the earliest world,” the columns represented “the reeds that grew there,” and the ceiling was a representation of the sky (Gates