The Impact Of The Egyptian Cult Of Death In Ancient Egypt

The impact of the Egyptian cult of death had a huge effect on the visual arts of Egypt. Pyramids made for the pharos, silently reach out to the sky seeking eternal life from the sun god Amon. The cult of death is responsible for most of ancient Egypt’s visuals arts and as well as their architectural monuments. From the pyramids and the great tombs to the hieroglyphs and the sphinx Egypt has a fast amount of history that is known greatly around the world as one of the most fast and interesting civilization of all time.
After further research I have come to find that Egypt is one of the top ten places in the world to visit for its outstanding architectural designs such as pyramids, temples, and tombs. Not only is it known for its beautiful architecture …show more content…
Which played an important role in why they centrally focused on death. With this centralization it is no surprise the arts of all forms were also focused on portraying and exemplifying every fascist of death, from paintings in tombs to the hieroglyphs in pyramids all walks of life are portrayed in death. Egyptians had a pantheon of gods representing all aspects of life, the one synonymous for the underworld was Osiris. As reported by an Egyptian myth it is said that Osiris was killed by his brother Set who violently hacked up his body and discarded it into the Nile river. Egyptians associated Osiris with the Nile River because of this and also with the idea of resurrection after his wife seamlessly restored his body back to life. The two soon gave birth to a son that eventually overthrew set and in the end became the ruler of Egypt. This story is a great example of how gods played an important role in ancient Egypt and how even their gods caused death. Furthermore the gods of Egypt may have not of been real but they were truly believed in by the people of Egypt, until one pharaoh named Akhenaten tried to abolish polytheism. His plan did not go as smoothly as he thought because soon after his death the old ways of polytheism came back into …show more content…
A land harsh yet forgiving, beautiful and cruel. In the north lies the fertile land along the Nile to the delta, and to the south you have vast deserts where only the most cunning can scrape out an existence. Egypt’s land was a cruel mistress to early Egyptians, and death was common place. These everyday interactions permeated death into ancient Egyptian culture so strongly many of their deathly artistic masterpieces still survive to this day. For example the pyramids are symbolic to the afterlife they took between twenty to thirty years to complete but when finished they were burial grounds for many pharos and queens. One of the well know artifacts of Egyptian culture was The Book of the Dead which consisted of many funerary prayers that prepared individuals for their final judgment. It is said that one must pass judgment by reciting a series of confessions to the god Osiris god of the underworld and his wife Isis goddess of fertility. The individuals heart must be found true by the trial of Great Balance in order to sail with the sun, if found untrue a monster would devour the heart whole leaving the individual to face a second death. A harsh ending but a true death. One of my favorite artifacts associated with death in the Egyptian culture would have to be the beautifully crafted coffins made for the pharaohs, one in particular that stood out to me the most was the coffin that belonged to King Tutankhamen