Funerary texts (Amduat • Books of Breathing • Book of Caverns • Book of the Dead • Book of the Earth • Book of Gates)
Related religions
Atenism
Hermeticism
Thelema
Kemeticism (Kemetic Orthodoxy • Church of the Most High Goddess)
Ancient Egypt portal
v
t
e
Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs were centered around a variety of complex rituals that were influenced by many aspects of Egyptian culture. Religion was a major contributor, since it was an important social practice that bound all Egyptians together. For instance, many of the Egyptian gods played roles in guiding the souls of the dead through the afterlife. With the evolution of writing, religious ideals were recorded and quickly spread throughout the Egyptian community. The solidification and commencement of these doctrines were formed in the creation of afterlife texts which illustrated and explained what the dead would need to know in order to complete the journey safely.
Egyptian religious doctrines included three afterlife ideologies: belief in an underworld, eternal life, and rebirth of the soul. The underworld, also known as the Duat, had only one entrance that could be reached by traveling through the tomb of the deceased. The initial image a soul would be presented with upon entering this realm was a corridor lined with an array of fascinating statues, including a variation of the hawk-headed god, Horus. The path taken to the underworld may have varied between kings and common people. After entry, spirits were presented to another prominent god, Osiris. Osiris would determine the virtue of the deceased's soul and grant those deemed deserving a peaceful afterlife. The Egyptian concept of 'eternal life' was often seen as being reborn indefinitely. Therefore, the souls who had lived their life elegantly were guided to Osiris to be born again.[2]
In order to achieve the ideal afterlife, many practices had to be performed during one's life. This may have included acting justly and following the beliefs of Egyptian creed. Additionally, the Egyptians stressed the rituals completed after an individual's life has ended. In other words, it was the responsibility of the living to carry out the final traditions required so the dead could promptly meet their final fate. Ultimately, maintaining high religious morals by both the living and the dead, as well as complying to a variety of traditions, guaranteed the deceased a smoother transition into the underworld.
Egyptians hoped to perform their jobs and partake in their hobbies in the afterlife.[3] Rivers and natural locales with fertile soil for farmers were thought to exist in the afterlife, and drawings on tomb walls of objects such as boats were thought to make them appear in the afterlife for people who used the objects before they died.[3]
^"Egyptian Book of the Dead". Egyptartsite.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
^Mojsov, Bojana (2001). "The Ancient Egyptian Underworld in the Tomb of Sety I: Sacred Books of Eternal Life". The Massachusetts Review. 42 (4): 489–506. JSTOR 25091798.
^ abWilliams, Ann R., ed. (2022). Treasures of Egypt: A Legacy In Photographs from the Pyramids to Cleopatra. Foreword by Fredrik Hiebert. Washington, D.C: National Geographic. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-4262-2263-4.
and 29 Related for: Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs information
AncientEgyptianafterlifebeliefs were centered around a variety of complex rituals that were influenced by many aspects of Egyptian culture. Religion...
AncientEgyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancientEgyptian culture. It centered...
from tombs and monuments, giving insight into the ancientEgyptianafterlifebeliefs. The ancientEgyptian language had no word for "art". Artworks served...
similar beliefs in other animistic beliefs The Ti bon ange and the Gros bon ange in Haitian Vodou; Soul dualism in Haitian Vodou. The AncientEgyptian terms...
acclaim given to him is 'right'". The term is involved in ancientEgyptianafterlifebeliefs, according to which deceased souls had to be judged morally...
11 Fergus Fleming, Alan Lothian, AncientEgypt's Myths and Beliefs, 2011, p. 96 "Door to Afterlife found in Egyptian tomb". meeja.com.au. 30 March 2010...
in virtually every aspect of ancientEgyptian civilization, and more than 1,500 of them are known by name. Many Egyptian texts mention deities' names...
AncientEgyptian deities are the gods and goddesses worshipped in ancientEgypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient...
well. One belief that was at the center of Egyptianbeliefs about life after death was the belief in the ka. The ka was believed by the Egyptians to be one's...
(/ɑːˈruː/; AncientEgyptian: jꜣrw, lit. 'reeds'), or the Field of Reeds (sḫt-jꜣrw, sekhet-aaru), is the name for heavenly paradise in Egyptian mythology...
the country Egypt. AncientEgyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3100 BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology)...
literature that makes up the ancientEgyptian funerary texts is a collection of religious documents that were used in ancientEgypt, usually to help the spirit...
II A figure of Wepwawet, British Museum AncientEgyptianafterlifebeliefs List of wolves Pat Remler, Egyptian Mythology A to Z: A Young Readers Companion...
afterlife, and a person's actions during life had no effect on how the person would be treated in the world to come. Unlike in the ancientEgyptian afterlife...
[citation needed] According to Egyptianbeliefs, this crown represents Osiris as the god of fertility, ruler of the afterlife, and a representative of the...
around them. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part of ancientEgyptian religion. Myths appear frequently in Egyptian writings and art...
Isis was a major goddess in ancientEgyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom...
different roles in different contexts. Egyptian texts refer to words 'bꜣk' and 'ḥm' that mean laborer or servant. Some Egyptian language refers to slave-like people...
on the religious aspect of ancientEgyptian tradition. The others are usually devoted to other parts of it, such as "Egyptian wisdom" or magic and interprets...
Egyptian temples were built for the official worship of the gods and in commemoration of the pharaohs in ancientEgypt and regions under Egyptian control...
traditional Berber religion is the ancient and native set of beliefs and deities adhered to by the Berbers. Many ancient Berber beliefs were developed locally, whereas...
The decline of ancientEgyptian religion is largely attributed to the spread of Christianity in Egypt. Its strict monotheistic nature did not allow the...
Maat or Maʽat (Egyptian: mꜣꜥt /ˈmuʀʕat/, Coptic: ⲙⲉⲓ) comprised the ancientEgyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice...
sustain life and to revive human souls in the afterlife. The ankh was a widespread decorative motif in ancientEgypt, also used decoratively by neighbouring...