"The Egyptians are religious to excess beyond any other nation"- Herodotus.The Ancient Egyptians were in existence over 4000 years ago. They were average people, much like us in the sense that they had a set of morals and a belief structure. For a nation that lived long ago they were remarkably advanced in their technology and knowledge. However as Herodotus stated they were excessively religious. This has been proven through the ampleness of their gods, superstitions and religious practices. Religious practices influenced their lives greatly and undoubtedly changed the way in which the Egyptians as a civilization grew. There were hundreds of gods that went by many different names and rei ...view middle of the document...
Atum emerged from Nu as the sun god at the beginning of time and is the creator of the world. Since Atum was all alone he chose to mate with his shadow. The god Atum was known as the 'Great he-She', and a bisexual. The ancient Egyptians found this act acceptable, as they found sexual orientation acceptable. Sexuality and sexual practices differed greatly in Egyptian Society. Atum the creator, used masturbation as a technique to create other holy beings. Since mating with his shadow Atum gave birth to two children by spiting out his son (shu) and vomiting out his daughter (Tefnut). Shu represented the air and the principles of life and Tefnut represented rain and the principles of order. The three of them remained in the watery chaos of Nu and after sometime Atum was separated from his children. When they were finally reunited Atum wept tears of joy. When his tears hit the ground men grew and began to create the world. The Egyptians believed in gods to explain things that they could not understand. The Egyptians did not know how the Nile rose each year.They created a god to explain how the Nile rose each year. When they could explain something, there was no need for a god for it. If the Egyptians did not understand something and they realized how it was explained, the god of that thing became less important. A god also became important in how the area it was important to became more powerful or less powerful. The Egyptians believe that the gods would make the sunrise and set and make evil stay away from them. Egyptians wanted to please the gods so they built huge temples in their honor. If the Egyptians did not please the gods the Nile might not rise high that year. The Egyptians did everything that they could to please the gods. A pattern seems to be developing showing that the ancient Egyptians may have had an obsession with bodily secretions and functions.The Egyptians had a very influential religion that can be analyzed using the five elements of religion: authority, faith, rituals, moral code, and concept of the deity. First, the authority of the Egyptian religion. The main authority of the Egyptian religion was the Pharaoh; he had divine right over the people and...
