Ancient Egypt The Afterlife The Afterlife The ancient

Ancient Egypt The Afterlife

The Afterlife The ancient Egyptians believed that before a person could get to the afterlife, that they had to pass through the underworld. The underworld was a place that was full of terrifying monsters and dangerous animals. A person would need magic to successfully overcome these threats. The ancient Egyptians chose spells to take with them on their journey. The spells were chosen from a group of spells known as the Book of the Dead. The spells were then written on a papyrus scroll which was buried with them in their tombs.

Egyptian Afterlife • The Egyptian religion centered around polytheism (which is the belief in many gods and not just one) • Ancient Egyptians especially Pharaohs practiced a very specific ceremonies to ensure they would attain the Afterlife • Egyptians believed that each person had a soul after death but they needed their body as a place for the soul to live in the afterlife

Egyptian Book of the Dead https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Owk. Hnj. S 4_yo Part 1 https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=fl. XCZb 00 s. B 0 Part 2

Mummification o Every morning Egyptians would wash their clothes with washing soda and brushed their teeth with bread soda o If you put the two together you get Natron o Natron was the preserving agent used in mummification

Mummification o After death the first step is mummification o All Pharaohs and some important Egyptian citizens were turned into a mummy o To the Egyptians preserving the physical appearance was extremely important so that the man’s soul could recognize his body in the afterlife

Pharaoh’s Tomb • The tombs of Pharaohs had many, many hieroglyphics • The object was to recreate the cosmos and give direction out of the Underworld

• Tombs were constructed to be resurrection guides that would reunite Pharaoh’s body & soul Pharaoh’s Tomb • Pharaohs also took food, beer, weapons, & servants, gold, & jewels • Later instead of real servants Pharaohs took Shabtis are small figures of adult male or female form inscribed with a special formula to be recited (Shabti formula), or figures representing the function expressed in that spell, namely, to carry out heavy manual tasks on behalf of a person in the afterlife.

Shabtis o Shabtis were little figurines that were buried with the Pharaoh in place of servants o Egyptians believed that in the afterlife if the Pharaoh was to call on one of his servants who was still alive the Shabti representing that servant would wake up a perform the task o Pharaohs would take hundreds of Shabtis into their tombs, one for almost everyday of the year

The Soul Takes Flight

The Soul Takes Flight o If you didn’t live a good life your soul was thrown to the devourer of souls o Before the soul can take flight it starts in the lair (home) of the devourer of souls and the man and his soul has to find his way out o Here is the story of the Egyptian Afterlife

The Pharaoh’s Voyage o The Pharaoh’s soul awakens in the Devourer of souls home (Underworld) o On the wall is the Book of Gates (hieroglyphics drawn in the Pharaoh’s sarcophagus)

The Pharaoh’s Voyage o The Book of Gates is a map that will lead him to the Divine Judges and Osiris o The Pharaoh has one night to make the journey or his soul will be devoured

Traveling the Nile of the Underworld o The Pharaoh will need to travel through what is known as the Nile of the Underworld o He will have to pass through 12 gates (one for each hour of the night)

Traveling the Nile of the Underworld o This Nile is not so friendly as the Earthly Nile as the 12 gates are guarded by Cobras o The Great snake demon Apophis (Devil) lurks under the water for his chance to strike

Passing through the Cobra’s Gates o The Cobras were there to guard against souls that were not pure o The Pharaoh not only had to live a good life but he had to have magical knowledge

Passing through the Cobra’s Gates o As he passed through the gates Pharaoh would have to say the Cobra’s name this would tell the Cobras that he is the true one o The names of the 12 Cobras that guarded the gates were written on the walls of his tomb as part of his Book of Gates

The Lake of Fire o After passing through the first two of Cobra’s Gates Pharaoh will come to the Lake of Fire o The Lake of Fire is a lake of fire that tests your purity o If you have not lived a good life your soul is consumed by the fire

The Lake of Fire o Many men’s souls reside in the Lake of fire but the Pharaoh will pass through the lake because he is more than man o Pharaoh is lucky because he is considered more than man & he actually gets to decide which men’s souls to save

Battling Apophis o After passing through the forth Cobra’s Gate Pharaoh unites with other Egyptian mummies to Battle Apophis o They temporarily defeat him and tie him up but Pharaoh knows from his Book of the Dead that he will be back

Meeting Osiris o After going through the 6 th Cobra’s Gate Pharaoh meets the god of the Underworld Osiris o Because he is a Pharaoh, Pharaoh will merge with Osiris and help him judge men who have made it past the 6 th gate

Meeting Osiris o The men’s hearts are ripped out of their chest and placed on a scale in front of Osiris and on the other side of the scale the Feather of Truth o Anubis would weigh the heart against the feather o The man’s heart and the Feather of Truth must perfectly balance for the man to continue on o Pharaohs will not be judged because they are considered more than a man so they will help judge

o If your heart was too heavy you were heavy with sin and impure and you would be thrown to Amet the Gobbler o He was part Crocodile, part Hippopotamus, & part Lion Heavy Hearted

Mummy & Soul Reunited o After passing by Osiris the Pharaoh lies down on a stone bed where he is reunited with his soul o Without being reunited Pharaoh can never be resurrected o Without body & soul he cannot pass through the Underworld

Rolling Over In Their Graves o After passing through Cobra’s Gate 8 mummies turn over in their beds o This is a key stage into coming back to life and being resurrected

Apophis Round 2 o After passing through the Cobra’s Gate number 10 Pharaoh will have his second showdown with Apophis o This is Apophis’s last chance to devour the Pharaoh o Pharaoh calls upon past mummies who form a net to prevent Apophis from eating Pharaoh

Dawn Strikes o Just as dawn strikes and the sun begins to come up over the horizon Pharaoh passes through the 12 and final Cobra’s Gate o He is ushered in by Egyptian gods & goddesses

Journey Forever o He resurrects not as a human but as the sun o Finally Pharaoh will change into a symbolic figure to at last protect his people o Pharaoh has reached immortality

Journey Forever o Ancient Egyptians believed that each Pharaoh would make that journey every night for all of eternity only to resurrect with th gate the sun god after passing the 12