The Spirits of Nature

8/12/2019 The Spirits of Nature

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The Spirits of NatureReligion of the Egyptians

By

Ottar Vendel

Ancient Egypt had by tradition a great variety of gods and what today can belabeled as spirits and divine forces. Some were depicted just as symbols andothers had the form of living createures.

In total they were over 2.000!" but many had similar characteristics and appeared allover the country but with different names. #his great diversity is due to the fact thatbefore the country was united the northern $ile %alley was split up into about forty selfruling areas later to be provinces & called nomes" where the ruling tribes had their own

deities and leaders.'rom the dualism of all gods it(s clear that animals were the first to get divine statusand by time got human form.Because of this all gods had two things in common & they were family members withcounterparts from the opposite se) and manifested them& selves on earth throughanimals.#hus the local wild fauna of birds* crocodiles* sna+es* turtles* frogs* plus cattle* dogs*cats and other domesticated animals were considered to be the living images of aparticular god or goddess and a natural and indestructible part of the environment inwhich people lived.,ll parts of life were covered and there were gods for & beer* plants* digestion* the highseas* female se)uality* gardens* partying etc. -any of them had lots of duties and werewith time combined with each other in a great number of ways.

Some of them could appear in rather unusual forms li+e a goddess curious even byEgyptian standards" having a head of a bee and body from a hippopotamus.hen having a glance at a depiction of them shown in upright position with humanbodies* the goddesses are easy to single out since they always had their legs joinedtogether* while the males used to be seen on the move & striding.

/ifferent towns struggled to have just their local gods at top of thestate religion and thus we have many different religious legends overthe years depending upon which town had the greatest politi&calinfluence during the period. #o increase the number of sup&portersnation wide they could borrow abilities from popular gods and giveto their own. Because of this over the years different gods came intofashion and later went out of style* with e)ception of a group thatwas in front right from the beginning and never lost its popularity.

#hese were responsible for basic and vital things in life li+e love* joy*dancing* childbirth* justice* and life after death.,ll aspect of daily life were covered by at least one of these deities*and li+e people on earth a vast majority of them were married of& tento their siblings" and had children.-any ingredients made it possible for common people to identifythemselves with them since their personalities were made of bothdivine strength and human wea+ness. #hey did most of the thingsthat ordinary people did* li+e harvesting* hunting* eating* drin+ing*partying and even dying. -ost of them were depicted as men andwomen combined with the head of the animal by which they wererepresented and they could appear in different costumes and berepresented by several animals in the Egyptian fauna.

In other words & they could appear in many ways and yet some of them were so ali+eloo+ing that it(s impossible to identify them without reading the connecting te)t. 1ustloo+ing at the dresses and the regalia they carry along isn(t always enough* because

#aueret


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they used to borrow objects from each other. #his guesswor+ is a part of the charmwhen loo+ing in to their in many ways* to us* unli+ely world.,s to their names* today we use a blend of both their original Egyptian ones li+e Re*tah and ,mon* and the 3ree+ forms li+e Isis* 4siris and 5orus.

Shrines

,s for the veneration of the gods scholars of Egyptology doesn(t +now e)actly howthis was made during the oldest times* or at what point in history the main gods hadcult areas replaced by temples of their own.4ne clue might be the god -in see him" who obviously had a very old cult at 6optosin 7pper Egypt where two statues of him larger then life si8e were found in the late9:00s. #hey had no doubt been situated within a sacred area or by a shrine of somesort* but no remains are left to reconstruct what it may have loo+ed li+e.,fter the formation of two separate countries along the $ile 7pper and ;ower Egypt" atypical building came to be in each part* which more or less symboli8ed the countryitself in both a religious and political way and underlined its national identity.

It(s most li+ely that local temples made of clay and reed originally were the cult

buildings used by tribes along the $ile* and with time two shrines were specified wherepeople could ma+e offers to the main gods. #hrough their different designs it(s easylocate the origin of old writings found since their depictions were incorporated into thehieroglyphic signs at an early stage shown to the right of each illustration above".er&wer* meaning the 3reat 5ouse* stood for 7pper Egypt* and er&nu* the 5ouse of'lame was the cupola shaped roofed national temple of ;ower Egypt.#hey are both attested for already during the reign of pharaoh ,ha at the beginning ofthe first dynasty where they are present on a famouswooden label.If at this stage* all mayor gods were worshipped in these buildings is not +nown.ith time the temples were elaborated to be great stone building just for a few verypopular gods and goddesses which had fame over the centuries throughout the longEgyptian history. -inor gods had small shrines or were venerated in the homes.


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#unic with suspenders.-ale garment* ending above thewaistand popular in all times.E)ample=Re.

/ress with suspenders.'emale garment* ended above thewaist*and was usually white.E)ample=5athor.

#he short loinclothShort and s+irt&li+e garment andpopular from earliest times.E)ample= ,sar&hap.

#he short&sleeved overall'rom the earliest times verycommontight female garment.E)ample=Isis.

#he full&length dress7nusual* sleeve&less and forgoddesses.ent up to the nec+.E)ample=Seshat.

$otice that long sleeves were not in fashion in any era of Egyptian history* at least forthe gods and goddesses. #heir dresses were to a great e)tent similar to those worn bythe upper classes in society during daytime and evenings* and mostly indoors.

haraoh(s crown

#he gods had a lot of different things to put on their heads* and they surely did. Inbright contrast to the stereotyped positions of their bodies the painters and sculptorswere +een on giving the heads as much attention as possible. #his was obviouslyinitiated by pharaoh himself or the priesthood in order to give their favorite gods asmuch promotion as possible. #he different crowns could give a hint where the godoriginally came from* and by wearing the combined crown for the whole country* themessage was given that this god or goddess was important to all Egyptians. #o ma+e

them conspicuous all crowns* hats etc. were adorned with plumes* horns* sna+es*flowers* sun discs* leaves etc painted in bright colors. Especially during the 3reco&Roman era the fantasy and elaboration was significant.

/eshret 5edjet eshent eshent ,tef ,tef with horns 6hepreshE3>#I,$


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#he double crown represented the whole country. #he ,tef&crown was worn by4siris and the type with horns and the sun disc by Re&5ora+hte and other gods. #heblue helmet&li+e came during dynasty 9: and was worn by +ings and the god ,mon.

5eadgears of the gods

Besides royal crowns the gods had a lot of other symbols and things to wear upon

their heads. In some cases the headgear was necessary to identify the deities in ?ues&tion* when they were dressed the same* as they often were. 5ere is a selection of per&sonal things helping to identify which goddess is depicted in case the written hiero&glyphs don(t give a clue. #he following objects below are shown as they loo+ed whenthe bearer in ?uestion was facing right.$eithad the a stylised form of her shield and crossed arrows on her head. Isiswore athrone on top* a rather uncomfortable one it seems* and-a@thad her standing ostrichfeather she was named after.$ephtyshad a building topped with a bowl&li+e object forcollecting rain waterA" and$uthad a pot or a broad vase" upon her head.Sel+hetwore the dangerous scorpion without its deadly sting"* and Seshathad theholy ersea&tree with two horns over it as her personal sign.,nathad a styli8ed cow(suterus as her to+en.5athorhad several objects in her hat bo) li+e cow(s horns with thesun disc and her favorite musical instrument & the sistrum* which was a rattle.

-ost of these 9: objects worn upon their heads were uni?ue for just one female deity*but 5athor(s solar disc in variations and ,nit(s object could be worn by others.Especially the sun symboli8ing the god Re" was seen above the heads of many gods.

Regalia

,ll paintings* drawings* sculptures and reliefs in Egypt followed a traditional scheme*and changes came slowly with time. Some artistic features did not alter anything at all*and remained unchanged for over .000 years. #he way of depicting people are amongthese unaltered e)pressions of art. #he body was normally in profile e)cept for thetorso which was shown from the front li+e the eye* to ma+e the face more e)pressive.#he gods and +ings" depicted were seldom empty handed & they usually carriedvarious objects* and the symbolic meaning of some are still obscure to Egypto&logists.

#he gods usually had the well +nownan+h&sign in one of their hands* with the generalmeaning life* and also to be interpreted as joy of living. Since the Egyptian religionoffered eternal life for those who had behaved well on earth* we don(t +now if this sign
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of life meant the ne)t or the present one & or possibly both.#he other hand was holding a staff or scepter of some +ind* and here we have half ado8en types. 3oddesses usually had a scepter topped with a flower in different colorsli+e a white lily from the $ile" but this was seldom seen among the gods* possiblybecause it gave a more soft impression to the observer.%ery common through all times was the as&scepter for command see pictures

below" and some gods* li+e tah and 4siris* had their own type of this staff.

9"Sceptre with flower often carried by goddesses.2"#he herdsman(s croo+ of god,nedjti*patron ofshepherds and protector of domesticatedanimals." as&sceptre* stood for domination andpower.It was very common among godsC+ings in all times.D"Staff of creator tahformed of four djed&pillars oforder and stability possibly a human spine"."4utfit of 4siris= croo+ and flail cattle breeding and

farming" plus the as&sceptre and an+h&sign.

#he -yth of 4siris

is an old and famous tale which in a way tells how Egypt came tobe and points out the devine bac+ground of its rulers & thepharaohs. ,mong variations the main theme is as follows.

In the very beginning of time4siriswas +ing over Egypt and his?ueen and sister" was the goddess Isis.5e was beloved by the people whom he told how to worship thegods and grow their crops for their daily bread. 5isbrother Setbecame jealous and tried to overthrow him andbecome +ing himself. hen participating in a feast with 4siris ashost* Set began to describe a beautiful coffin he had* in a waythat made the other guests curious.5e was as+ed to fetch it and so he did and this was just in linewith his plan.Everyone agreed that it was a magnificent piece of craftsman&ship and Set told them that he would give it away for free to

whomever fitted e)actly into it. Since he had made the coffin himself it was measuredto fit one person only & his brother 4siris. hen he placed himself in it everybodycould see that he was the one who would get i as a present* but the evil Set had otherplans. ith his brother 4siris still in it* he and his fellows ?uic+ly nailed the lid andthrew it into the $ile. Fueen Isis was overcome by sorrow and began to search all overthe land for it* but in vain.

4siris

Isis
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4ne day she heard that a wonderful tree had sprung on the shores of Byblos in thenorth on the Eastern coast of the -editerranean Sea* where the local +ing had cut itdown and built a palace from it.

Isis understood that this was the place where the coffin had come toshore and she went there in disguise. She got a job at the court as a

hairdresser for the ?ueen and now when she could wal+ freely insidethe castle she began to loo+ for the coffin* and finally she found it in aremote chamber./uring the night she managed to snatch it and embar+ed a boatheading for Egypt. hen she came there she hid in the marshlands inthe delta. #here she opened the coffin and too+ a last farewell of herbeloved husband 4siris and began searching for a suitable place tobury him. But Set was aware of all this and was hiding nearby. henIsis went to rest for the night he snatched the coffin and cut hisbrother(s body into fourteen pieces and spread them all over Egypt.Isis became furious and as+ed her sister$ephthysand herson,nubis*to help her to find all the pieces of her husband(s body.#hey now started a nation wide search that lasted for many years and

finally all the part of 4siris( body were found e)cept for the peniswhich had been thrown into the $ile where it was devoured by a fish.Isis made a wooden replacement for it and then put the whole body

together. She now as+ed the sun god Re to ma+e her husband alive just for one day*which he did* and they could have a last night of love together. #he ne)t day 4sirisdied and his body was embalmed by ,nubis who thus made him the first mummy. Isislater gave birth to a son who was named 5orusand she did all she could to +eep it asecret from Set* but he found them and almost +illed them in an ambush.

#hey were saved by the god of wisdom & #hoth* and he told them tohide in the reeds in the marshes once more. But as before Set foundtheir hiding place and had more wic+ed things on his mind. 5etransformed himself into a sna+e and gave the little 5orus child a fatalbite.

hen Isis came bac+ she found her baby almost lifeless* and too+ himto the nearest village to get help. , wise old woman e)amined him andfound out that it must have been Set as a sna+e who had bitten him.#hoth came to their rescue once more and drove out the poison from5orus( body and he recovered. 5e and his mother stayed hiding in thedelta until he was a mature man and sometimes he too+ the form of ahaw+ and scouted out Set for the final showdown & the revenge on hismurdered father. hen that moment came they fought for three daysuntil #hoth stopped the fight. #hey were both ta+en to the


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3reat -a+er* but in different ways. #here are no /eluge&legends involved in any of thecreation stories of the $ile&people* probably because they had their own big floodevery year and the beginning of everything couldn(t possibly involve a banality li+ethat.#he most common and probably one of the oldest stories* said that at the dawn of timethere was nothing but the water called $un* and the first ground coming out of it was a

roc+ called the Ben&Ben stone. 'rom a slightly irregular shape at the begin& ning*with time it was elaborated and turned into a broad and short obelis+ with a pointedtop in a four&side pyramid fashion. Some scholars suggest that this might be theprototype for later pyramids tombs* but others do not.4n the Ben&Ben stone stood ,tum and he coughed and spat out Shu and #efnut.

#he world creators in breef=,#7-from 5eliopolis made everything even himself" of his own sperm throughmasturbating or spitting. 5e then created woman from a bit of flesh from his hand.#,5from 5eliopolis in ;ower Egypt made the world by simply saying words andmade earth raise from the water* very similar the story in the Bible.REalso from 5eliopolis" is told in a rather late poetic legend to be the creator by using

a tear from his eye to build all the world.65$7-from the island Elephantine at ,swan in the south* was the creator who madethe world and all its people on his potter(s wheel. #he stuff was mud from the $ile.65EERrepresenting Re" made all other gods from matter ta+en from his own body.5e also created life symbolically" every morning by commanding the sun to rise.,-4$from #hebes was during the $ew 6ingdom vaguely connected to the creation ofthe orld* saying that he once li+e ,tum" had created himself at the dawn of time.#54#5was in 6hemenu 5ermopolis" in 7pper Egypt* the ma+er of the world and thefirst ones he helped to life were four frogs and four sna+es* the so called 4gdoad.

#he first family

#he family from which all people in the world came was Shu* the god of cool air and hiswife and sister #efnut* goddess of rain* warm dew and moisture. #hey had the twins3eb who was god of the earth and $ut the goddess of the s+y.Before they had any children they were separated by command of the solar god Re and3eb wept over his loss and his tears made all the seas and oceans of the world.4ne legend tells that Re for some reason possibly jealousy" had become angry with$ut and laid a curse on her telling that none of her coming children could be born onany one day of the year. #his was a big setbac+ for $ut and 3eb who were just plan&ning to raise a family. In their agony they turned to the god of wisdom & #hoth* foradvice. 5e went to his superior* the shadowy and not often depicted moon&god ,ahwho was in charge of the Egyptian moon&calendar. #his old table of time consisted of

92 months of 0 days together ma+ing the moon&year of G0 days.#hoth made Re a proposition to gamble about the matter and they started to play agame of dice resulting in victory for #hoth. 5e thereby won the moonlight of the fiveadditional days of the true year in this case 1uly 9D to 9:" and gave it to 3eb and $utwho used them for the births of their children. #hus the curse of Re had no effect uponthem because their children could all be born outside ,ah(s moon calendar. In theyears to come $ut gave birth to five of the most prominent deities of Egypt=>ear 9 & 4siris. >ear 2 & 5orus the Elder". >ear & Set. >ear D & Isis. >ear & $ephtys.

#he origin of 7niverse.

4ne of the oldest and best +nown legends comes from 5eliopolis and goes li+e this='rom the beginning there was nothing but a water chaos called $un* and from that
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came the god,tum*who hadcreated himself. 'rom matterta+en from his own body* hemade Shu* the god of the airand #efnut* goddess of

moisture and rain.

#hey in turn hadthe twins 3eb* theearth&god* and$ut* the goddessof the s+y.'rom these two3eb and $ut"then came allother Egyptiangods andgoddessses.Shu was oftenseen holding up the s+y his daugter $ut" with his son 3eb lying under&

neath picture below". #his family of four was the very foundation uponwhich the world e)isted as they represented the basic elements= earth*water* air and s+y.

#he first gods.

9" #he old tradition from 5eliopolis Iunu" just north of -emphis in ;ower Egypt saidthe creation of all the gods was made by 6heper*who was another form of their localsun god Re.5e was self&produced and made the other gods out of the matter of his own body. 5ewas the father of many gods li+e 4siris* $ephtys* Isis* Set* 5orus and others.

2" #he priests from 5ermo& polis in 7pper Egypt declared for their part that #hothwasthe primeval god and created the first four couples that built up everything. #he firstpair was $un and $untetsna+es"* who represented and dwelled in the mass of waterfrom which everything emerged. #he second was 5eh and 5auhetfrogs"* who stoodfor indefinite time and long life. #he third was 6e+ and 6e+et sna+es"* who embodieddar+ness* and the fourth pair was $iau and $iaut frogs" representing the void. /uringthe $ew 6ingdom the two latter were replaced by ,mon and ,monet.

" In Sais in the delta in ;ower Egypt" the priests taught the people that their ownmighty godd& ess $eit was behind the origin of the other gods. She was self&begotten and self&produced and mother of the mighty solar god Re.

D" ,nother story tells that the creation of #he orld was wet and dar+ and ,tum&Rearose from the $un and appointed the eight reptile gods above the so called 4gdoad"to their proper places and brought order from chaos. 5ere the frogs $iau and $iauthave been changed for ,mon and ,monet which tells that this version is of later date$ew 6ingdom" when ,mon had reached a lofty position among the gods.


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wheel was & Hamu* the people from the desert mountains east of the $ile. #his namewas later also used for ,sians in general.$umber three* called & #emehu* was the fair s+inned people from the -editerraneancoast west of the $ile /elta and the oases west of the $ile %alley.#he last to be made was & $ehesy* the blac+ people to the south of Egypt* below theprovince of $ubia.

$otable is that the names of these people seem to be very old and originating from theearly times when the Egyptians didn(t have a name for ,sians* which they surelyencountered well before the first dynasty as shown in archaeology remains.,ccording to another much younger" legend man+ind was created from a tear that fellfrom the eye of the god Re* and turned into men and women. #he fair&s+inned ;ibyans*considered as cousins by the people in the $ile valley* were formed in the same way.#he two other people have a tear from Re as their origin too* but in a more irregularway.

#he


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eternal life in the land in the est and his soul would be restless forever.

#he seven steps to aradise

9.


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6a and Ba body and soul"

#he purpose of preserving the body through embalming is clearly shown in the two

components the Egyptians thought built up a man(s personality. In both cases thephysical body was essential for their e)istence and an eternal life for the deceased.

#he Egyptians believed that every person during life and after" was followed by aninvisible double called & 6a. 5e was created at the moment of birth and stood for forceof live for the person. 5e could not be seen or depicted but all big tombs had a blinddoor for him to use. ,fter death a transformation of rebirth too+ place and every nighthe was released to give his dead master a spiritual travel to the land of the living. #hetravel itself was made by his soul Ba see beyond". #his was a lin+ from the tomb to lifeon earth that was supposed to go on forever.#he poor commoners who couldn(t afford an embalming were offered small simplestatuettes of mummies to give their 6a someone to stand beside in the life beyond andthereby please their life&long companion and get eternal rest themselves.

6a left" wal+ingbeside the bodyand Ba who wasdwelling within.

#he human soul was called & Baand was depicted as a bird with a human face*sometimes with the features of the dead person. #he Ba li+e 6a" appeared for the firsttime at the moment of birth* but the Ba was dwelling within the body* and after death inthe mummy. /uring life he was his master(s conscience and after death he was himself

protected from being misled by evil spirits through rituals and prayers from #he Boo+of the /ead performed by priests or relatives. , correct behavior in both worlds wasessential to the Egyptians.,fter death he was released from the mummy every night and could fly bac+ to theworld of the living to chec+ things out. Before sunrise he was bac+ within his master*who thus never lost contact with the world he had left.

#he Solar Boat of Re

#he story of the sun god Re and the voyage in his boat was one of the most important

in Egyptian mythology and concerned the very basics of life for the people in the $ile%alley. It clearly shows the cyclic way of loo+ing at time and life that was at hand sincethe oldest times for Egyptians.#he religious beliefs in 5eliopolis in ;ower Egypt told that Re was the creator of menand at the beginning of the fifth dynasty he reached a very lofty position when the+ings adopted his name in their titles claiming to be his sons.Re traveled through the waters of heaven in two different boats each day. #he first*-adjet being strong"* rose out of the east behind the -ount Ba+hu and then passedbetween two sycamore trees. ,t noon he was transferred over to a small bar+ by thename of Seme+tet going wea+"* and this vessel too+ him into the sunset in the westat -ount -anu.5e did not navigate the boats himself because this was ta+en care of by -@at* goddessof justice and stability. She was first mate on the bridge and set the course

accompanied by 5orus.


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#he first voyage over the s+y.

#he life&giving Re the sun dis+"and the symbol of creation thebeetle 6heper on the very firstday. 4nboard are the gods whohad helped to formed the orld.#he boat was held up by $un* thelord of the watery chaos be& lowfrom which everything hademerged at the dawn of time & theday before.See also the gods 5u and Sia".

#he boat was not provided with sails* but had another way to get power to move. It wassimply pulled across the s+y by the evil god Set who had been condemned to do so for+illing his brother 4siris as told in the-yth of 4sirisabove".

,t night the god 7puaut stood on the prow and navigation was assisted by pilot fish,btu and ,nt* who swam in front of the boat.#he crew consisted of the gods 3eb and 5e+a plus the companions 5u and Sia. #heyall helped Re to overcome the obstacles set up by those who tried to stop his journey &the three monsters Sebau* $a+* and ,pep. #he evil creature ,pep was the mostdangerous one and he too+ the shape of a big sna+e or a crocodile.7nder the protection of war god -aahes* Re fought and +illed the monsters every dayand thus secured the way for the sun to rise the ne)t morning. By then the participantswere all alive and +ic+ing again and the daily combat could begin as usual.


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-@at stood for and she always managed to get the old barge to port.

Burial customs

#he basic purpose of mortuary preparation was to ensure the deceased a successfulpassage into the ne)t world. #he tombs were from the very beginning shallow holes inthe sand later to be lined with a wall of sun dried bric+s or stones and topped by amound of sand or clay. #he substructures were elaborated downwards when pitsleading to grave chambers were cut out in the bedroc+ starting around 200 B


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dynasty 2000 years earlier. It was the final judgement whether the deceased had been agood human being or not. -ost of them with means" could pass by giving offerings tothe gods and ma+ing declarations about their good behavior on Earth* true or not.

The Spirits of Nature

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Transcript of The Spirits of Nature