Ancient Egyptians
The Channel 4 television series takes four stories from the lives of ordinary Egyptians living in ancient times and relates them in dramatic form. In his book Ancient Egyptians: The kingdom of the pharaohs brought to life, Anton Gill expands on these stories, focusing on what it was like to be an ordinary Egyptian at the time. He precedes this with a survey of ancient Egyptian history so that readers can locate the stories in the context of the civilisation in which they took place. He also discusses various aspects of Egyptian society.
In this edited extract, Anton Gill examines Egypt's religion and the rituals of its priests ...
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Bes, the god of the hearth, was the protector of the home.
Egyptian religious belief was very different from anything we experience today. Ordinary people did not partake in the daily rituals associated with the chief gods. Their humble beliefs were centred more on local deities and the gods of love (Hathor), protection (Bes) and childbirth (Taweret). They could, however, petition the grander gods, usually by means of a votive stela (wooden or stone marker) that would be offered at a shrine.
People believed in the gods that were manifested in the crocodile, the hippo and the snake, and sought to propitiate them. Most gods, even 'sophisticated' ones, had animal attributes, though as time went on they were represented increasingly as animal-headed humans rather than as the animals themselves.
Sun gods
It took a long time for the national religion of ancient Egypt to become formalised into a more or less stable pantheon that was worshipped consistently everywhere. The main gods (excluding the early ones associated with the creation of the world) were Osiris (principal god of the dead who presided over the underworld) and Isis and their siblings Nephthys and Set. Set attempted to destroy Osiris but failed; later he engaged in a feud with Osiris's son Horus, which stretched across eternity.
Before battle, the pharaoh would look to Amun for protection and anoint his generals with scented oil to shield them from harm.
Horus was associated with the sun and, as sun god, had many forms, all of which may be regarded as versions of the same god. Each sun god had his own 'family' of local importance. Amun was the sun god of Thebes. His wife was Mut, a vulture goddess, and their son was Khons, god of the moon. At Memphis, the chief god was Ptah, whose wife was Sekhmet, the lioness goddess, and their son was Nefertem, god of the blue lotus.
Truth and writing
Other gods were equally important in ancient Egypt, not least in the maintenance of order. These were not embodiments of primal forces such as day, night, the sun, the river, storms and so on. Instead, they were gods who represented concepts or accomplishments.
Maat was the goddess of truth, and Thoth was the god of writing (and, by extension, administration). Before entering the afterlife, a dead person was arraigned in the Hall of Truth, having to make before Maat what was called a 'negative confession' – a denial of all the evil deeds one might possibly be charged with having committed over the course of a lifetime.
Poised for paradise
Maat sat in one pan of a set of scales; the deceased's heart was placed in the other. The scales were held by Anubis, while Thoth stood by with his scribe's palette, recording the proceedings. Nearby crouched the beast Ammut ('The Devourer', part crocodile, part lion, part hippo), ready to swallow the heart of anyone not deemed fit to pass on to paradise – the Fields of Iaru, which ancient Egyptians saw as an agricultural heaven, with massively tall grain and unending fecundity.
If the heart was found wanting, Ammut would devour it. This meant that its owner would be transmuted into an evil spirit. This would bring bad luck or illness to the living, and was hated and feared by them, existing alone and in constant solitary and reviled struggle with gods and men.
If, on the other hand, the heart did balance, then the deceased would pass into paradise, to be greeted and welcomed by those who had gone before, and enjoy for ever lovely music, unlimited food and drink, moderate sunshine and constant breezes: an ideal version of the land left behind.
One and only true god
During the extraordinary 16-year reign of the pharaoh Akhenaten in the 18th Dynasty, all the gods were abolished in favour of the Aten. This deity had long existed but who was now elevated to the position of the one and only true god, perceived as the life-giving warmth of the sun's rays.
Whether Akhenaten was the first to postulate monotheism, or whether it was a political move to break the power of the priesthood, is unclear. But it is interesting that, after Akhenaten's early death, his name was obliterated and all the gods he had banished returned.
The sanctuary of the god Amun was the most sacred part of the temple.
Immutability of the state
Religion at the state level was controlled and run by the class of priests. They were also administrators, and the religion they fostered was tied up in the day- to-day administration of the state, as well as with the early-established and deeply felt belief in and cult of the afterlife. In fact, the principal purpose of religious ritual was to underpin the stability and essential immutability of the state.
Priests did not move among the people or use religion as a means of comfort or coercion, and the temples were not open to the public. The images of the gods were paraded for people to see only at festivals. It was at these times that gods could be asked for favours (especially by the pharaoh, who went from simply being associated with the sun god to becoming his embodiment on earth), and reproved if they did not grant them.
Power and prestige
Priests were obliged to observe certain injunctions, including: wearing white; keeping their bodies and heads shaved and always clean; and maintaining the daily 'awakening' of the god in his sanctuary, as well as sending him to his rest at night. They were supposed to avoid women, at least during certain ritual times, but there was no strict rule of celibacy. In addition, although, from the time of the New Kingdom (c. 1550 BC), there were no women priests, female officiants in the guise of dancers, musicians and 'sealers of doors' were present in the temples.
Priestly offices were highly coveted positions, because of the power and prestige of the temples. Most priests served the temple part-time, typically for one month in three, while maintaining other professions the rest of the time. All priests were paid a ration of the temple's daily food and drink offerings, which the god 'ate' in essence, leaving the real comestibles for his servants.
The dawn ritual
The daily 'awakening' was the most important ritual for which the priests were responsible – indeed, it was deemed imperative if the world was to be kept turning. Every morning, the officiating priests would purify themselves, wash with water from the sacred lake (an artificial rectangular pool – a feature of every major temple), replenish the libation vessels with water from a sacred well, prepare the food and drink that were to be offered to the god and carry them to the temple. While meat offerings were roasted, spells were recited at every step of the cooking process.
Then, by torchlight in the dark confines of the temple, perfumed by clouds of incense, the morning song would be sung and the doors to the inner sanctuary where the image of the god resided would be thrown open to wake the Divine Presence. The chief priest divested him with myrrh, washed him and anointed him with precious scented oils before dressing him in new clothes and offering him the food that had been prepared.
Similar rituals of attention to the god were performed at noon and at dusk, but the dawn ritual was the most important.
