Saturday, December 21, 2013
luxor ra
A walkway of ram headed sphinxes at each side of the road leads to the principal entry of Karnak temple, this sanctuary is one of the most famous temples of antiquity, it was part of the ancient city Thebes, (at present Luxor city) the capital of Egypt during the “New Egyptian Empire” period, at the times when Egypt accomplished the highest point of its glory.
It is the biggest temples conglomerate of Egypt and probably the major temple complex in the world for its abundant colossal work and the immense terrain of about 250 acres that it covers.
Karnak was consecrated to their gods: Amon, goddess Mut and their son Khonsu that conform the Theban triad, this gods for some reason gained more power and took over the ancient Theban god Monthu.
Because of multiple representations of their main god Amon with the attributes of their god Min at the entrances of the principal enclosure of this sacred area indicates that this temples complex was also dedicated to fertility worshiping.
Thebes progressed at the time when Ahmes I managed to defeat the Hyksos and by so unified again Egypt. At that time the god Amon was the principal deity of the ancient Theban families that managed to confront and liberate the nation from its oppressors.
It is the biggest temples conglomerate of Egypt and probably the major temple complex in the world for its abundant colossal work and the immense terrain of about 250 acres that it covers.
Karnak was consecrated to their gods: Amon, goddess Mut and their son Khonsu that conform the Theban triad, this gods for some reason gained more power and took over the ancient Theban god Monthu.
Because of multiple representations of their main god Amon with the attributes of their god Min at the entrances of the principal enclosure of this sacred area indicates that this temples complex was also dedicated to fertility worshiping.
Thebes progressed at the time when Ahmes I managed to defeat the Hyksos and by so unified again Egypt. At that time the god Amon was the principal deity of the ancient Theban families that managed to confront and liberate the nation from its oppressors.
Therefore this god symbol of triumph became the principal god of Egypt. This god reached its utmost influence during the rule of Ramses III the second pharaoh of the twentieth dynasty perhaps the last of the important rulers of Egypt.
It took more that thousand years to build and where the pharaohs of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth dynasties who did most of the edification, and there was also some repair done during the Ptolemy period.
There are temples to in honor of the gods: Monthu the ancient god of Thebes during the “Middle Egyptian Empire”, to Ptah the principal god of Memphis and others, but the most important temples of the complex are the temples ones dedicated for Amon, Nut and Khensu the triad that stranded out over the city.
Also there are a number of temples made for their Pharaohs, Amenhotep II, Thotmes I, Ramses II and Ramses III is proper to mention that there is found an obelisk that was completed in times Hatshepsut the most famous woman pharaoh It is about] 30 meters high and weighs around 320 tons, its know that she made great contributions to the temple but forty years later after her death her name was erased for
It took more that thousand years to build and where the pharaohs of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth dynasties who did most of the edification, and there was also some repair done during the Ptolemy period.
There are temples to in honor of the gods: Monthu the ancient god of Thebes during the “Middle Egyptian Empire”, to Ptah the principal god of Memphis and others, but the most important temples of the complex are the temples ones dedicated for Amon, Nut and Khensu the triad that stranded out over the city.
Also there are a number of temples made for their Pharaohs, Amenhotep II, Thotmes I, Ramses II and Ramses III is proper to mention that there is found an obelisk that was completed in times Hatshepsut the most famous woman pharaoh It is about] 30 meters high and weighs around 320 tons, its know that she made great contributions to the temple but forty years later after her death her name was erased for
All the famous pharaohs of this epoch contributed to the aggrandizement of this marvelous place that even today causes surprise and admiration to the dedicated work in the time of its splendor.
Friday, December 20, 2013
stop smoking
Every year in the U.S. over 392,000 people die from tobacco-caused disease, making it the leading cause of preventable death. Another 50,000 people die from exposure to secondhand smoke. Tragically, each day thousands of kids still pick up a cigarette for the first time. The cycle of addiction, illness and death continues. What can be done to stop smoking? The American Lung Association is working to strengthen laws and policies that protect everyone from secondhand smoke and prevent young people from starting. We are also committed to helping smokers quit with our smoking cessation programs.
http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/
http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/
african safari
Guide to Planning an African Safari
Photo: Kyungduk Kim
Culture & Wildlife: South Africa
Highlights: Kruger National Park in the northeast, flanked by the private lodges and conservancies of the Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve; the vineyards and restaurants of theCape Winelands region; Cape Town andJohannesburg, historical and cultural centers.
Post-apartheid, South Africa established itself as the continent’s blue-chip destination. Safari lodges and companies, such as Singita Private Game Reserves, Londolozi, and &Beyond, brought luxury to the major game regions, while Cape Town and the surrounding winelands became a jet-set playground. But intimate retreats are now enticing travelers to make cultural side trips to lesser-known areas of the country. Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat, a 16-room lodge a three-hour drive north of Cape Town, is in a wildflower-filled setting where Bushman rock art sites date back 10,000 years. Two hours south of Cape Town, the 27-roomGrootbos Private Nature Reserve arranges trips to see the Marine Big Five: whales, dolphins, sharks, seals, and penguins. Just northwest of Johannesburg are the caves of the Cradle of Humankind, a paleontology UNESCO World Heritage site. Adventurers can also head to Zululand, where Fugitives’ Drift Lodge, the house of late historian David Rattray, offers tours of 1879 Anglo-Zulu War battlefields.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
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The Papyrus of Ani was painted in Egypt about 1250 BC. It represents the best preserved, longest, most ornate, and beautifully executed example of the form of Mortuary Text known as the Egyptian Book of the Dead.Ani was a well-to-do scribe (or accountant) within the Temple hierarchy who, as he approached middle age, decided it was time to order his personalized selection of the prayers and invocations designed as a guide to the Egyptian afterlife. Compiled from the oldest religious culture on earth, these spells (known as the Pyramid Texts) had originally been engraved on the walls of the tombs of kings or pharaohs). As time went on, they began to be more widely available, carved and painted on the wooden sarcophagi of great nobles (where they are known as Coffin texts). Finally, they became even more widely available, painted on scrolls and available to the upper middle class. Ani’s papyrus measured 78 feet long by 15 inches high.
The prayers are connected to certain archetypal images. Thus an
invocation to Osiris, the Lord of the Underworld, will be written within a painting (or vignette) of that deity. The meaning of the passage is a marriage of word and image, reaching well beyond the merely verbal level of the brain. One of the best known examples of these breathtaking unions of text and image is the Weighing of the Heartscene. Here, the heart (the moral integrity of the deceased, the conscience) is weighed against the feather of Truth and Justice. If the cumulative effects of
the person’s past have allowed his soul to be as light as the feather of Truth, he or she is judged pure and admitted to the presence of the Lord of the Dead in preparation for the journey through the Afterlife. However, if the person’s heart is weighted down with the burden of sin, his soul is flung to the great monster who awaits the recording of the verdict and is no more
invocation to Osiris, the Lord of the Underworld, will be written within a painting (or vignette) of that deity. The meaning of the passage is a marriage of word and image, reaching well beyond the merely verbal level of the brain. One of the best known examples of these breathtaking unions of text and image is the Weighing of the Heartscene. Here, the heart (the moral integrity of the deceased, the conscience) is weighed against the feather of Truth and Justice. If the cumulative effects of
the person’s past have allowed his soul to be as light as the feather of Truth, he or she is judged pure and admitted to the presence of the Lord of the Dead in preparation for the journey through the Afterlife. However, if the person’s heart is weighted down with the burden of sin, his soul is flung to the great monster who awaits the recording of the verdict and is no more
As a magical, polytheistic religion, the Egyptian spiritual path was alive with creativity and energy. The spiritual dignity afforded the
observant Egyptian was an invigorating state. One who had led an upright moral life, who had shown respect to the Gods, and, who had been strong enough to persevere through the awesome dangers of the path of the afterlife, was then invited to feast with his Gods, playing board games in beautiful fields, drinking beer and enjoying related pleasures, The successful adherent would reach a stellar glory of his own, at last a member of that hierarchy his life had been spent in honoring. The impact of Ancient Egypt on modern western culture is of course ubiquitous. Egypt is known as the Mother of Western Civilization. The 42 part Negative Confession is a source of our own Ten Commandments. (The additional ancient statute against the bringing of law suits might be worth revisiting!) Egyptian religion is the source of the Judaeo-Christian belief in the after death resurrection promised to mankind as a reward for righteous living.The Egyptian religion was a magical religion that involved a continuous interaction between the individual and the various deities who constituted its elaborate and exalted pantheon. Initiates were required to memorize magical formulas and spells, and to demonstrate their
proficiency therein; tests of courage and honor were administered by the officers of the Temple. Possession of secret knowledge, along with a highly developed moral character, were necessary to penetrate the deeper levels of Egyptian spirituality. Egypt’s moral teaching presented in its Wisdom literature and Mortuary texts attain to the highest levels of sacred awareness. Egypt’s temples, statues, frescoes, carvings, jewelry, painted scrolls and sarcophagi stand as mute witnesses to a brilliant and lofty spiritual culture that has never been equaled on earth. The silent and stationary images of The Egyptian Book of the Dead continue to speak and move today, some four millennia after their creation.
observant Egyptian was an invigorating state. One who had led an upright moral life, who had shown respect to the Gods, and, who had been strong enough to persevere through the awesome dangers of the path of the afterlife, was then invited to feast with his Gods, playing board games in beautiful fields, drinking beer and enjoying related pleasures, The successful adherent would reach a stellar glory of his own, at last a member of that hierarchy his life had been spent in honoring. The impact of Ancient Egypt on modern western culture is of course ubiquitous. Egypt is known as the Mother of Western Civilization. The 42 part Negative Confession is a source of our own Ten Commandments. (The additional ancient statute against the bringing of law suits might be worth revisiting!) Egyptian religion is the source of the Judaeo-Christian belief in the after death resurrection promised to mankind as a reward for righteous living.The Egyptian religion was a magical religion that involved a continuous interaction between the individual and the various deities who constituted its elaborate and exalted pantheon. Initiates were required to memorize magical formulas and spells, and to demonstrate their
proficiency therein; tests of courage and honor were administered by the officers of the Temple. Possession of secret knowledge, along with a highly developed moral character, were necessary to penetrate the deeper levels of Egyptian spirituality. Egypt’s moral teaching presented in its Wisdom literature and Mortuary texts attain to the highest levels of sacred awareness. Egypt’s temples, statues, frescoes, carvings, jewelry, painted scrolls and sarcophagi stand as mute witnesses to a brilliant and lofty spiritual culture that has never been equaled on earth. The silent and stationary images of The Egyptian Book of the Dead continue to speak and move today, some four millennia after their creation.
* * * * *
The story of the securing of the Papyrus of Ani combines elements of fate and tragedy, even slapstick, and marks the very end of European
colonialism in North Africa. Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, assistant Keeper of
the Egyptian Collection at the British Museum, and author and editor of
many books on ancient Near Eastern civilizations, arrived in Egypt in 1887 with funds for the purchase of antiquities for the Museum. There had recently been a series of extraordinary finds in Upper Egypt. The Egyptian government, seeking to preserve the finds, had appointed police/military units to seek out native Egyptians in possession of these antiquities and to prevent Europeans from buying them. Budge was personally threatened with arrest should he attempt to purchase anything.
The story of the securing of the Papyrus of Ani combines elements of fate and tragedy, even slapstick, and marks the very end of European
colonialism in North Africa. Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, assistant Keeper of
the Egyptian Collection at the British Museum, and author and editor of
many books on ancient Near Eastern civilizations, arrived in Egypt in 1887 with funds for the purchase of antiquities for the Museum. There had recently been a series of extraordinary finds in Upper Egypt. The Egyptian government, seeking to preserve the finds, had appointed police/military units to seek out native Egyptians in possession of these antiquities and to prevent Europeans from buying them. Budge was personally threatened with arrest should he attempt to purchase anything.
At Luxor, Budge found a papyrus he described as the largest such roll he had ever seen. “… I was amazed at the beauty and freshness of the colours of the human figures and animals, which in the dim light of the candles and heated air of the tomb, seemed to be alive.” In fact Budge was obsessed with the papyrus. He arranged for a tin smith to make a cylindrical box to protect the roll. He evaded the chief of police of Luxor, who was carrying out orders from the Director of the Service of Antiquities. The Ani papyrus was stored in a small building nearby the old Luxor Hotel, where it had been placed under government guard. Budge and the antiquities dealers first attempted to get the guards drunk, then to bribe them to leave their posts for an hour. Finally they arranged for a crew to quietly dig under the wall. A substantial supper was arranged for the guards and while they feasted, the conspirators removed the papyrus of Ani along with numerous other finds through the two foot square hole they had dug for the purpose earlier in the evening. Secreting the papyrus aboard a steamer at midnight, Budge arrived in Cairo, and with the help of members of the British army, managed to get the papyrus off to London.
* * * * *
Here’s where the real trouble began. Budge cut the papyrus into 37 nearly equal lengths for ease of handling. The sheets were glued onto
wooden boards to keep then rigid. Fortunately Budge immediately commissioned a facsimile to be prepared. An exquisite limited edition
was produced by color lithography in 1890 preserving forever the awesome beauty of the ancient original. Meanwhile the translation began which took five years and a companion volume of translation was released in 1895. Meanwhile, the extraordinary nature of the find encouraged the British Museum to display the sheets under a large skylight in a central hall. The glue and direct sunlight damaged the papyrus beyond repair. The translation had also revealed that many of the cuts were made in the wrong places, thus chapters were interrupted, vignettes were split, and text was left far from its accompanying image.
Here’s where the real trouble began. Budge cut the papyrus into 37 nearly equal lengths for ease of handling. The sheets were glued onto
wooden boards to keep then rigid. Fortunately Budge immediately commissioned a facsimile to be prepared. An exquisite limited edition
was produced by color lithography in 1890 preserving forever the awesome beauty of the ancient original. Meanwhile the translation began which took five years and a companion volume of translation was released in 1895. Meanwhile, the extraordinary nature of the find encouraged the British Museum to display the sheets under a large skylight in a central hall. The glue and direct sunlight damaged the papyrus beyond repair. The translation had also revealed that many of the cuts were made in the wrong places, thus chapters were interrupted, vignettes were split, and text was left far from its accompanying image.
Book designer James Wasserman arranged to photograph his extremely rare copy of the British Museum facsimile of the papyrus. Utilizing the modern magic of computers and state-of-the-art production techniques, the images were scanned, reassembled, and electronically recut to best display the 78 foot papyrus as a book. A team of Egyptologists was led by Dr. Ogden Goelet of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at New York University, who wrote an overall commentary on the work along with a plate by plate The bulk of the translation used is that of the late Dr. Raymond O. Faulkner, whose work is universally acknowledged as the most authoritative. It was updated by Dr. Goelet to reflect advances in Egyptian philology. Carol Andrews of the Department of Antiquities of the British Museum wrote the Preface and facilitated access to the original papyrus. Eva van Dassow acted as overall project editor. The work of these scholars made this publication as intellectually accurate as it is visually beautiful.The translation of the text of each image is placed on the page directly below the image, allowing the reader, for the first time in 3500 years, to gaze on the images while reading the words of the papyrus. Uncluttered with footnotes or other extraneous matter, the papyrus is displayed with the intent of allowing the modern reader to experience the full depth of the original. The restoration of the unity of word and image in this publication of the Papyrus of Ani has brought to life one of the most important early spiritual treasures of mankind.
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
The Book of Going Forth by Day
The First Authentic Presentation of the Complete Papyrus of Ani
Featuring integrated text and full-color images
$29.95 Paperback ISBN 0-8118-0767-3
Chronicle Books
Written and painted some 3500 years ago, The Papyrus of Ani is the most complete, ornate, and best-preserved example of Ancient Egyptian philosophical and religious thought. Presented here for the first time in its original form, with the hieroglyphic images matched to what has been acknowledged as the finest English translation of the text, The Egyptian Book of the Dead opens the door to one of humanity's earliest and finest spiritual treasures.
Featuring integrated text and full-color images
$29.95 Paperback ISBN 0-8118-0767-3
Chronicle Books
Written and painted some 3500 years ago, The Papyrus of Ani is the most complete, ornate, and best-preserved example of Ancient Egyptian philosophical and religious thought. Presented here for the first time in its original form, with the hieroglyphic images matched to what has been acknowledged as the finest English translation of the text, The Egyptian Book of the Dead opens the door to one of humanity's earliest and finest spiritual treasures.
Selections from the Foreword
I began working at Samuel Weiser's Bookstore in New York in 1973. There I came upon the "elephant folio" (14-3/4 x 21 inches) facsimile of the Papyrus of Ani. Published by the British Museum in 1890, this magnificent volume overwhelmed me with the intensity and beauty of its mysterious imagery. My interest in occult philosophy naturally led me to study the text of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. I first used the virtually unreadable 1895 translation by Budge in the ubiquitous Dover reprint. The original edition had been released as a companion to the facsimile. One was expected to view the images in the facsimile while reading the separate translation.
In January of 1979, I purchased the facsimile and soon after found myself literally "watching" a vision of this book - that is, the exquisite papyrus in full color running along the top of the page, with a readable, uncluttered English translation below. Now that vision has been realized - the rendition of an ancient Egyptian papyrus that comes the closest in 3500 years to approximating the feeling of the original, where the words and images are again treated as a unity.
There are three key issues regarding the creation of this book. The first is the text. My original idea, developed in detail over several years, was to follow the Ani Papyrus word for word. I planned to use Budge's translation, with his excellent key to the hieroglyphics as my guide, to present the text and images together on the same page. Dr. Goelet, however, made clear, first, that Budge's translation falls far short of modern standards, and second, that the hieroglyphic text of the Ani Papyrus itself is of uneven quality, often much inferior to the excellence of its vignettes. He proposed that we use Faulkner's translation of the "ideal text" of each chapter below the images of the Ani Papyrus, supplemented by his own translations where necessary. Our text would then represent the best translation from the best Egyptological sources for the specific chapter of the Book of the Dead illustrated in the Ani Papyrus.
Thus this volume combines the finest modern scholarship with the most beautifully illuminated surviving ancient papyrus.
The second concern is my "recutting" or electronic reorganization of thepapyrus. The medium of a scroll is vastly different from that of a book, and I have sought to restore the integrity of the images at all costs. Budge unfortunately cut the original papyrus using the basic "yardstick" method -dividing it into thirty- seven sheets of relatively even length. The result was to disfigure the flow of the original scroll. On the other hand, the facsimile volume he published looks more like a book, with images of uniform width across pages of uniform width. In this edition, you will find some few images occupying just over a third of the page in width, while others have first created. The sole purpose of the extensive electronic retouching that we have devoted to the papyrus, has been to bring the images even closer to their original form - in fact, to recreate the original Papyrus of Ani in book form three and a half millennia after the scroll was first painted. We have literally spanned the ages by making use of state-of-the-art modern electronic technology to reclaim one of the most beautiful treasures of antiquity.
I believe the power, wisdom, and spiritual vision offered in the following pages can be greatly beneficial to our modern culture. Perhaps in searching out our spiritual roots, we can rediscover the golden thread all but lost today. The ancient Egyptians taught that the individual who led a pure life and persevered against deadly trials would then feast with the Gods. This is an altogether refreshing assessment of our inherent human divinity. Were we, as a culture, to be reminded of such an elevated spiritual condition, might not the true pride so engendered help end the irresponsibility endemic to our world? After all, noblesse oblige!
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Egyptian Afterlife
Egyptian Afterlife
Ancient Egyptian civilization was based on religion; their belief in the rebirth after death became their driving force behind their funeral practices. Death was simply a temporary interruption, rather than complete cessation, of life, and that eternal life could be ensured by means like piety to the gods, preservation of the physical form through Mummification , and the provision of statuary and other funerary equipment. Each human consisted of the physical body, the 'ka', the 'ba', and the 'akh'. The Name and Shadow were also living entities. To enjoy the afterlife, all these elements had to be sustained and protected from harm.
Before the Old Kingdom, bodies buried in desert pits were naturally preserved by desiccation. The arid, desert conditions continued to be a boon throughout the history of ancient Egypt for the burials of the poor, who could not afford the elaborate burial preparations available to the elite. Wealthier Egyptians began to bury their dead in stone tombs and, as a result, they made use of artificial mummification, which involved removing the internal organs, wrapping the body in linen, and burying it in a rectangular stone sarcophagus or wooden coffin. Beginning in the Fourth Dynasty, some parts were preserved separately in canopic jars.
By the New Kingdom, the ancient Egyptians had perfected the art of mummification; the best technique took 70 days and involved removing the internal organs, removing the brain through the nose, and desiccating the body in a mixture of salts called natron. The body was then wrapped in linen with protective amulets inserted between layers and placed in a decorated anthropoid coffin. Mummies of the Late Period were also placed in painted cartonnage mummy cases. Actual preservation practices declined during the Ptolemaic and Roman eras, while greater emphasis was placed on the outer appearance of the mummy, which was decorated.
Wealthy Egyptians were buried with larger quantities of luxury items, but all burials, regardless of social status, included goods for the deceased. Beginning in the New Kingdom, books of the dead were included in the grave, along with shabti statues that were believed to perform manual labor for them in the afterlife Rituals in which the deceased was magically re-animated accompanied burials. After burial, living relatives were expected to occasionally bring food to the tomb and recite prayers on behalf of the deceased.
Egyptians also believed that being mummified was the only way to have an afterlife. Only if the corpse had been properly embalmed and entombed in a mastaba, could the dead live again in the Fields of Yalu and accompany the Sun on its daily ride.
Anubis is the Greek name for a jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology. In the ancient Egyptian language, Anubis is known as Inpu, (variously spelled Anupu, Ienpw etc.). The oldest known mention of Anubis is in the Old Kingdom pyramid texts, where he is associated with the burial of the king. At this time, Anubis was the most important god of the Dead but he was replaced during the Middle Kingdom by Osiris.
Anubis takes various titles in connection with his funerary role, such as He who is upon his mountain, which underscores his importance as a protector of the deceased and their tombs, and the title He who is in the place of embalming, associating him with the process of mummification. Like many ancient Egyptian deities, Anubis assumes different roles in various contexts, and no public procession in Egypt would be conducted without an Anubis to march at the head.
In Ancient Egyptian religion, when the body died, parts of its soul known as ka (body double) and the ba (personality) would go to the Kingdom of the Dead. While the soul dwelt in the Fields of Aaru, Osiris demanded work as payback for the protection he provided. Statues were placed in the tombs to serve as substitutes for the deceased.
Arriving at one's reward in afterlife was a demanding ordeal, requiring a sin-free heart and the ability to recite the spells, passwords, and formulae of the Book of the Dead .
In the Hall of Two Truths, the deceased's heart was weighed against the Shu feather of truth and justice taken from the headdress of the goddess Ma'at. If the heart was lighter than the feather, they could pass on, but if it were heavier they would be devoured by the demon Ammut. This scene depicts what occurs after a person has died, according to the ancient Egyptians.
Beginning with the upper left-hand corner, the deceased appears before a panel of 14 judges to make an accounting for his deeds during life. The ankh, the key of life, appears in the hands of some of the judges.
Next, below, the jackal god Anubis who represents the underworld and mummification leads the deceased before the scale. In his hand, Anubis holds the ankh.
Anubis then weighs the heart of the deceased (left tray) against the feather of Ma'at, goddess of truth and justice (right tray). In some drawings, the full goddess Ma'at, not just her feather, is shown seated on the tray. Note that Ma'at's head, crowned by the feather, also appears atop the fulcrum of the scale. If the heart of the deceased outweighs the feather, then the deceased has a heart which has been made heavy with evil deeds. In that event, Ammut the god with the crocodile head and hippopotamus legs will devour the heart, condemning the deceased to oblivion for eternity. But if the feather outweighs the heart, and then the deceased has led a righteous life and may be presented before Osiris to join the afterlife. Thoth, the ibis-headed god of wisdom stands at the ready to record the outcome.
Horus , the god with the falcon head, then leads the deceased to Osiris. Note the ankh in Horus' hand. Horus represents the personification of the Pharaoh during life, and his father Osiris represents the personification of the Pharaoh after death.
Osiris, lord of the underworld, sits on his throne, represented as a mummy. On his head is the white crown of Lower Egypt (the north). He holds the symbols of Egyptian kingship in his hands: the shepherd's crook to symbolize his role as shepherd of mankind, and the flail, to represent his ability to separate the wheat from the chaff. Behind him stand his wife Isis and her sister Nephthys. Isis is the one in red, and Nephthys is the one in green. Together, Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys welcome the deceased to the underworld.
The tomb-owner would continue after death the occupations of this life and so everything required was packed in the tomb along with the body. Writing materials were often supplied along with clothing, wigs, and hairdressing supplies and assorted tools,depending on the occupation of the deceased.
Often model tools rather than full size ones would be placed in the tomb; models were cheaper and took up less space and in the after-life would be magically transformed into the real thing. Things might include a headrest, glass vessels which may have contained perfume and a slate palette for grinding make-up.
Food was provided for the deceased and should the expected regular offerings of the descendants cease, food depicted on the walls of the tomb would be magically transformed to supply the needs of the dead.
Images on tombs might include a triangular shaped piece of bread (part of the food offerings from a tomb). Other images might represent food items that the tomb owner would have eaten in his lifetime and hoped to eat in the after-life.
Life was dominated by Ma'at, or the concept of justice and order. Egyptians believed there were different levels of goodness and evil. Egyptians believed that part of the personality, called the Ka, remained in the tomb. Thus elaborate and complex burial practices developed.
The removed internal organs were separately treated and, during much of Egyptian history, placed in jars of clay or stone. These so-called Canopic Jars were closed with stoppers fashioned in the shape of four heads -- human, baboon, falcon, and jackal - representing the four protective spirits called the Four Sons of Horus.
The heart was removed to be weighed against a feather representing Ma'at to determine moral righteousness. The brain was sucked out of the cranial cavity and thrown away because the Egyptian's thought it was useless. Personal belongings were usually placed in the tomb to make the Ka more at home and to assist the dead in their journey into the afterlife.
Text was read from the 'Book of the Dead' and the ritual of "openingthe mouth" was performed before the tomb was sealed.
Much of what we know about art and life in ancient Egypt has been preserved in the tombs that were prepared for the protection of the dead. The Egyptians believed that the next life had to be provided for in every detail and, as a result, tombs were decorated with depictions of the deceased at his funerary meal, activities of the estate and countryside, and the abundant offerings necessary to sustain the spirit.
Many surviving Egyptian works of art were created to be placed in the tombs of officials and their families. Through the ritual of "opening the mouth," a statue of the deceased (known as a "ka statue") was thought to become a living repository of a person's spirit. Wall paintings, reliefs, and models depict pleasurable pastimes and occupations of daily life. Always these images have deeper meanings of magical protection, sustenance, and rebirth. The mummy was surrounded with magic spells, amulets, and representations of protective deities.
Coffin of a Middle Kingdom Official
At the near end of the coffin a goddess stands, her arms raised protectively. The hieroglyphic inscriptions are magical requests for offerings and protection. Small magical amulets made of semiprecious stones or faience were placed within the linen wrappings of the mummy. Many of them were hieroglyphic signs.
For Egyptians, the cycles of human life, rebirth, and afterlife mirrored the reproductive cycles that surrounded them in the natural world. After death, the Egyptians looked forward to continuing their daily lives as an invisible spirit among their descendents on Earth in Egypt, enjoying all the pleasures of life with none of its pain or hardships. This vision is vividly depicted in the sculptures, reliefs, and wall paintings of Egyptian tombs, with the deceased portrayed in the way he or she wished to remain forever accompanied by images of family and servants. These forms of art not only reflect the Egyptians' love of life but also by their very presence made the afterlife a reality.
This is a tomb painting from the tomb of a man named Menna.
The Egyptians believed that the pleasures of life could be made permanent through scenes like this one of Menna hunting in the Nile marshes. In this painting Menna, the largest figure, is shown twice. He is spear fishing on the right and flinging throwing sticks at birds on the left. His wife, the second-largest figure, and his daughter and son are with him. By their gestures they assist him and express their affection. The son on the left is drawing attention with a pointed finger to the two little predators (a cat and an ichneumon) that are about to steal the birds' eggs. Pointed fingers were a magical gesture for averting evil in ancient Egypt, and the attack on the nest may well be a reminder of the vulnerability of life.
Overall, scenes of life in the marshes, which were depicted in many New Kingdom tombs, also had a deeper meaning. The Nile marshes growing out of the fertile mud of the river and the abundant wildlife supported by that environment symbolized rejuvenation and eternal life.
The figures in Menna's family are ordered within two horizontal rows, or registers, and face toward the center in nearly identical groups that fit within a triangular shape.
The mummy was placed in a brightly painted wooden coffin. The elaborate decoration on Nes-mut-aat-neru's coffin fits her status as a member of the aristocracy. A central band contains symbols of rebirth flanked by panels featuring images of god and goddesses. Look for the central panel that shows the winged scarab beetle hovering protectively over the mummy (probably meant to represent the mummy of the Nes-mut-aat-neru herself).
The large white pillar painted on the back of the coffin forms a "backbone." This provides symbolic support for the mummy and displays an inscription detailing Nes-mut-aat-neru's ancestry
Next the mummy and coffin were placed in another wooden coffin. Like the first coffin, it is in the shape of the mummy but more simply decorated. The inside of the base is painted with a full-length figure of a goddess.
The lid again shows Nes-mut-aat-neru's face, wig and elaborate collar. Here too the scarab beetle with outstretched wings hovers over the mummy. Below the scarab look for a small scene showing the deceased Nes-mut-aat-neru worshipping a god, and a two-column inscription.
Finally the mummy and coffins were placed in a rectangular outermost coffin made primarily out of sycamore wood. The posts of the coffin are inscribed with religious texts. On the top of the coffin sits an alert jackal, probably a reference to Anubis, the jackal-headed god who was the patron of embalmers and protector of cemeteries.
These two wooden boxes filled with mud shawabti figures were found with Nes-mut-aat-neru's elaborate nested coffins. Shawabti figures were molded in the shape of a mummified person, and were designed to do any work that the gods asked the deceased's spirit to do in the afterworld.
Stone Coffin - Sarcophagus
Masks of deceased persons are part of traditions in many countries. The most important process of the funeral ceremony in ancient Egypt was the mummification of the body, which, after prayers and consecration, was put into a sarcophagus enameled and decorated with gold and gems. A special element of the rite was a sculpted mask, put on the face of the deceased. This mask was believed to strengthen the spirit of the mummy and guard the soul from evil spirits on its way to the afterworld.
The best known mask is that of Tutankhamun now in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo. Made of gold and gems, the mask conveys the features of the ancient ruler. Most funerary masks were not made of solid gold, however, living persons in ancient Egypt might have employed transformational spells to assume nonhuman forms. These masks were not made from casts of the features; rather, the mummification process itself preserved the features of the deceased.
Masks were a very important aspect of Ancient Egyptian burials. In common with the anthropoid coffin they provided the dead with a face in the afterlife. In addition they also enabled the spirit to recognize the body.
Masked priests, priestesses or magicians, disguising themselves as divine beings, such as Anubis or Beset, almost assuredly assumed such identities to exert the powers associated with those deities. Funerary masks and other facial coverings for mummies emphasized the ancient
Egyptian belief in the fragile state of transition that the dead would have to successfully transcend in their physical and spiritual journey from this world to their divine transformation in the next. Hence, whether worn by the living or the dead, masks played a similar role of magically transforming an individual from a mortal to a divine state.
On various artifacts, we find numerous examples in art, beginning with the Predynastic palettes (such as the Two-Dog palette), representations of anthropomorphic beings with the heads of animals, birds or other fantastic creatures. Some of these are understood to have probably been humans dressed as deities, though the ancient Egyptians probably saw them as images or manifestations of the gods themselves. This was probably most evident in three dimensional representations such as the Middle Kingdom female figure from Western Thebes (modern Luxor), now in the collection of the Manchester Museum and sometimes referred to in earlier texts as a leonine-masked human. Though most certainly a human dressed as an animal, this figure was surely considered an image of Beset.
Two dimensional depictions are more difficult to interpret. The question of the extent to which these depicted masks were used in Egyptian religious rituals has not yet been satisfactorily resolved for all periods of ancient Egyptian history. This may be due to intentional ambiguity. An example is one very common depiction rendered in many mortuary scenes that records the mummification of a body by a jackal-headed being.
Such representations may document the actual mummification rites performed by a jackal-disguised priest, though it may also be interpreted as commemorating that episode of the embalmment by the jackal god Anubis in the mythic account of the death and resurrection of the god of the dead, Osiris, whom the deceased wished to emulate.
Another example is a ritual procession of composite animal and human figures, identified in the accompanying texts, as the souls of Nekhen and Pe, who carry the sacred bark in a procession detailed on the southwestern interior wall of the Hypostyle Hall in the Temple of Amun at Karnak.
Scenes such as this may either be literal records of the historic celebration performed by masked or costumed priests, or alternatively they may represent a visual actualization of faith in the royal dogma, which claimed categorically that the mythic ancestors of the god-king legitimized and supported his reign.
It is thought that the ancient Egyptians did in fact perform some ritual ceremonies wearing such masks, though these ritual objects from the archaeological record are rare. Perhaps this is due to the fragile and perishable materials from which such masks may have been constructed (though surely some were made from gold, thought to be the skin of the gods).
We do have an example of a fragmentary Middle Kingdom Bes-like or Aha (perhaps an ancient god and forerunner of Bes) face of cartonnage recovered by WM Flinders Petrie at the town site of Kahun. However, this relic may not have been a mask even though it does appear to have eye holes.
There was also an unusual set of late Middle Kingdom objects found in shaft-tomb 5 under the Ramesseum that included a wooden figurine representing either a lion-headed goddess or a woman wearing a similar kind of mask, which probably connected in some way with the performance of magic.
However, the only incontrovertible evidence for the use of ritual masks by the living are found from Egypt's Late Period. From that time, for example, we have a unique, ceramic mask of the head of the jackal god, Anubis (now in the collection of the Roemer Pelizaeus- Museum, Hildesheim), dating to sometime after 600 BC, which was apparently manufactured specifically as a head covering.
This mask has indentations on both sides which would have allowed it to be supported atop the shoulders. The snout and upraised ears of the jackal head would have surmounted the wearers actual head. Two holes in the neck of the object would have allowed the wearer to view straight ahead. However, lateral vision would have been limited, thus necessitating the wearer's need for assistance, as explicitly depicted in a temple relief at Dendera. In this depiction, the priest wears just such a mask, and is assisted by a companion priest. A description of a festival procession of Isis, which was led by the god Anubis, who was presumably a similarly masked priest, took place not in Egypt but rather in Kenchreai.
Funerary masks had more than one purpose. They were a part of the elaborate precautions taken by the ancient Egyptians to preserve the body after death. The protection of the head was of primary concern during this process. Thus, a face covering helped preserve the head, as well as providing a permanent substitute, in an idealized form which presented the deceased in the likeness of an immortal being, in case of physical damage. Those of means were provided with both a mask with gilt flesh tones and blue wigs, both associated with the glittering flesh and the lapis lazuli hair of the sun god.
Specific features of a mask, including the eyes, eyebrows, forehead and other features, were directly identified with individual divinities, as explained in the Book of the Dead, Spell 151b. This allowed the deceased to arrive safely in the hereafter, and gain acceptance among the other divine immortals in the council of the great god of the dead, Osiris. Though such masks were initially made for only the royalty, later such masks were manufactured for the elite class for both males and females. Beginning in the 4th Dynasty, attempts were made to stiffen and mold the outer layer of linen bandages used in mummification to cover the faces of the deceased and to emphasize prominent facial features in paint.
The forerunners of mummy masks date to this period through the 6th Dynasty, taking the form of thin coatings of plaster molded either directly over the face or on top of the linen wrappings, perhaps fulfilling a similar purpose to the 4th Dynasty reserve heads. A plaster mold, apparently taken directly from the face of a corpse, was excavated from the 6th Dynasty mortuary temple of Teti, though unfortunately, this is thought to date to the Greco-Roman period.
The very earliest masks were experimentally crafted as independent sculptural work, and have been dated to the Herakleopolitan period (late First Intermediate Period). These early masks were made of wood, fashioned in two pieces and held together with pegs, or cartonnage (layers of linen or papyrus stiffened with plaster. They were molded over a wooden model or core.
The masks of both men and women had over-exaggerated eyes and often enigmatic half smiles. These objects were then framed by long, narrow, tripartite wigs held securely by a decorated headband.
The "bib" of the mask extended to cover the chest, and were painted for both males and females with elaborate beading and floral motif necklaces or broad collars that served not only an aesthetic function but also an apotropaic requirement as set out in the funerary spells.
Hollow and solid masks (sometimes of diminutive size) were also built by pouring clay or plaster into generic, often unisex molds. To this, ears and gender specific details were than added. These elongated masks eventually evolved into anthropoid inner coffins, first appearing in the 12th Dynasty.
Masks became increasingly more sophisticated during the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period. These later masks made for royalty were beaten from precious metals. Of course, an obvious example of such is the solid gold mask of Tutankhamun, though we also have fine gold and silver specimens from Tanis.
However, masks of all types were embellished with paint, using red for the flesh tones of males and yellow, pale tones for females. Added to this were composite, inlaid eyes or eyebrows, as well as other details that could elevate the cost of the finished product considerably. Hence, indications of social status, including hairstyles, jewelry and costumes (depicted on body-length head covers) are often helpful in dating masks. However, the idealized image of transfigured divinity, which was the objective of the funerary masks, precluded the individualization of masks to the point of portraiture. The results are that we have a relative sameness in these objects with anonymous facial features from all periods of Egyptian history.
The use of face coverings for the dead continued in Egypt for as long as mummification was practiced in Egypt. Regional preferences included cartonnage and plaster masks, both of equal popularity during the Ptolemaic (Greek) period. The cartonnage masks became actually only one part of a complete set of separate cartonnage pieces that covered the wrapped body. This set included a separate cartonnage breastplate and foot case. During the Roman period, plaster masks exhibit Greco-Roman influence only in their coiffures, which were patterned from styles current at the imperial court. This included both beards and mustaches for males, and elaborate coiffures on women, all highly molded in relief.
However, during the Roman period there were alternatives to the cartonnage or plaster mask. Introduced during this period were the so-called Fayoum portraits, which were initially unearthed from cemeteries in the Fayoum and first archaeologically excavated in 1888 and between 1910 and 1911 by Flinders Petrie at Hawara.
Since then, they have been discovered at sites throughout Egypt from the northern coast to Aswan in the south. These were paintings made with encaustic (colored beeswax) or tempera (watercolor) on wooden panels or linen shrouds and were rendered in a Hellenistic style not unlike contemporary frescoes discovered at Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy. Nevertheless, it is believed that such two-dimensional paintings held the same ideological function as traditional three-dimensional masks.
However, these portraits were popular among nineteenth and early twentieth century collectors and this had a tendency to at first isolate them from their funerary contexts. They were studied by classicists and art historians who, basing their conclusions on details in the paintings along, such as hairstyles, jewelry and costume, identified the portraits as being those of Greek or Roman settlers who had adopted Egyptian burial customs. In fact, successful attempts have been made, based on the analysis of brush strokes and tool marks and the distinctive rendering of anatomical features, to group these portraits according to schools and to identify some individual artistic hands.
However, though the portraits do appear at first to capture the unique features of specific individuals, it appears likely that only the earliest examples were painted from live models. Studies have indicated that the same generic quality that permeates the visages of the cartonnage and plaster masks persists within the group of Fayoum portraits that have been preserved and therefore we believe that they served in a similar fashion as the earlier masks.
There may also be evidence for a cultic use of these paintings while their owners still lived. The fact that the upper corners of some of these panels were cut at an angle to secure a better fit before being positioned over the mummy, that there are signs of wear on paintings in places that would have been covered by the mummy wrappings, and that at least one portrait (now in the British Museum was discovered at Hawara still within a wooden frame indicates that the paintings had a domestic use prior to inclusion within the funerary equipment. They may have been hung in the owners home prior to such use.
Yet the iconographic elements, including gilded lips in accordance with the funerary spells 21 through 23 of the Book of the Dead to insure the power of speech during the afterlife, as well as the allusions to traditional deities, such as the sidelock of Horus worn by adolescents, the pointed star diadem of Serapis worn by men, and the horned solar crown of Isis worn by adult females, together with other evidence, emphasize a continuity of native Egyptian traditions. Though the product of the Hellenistic age of Roman Egypt, they date from the end of a continuum of a desire to permanently preserve the faces of the dead in an idealized and transfigured form that began in the Old Kingdom and lasted to the end of pagan Egypt.
The last examples we have of funerary masks are actually painted linen shrouds of which the upper part was pressed into a mold to produce the effect of a three dimensional plaster mask. Some examples of this type of object may date as late as the third of fourth century AD. First unearthed by Edouard Naville within the sacred precinct of the mortuary chapel of Queen Hatshepsut, they were initially and incorrectly identified by him as the mummies of early Christians. However, later analysis by HE Winlock, particularly noting the ubiquitous representation of the bark of the Egyptian funerary god Sokar, correctly identified these as further examples of masks consistent with pagan Egyptian funerary traditions, even though certain motifs, such as the cup held in one hand, seem to present the final transition from pagan mask to Coptic icon painting and the portraits of Byzantine saints.
Funerary Art
Egyptian funerary art was inseparably connected to the belief that life continues after death and that in order to make the journey between this and the next, images and memorabilia should be preserved. The Valley of the Kings was built as a necropolis for royal and elite tombs from about 1500 BCE, while the Theban Necropolis was later an important site for Mortuary temples and mastaba tombs. Individual portraiture of the deceased is found extremely early on.
The intention was to commemorate the life of the tomb owner, provide supplies necessary for the afterlife, depict performance of the burial rites, and in general present an environment that would be conducive to the tomb owner's rebirth. There is a special category of Ancient Egyptian funerary texts, which clarify the purposes of the burial customs. The Egyptian mummy, encased in one or more layers of coffin, is famous; the Canopic jars contained several internal organs.
Lower citizens used common forms of funerary art including shabti figurines (to perform any labor that might be required of the dead person in the afterlife), models of the scarab beetle and books of the dead which they believed would protect them in the afterlife During the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, miniature wooden or clay models depicting scenes from everyday life became popular additions to the tomb. In an attempt to duplicate the activities of the living in the afterlife, these models show laborers, houses, boats, and even military formations which are scale representations of the ideal ancient Egyptian afterlife.
Funerary Texts
Ancient Egyptian Funerary Texts
Mummification
Ancient Egyptian Medicine Various Egyptian Papyri
Egyptian Gods Index
Egyptian Gods Index
| Human and semihuman forms of some of the chief Egyptian deities: 1) Horus , son of Osiris, a sky god closely connected with the king. 2) Set , enemy of Horus and Osiris, god of storms and disorder. 3) Thoth , a moon deity and god of writing, counting and wisdom. 4) Khnum , a ram god who shapes men and their kas on his potter's wheel. 5) Hathor , goddess of love birth and death. 6) Sobek , the crocodile god, Lord of the Faiyum. 7) Ra , the sun god in his many forms. 8) Amon , a creator god often linked with Ra. 9) Ptah , another creator god and the patron of craftsmen. 1O) Anubis , god of mummification. 11) Osiris , god of agriculture and ruler of the dead. 12) Isis , wife of Osiris, mother of Horus and Mistress of Magic. |
When you study the mythologies of ancient civilizations, you realize they are all designed by the same geometric blueprint that follows into humanity's current timeline.In the physical we find duality on all levels, especially in the pantheons of creational forces linked to one another. We further find the pattern of creation and destruction ... repeating in the cycles of time ... embracing the human experience. Designing the gods and goddesses falls into the same categories of duality - good and bad - light and dark - forever seeking balance and the return to full consciousness.
Always we find Gods who came from the sky (higher frequency) and those that came from the sea of creation (collective unconsciousness). Their creation myths speak to us about a beginning and an end for Earth, giving rise to something greater. We are reaching the end of the current programmed experience. Reality is a holographic projection seen through the eye of consciousness in time. The eye is a metaphor for the place of creation through which all things emerge as consciousness and are experienced and archived as it moves to the next.
The Egyptian Pantheons of major and minor gods and goddesses follow the pattern along with animal representations that link to destruction and rebirth - birds, cats, aquatic beings who create or destroy. In truth, one soul played the roles of all the gods. That souls also played the god roles in all of the ancient civilizations as told in their creation myths.
Who they are and what they symbolize are all part of the myth, math, metaphor and magic of realities.
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