Egyptian Death Rituals And Beliefs Essay Research

Egyptian Death Rituals And Beliefs Essay, Research Paper

The Path to the Western Lands:Death Ritual and Beliefs in Ancient Egypt

Most ancient and OprimitiveO societies seem to be possessed with what we would consider an unhealthy preoccupation with death. The greatest architectural achievements of ancient civilizations are either tombs, or temples; that some suggest began as tombs (Jaynes). To appreciate why this might be it is necessary to dismiss our social biases as much as we are able to. The ancients lived in a world where death came quickly and often. Food storage allowed some protection against starvation but if more than two or three harvests failed, mass starvation was not uncommon. Plagues were also frequent by todayOs standards and even more frightening because they had no concrete cause. Not only can we not conceive of being in this situation but we have lived our lives in a post-enlightenment Judeo-Christian society where, as a result of the comparative ease of our lives, we are assured for the most part that whatever happens after death; it is pleasant. The ancients had no such intellectual background. Death was

The Egyptians were, arguably, the most death-obsessed civilization ever. Much of what we know of them comes from their elaborate and well stocked tombs. Situated in the well defined, agriculturally stable Nile Valley, the Egyptian civilization developed many unique and innovative beliefs about the nature of death and the afterlife.

The Egyptians believed that every person is made up of seven OsoulsO. These are much different from our understanding of the Christian soul. It is not clear what function each one serves but what is clear, is that each has important tasks to perform in order to safely pass to Tuat (also known as the Western Lands; the Egyptian Land of the Dead) – immortality was not guaranteed to the Egyptians. The souls are not divided as simply as western dualistic thought would lead one to assume. It is not Oangry soulO, Ohappy soulO and Osad soulO. Each soul is a separate entity which, though its fate is tied to the others, seems to have its own consciousness and need not stay with the other souls.

The first soul is Sekhu , the body or spirit body. Sekhu seems to most closely parallel the Christian soul. Egyptian texts pertaining to the journey to Tuat are told from the point of view of the Sekhu. The Ka, or OdoubleO is the most important of what I will call the Osecondary soulsO. The Ka is with a person throughout his or her life and serves as a guide on the journey to Tuat. Kings and gods are said to send forth their Ka as messengers to their subjects (Breasted). The depictions of the deceased on route to Tuat often show him (the majority depict men) with his Ka beside him.

The Ba is interpreted as KaOs soul or heart soul. The Ba often dwells with the Ka but is free to travel separately. Just as one might send out oneOs Ka, the Book of the Dead (chap. 29) states:

Their Bau come forth upon earth to do the will of their Kau…

Contained within the Ba and the Sekhu is the Ab or heart. The Ab is the seat of the passions and a record of good and evil done by its Sekhu. Budge numbers the Ab among the souls. The Book of the Dead however, discusses the Ab as a thing to be protected, and there is no mention of the Ab coming and going of its own volition, a quality shown by the other souls. The nature of the Khaibit, or OshadowO is unclear but it is something that the deceased is instructed to protect.

The last of the secondary souls is the Ren or name. It is a common belief among ancient peoples that oneOs name holds great power. How can one be introduced to the gods if he or she has no name. (Budge) This could help explain the practice of the pharaohs and nobles to cover walls and columns with their names and the later trend to cover old kingOs names with oneOs own; possibly to gain the power of othersO Ren.

In addition to the Sekhu and four secondary souls, the Egyptians believed in two immortal souls; the Khu and Sekhem. The Khu is translated alternately as OsoulO, OspiritO or Ospirit-soulO. A more appropriate name for Khu would be Odivine soulO. The Khu leaves the body and goes to dwell with the Khu of the gods as soon as the first prayers are said over it. The Khu will unite with the Sekhu, Ka, and Ba in Tuat if they survive the journey. The last soul of the Egyptians is the Sekhem or power. It is equivalent to the New Age vernacular OenergyO; the life force which sustains the Khu and possibly Sekhu.

As was stated above, immortality was not guaranteed to the Egyptians. Immortality was secured only by complex measures taken in the physical world and knowledge of the proper courses of action on the journey to the Western Lands. Out of these perceived necessities developed some impressive technological achievements.

Tombs were of great importance to the Egyptians. In pre-dynastic times, tombs were simple mounds or small ovular or rectangular rooms placed over the buried corpse. The everyday items found in graves or the tomb chambers above the graves suggest that Egyptians had already formed ideas of an afterlife similar to this world (David). The bodies in such graves are almost exclusively situated with the head to the North and the face pointing West.

The Early dynastic period saw the rise of the mastaba tomb. These were larger, house-