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Egyptian-Heliopolis Mythology When you think of Egyptian mythology, what is the first thing that comes to mind? You probably answered mummies. Ever since the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in the 1920s, Egyptian mythology has captured our imaginations. A painting from The Book of the Dead showing a pharaoh worshipping Osiris, Isis and Horus A Pharaoh Worshipping Osiris, Isis, and Horus Photo by Unknown author, distributed under a CC-BY-SA-2.5 license. Thanks to the discovery of the Book of the Dead, we know a lot about ancient Egypt’s myths. In addition to the details of the Egytian afterlife, this group of books contains a description of each god and goddess, their origin and their role. The reigning pharaoh was said to be the embodiment of the sky god Horus, represented by the head of a falcon. This book helped to secure his divine position. Ancient Egyptian mythology is animalistic, meaning the deities are usually portrayed with human bodies and animal heads. The ancient Egyptians worshiped over 2,000 deities. There is even a goddess of spelling! Amun-Ra was the most important of the gods and was responsible for creation. The earth is said to have risen from a place called Nu, a swirly watery chaos. There are several different creation myths associated with ancient Egypt. In one, humans are formed from the tears of the god Amun-Ra. Illustration of Anubis Anubis. Illustration by Ningyou, Public Domain. Anubis (a jackal-headed god) was the god of mummification and the underworld. Death was an extremely important part of Egyptian mythology. The body of the deceased was preserved through mummification to insure it could be used in the afterlife. The journey to the afterlife could not begin until the end of this process which took over two months to complete. Special magical spells were also recited and buried with the deceased. The pyramids were used as tombs for the pharaohs to hold their sarcophaguses which contained their mummified bodies. The burial rooms also contained most of their earthly belongings which were to be used in the afterlife. The common Egyptians were buried with basic household items while the wealthier Egyptians were sent to the next world with items like jewelry and furniture. A painting from The Book of the Dead showing the weighing of the heart overseen by Osiris Weighing of the Heart overseen by Osiris. Photo by Jon Bodsworth, Public Domain. Once the deceased reached the underworld they took part in a judgment ceremony overseen by Osiris, the god of the dead and the Egyptian Afterlife. During this ceremony the person’s heart would be weighed on the scales against a feather. If their heart was too heavy, it was devoured by a beast called Ammit, a terrifying creature with the head of a crocodile. The judged would then cease to exist. If the deceased had a light heart, that person’s heart was returned to their body and they were allowed to continue on to the Fields of Hetep and Iaru, the Egyptian version of heaven. Because of this myth, the heart was always left inside the body during the process of mummification even though the rest of the organs were preserved in specially decorated Canopic jars. Karnak temple Karnak Temple. Photo by Karel Jakubec, Public Domain. Unlike the ziggurats of Mesopotamia and the pyramids of Central and South America, the Egyptian pyramids were elaborate tombs and not places of worship. Egyptians built enormous stone temples which they considered the homes of their gods and goddesses. There walls were covered with important scenes which often depicted the pharaoh. These temples had six main parts. The front gate, called the pylon, led to a courtyard where regular Egyptians were allowed to worship on festival days. This was as far as they were allowed to go. Only the Pharaoh and the priests could enter the rooms of the temple. The inside of the temples contained a hypostyle hall and a second hall used to perform religious rituals. A sanctuary contained a statue of the god or goddess the temple had been dedicated to. The god or goddess was believed to actually enter these statues during religious rituals. A sacred lake was located next to the temple and contained holy water used for the religious rituals inside of the temple.