Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Powerful Gods and Ancient Sites in Egypt
Powerful Gods and Ancient Sites in Egypt
Powerful Gods and Ancient Sites in Egypt
Ebook133 pages1 hour

Powerful Gods and Ancient Sites in Egypt

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Egypt is a land of ancient wonders. From the pyramids to the Sphinx, Egypt has been home to many great civilizations. It's also known for its temples and tombs.

These ancient sites were not just places where people lived and worked; they were also places where people would worship their Gods to please them. The Egyptians believed that their gods lived in heaven on top of mountains or under oceans, so they built temples to bring them closer together with these gods.

"Heliopolis" is Greek, meaning "City of the Sun." the city of Heliopolis was the center of worship for the sun god, Ra. It was located in the Nile delta. The local name for this city was On or Iwn.

In ancient times it was an important religious and educational center; it served as a significant temple to Ra and housed one of three Egyptian universities—the other was Memphis and Thinis—where students studied subjects like philosophy, astronomy, theology, and healing arts. The Valley of the Kings (or Theban Necropolis) is a valley in Egypt. It's where pharaohs were buried, so it's essential to the history of Egypt. There are over 60 tombs in this area, including several that have not been fully excavated yet. The Valley of the Kings is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites and is open to visitors daily!

Memphis was the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom. During these periods, Memphis was also the religious center of ancient Egypt. Its importance can be attributed to its strategic position along important trade routes between Upper and Lower Egypt.

The city was first established by Menes (Narmer), who united Upper and Lower Egypt into one kingdom around 3100 BCE. He chose the site due to its strategic location on a north-south trade route connecting Thebes with Avaris; it would later serve as an important center for foreign affairs in later years as well. The city flourished under various kings during this period—namely Ahmose I, who moved his capital from Thebes to Memphis after defeating Nubia during his reign (ca 1550–1525 BCE); Thutmose III, who expanded it further upon becoming king; Hatshepsut, who established temples there while building new ones at Deir el-Bahri; Rameses II whose temple complex included four obelisks weighing over 200 tons each; Ramses III who built another temple at Medinet Habu near Aswan where he inscribed texts detailing military campaigns against Corfu Island in Crete (modern-day Greece).

In ancient times, the people would worship the Gods by building a temple. It was their way of showing that they loved and respected their gods. Temples were built in honor of the god related to that place. For example, a temple for Ra (sun god) will be built close to where there is plenty of sunlight so he can shine on his followers daily. Temples usually have columns around them but only from one side; this was done because the Egyptians believed that if they built it from all four sides, it would block out some of Ra's light which could anger him and make him hurt them or even kill them! The inside temples were made with beautiful decorations like paintings on walls showing what happens after death or statues made out of stone showing how someone looks when they die peacefully (hint: very old looking).

The primary purpose for building these temples was because they served three primary purposes: worshiping your god(s), learning about them (libraries were often included), and performing rituals/prayers whenever you needed something important done quickly (for example, curing sicknesses).

LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 29, 2022
ISBN9798201337599
Powerful Gods and Ancient Sites in Egypt
Author

STACY DALTON

Stacy Dalton's Fascination with Egypt began at an early age, when he showed proficiency and high aptitude for languages, having read the story of Jean Francois Champollion and the decoding of the hieroglyphs, he was immediately drawn to Ancient languages of Egypt and the Middle East. He has worked on 9 expeditions and written 33 papers on every Kingdom and Dynasty of Egypt, he has now expanded his insights into other ancient civilizations and dabbles as an investigative mythologist. Stacy believes when we crack the origins of creation mythology we will crack ancient civilizations, something many scholars largely ignore.

Read more from Stacy Dalton

Related to Powerful Gods and Ancient Sites in Egypt

Related ebooks

Ancient History For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for Powerful Gods and Ancient Sites in Egypt

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Powerful Gods and Ancient Sites in Egypt - STACY DALTON

    STACY DALTON

    Introduction

    Egypt is a land of ancient wonders. From the pyramids to the Sphinx, Egypt has been home to many great civilizations. It's also known for its temples and tombs.

    These ancient sites were not just places where people lived and worked; they were also places where people would worship their Gods to please them. The Egyptians believed that their gods lived in heaven on top of mountains or under oceans, so they built temples to bring them closer together with these gods.

    Heliopolis is Greek, meaning City of the Sun. the city of Heliopolis was the center of worship for the sun god, Ra. It was located in the Nile delta. The local name for this city was On or Iwn.

    In ancient times it was an important religious and educational center; it served as a significant temple to Ra and housed one of three Egyptian universities—the other was Memphis and Thinis—where students studied subjects like philosophy, astronomy, theology, and healing arts.

    The Valley of the Kings (or Theban Necropolis) is a valley in Egypt. It's where pharaohs were buried, so it's essential to the history of Egypt. There are over 60 tombs in this area, including several that have not been fully excavated yet. The Valley of the Kings is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites and is open to visitors daily!

    Memphis was the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom. During these periods, Memphis was also the religious center of ancient Egypt. Its importance can be attributed to its strategic position along important trade routes between Upper and Lower Egypt.

    The city was first established by Menes (Narmer), who united Upper and Lower Egypt into one kingdom around 3100 BCE. He chose the site due to its strategic location on a north-south trade route connecting Thebes with Avaris; it would later serve as an important center for foreign affairs in later years as well. The city flourished under various kings during this period—namely Ahmose I, who moved his capital from Thebes to Memphis after defeating Nubia during his reign (ca 1550–1525 BCE); Thutmose III, who expanded it further upon becoming king; Hatshepsut, who established temples there while building new ones at Deir el-Bahri; Rameses II whose temple complex included four obelisks weighing over 200 tons each; Ramses III who built another temple at Medinet Habu near Aswan where he inscribed texts detailing military campaigns against Corfu Island in Crete (modern-day Greece).

    In ancient times, the people would worship the Gods by building a temple. It was their way of showing that they loved and respected their gods.

    Temples were built in honor of the god related to that place. For example, a temple for Ra (sun god) will be built close to where there is plenty of sunlight so he can shine on his followers daily. Temples usually have columns around them but only from one side; this was done because the Egyptians believed that if they built it from all four sides, it would block out some of Ra's light which could anger him and make him hurt them or even kill them! The inside temples were made with beautiful decorations like paintings on walls showing what happens after death or statues made out of stone showing how someone looks when they die peacefully (hint: very old looking).

    The primary purpose for building these temples was because they served three primary purposes: worshiping your god(s), learning about them (libraries were often included), and performing rituals/prayers whenever you needed something important done quickly (for example, curing sicknesses).

    HELIOPOLIS AND ABYDOS

    During the 3rd month of the inundation, on day 8, the Dual King: Kheperkare, son of Senwosret [I], true of voice, may he reign forever.

    In the double-crown, the king appeared in the audience hall, consulted his retinue, the palace courtiers, and the officials of his private chambers...Look, I am planning monuments for the future... I plan to build a temple within the precinct of [Re-] Horakhty.

    This was done by releasing the [surveying] rope, laying the line on the ground, and forming it into [its] shape

    When the Itj-towy kings made pyramids, they were also building temples whose stones either burned in limekilns or used as fillings and foundations for later buildings would leave indelible marks on all future phases of pharaonic history.

    New temples were erected within the vast old sanctuary of Re-Horakhty at Heliopolis; these are now only represented by text on a Berlin Leather Roll, a plan scratched on a slip of stone, and a single obelisk, the relic of a pair, erected in a Cairo park. A building block still bears the names and images of their honored predecessors, the Intefs and the Montuhoteps, in the valley where the temple-building program of the Itj-towy had been modeled directly after the Intefs and the Montuhoteps. The delta had to shipbuilding stone from the valley to the delta; only the building lines and some relief fragments remain for the temples of the Itj-towy kings. To replace the little shrine for Amun-Re built by the Intefs, Thebes itself was rebuilt with a grand temple.

    As a result of the loss of those temples, the very nature of the court changed, was revised, and expanded. At least one of them had given a brand new home to the unknown God Amun-Re at Karnak after rehousing the earlier and smaller temples built in the time of the last Memphite kingdom. While another had provided a temple to a Memphite deity named Osiris inside the venerable compound of Khentyamentiu at Abydos, as he had never seen before. Abydos became a national pilgrimage site due to Osiris' new home.

    In contrast to Re, a sun god whose name had been incorporated into the sun temples of the Old Kingdom and the terms of many Memphite kings, Osiris seemed to have been a relative newcomer and had sprung from nowhere. First appearing at Saqqara, in a tomb chapel of the Abusir kings, To the north of Thebes, he is associated with the delta town of Busiris and Abydos. Osiris appears, however, as a powerful, grounded presence inside the Memphite pyramids, thus underlining the connection between the Pyramid Texts and the lost Memphite courtly archives, specifically, as described in some of Osiris' epithets within those texts, with the temples of Heliopolis. However, Osiris's origins remain a mystery, as they should be for a deity. According to one authoritative egyptology dictionary, there are no less than thirteen well-argued scholarly alternatives for the source of his name and, therefore, the identity of his roots.

    During the times of the Itj-towy kings, both Amun-Re and Osiris became influential national figures. Amun-Re and Osiris' sudden rise to prominence shows that the Itj-towy court was making thoughtful, conscious choices about the state they were creating. In the same way that the royal titularies describe pharaoh as

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1