Death and the Afterlife Essay

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'In ancient societies preparations for death were as important to people as planning for life'

How important was preparation for death during the lifetimes of the people of ancient society?
What do an ancient society's beliefs in the afterlife tell us about that society? Discuss the view that ancient society was preoccupied with death.

Ancient Egyptians spent a lot of time and money for the preparations for death but what was even more important than that was the next life, the after life. Ancient Egyptians were obsessed with the afterlife and preparing for it, they took care of their dead as if there were people by burying their possessions with them, believing that it would go with them to the afterlife. Egyptian people were very dedicated in religion, perhaps more so than any other civilisation. Their entire world revolved around sustaining maat with their gods and people. The evidence we have on Egyptian religion and there preparations for death tells us a lot about there culture. We also speculate that this may have changed over time.

At first only the Pharaoh could by mummified and live with gods. This was because the Pharaoh was the living representation of Osiris, These beliefs relate to the Osiris myth and how Osiris himself lived, died and then was able to live on in a different place. Approximately towards the end of the Old Kingdom Egyptian people started to believe that they to could go to the after life. The 'life after death' concept is seen everywhere in Ancient Egypt as with the sun Dying at sunset, goes through the underworld and is reborn at sunrise. According to what we have found out about ancient Egypt, they believed that there are five spiritual aspects of an individual. These were, the Ka (life force)...

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...t to protect it from being separated from the body in the underworld.

With what we know about ancient Egypt we can summarise what we believe about its people. It is pretty clear that they did not in fact obsess with death but instead, they were obsessed with the after life and all the relieves it brought. They were all so delirious with sustaining maat and were all very afraid of what would happen if maat was lost, which is why, ironically, there are so many ways to 'cheat' in order to sustain maat. Egyptians were clearly very private and peaceful people. This is due to the vast deserts and oceans surrounding them. But what is even more important is how deluded they where about the steps needed to be made for the after life. The evidence of what we have about Ancient Egyptians can suggest to us that they were a smart, strong and very true to their people and gods.

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