Essay On Egyptian Culture

Jermel Stuart

Instructor Stein

ANT 3241001

4/19/14

Egyptian Culture

Ancient Egypt is one of the oldest and most influential civilizations in the world. They were considered a utopia because of the advances they were able to make, It was advance for its time, because the advances in architecture, medicine, agriculture and etc. Still to this day, it’s a mystery how they were able to construct the pyramids. The Egyptians relied on the land for their existence; they made deities that represented the things they relied on for existence. This in turn made them a polytheistic culture. The Egyptians reliance on the land was so important, that it was not uncommon to see important land marks and other important aspects of their culture, show up in their creation story and other myths. They had over one hundred gods and goddess they worshipped. But like many cultures, the culture changed with time from a polytheistic a culture.

The Egyptians beliefs in the gods and goddess they worshipped came from their reliance on the land; that in their creation stories and many of the god and goddess creation stories have references to important land marks in Egypt. In Egyptian culture there are two version of the creation story, everything stays constant between the stories except for who was the first god. In one version, the king of the gods Atum (also the sun god and ruler of Heliopolis) arose from Nu; while in the other account, Ra the sun god takes the form of Khepri. It is believed Atum created himself from thoughts and will, having no place to stand he created a hill where his temple was built. It is believed, Atum represents the hills left behind by the Nile River after its annual flood, which the Egyptians also used to grow their cro...

... middle of paper ...

...raoh of Egypt making their rules ligament. The Pharaohs embodied Horus in this life and Osiris in the afterlife, which gained many of the kings love and respect from their people; and also established the law that no one can seize the throne through murder. The origin story and myth of Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nepthys established the rule of the king and laws that the Egyptians followed.

The sun was one of the most important things to the Egyptians, because they knew they need the sun for their crops to grow and without they would not be able to survive. From this the sun became their most important god Ra; he became their chief god and was the center of their culture. The pyramids, though tombs for the pharaohs are also monuments to Ra. He became associated with pharaohs, because it was believed that pharaohs were picked by Ra to rule over the land.