Egyptian Mythology

The history of Ancient Egypt encompasses a span of approximately three millennia and more than thirty dynasties. Within this ancient culture, a number of myths, gods, and rituals provide us with rich insight into the values, beliefs, and practices of Egyptians. A large number of gods are instrumental in revealing the worldview of the Ancient Egyptians, including their mythology. Creation myths, funeral practices, and beliefs regarding the afterlife are all either directly or indirectly connected to these gods. This analysis will discuss the gods of Ancient Egypt and the myths associated with creation, funeral practices, and afterlife beliefs.

The gods of Ancient Egypt were numerous, each with a specific purpose that provided meaning to the typical Egyptian. Ancient Egyptian society maintained a belief in various gods of all sizes, powers, and of both genders. For example, Apep was the "serpent god" who attempted to "destroy the sun" on a daily basis (McDevitt 1). Like Apep, many of the gods of Ancient Egypt were closely associated with nature, a fact significant to an agrarian culture and society. However, a number of gods were devoted to other aspects of life. Bes was the "Dwarf-god of music and warfare," while Sobek was the god of the crocodiles whose job it was to "watch over" the Egyptians and protect their welfare (McDevitt 2).

A number of the gods were associated with the elements. The Nile was an extremely important aspe

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Set and Osiris), (Dyson 1). Osiris would eventually take Ra's place as king of the earth. Set hated Osiris, though, and he killed him, but Osiris was later brought back to life through the powers of Isis and the god Anubis, the "god of embalming" (Dyson 1). The creation mythology of ancient Egyptians was complex and at least four cosmologies or theories of creation existed. For example, one account of creation goes as follows, "Egypt was created from the Watery Waste of Nun, a chaos god from whose body all things were born" (Denault 2). The gods were connected to the Egyptian people through the kings and later pharaohs. The kings were a main element of ancient Egyptian religion, as they were viewed as a "bridge over the chasm dividing the people and the gods" (Dunn 2). In later Egyptian cultures, the kings were considered transformed into gods, which gave them a great deal of power with respect to governing the people of Egypt. Funeral practices and the afterlife were also a significant part of Egyptian mythology. As usual, the gods were an integral part of both funeral practices and beliefs about the afterlife. Ancient Egyptians believed that the soul would outlive the body if the body was properly preserved. Within bur

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