...Chris Sinvil IHHIST 399-06 12-5-14 Dying gods In all ancient cultures myths were used to explain the phenomenon’s in the world before we truly knew why things happened the way they did. In this paper I will be comparing two fairly similar myths from different cultures. The first myth is the ancient Egyptian myth about Isis and Osiris. And the second myth is the Mesopotamian story of Inannas descent to the under world. First I will summarize both myths and then talk about what their purpose was. Then I will compare and contrast two too show just how similar they are. Firstly comes the myth of Isis and Osiris. As with much of the ancient Egyptian mythology, there are various versions of the story of Isis and Osiris, but basically it goes like this. Osiris was an earthly ruler, who was popular with the people who he ruled over. He was married to his sister, the beautiful Isis. His brother, Set, was very jealous of this popularity and title, so he plotted against Osiris. Osiris never realized Set’s true devious intentions but Isis had always had a sense that set was up to no good. Set's plans to be rid of his brother started when he secretly obtained his brothers measurements and had a magnificent casket made to fit. This casket was in the form of a human shaped box. Set then organized a large feast to which Osiris and a number of others were invited. At the peak of the festivities Set produced the casket and announced that it would be given to whomever it fitted. All...
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...Religion guided every aspect of Egyptian life. Egyptian religion was based on polytheism, which means the worship of many deities, except for during the reign of Akenaton. During the reign of Akenaton, more than 3,000 years of development, Egyptian religion underwent significant changes of emphasis and practice, but in all periods religion had a clear consistency in character and style. The Egyptians had as many as 2000 gods and goddesses. Some, such as Amun, Isis, Osiris, and Horus, were worshipped throughout the whole country, while others had only a local following. There were two essential foci of public religion: the king and the gods. Both are among the most characteristic features of Egyptian civilization. The king had a unique status between humanity and the gods, partook in the world of the gods, and constructed great, religiously motivated funerary monuments for his afterlife. The Egyptian "Book of the Dead" contains the major ideas and beliefs in the ancient Egyptian religion. Because their religion stressed an afterlife, Egyptians devoted much time and wealth to preparing for survival in the next world. Tombs were placed if possible in the desert. Vast resources were expended on creating prestigious burial places for absolute rulers or wealthy officials. Tombs contained elaborate grave goods (mostly plundered soon after deposition), representations of “daily life,” or less commonly of religious subjects, and some texts that were intended to help the deceased attain...
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...EGYPTIAN CREATION Nu was the name of the dark, swirling chaos before the beginning of time. Out of these waters rose Atum; he created himself using his thoughts and the sheer force of his will. He created a hill, for there was nowhere he could stand. Atum was alone in the world. He was neither male nor female, and he had one all-seeing eye that could roam the universe. He joined with his shadow to produce a son and a daughter. Atum gave birth to his son by spitting him out. He named him Shu and made him god of the air. Atum vomited up his daughter. He named her Tefnut and made her the goddess of mist and moisture. Shu and Tefnut were given the task of separating the chaos into principles of law, order and stability. The chaos was divided into light and dark and set into place. This order was called Maat, which formed the principles of life for all time. Maat was a feather; it was light and pure. Shu and Tefnut produced Geb, the Earth and Nut the Sky. At first these two were tangled together as one. Shu, god of the air, pushed Nut up into the heavens. There she would remain arched out over Geb, her mate. They longed to be together, but in the name of Maat they had to be apart, to fulfil their functions. Nut produced rain for Geb, and Geb made things grow on earth. As the sky, she gave birth to the sun every night before dawn, and by day it would follow its course over the earth and die at sunset. Shu and Tefnut produced the other gods. Isis, the queen of the gods...
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...Nu was the name of the dark, swirling chaos before the beginning of time. Out of these waters rose Atum; he created himself using his thoughts and the sheer force of his will. He created a hill, for there was nowhere he could stand. Atum was alone in the world. He was neither male nor female, and he had one all-seeing eye that could roam the universe. He joined with his shadow to produce a son and a daughter. Atum gave birth to his son by spitting him out. He named him Shu and made him god of the air. Atum vomited up his daughter. He named her Tefnut and made her the goddess of mist and moisture. Shu and Tefnut were given the task of separating the chaos into principles of law, order and stability. The chaos was divided into light and dark and set into place. This order was called Maat, which formed the principles of life for all time. Maat was a feather; it was light and pure. Shu and Tefnut produced Geb, the Earth and Nut the Sky. At first these two were tangled together as one. Shu, god of the air, pushed Nut up into the heavens. There she would remain arched out over Geb, her mate. They longed to be together, but in the name of Maat they had to be apart, to fulfil their functions. Nut produced rain for Geb, and Geb made things grow on earth. As the sky, she gave birth to the sun every night before dawn, and by day it would follow its course over the earth and die at sunset. Shu and Tefnut produced the other gods. Isis, the queen of the gods, Hathor, the goddess...
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...The Egyptian myth had a man name Atum that was alone in the world. Atum was neither male or female, and had one all- seeing eye that could roam the universe. Atum created his own children were he spit and vomited them out of his body. His son name Shu was god of the air. His daughter name Tefnut and made her god of mist and moisture. Shu and Tefnut job was to separate the chaos into principle of law, order and stability. Choas was divided into light and dark and was called Maat. Maat was a feather. Shu and Tefnut produced Geb, the Earth and Nut the Sky. Nut produced rain for Geb and Geb made things grow on earth. Sky gave birth to the sun every night before dawn, and every day it would follow its course over the earth and die at sunset. Shu and Tefnut produced other Gods, Isis, the queen of the gods. Hathor, the goddess of love and beauty. Osiris the god of wisdom and justice. Seth, the god of evil. Thoth, the god of wisdom and Nephthys the protectress of the dead. Atum’s children had got lost so he sent his all- seeing eye out to find them and when they came back he was so happy he cried tears of joy and when the tears hit the earth, they became the first men. The Zulu myth long ago before man or any animals it was just darkness and a large seed. They seed fell into the earth and long weeds began growing which were called Uthlanga, which is the source of all things. One weed grew into a man named Unkulunkulu. He was the first man and the creator of all things. He grew...
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...Clairese Waites, Shannon Douglas, Makeda Sinclair World History I Dr. Godshalk Myth of Osiris In ancient Egypt the people believed that the environment was tied into the Gods. The Egyptian gods were animistic gods, which means they represented nature and earthly things like rivers, sunlight, crops, and love. The nature cycle that was and is still present in Egypt is the annual flooding and the infrequent droughts of the Nile River. These two phenomena’s were the center of the Egyptians lives because the events were natural things that could not be controlled, so they looked to the gods for help. The flooding of the Nile River was considered a gift. The people of Egypt anticipated the flooding of the river because it helped to fertilize their plants which in turn helped their society grow. The soot that the Nile bought to the crops when it flooded made agriculture rich and bountiful. Egyptians considered the floods a gift from Osiris; the God of the Nile, justice, order, and eternal life. The infrequent droughts of the Nile that the Egyptians experienced were seen as a time of hardship. The people believed that the droughts were bought onto them by Seth; brother of Osiris and god of drought, aridity, evilness, chaos, injustice, and darkness. When the droughts occurred it left the Egyptians with little to fertilize their crops. The cycles of the environment was illustrated in the myth when Seth, out of jealousy, killed Osiris and chopped his body up into fourteen pieces...
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...Egyptian Statue of Horus vs Mesopotamia Plaque of Protection Abstract This document will compare two works of art from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The first piece from ancient Egypt is a Statuette of Horus from the Third Intermediate Period. The second piece is a plaque for protection from the Neo-Assyrian period. Both pieces of art are made by using the lost-wax bronze castings technique which this paper will examine. Statuette of Horus Horus was a falcon-headed man the son of Aset (Isis) and Osiris (McLeish, 1996). The falcon head is represented by a beak and bird like eyes. The statuette of Horus depicts a sun disk over his head and a cobra wrapped around the disk. The sun disk represents the sun god Ra, while the cobra goddess represents the nurse or protector of Horus. The statuette of Horus was produced using the lost-wax bronze casting technique and made in several parts. The lost-wax bronze casting was commonly used during the Third Intermediate Period (Edith Whitney Watts, 1998). His eyes represented the sun and the moon and are inlaid with gold and inlays of glass probably filled the eye sockets at one time. Horus’s body has a long bust with the pectorals placed high and a narrow waist. The body is smooth to represent his god like indestructibility. His left leg is striding forward and he is looking directly forward. His Egyptian loincloth has ribbed vertical lines. The statue is mainly smooth with some detail preciously carved for the features...
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...important factors like sun rising each day and annual Nile flooding. It was believed that Egyptian life would continue its orderly progression irrespective of whether humans lived or died. Egyptian kings and queens were regarded as incarnations of the gods and provided order with the help from symbolic rites and rituals. Differing Egyptian cosmogonies can be found where each world was created in diverse means according to their understanding and beliefs of the universe. A similarity of these stories was the world beginning from chaotic, lifeless water, described as Nu or Nun , when for the ‘first occasion’ the sun rose from a mound in a period sometimes called ‘Zep Tepi’. This ‘first occasion’ is referred to as the appearance of sun-god Ra or the god of the newly-risen sun, Khepri. Other versions of the sun rising include it having emerged from a lotus flower that grew from the mound, in the form of a heron, falcon, scarab beetle, or human child. The three main Egyptian cosmogonies were named of locations they were centred: 1. Hermopolis - Hermopolis Magna, located at ancient site of Khmun, central Egypt. Eight Gods known as the Ogdoad of...
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.... . 0/ The GOD of the Hebrews versus the Egyptian gods Rev. Bryant S. Williamson Prof. Linda Reaves Writing and Research 215, Strayer University November 8, 2011 Intoduction There is a belief in a supreme being by all religions on earth. I believe that the same GOD of the Hebrews is this GOD because of his display of power over the Egyptian gods. This report looks at one account of many in the bible where GOD uses an ordinary man to free his people from bondage in Egypt using signs and wonders. The God of the Hebrews Versus the Egyptian gods One of the most awesome displays of power and love in the Bible is the deliverance of Gods’ people from Egypt. They were lead out of Egypt by Moses, a Hebrew found floating in an ark by Pharaohs daughter as a child. Moses, now grown, went out unto his people and saw an Egyptian beating one of his brethren and killed the Egyptian. After hearing of what Moses had done the Pharaoh sought to kill him but Moses had fled to the city of Midian and as time went on the King of Egypt died and the children of Israel (Hebrews) cried out to God because of their bondage. Thus the Lord remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and Jacob and sent Moses as the deliverer of his people. Moses is then encountered in the presence of God being called out of the mist of a burning bush and is given instructions to return to Egypt with Aaron where he demands that Pharaoh set his people free. And Pharaoh replies “Who is the Lord that...
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...that worshiped the gods. In Egypt, the king or pharaoh played a very important part in their religion and what the gods expected of the people also. Egyptian religion consisted of many myths and rituals too. Religion was a very influential part of Ancient Egyptian culture and shaped their ancient civilization of the Nile greatly. Like most other cultures, the ancient Egyptians wanted to find the meaning for their existence, but there were also other influences on their religion, such as the need to justify kingship, along with many others. Egyptians have numerous Gods in there culture and they feel that the Gods walk among them, invisibly on Earth. Ra is the most central God of the Egyptian gods. Known as the sun god, Ra was the most important element of life in ancient Egypt and represented light, warmth, and growth. Ra embodies the Egyptian beliefs of order and truth, and he signifies the cycle of birth, life and death. Of all the ancient Egyptian Gods Anubis is frequently the one referred to as the gatekeeper of the underworld and god of death. The Egyptian goddess Isis was worshiped throughout Egypt. Isis was considered to the patron saint of women, mothers and children. Horus was always associated with the same symbol; that of the falcon. In almost all types, Horus was known as the patron saint of the existing pharaoh. The pharaoh was often referred to as the 'Living Horus'. Seth, god of...
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...Book Report 3 I – Information about the Book Name of the book: Kane Chronicles 1 – The Red Pyramid Author of the book: Rick Riordan Summary of the book: Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs. II – Personal Summarization When Julius Kane tries to summon Osiris through the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, he also releases Set, the Egyptian god of chaos, who seals him in a coffin, as his children Sadie and Carter Kane watch. He also releases the other children of the Demon Days:Nephthys, Isis, Horus, and Osiris. The British police come to Carter and Sadie's grandparents' home, as Carter is with Sadie because of the twice-a-year visit, and question Carter and...
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...pire. The Aten was defined as a universal, omnipresent spirit that not only had created the universe, but also ruled it. It has been argued that Akhenaten's choice of monotheism was not only motivated by religious speculations, but was also an attempt to increase the power of the Pharaoh at the expense of the local temples and their officials; priests who, through the all-consuming worship of Amun on the part of the entire Egyptian social hierarchy, had become both rich and politically important. These new religious views also appeared to help influence a major break in the traditional art of the time. Rather than producing idealized portraits as had been done for hundreds of years prior, Akhenaten encouraged artists to represent him in informal situations - basking in Aten's benevolent rays. With his blessing, the artists portrayed Akhenaten not as a conqueror, riding in a war chariot and trampling his enemies, but as a family man, relaxing with Nefertiti, his queen, and his daughters. The Hymn to the Aten, a hymn written by Akhenaten for the purpose of the appeasement of the Aten, though it offered new ideas on Egyptian religion, was arguably an attempt by a ruler who enjoyed the idea of a divine title to regain what his predecessors had. The religious reforms brought about by Akhenaten were intended to restore the position of the Pharaoh to the level of absolute rule which had once been held due to belief that the Pharaoh was the personification of the gods. This belief...
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...pharaoh who reigned about 3,500 years ago in the 18th dynasty. He made some major alterations to various aspects of Egyptian culture, the most notable one being his religious revolution. Akhenaten's reformation was meant to convert Egyptian polytheism, belief in Amun-ra, the god of gods, in favour of the worship of a single god, Aten the sun disk. He was seen as a reformer because his religion focused one god, but his major emphasis was on the Aten's realness and existence. By being able to see ones god, it provides a level of reality as opposed to believing the words of others. He was viewed as a tyrant for taking his religion too far, denying the existence of other gods, and destroying any evidence of the past religion of Amun-ra including the name of his own father. Even his name before embarking on this deity revolution was Amenhotep IV. In his 5th year of reign he rejected this name meaning “Amun is satisfied”, he changed it to Akhenaten, meaning “the living image of Aten”. Egyptians once followed several gods and goddesses, each of which had its own priests, temples, shrines and rituals. Akhenaten ordered the construction of a new capital city known as Amarna “the horizon of the sun” to escape priesthood of Amun-ra. Everything in Thebes was packed up and Akhenaten and his followers left for Amarna. By centralizing himself as the creator of the new god Aten, Akhenaten gave himself control over both politics and religion, two of the most powerful control schemes to exist. This...
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...The very thing that is now called the Christian religion was already in existence in Ancient Egypt, long before the adoption of the New Testament. The British Egyptologist, Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, wrote in his book, The Gods of the Egyptians [1969], The new religion (Christianity) which was preached there by St. Mark and his immediate followers, in all essentials so closely resembled that which was the outcome of the worship of Osiris, Isis, and Horus. The similarities, noted by Budge and everyone who has compared the Egyptian Ausar/Auset/Heru (Osiris/Isis/Horus) allegory to the Gospel story, are striking. Both accounts are practically the same, e.g. the supernatural conception, the divine birth, the struggles against the enemy in the wilderness, and the resurrection from the dead to eternal life. The main difference between the “two versions”, is that the Gospel tale is considered historical and the Ausar/Auset/Heru (Osiris/Isis/Horus) cycle is an allegory. Allegories are intentionally chosen as a means for communicating knowledge. Allegories dramatize cosmic laws, principles, processes, relationships and functions, and express them in a way easy to understand. Once the inner meanings of the allegories have been revealed, they become marvels of simultaneous scientific and philosophical completeness and conciseness. The more they are studied, the richer they become. The ‘inner dimension’ of the teachings embedded into each story make them capable of revealing several layers...
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...Ra /rɑː/[1] or Re /reɪ/ (Egyptian: ꜥ, rˤ) is the ancient Egyptian solar deity. By the Fifth Dynasty (2494 to 2345 BCE) he had become a major god in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the midday sun. In later Egyptian dynastic times, Ra was merged with the god Horus, as Ra-Horakhty ("Ra, who is Horus of the Two Horizons"). He was believed to rule in all parts of the created world: the sky, the earth, and the underworld.[2] He was associated with the falcon or hawk. When in the New Kingdom the god Amun rose to prominence he was fused with Ra as Amun-Ra. During the Amarna Period, Akhenaten suppressed the cult of Ra in favour of another solar deity, the Aten, the deified solar disc, but after the death of Akhenaten the cult of Ra was restored. The cult of the Mnevis bull, an embodiment of Ra, had its centre in Heliopolis and there was a formal burial ground for the sacrificed bulls north of the city. All forms of life were believed to have been created by Ra, who called each of them into existence by speaking their secret names. Alternatively humans were created from Ra's tears and sweat, hence the Egyptians call themselves the "Cattle of Ra." In the myth of the Celestial Cow it is recounted how mankind plotted against Ra and how he sent his eye as the goddess Sekhmet to punish them. When she became bloodthirsty she was pacified by drinking beer mixed with red...
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