Ancient Egyptian Religion: Beliefs and Practices

    In ancient Egypt, religion was involved in all aspects of day to day life because Egyptians viewed life on earth as only one part of their eternal journey. They would only be able to continue this journey if they proved themselves worthy of it. In ancient Egypt, gods were viewed as “the lords of creation” who helped and guided the Egyptians with many things such as science, medicine, magic and herbology. 

    Egyptians believed that the universe began as nothing but dark swirling waters of chaos until Atum-Ra gave birth to two children, Shu and Tefnut who then set out to establish the world. In ancient Egypt, astrology was closely related to religion because the Egyptians believed that the constellations contained a person’s future fortune. But despite the importance of the sky and the heavens in ancient Egypt, gods did not live in the heavens but instead lived alongside the people of Egypt and often interacted with them. Trees were considered to be the homes of the gods, and specific types of trees were sometimes closely related with a specific god or goddess. 

    With regards to the soul, Egyptians believed that it consisted of nine separate parts which included one’s physical body, double-form and shadow self. When someone died, their immortal self, appeared before the great god Osiris who would then weight the person’s heart to decide if they were worthy enough to continue their existence. The ancient Egyptian religion was extremely detailed and specific and as a result, these are just some of the many beliefs of this ancient civilization.