3. Egyptian Religions
Overview
• Native religions predominated Egypt for three
millennia before becoming Christian in fourth century
AD
• United Kingdom formed c. 3100 BC with capital at
Memphis
• Writing system, Hieroglyphics, devised at this time
• Kings were believed to be incarnations of one of the
gods (Horus the falcon god first—Re the sun god later)
• Pharaohs claimed divine origin and ruled as gods, not
merely as representatives of the gods
4. Egyptian Religions
Overview
• Large structures (pyramids) were built as stairways for
the kings to ascend into the afterlife
• The Great Pyramid of Giza was the outstanding
achievement, built by Khufu (Gk Cheops, d. 2494)
• Covering 13 acres and nearly 500 feet high, it is made
of 2 million limestone blocks, most weighing several
tons, which were cut and floated along the Nile, and
put in place
5. Egyptian Religions
Cosmologies
Gods & Goddesses
According to one account, in the beginning there were eight
lead gods in four couples
Nut: The sky goddess - her body stretched out to
form the heavens, beneath which lay the
sun, moon, and stars
Shu: god of the winds and air - the support of Nut
Nun: god of the circular ocean
Geb: god of the earth
6. Egyptian Religions
Cosmologies
Creation Occurred by One of Three Means
From an egg laid by a heavenly goose
The opening of a lotus flower, which revealed a divine
son
The opening of a lotus which produced a scarab
beetle: the scarab beetle was then transformed into a
weeping boy whose tears became human beings
The watery chaos, Nun, was stirred by Shu
(Amnon), the wind god. This caused the city of
Hermopolis to appear.
7. Egyptian Religions
Osiris and Isis
Osiris first appeared as both a god of fertility and as the
personification of the dead king
When the king died he became Osiris, and the new king
became Horus (the falcon god)
According to legend, the rule of Osiris over Egypt was a
golden age, but his brother, Seth, was envious
Seth persuaded Osiris into a coffin-like box and drowned
him by throwing the box into the Nile
The coffin floated out into the Mediterranean, ending up
near the port of Byblos
Isis, Orisis’ wife, recovered the body and returned it to
Egypt
8. Egyptian Religions
Osiris and Isis
Seth found the body and cut it into many parts, scattering
them over the countryside
Isis reconstructed the parts into the first mummy
Isis was able to conceive a son from the reconstructed
body and gave birth to Horus
Horus led a victorious war against Seth and became the
first king over Egypt; Osiris became the god of the
underworld
Osiris became honored as the giver of immortality,
while Isis was honored as the model of dignity and
fertility
9. Egyptian Religions
Osiris and Isis
• Osiris became more important than Re, the sun god
• Many believed that devotion to Osiris guaranteed a
good afterlife—now conceived as a parallel to the Nile
Valley
• In the underworld, a person’s heart was judged on the
balance scales by Anubis, the god of death.
• If the heart did not outweigh the feather on the other
scale, the person was judged righteous
• The unrighteous were torn to pieces by a fierce monster
• The righteous were united with family in a pleasant
world (good but inferior to this world)
10. Egyptian Religions
Scriptures
Pyramid Texts
• Consists of inscriptions on pyramid walls concerning the
ruler’s life and the hereafter
Coffin Texts
• Inscriptions on coffin lids concerning myths, temple rites,
and stories about the dead
The Book of the Dead
• Papyrus rolls which contain prayers relating to this life and
the afterlife
• Gives the largest amount of attention to the soul and
afterlife of any of the documents
11. Egyptian Religions
The Book of the Dead
The Soul Consisted of Three Elements
The “Ka” – a kind of double of the person
United with the body at death and remained in the tomb,
needing food offerings for survival
The “Ba” – the spiritual aspect of the person
Depicted as a bird that flew to heaven at the person’s
death. Because some believed it returned at night,
mummification was necessary
The “Akh” – the dead person’s spirit
Inhabited the underworld and reflected in hazy ways the
person’s deeds on earth
13. Greek Religions – Overview
• Greek speaking people called the “Archaeans” came to
the Aegean region of central Europe c. 2000 BC
• c. 1200 BC warlike Greeks called “Dorians” came to the
region and captured the city of Troy
• c. 750 BC Greeks emerged as city-states
– Normally located near a commanding hill with a fortress
—”acropolis”—on the top
– At the lower level was the market place or “agora”
– The agora served as the center of political and social life
– It served as a sort of people’s church with a patron deity
14. Texts: Homer
• No authoritative works of dogma or theology for the
Greeks
• Two Greek poets illustrate the nature of Greek religion:
Homer and Hesiod
• Homer’s “Illiad” details the Greek expedition against the
city of Troy
– Paris, son of Troy’s king, abducts Helen, the wife of Spart’s
king, Menelaus
– A coalition of Greek kings and nobles set out to recapture
Helen, with Achilles as warrior hero
15. Homer
– Achilles kills Hector, the hero of Troy, but is himself
killed by a chance arrow to the heel
– Eventually, the war ends—the Greeks are victorious—
but are very cruel in their destruction of Troy
– On the return home, many difficulties follow them
– Homer brings the gods into the story in an overt manner
Homer’s presentation of the god’s is almost comical,
especially when considered against the backdrop of the
struggle between the Greeks and Trojans.
16. Gods presented by Homer
• Zeus: Chief Olympian god—father of the gods and
ruler of the universe—also father of many semi-divine
beings, the result of mating with mortal women
(notable among these offspring is Hercules)
• Hera: Jealous wife of Zeus, goddess of women,
marriage, and childbirth
• Apollo: Son of Zeus and a mortal, was a wise
counselor who advised through the oracle at the cave
of Delphi
• Hermes: Messenger of his father Zeus and god of
highways, marketplace, travelers, and highwaymen
17. Gods presented by Homer
• Poseidon: God of the sea
• Artemis (Diana): Apollo’s twin sister respected for
her virginity and punishment of her unchaste
nymphs, goddess of the moon and hunting
• Athena: Goddess of wsidom, believed to have
come from Zeus’ fully grown brain
• Aphrodite: Goddess of love and beauty
• Haphaestus (Vulcan): God of fire
• Demeter: God of grain
Hera, Artemis, and Aphrodite, all relate to fertility and mother
earth. Goddess worship, or fertility cults, may have existed in
Greece before Zeus worship.
18. Texts: Hesiod
• Lived in late 8th century BC
• Attempted to give order to the numerous conflicting
myths that had developed through the years
• Wrote that the world was created by four primary
spirits: Chaos (space), Gaea (earth), Tartarus (abyss),
Eros (love)
• In Hesiod’s account, Gaea created Uranus (heaven)
and takes him as her husband, giving birth to the
Titans (monsters and hundred headed giants)
• At Gaea’s urging, the Titans rebel against Uranus,
mutilating him and severing him from earth
19. Hesiod
• Cronos and Rhea become rulers of the universe
• Believing that he would be destroyed by one of his
children, Cronos swallows each as they are born,
except for Zeus who is spared by his mother
• The Titan, Prometheus, deceived Zeus and stole fire
from heaven
• Zeus sends Pandora (the primal woman) to plague
men and binds Prometheus, after which he leads the
children of Cronos into battle against the Titans. The
Titans are defeated and thrown into Tartarus
• Zeus’ brothers, Poseidon and Hades become rulers
of the sea and realm of the dead
20. Hesiod
• In Hesiod’s account, religious observances are confined
more to recognition of the gods than to moral concerns
• Dionysius (god of wine) received many festivals
• Every Spring a six day festival was held in his honor
• One day in this spring festival included drama at a
theater named in his honor
• In all, about thirty festivals were held annually in Athens
21. Greek Mystery Religions
• Secret cults (mystery religions) existed in addition to
public worship of major gods
• They were the result of dissatisfaction with traditions
as they existed
• Most were linked to agriculture (fertility); some to Osiris
(death with promise of new life)
• A major mystery religion was the Dionysians driven by
the need for emotional satisfaction in religion
– Sought to Demonstrate the joy and danger of drinking
wine
– Rites often excessive involving orgiastic dances,
ecstasies of initiation ceremonies, tearing and eating of
raw kid or bull flesh (attempting to rise above mortality
and attain union with the gods)
23. Roman Religions: Overview
• Many parallels to Greek religion including sharing
many of the same gods, but with different names
– Zeus (chief god) became Jupiter
– Hera (wife of Zeus) became Minerva
– Hermes (messenger god) became Mercury
– Aphrodite (goddess of beauty) became Venus
24. Roman Religions: Overview
• Romans also had state deities
• Two of the most important were Vesta (goddess) &
Janus (god): These represented home life as heart
and door.
• Janus had two faces so he could look both ways.
January is named for him because it is a time for
looking back and forward.
• Vesta’s temple had an eternal flame, indicating her
protection of Rome.
• Vesta was attended by six “vestal virgins” chosen
from patrician families.
25. Roman Religions: Overview
• Other deities personified abstractions of things
important to the Romans, such as health, peace,
fortune, plenty, and justice (a blindfolded god holding
a balance)
• In later years, the emporer became an object of
worship; by the 3rd century AD this involved worship
of the living emperor as a god
• Led to persecution for the emerging Christian church
