Egyptian civilization is one of the oldest in the world. Its originality is largely due to the geographical features of the country. Egypt was literally created by the Nile, who revived the barren desert and turned it into a blooming garden. But the desert approaching the greening shores made the Egyptians constantly think about death.
The myth of Osiris and Horus
The funeral cult is at the core of all Egyptian culture. The Egyptians believed that earthly life is only a short moment preceding the transition to another, eternal life. The myth of Osiris and Horus has become a kind of illustration of this notion of death.
He tells that the god of fertility Osiris was once a kind and wise ruler of Egypt. It was he who taught his people to cultivate the land and plant gardens. However, Osiris was treacherously killed by his brother, the evil and envious Set. The son of Osiris, the light falcon of Horus, defeated Set in a duel, and then resurrected his father by letting him swallow his eye. But Osiris, having resurrected, decided not to return to earth, becoming the ruler of the kingdom of the dead.
Of course, the myth of Osiris and Horus should not be taken too literally. This is nothing more than a metaphor of a dying and resurrecting nature, the new life of which is given by a grain thrown into the ground. And Horus, bringing Osiris back to life, embodies the life-giving sunlight.
This myth, in many ways, gave rise to the ideas of the Egyptians about the afterlife. When the pharaoh died and another took his place, the traditional mystery was played out. The new ruler was declared the earthly incarnation of the god Horus, and the deceased was mourned as Osiris. The deceased pharaoh or noble nobleman was embalmed, a sacred amulet in the shape of a scarab beetle was placed on his chest. On the latter, a spell was written that called on the heart of the deceased not to testify against him at the trial of Osiris.
Traditions associated with the funeral cult
After the judgment and cleansing, the afterlife began, which was in everything similar to the earthly one. For the deceased to be able to “live” safely after death, he had to be provided with everything he owned on earth. Of course, his body also had to avoid decay. Hence the famous custom of embalming arose.
The Egyptians believed that, in addition to the soul and body, there is a certain ghostly double of man, the embodiment of his life force, called Ka. For a prosperous afterlife, it was necessary that Ka could easily find his earthly shell and move into it. Therefore, in addition to the mummy itself, a portrait statue of the deceased, endowed with the maximum similarity, was placed in the tomb.
But one body was not enough - it was necessary to preserve for the deceased everything that he owned on earth: slaves, cattle, and family. Many ancient peoples with such beliefs acted unusually cruelly: when a rich and noble person died, they killed and buried with him his widow and servants. But the Egyptian religion was still more humane - it did not require human sacrifice. In the tomb were placed many small clay figurines - ushabti, replacing the deceased servants. And its walls were covered with numerous paintings and reliefs that reflected earthly events.
The last dwelling place of the late Pharaoh was the giant pyramids. They tower over Egypt to this day and are a reminder of the great culture of the ancient civilization, which managed to build a bridge between a short earthly life and eternity.
