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Religion was an integral part of the lives of the
ancient Egyptians and permeated most aspects of everyday existence
in addition to laying the foundation for their funerary beliefs and
customs. Religion was practiced at the state level with the king
acting as the unique link between the gods and men, and the temples
played an important role in this respect too. There is also ample
evidence of personal piety and worship by ordinary people who prayed
to special deities in their own homes.
State Religion
We have very limited knowledge of the religious
rites and customs practiced by the living during the Predynastic
Period since no chapels or sacred centers have been identified (they
would have been constructed of perishable materials). This is in
contrast to evidence of early funerary beliefs and burial customs
based on cemeteries and grave goods that have survived. However,
scenes painted on pottery found in graves depict figures of deities
and gods’ shrines carried on boats in religious ceremonies, and
depictions of early shrines occur on cylinder seals and ebony and
ivory tablets of the Archaic Period.
Early Animal Cults Before the unification (c.3100 BC) it seems that there were many localized and unconnected cults, and each community worshiped its own deity. Most were originally represented in animal or fetish form, and the importance of animal cults in later times is already emphasized in these early societies. There were animal burials in some villages in which dogs or jackals, sheep, and cows were wrapped in linen and matting and interred among human burials. Amulets in the form of animals were placed with human burials to provide protection and a food supply for the deceased, while animal gods were presented on the painted pottery of the Nagada II period. There were also animal statuettes and slate palettes in the form of animals in many of the early graves. The reasons behind the deification of animals in ancient Egypt are not clear: Possibly some were worshiped because they assisted mankind, while others, who were feared (such as the jackals who ransacked the cemeteries), were deified in an attempt to propitiate them. It is evident, however, that animal and fetish forms were regarded as symbols through which the divine power could manifest itself and that animal worship continued to be extremely important throughout the historic period. A few of the gods, such as Ptah the creator god of Memphis, were always represented with a full human form, but most retained some animal characteristics. In the early dynastic period there was a gradual anthropomorphization of the animal gods, who began to be represented with animal or bird heads on human bodies. By Dynasty 2, some animal gods appear with fully human forms. Throughout the historic period, however, animal deities continue to display a variety of forms; some have complete animal bodies, some have animal heads and human bodies, and a few take on a completely human appearance. .
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Cosmic Gods
During the Predynastic Period a group of deities emerged whom Egyptologists now term “cosmic gods.” They differed in several respects from the local, tribal gods, and it has been suggested that they may have been introduced into Egypt from another area. Although many of the older tribal gods survived virtually unchanged, some may have been fused with the cosmic deities so that the latter could adopt some of their characteristics and take over their cult centers. Cosmic and local gods continued to be worshiped throughout the historic period, with the cosmic deities usually assuming roles as state gods. .
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The Pantheon of Gods
As political development occurred in predynastic times and the villages joined together to become clans and eventually districts (nomes), the gods of each community were amalgamated and transformed from local deities into gods of the nomes. In this process called syncretism, deities of conquered or subordinated areas would be absorbed into the god of the victorious community. Any desirable features or characteristics of the conquered deities would be assimilated by the victorious god to enhance his own powers, or sometimes they would become assistants or followers of the god or would cease to exist. The chief god of a nome provided the regional chieftain with protection and had extensive powers; he would be represented by the ensign of the nome. This amalgamation of local cults that had followed the political pattern resulted, by the Old Kingdom, in an expanded and confusing pantheon. It has also formed our probably erroneous impression that the Egyptians worshiped many gods; in practice each individual probably worshiped only one local god or group of gods. Nevertheless, there was such confusion by the Old Kingdom that the priesthood attempted to organize the gods in the pantheon either into family groups or into ogdoads (group of eight gods) or enneads (group of nine gods) according to their direct associations with particular cult centers. Creation myths (cosmogonies) and other mythologies were developed to emphasize the relationships between the deities of each group or family. A pantheon of gods thus emerged and continued throughout the historic period. Some retained only local or limited significance, although they had cults and were worshiped in temples. Sometimes a particular line of rulers would elevate their own local god to become the dynasty’s royal patron, with the deity acquiring, if only temporarily, the status of a state god. Nevertheless, most state gods continued to hold their place in the top league of deities throughout many centuries. Their powers extended throughout the whole of Egypt even if they had particular associations with certain cities and cult centers. They received cultic worship in the temples and were believed to influence the power and success of the nation in internal affairs and in foreign conquests. The divine patron and protector of each line of rulers was one of the state gods, and he became the supreme deity of that dynasty. Some, such as Re the sun god, Osiris the god of the dead, Isis the wife of Osiris, and Amun the king of the gods, achieved almost continuous and even international acclaim and worship as supreme deities. .
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State Religion
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