Ancient Egyptian Beliefs

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When one thinks of religions and theological ideas of the ancient world, Egypt is often a place that comes to mind. The timeline of ancient Egypt is spaced out into the Old, Middle, and New Kingdom. However, most of Egyptian theology was developed in the Old Kingdom which is dated from 2686 BCE to around 2181 BCE (Pollard 59). The main idea behind Egyptian beliefs is to uphold Ma’at, or the idea of harmony in the world. Ma’at was eventually idolized as a goddess that represented truth (Mark par. 2). Ancient Egyptians believed that their gods were responsible for the creation of the entire world and universe. It was thought that Egypt was specifically blessed, and they needed to continually show thanks for their fruitful land. This ideology …show more content…
3). The afterlife was extremely important to the ancient Egyptians. They believed that the soul was split into many parts, and the separate parts would contribute to their judgement in the afterlife. It was believed that the Akh, or the immortal body containing the Sadu and Sechem, would be presented before Osiris, the Lord of the Dead, and the weight of one’s heart, Ab, would be compared to the feather of truth, which was possessed by Hathor, the god of love and kindness. If one’s heart was pure enough, he could enter the afterlife; if not, he would be devoured by Ammut and would no longer exist (Mark par. 15). Even though the Egyptian gods were highly respected, the Pharaoh was thought to be a vessel in which the gods would govern the people. Because the Pharaoh was viewed as an “earthly god”, the citizens of ancient Egypt were united under a singular leader, even though their theology was polytheistic (Class Notes). This allowed Egypt to be successful, efficient, and …show more content…
Judaism is most commonly practiced in Israel and Palestinian territories. The religion stems from the idea that God blessed the Hebrew people, and provided them with the Holy Land. The Jewish people refer to their bible as the Torah (Religion par 1). The Torah contains the ten commandments in which Moses collected, and these commandments are used as guidelines and rules for which one should live his life (Judaism par 3). Even though there are specific rules a follower of Judaism should follow, the actual interpretation of the Torah is fairly liberal. Rabbis inforce practice over belief, meaning as long as one believes there is one god, and one lives his life according to the ten commandments, he shall be blessed. Therefore, one’s individual beliefs of specific chapters in the Torah can be left up to personal interpretation (Religion par 1). Judaism is still prevalent in the modern world. Around fourteen million people practice Judaism, and over 3.5 billon people practice similar religions that stem from Judaism such as Islam and Christianity (Judaism par 2). Since the religion is still practiced thousands of years after its creation, it is safe to assume that this religion was successful in uniting people in a common
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