Forgotten History … The Afterlife … Egypt

Why is the afterlife something that the modern religions look at as a pure good or pure evil? Why isn’t there a middle ground? Why isn’t the balance something that is looked at? When you consider the ancient history to Egypt you will find that the beliefs are very different than the modern world.

When you look back at the tombs of Egypt you will see paintings on the walls. Those painting are magic spells. These spells are from the book of the dead. Not this one.

I am talking about this one. The book of the dead was a scroll that people would get made for when they died to have with them so they could make it through the test that would come on the way to be judged. They would have several challenges that they would have to face before getting to the weighing of the heart.

Some of the challenges that they would have to face on the way to Duat (The Ancient Egyptian Underworld) are lakes of fire, dark caverns, evil spirits, serpents, and then get to the Hall of Judgment for the Weighing of the Heart. ¹⁾

There was other text that could help those who wanted to get to the afterlife. There was the Coffin Text, and for the Pharaoh the Pyramid Text. The Pyramid Text were the carvings on the walls of the tombs.²⁾ They later became the ‘Book of the Dead’.

Why did they mummify the bodies?

With the Ancient Egyptians, the body was a vital part of the afterlife. If a person couldn’t return to their body their family couldn’t visit and give offering. They started to notice that those who were buried in the sand of the Egyptian desert that the bodies were preserved. When they started to use tombs, they wanted to be able to preserve the bodies of the Pharaohs they began to mummify the bodies.

Why did the Egyptians use so much gold?

Gold was the color of the gods. When a pharaoh died they were thought to join the sun god Ra and become a god.

Suggested Reading:

http://www.experience-ancient-egypt.com/egyptian-religion-mythology/egyptian-afterlife/duat

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/hell.htm

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pyramidtext.htm

Sources:

1} http://www.experience-ancient-egypt.com/egyptian-religion-mythology/egyptian-afterlife/duat

2} http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pyramidtext.htm