Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs

The solidification and commencement of these doctrines were formed in the creation of afterlife texts which illustrated and explained what the dead would need to know in order to complete the journey safely.

Egyptian religious doctrines included three afterlife ideologies: belief in an underworld, eternal life, and rebirth of the soul.

The initial image a soul would be presented with upon entering this realm was a corridor lined with an array of fascinating statues, including a variation of the hawk-headed god, Horus.

Ultimately, maintaining high religious morals by both the living and the dead, as well as complying to a variety of traditions, guaranteed the deceased a smoother transition into the underworld.

However, in order to assist the dead, most tombs were decorated with texts meant to help guide the deceased's soul to the afterlife, something that was attainable to all.

[5] It was believed that a false door was a threshold between the worlds of the living and the dead and through which a deity or the spirit of the deceased could enter and exit.

Grave goods and treasury are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods.

Throughout the centuries, the Egyptian people decorated their tombs and coffins with religious spells and texts hoping to help the dead in the afterlife.

The purpose of these texts were to help the pharaoh successfully complete his journey through the afterlife, by conveying knowledge to the deceased about the paths he should take and the dangers he might face along the way.

It is also important to note that the collection of Coffin Texts known as The Book of Two Ways functioned as the earliest manual to the afterlife.

[9] The Books of the Netherworld contained multiple texts that provided the deceased with a description of the underworld and served as a guide to help the dead during their final journey.

Since the deceased were often seen replicating the rebirth cycle of Ra as they traveled through the afterlife, these texts primarily focused on the second half of the sun god's journey, which took him through the underworld at night.

Carved into the ceiling of tombs these texts emphasized the role the goddess Nut played in the Egyptian afterlife.

[14] Mummification was a practice that the ancient Egyptians adopted because they believed that the body needed to be preserved in order for the dead to be reborn in the afterlife.

[15] Initially, Egyptians thought that like Ra, their physical bodies, or Khat, would reawaken after they completed their journey through the underworld.

[20] Egyptians believed that even after death, one's spirit would live on because the life force was a separate entity that could detach itself from the body.

For example, early people often used religion to understand, as well as relate to, natural occurrences since science had not yet defined everyday incidents.

For instance, the general ideology associated with the path to the underworld was believed that as night overshadowed the land, the deceased would begin their journey.

As a way to mimic Ra's daily expedition, the ancient people of Egypt would construct model boats, ranging in many sizes in which they would bury alongside their pharaohs.

Therefore, commitment to helping others achieve eternity was a vital component to Egyptian culture, as demonstrated by the gallant boats buried with their rulers.

To compare, while passages by boat directed the deceased to the sun god Ra, coffins were thought to guide individuals to the sky goddess Nut.

[29] The deceased's first task was to correctly address each of the forty-two Assessors of Maat by name, while reciting the sins they did not commit during their lifetime.

[30] This process allowed the dead to demonstrate that they knew each of the judges’ names or Ren and established that they were pure, and free of sin.

If the deceased's heart balanced with the feather of Maat, Thoth would record the result and they would be presented to Osiris, who admitted them into the Sekhet-Aaru.

However, if their heart was heavier than the feather, it was to be devoured by the Goddess Ammit, permanently destroying the soul of the deceased, ceasing to exist.

[36] Am-heh, whose name means "devourer of millions" or "eater of eternity",[37] is a hunting dog headed god from the underworld who lived in a lake of fire.

To demonstrate, in the Book of Dead there is a series of lines that read as follows, "I unite your limbs, I hold your discharges together, I surround your flesh, I drive away the fluids of your decay, I sweep away your bꜣw, I wipe away your tears, I heal all your limbs, each being united with the other; I surround you with the work of the weaving goddess, I complete you and form you as Re.

According to Egyptologist Kathlyn M. Cooney,[41] ancient Egyptian women were forced to redefine their gender by encompassing more masculine features.

Statues and other forms of display made significant notice of their creator's masculine qualities, more specifically pointing out his erect penis.

The fertility of the land was greatly emphasized as this possessed two of the major rewards in obtaining immortality: access to the Nile, and the ability to farm foods.