Egyptian religion was polytheistic, with a strong orientation toward the afterlife. Its main concern was ensuring continued existence after death. The gods were represented as human or animal-headed beings, often as hybrid forms.
Egypt’s pantheon included countless regional and national deities. The rise of particular gods often resulted from state religious policy—for example, the nationwide cult of the sun god Re after the unification of Egypt.
The Osiris myth was central: his murder and resurrection symbolized hope for overcoming death and achieving eternal life.
Selected Egyptian Gods
| Name | Appearance | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Osiris | Human figure, green-skinned, with royal insignia (crook and flail) | God of the underworld, judge of the dead, symbol of resurrection, eternal life, and the natural cycle of seasons. |
| Isis | Human figure with cow horns and sun disk | Mother goddess, sister and wife of Osiris, mother of Horus. |
| Horus | Falcon-headed | Sky god embodied in the king; son and avenger of Osiris. |
Other important gods: Seth, Anubis, Thoth, Sobek, Khnum, Nut, and Geb.
The Afterlife
Life after death was seen as a mirror of earthly existence.
The dead hoped to live eternally as they had on earth.
The body had to be preserved as a vessel for the soul — hence mummification.
The embalming process involved removing internal organs (stored in canopic jars), treating the body with natron salt, and wrapping it in perfumed linen bandages to ensure long-lasting preservation. The mouth-opening ceremony symbolically reawakened the dead for the afterlife.
After burial, the soul faced judgment by Osiris, who weighed the person’s deeds. If they passed, they were granted eternal life; wrongdoers were destroyed.
The Cult of Aton
Pharaoh Amenophis IV (Akhenaten) and Queen Nefertiti reformed religion around 1351–1334 B.C. They declared the sun disk Aton to be the only existing god, thus creating a brief phase of monotheism. After Akhenaten’s death, however, the people and priests restored the old gods.
The Temple Cult
Priests conducted daily rituals in the temples to maintain divine favor. Temples were not only religious centers but also major economic institutions.
Hieroglyphic Script
The hieroglyphic script — “holy signs” — was a hallmark of Egyptian civilization, used for more than 5000 years. It began as a pictorial writing system and evolved into a complex script with about 800 symbols representing objects, ideas, or sounds.
| Hieroglyph | Pictographic Meaning | Ideographic Meaning | Phonetic Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bread | place indicator | — | t |
| Bent arm | official | — | a |
| Basket | master | — | k |
| Sun | sun god | — | re |
| Scarab beetle | transform | — | hpr |
| Sandal strap | live | — | anch |
| Eye | see | — | ir |
For everyday use, two simpler forms developed:
- Hieratic script – cursive form for priests and administration.
- Demotic script – simplified writing for daily use.
Knowledge of hieroglyphs was lost after Christianization but rediscovered in 1822 by Jean-François Champollion through the Rosetta Stone.
The Pyramids
The monumental pyramid tombs are among the best-known achievements of Egyptian civilization. They served as royal burial sites from the 3rd Dynasty onward. The pyramid shape symbolized the ascension of the king’s soul to heaven.
The most famous is the Great Pyramid of Cheops (around 2600 B.C.), built from about 2.3 million limestone and granite blocks.
Each pyramid complex included a valley temple, a causeway, and a mortuary temple. Construction involved thousands of workers and careful planning with astonishing precision — deviations of only a few centimeters.
Science and Knowledge
Religion and science were closely connected under the concept of Maat, the cosmic order. There was no “secular science” in Egypt; all knowledge served divine harmony.
Still, the Egyptians achieved remarkable progress:
Mathematics
Used in construction, surveying, taxation, and astronomy.
They used a decimal system, mastered fractions, geometry, and volume calculation (e.g. for pyramids), and estimated π ≈ 3.16.
Astronomy
They calculated a solar year of 365 days, noted planets and fixed stars, and used the rising of the star Sirius to predict the Nile flood.
Medicine
Egyptian doctors were famous in antiquity. They specialized in eye, intestinal, and gynecological medicine and used plant-based remedies. Mummification gave them deep anatomical knowledge.
Geography
Egyptians practiced cartography and already around 600 B.C. Phoenicians circumnavigated Africa on Egypt’s orders.