The Religion of Ancient Egypt Part 1

The Religion of Ancient Egypt.

by W. M. Flinders Petrie.

CHAPTER I

THE NATURE OF G.o.dS

Before dealing with the special varieties of the Egyptians' belief in G.o.ds, it is best to try to avoid a misunderstanding of their whole conception of the supernatural. The term G.o.d has come to tacitly imply to our minds such a highly specialised group of attributes, that we can hardly throw our ideas back into the more remote conceptions to which we also attach the same name. It is unfortunate that every other word for supernatural intelligences has become debased, so that we cannot well speak of demons, devils, ghosts, or fairies without implying a noxious or a trifling meaning, quite unsuited to the ancient deities that were so beneficent and powerful. If then we use the word G.o.d for such conceptions, it must always {2} be with the reservation that the word has now a very different meaning from what it had to ancient minds.

To the Egyptian the G.o.ds might be mortal; even Ra, the sun-G.o.d, is said to have grown old and feeble, Osiris was slain, and Orion, the great hunter of the heavens, killed and ate the G.o.ds. The mortality of G.o.ds has been dwelt on by Dr. Frazer (_Golden Bough_), and the many instances of tombs of G.o.ds, and of the slaying of the deified man who was wors.h.i.+pped, all show that immortality was not a divine attribute.

Nor was there any doubt that they might suffer while alive; one myth tells how Ra, as he walked on earth, was bitten by a magic serpent and suffered torments. The G.o.ds were also supposed to share in a life like that of man, not only in Egypt but in most ancient lands. Offerings of food and drink were constantly supplied to them, in Egypt laid upon the altars, in other lands burnt for a sweet savour. At Thebes the divine wife of the G.o.d, or high priestess, was the head of the harem of concubines of the G.o.d; and similarly in Babylonia the chamber of the G.o.d with the golden couch could only be visited by the priestess who slept there for oracular responses. The Egyptian G.o.ds could not be cognisant of what pa.s.sed on earth {3} without being informed, nor could they reveal their will at a distant place except by sending a messenger; they were as limited as the Greek G.o.ds who required the aid of Iris to communicate one with another or with mankind. The G.o.ds, therefore, have no divine superiority to man in conditions or limitations; they can only be described as pre-existent, acting intelligences, with scarcely greater powers than man might hope to gain by magic or witchcraft of his own. This conception explains how easily the divine merged into the human in Greek theology, and how frequently divine ancestors occurred in family histories. (By the word 'theology'

is designated the knowledge about G.o.ds.)

There are in ancient theologies very different cla.s.ses of G.o.ds. Some races, as the modern Hindu, revel in a profusion of G.o.ds and G.o.dlings, which are continually being increased. Others, as the Turanians, whether Sumerian Babylonians, modern Siberians, or Chinese, do not adopt the wors.h.i.+p of great G.o.ds, but deal with a host of animistic spirits, ghosts, devils, or whatever we may call them; and Shamanism or witchcraft is their system for conciliating such adversaries. But all our knowledge of the early positions and nature of great G.o.ds shows them to stand on an {4} entirely different footing to these varied spirits. Were the conception of a G.o.d only an evolution from such spirit wors.h.i.+p we should find the wors.h.i.+p of many G.o.ds preceding the wors.h.i.+p of one G.o.d, polytheism would precede monotheism in each tribe or race. What we actually find is the contrary of this, monotheism is the first stage traceable in theology. Hence we must rather look on the theologic conception of the Aryan and Semitic races as quite apart from the demon-wors.h.i.+p of the Turanians. Indeed the Chinese seem to have a mental aversion to the conception of a personal G.o.d, and to think either of the host of earth spirits and other demons, or else of the pantheistic abstraction of heaven.

Wherever we can trace back polytheism to its earliest stages we find that it results from combinations of monotheism. In Egypt even Osiris, Isis, and Horus (so familiar as a triad) are found at first as separate units in different places, Isis as a virgin G.o.ddess, and Horus as a self-existent G.o.d. Each city appears to have but one G.o.d belonging to it, to whom others were added. Similarly in Babylonia each great city had its supreme G.o.d; and the combinations of those, and their transformations in order to form them in {5} groups when their homes were politically united, show how essentially they were solitary deities at first.

Not only must we widely distinguish the demonology of races wors.h.i.+pping numerous earth spirits and demons, from the theology of races devoted to solitary great G.o.ds; but we must further distinguish the varying ideas of the latter cla.s.s. Most of the theologic races have no objection to tolerating the wors.h.i.+p of other G.o.ds side by side with that of their own local deity. It is in this way that the compound theologies built up the polytheism of Egypt and of Greece. But others of the theologic races have the conception of 'a jealous G.o.d,' who would not tolerate the presence of a rival. We cannot date this conception earlier than Mosaism, and this idea struggled hard against polytheistic toleration. This view acknowledges the reality of other G.o.ds, but ignores their claims. The still later view was that other G.o.ds were non-existent, a position started by the Hebrew prophets in contempt of idolatry, scarcely grasped by early Christianity, but triumphantly held by Islam.

We therefore have to deal with the following conceptions, which fall into two main groups, {6} that probably belong to different divisions of mankind:--

( Animism.

( Demonology.

( Tribal Monotheism. ) At any stage the unity of ( Combinations forming ) different G.o.ds may be ( tolerant Polytheism. ) accepted as a _modus vivendi_ ( Jealous Monotheism. ) or as a philosophy.

( Sole Monotheism. )

All of these require mention here, as more or less of each principle, both of animism and monotheism, can be traced in the innumerable combinations found during the six thousand years of Egyptian religion: these combinations of beliefs being due to combinations of the races to which they belonged.

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CHAPTER II

THE NATURE OF MAN

Before we can understand what were the relations between man and the G.o.ds we must first notice the conceptions of the nature of man. In the prehistoric days of Egypt the position and direction of the body was always the same in every burial, offerings of food and drink were placed by it, figures of servants, furniture, even games, were included in the grave. It must be concluded therefore that it was a belief in immortality which gave rise to such a detailed ritual of the dead, though we have no written evidence upon this.

So soon as we reach the age of doc.u.ments we find on tombstones that the person is denoted by the _khu_ between the arms of the _ka_. From later writings it is seen that the _khu_ is applied to a spirit of man; while the _ka_ is not the body but the activities of sense and perception. Thus, in {8} the earliest age of doc.u.ments, two ent.i.ties were believed to vitalise the body.

The _ka_ is more frequently named than any other part, as all funeral offerings were made for the _ka_. It is said that if opportunities of satisfaction in life were missed it is grievous to the _ka_, and that the _ka_ must not be annoyed needlessly; hence it was more than perception, and it included all that we might call consciousness.

Perhaps we may grasp it best as the 'self,' with the same variety of meaning that we have in our own word. The _ka_ was represented as a human being following after the man; it was born at the same time as the man, but it persisted after death and lived in and about the tomb.

It could act and visit other _kas_ after death, but it could not resist the least touch of physical force. It was always represented by two upraised arms, the acting parts of the person. Beside the _ka_ of man, all objects likewise had their _kas_, which were comparable to the human _ka_, and among these the _ka_ lived. This view leads closely to the world of ideas permeating the material world in later philosophy.

The _khu_ is figured as a crested bird, which has the meaning of 'glorious' or 's.h.i.+ning' in ordinary use. It refers to a less material conception than {9} the _ka_, and may be called the intelligence or spirit.

The _khat_ is the material body of man which was the vehicle of the _ka_, and inhabited by the _khu_.

The _ba_ belongs to a different pneumatology to that just noticed. It is the soul apart from the body, figured as a human-headed bird. The concept probably arose from the white owls, with round heads and very human expressions, which frequent the tombs, flying noiselessly to and fro. The _ba_ required food and drink, which were provided for it by the G.o.ddess of the cemetery. It thus overlaps the scope of the _ka_, and probably belongs to a different race to that which defined the _ka_.

The _sahu_ or mummy is a.s.sociated particularly with the _ba_; and the _ba_ bird is often shown as resting on the mummy or seeking to re-enter it.

The _khaybet_ was the shadow of a man; the importance of the shadow in early ideas is well known.

The _sekhem_ was the force or ruling power of man, but is rarely mentioned.

The _ab_ is the will and intentions, symbolised by the heart; often used in phrases, such as a man being 'in the heart of his lord,'

'wideness of {10} heart' for satisfaction, 'was.h.i.+ng of the heart' for giving vent to temper.

The _hati_ is the physical heart, the 'chief' organ of the body, also used metaphorically.

The _ran_ is the name which was essential to man, as also to inanimate things. Without a name nothing really existed. The knowledge of the name gave power over its owner; a great myth turns on Isis obtaining the name of Ra by stratagem, and thus getting the two eyes of Ra--the sun and moon--for her son Horus. Both in ancient and modern races the knowledge of the real name of a man is carefully guarded, and often secondary names are used for secular purposes. It was usual for Egyptians to have a 'great name' and a 'little name'; the great name is often compounded with that of a G.o.d or a king, and was very probably reserved for religious purposes, as it is only found on religious and funerary monuments.

We must not suppose by any means that all of these parts of the person were equally important, or were believed in simultaneously. The _ka_, _khu_, and _khat_ seem to form one group; the _ba_ and _sahu_ belong to another; the _ab_, _hati_, and _sekhem_ are hardly more than metaphors, such as we commonly use; the _khaybet_ is a later idea {11} which probably belongs to the system of animism and witchcraft, where the shadow gave a hold upon the man. The _ran_, name, belongs partly to the same system, but also is the germ of the later philosophy of idea.

The purpose of religion to the Egyptian was to secure the favour of the G.o.d. There is but little trace of negative prayer to avert evils or deprecate evil influences, but rather of positive prayer for concrete favours. On the part of kings this is usually of the Jacob type, offering to provide temples and services to the G.o.d in return for material prosperity. The Egyptian was essentially self-satisfied, he had no confession to make of sin or wrong, and had no thought of pardon. In the judgment he boldly averred that he was free of the forty-two sins that might prevent his entry into the kingdom of Osiris.

If he failed to establish his innocence in the weighing of his heart, there was no other plea, but he was consumed by fire and by a hippopotamus, and no hope remained for him.

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CHAPTER III

THE FUTURE LIFE

The various beliefs of the Egyptians regarding the future life are so distinct from each other and so incompatible, that they may be cla.s.sified into groups more readily than the theology; thus they serve to indicate the varied sources of the religion.

The most simple form of belief was that of the continued existence of the soul in the tomb and about the cemetery. In Upper Egypt at present a hole is left at the top of the tomb chamber; and I have seen a woman remove the covering of the hole, and talk down to her deceased husband.

Also funeral offerings of food and drink, and even beds, are still placed in the tombs. A similar feeling, without any precise beliefs, doubtless prompted the earlier forms of provision for the dead. The soul wandered around the tomb seeking sustenance, and was fed by the {13} G.o.ddess who dwelt in the thick sycomore trees that overshadowed the cemetery. She is represented as pouring out drink for the _ba_ and holding a tray of cakes for it to feed upon. In the grave we find this belief shown by the jars of water, wine, and perhaps other liquids, the stores of corn, the geese, haunches and heads of oxen, the cakes, and dates, and pomegranates which were laid by the dead. In an early king's tomb there might be many rooms full of these offerings. There were also the weapons for defence and for the chase, the toilet objects, the stores of clothing, the draughtsmen, and even the literature of papyri buried with the dead. The later form of this system was the representation of all these offerings in sculpture and drawing in the tomb. This modification probably belongs to the belief in the _ka_, which could be supported by the _ka_ of the food and use the _ka_ of the various objects, the figures of the objects being supposed to provide the _kas_ of them. This system is entirely complete in itself, and does not presuppose or require any theologic connection. It might well belong to an age of simple animism, and be a survival of that in later times.

The greatest theologic system was that of the kingdom of Osiris. This was a counterpart of {14} the earthly life, but was reserved for the worthy. All the dead belonged to Osiris and were brought before him for judgment. The protest of being innocent of the forty-two sins was made, and then the heart was weighed against truth, symbolised by the ostrich feather, the emblem of the G.o.ddess of truth. From this feather, the emblem of lightness, being placed against the heart in weighing, it seems that sins were considered to weigh down the heart, and its lightness required to be proved. Thoth, the G.o.d who recorded the weighing, then stated that the soul left the judgment hall true of voice with his heart and members restored to him, and that he should follow Osiris in his kingdom. This kingdom of Osiris was at first thought of as being in the marshlands of the delta; when these became familiar it was transferred to Syria, and finally to the north-east of the sky, where the Milky Way became the heavenly Nile.

The main occupation in this kingdom was agriculture, as on earth; the souls ploughed the land, sowed the corn, and reaped the harvest of heavenly maize, taller and fatter than any of this world. In this land they rowed on the heavenly streams, they sat in shady arbours, and played the games which they had loved. But the cultivation was a toil, and {15} therefore it was to be done by numerous serfs. In the beginning of the monarchy it seems that the servants of the king were all buried around him to serve him in the future; from the second to the twelfth dynasty we lose sight of this idea, and then we find slave figures buried in the tombs. These figures were provided with the hoe for tilling the soil, the pick for breaking the clods, a basket for carrying the earth, a pot for watering the crops, and they were inscribed with an order to respond for their master when he was called on to work in the fields. In the eighteenth dynasty the figures sometimes have actual tool models buried with them; but usually the tools are in relief or painted on the figure. This idea continued until the less material view of the future life arose in Greek times; then the deceased man was said to have 'gone to Osiris' in such a year of his age, but no slave figures were laid with him. This view of the future is complete in itself, and is appropriately provided for in the tomb.

A third view of the future life belongs to an entirely different theologic system, that of the progress of the sun-G.o.d Ra. According to this the soul went to join the setting sun in the west, and prayed to be allowed to enter the boat of the {16} sun in the company of the G.o.ds; thus it would be taken along in everlasting light, and saved from the terrors and demons of the night over which the sun triumphed. No occupations were predicated of this future; simply to rest in the divine company was the entire purpose, and the successful repelling of the powers of darkness in each hour of the night by means of spells was the only activity. To provide for the solar journey a model boat was placed in the tomb with the figures of boatmen, to enable the dead to sail with the sun, or to reach the solar bark. This view of the future implied a journey to the west, and hence came the belief in the soul setting out to cross the desert westward. We find also an early G.o.d of the dead, Khent-amenti, 'he who is in the west,' probably arising from this same view. This G.o.d was later identified with Osiris when the fusion of the two theories of the soul arose. At Abydos Khent-amenti only is named at first, and Osiris does not appear until later times, though that cemetery came to be regarded as specially dedicated to Osiris.

Now in all these views that we have named there is no occasion for preserving the body. It is the _ba_ that is fed in the cemetery, not the body. It is an immaterial body that takes part {17} in the kingdom of Osiris, in the sky. It is an immaterial body that can accompany the G.o.ds in the boat of the sun. There is so far no call to conserve the body by the peculiar mummification which first appears in the early dynasties. The dismemberment of the bones, and removal of the flesh, which was customary in the prehistoric times, and survived down to the fifth dynasty, would accord with any of these theories, all of which were probably predynastic. But the careful mummifying of the body became customary only in the third or fourth dynasty, and is therefore later than the theories that we have noticed. The idea of thus preserving the body seems to look forward to some later revival of it on earth, rather than to a personal life immediately after death. The funeral accompaniment of this view was the abundance of amulets placed on various parts of the body to preserve it. A few amulets are found worn on a necklace or bracelet in early times; but the full development of the amulet system was in the twenty-sixth to thirtieth dynasties.

We have tried to disentangle the diverse types of belief, by seeing what is incompatible between them. But in practice we find every form of mixture of these views in most ages. In the {18} prehistoric times the preservation of the bones, but not of the flesh, was constant; and food offerings show that at least the theory of the soul wandering in the cemetery was familiar. Probably the Osiris theory is also of the later prehistoric times, as the myth of Osiris is certainly older than the dynasties. The Ra wors.h.i.+p was a.s.sociated specially with Heliopolis, and may have given rise to the union with Ra also before the dynasties, when Heliopolis was probably a capital of the kings of Lower Egypt. The boats figured on the prehistoric tomb at Hierakonpolis bear this out. In the first dynasty there is no mummy known, funeral offerings abound, and the _khu_ and _ka_ are named. Our doc.u.ments do not give any evidence, then, of the Osiris and Ra theories. In the pyramid period the king was called the Osiris, and this view is the leading one in the Pyramid inscriptions, yet the Ra theory is also incompatibly present; the body is mummified; but funeral offerings of food seem to have much diminished. In the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties the Ra theory gained ground greatly over the Osirian; and the basis of all the views of the future is almost entirely the union with Ra during the night and day. The mummy and amulet theory was not dominant; but the funeral {19} offerings somewhat increased. The twenty-sixth dynasty almost dropped the Ra theory; the Osirian kingdom and its population of slave figures is the most familiar view, and the preservation of the body by amulets was essential. Offerings of food rarely appear in these later times. This dominance of Osiris leads on to the anthropomorphic wors.h.i.+p, which interacts on the growth of Christianity as we shall see further.

Lastly, when all the theologic views of the future had perished, the oldest idea of all, food, drink, and rest for the dead, has still kept its hold upon the feelings of the people in spite of the teachings of Islam.