Egyptian Mythology

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The Égyptiens of Antiquity sought to interpret all the phenomena which they could observe by the prism of their secular belief. The most important concept for them is that of cycle:

the cycle of the night with the reappearing sun each morning;
the cycle of the years with the annual flood which could cause joy like sorrow (in the event of too weak or too strong rising);
the cycle of the life with the births which succeed dead (although the Egyptians did not believe in the terrestrial Réincarnation as presented by the Bouddhisme).

Myth of creation

See also: Myth of the creation of the world in ancient Egypt, Myth of creation héliopolitaine, Myth of creation memphite, Ogdoade d' Hermopolis

The great diversity of the worship of the ancient Egypt is also found in the myths of creation which vary according to the areas (or even cities) and their guardian gods:

Myth osirien

See also: Myth osirien

For the former Egyptians, the universe was at the large beginning only one paramount Océan named the Noun. It is of Noun that was born Atoum, the sun. Atoum generated Chou (the god of the breath) and Tefnout (the god of moisture). Chou separated the sky from the ground. Thus were born Nout (the goddess of the sky) and Geb (the god of the ground). Union of Nout and Geb were born two wire Osiris and Seth, and two girls, Isis and Nephthys.

Geb offered the capacity on ground to Osiris which was the first of the Pharaon S. It reigned at the side of his/her sister and marries Isis. Its reign impresses kindness, of justice and of wisdom returned insane Seth of jealousy. He plotted against his brother. He invited his brother with a large banquet. Seth proposed whereas each guest lies down in a splendid trunk. That which would be with measurements of the trunk would gain it. Osiris lies down then in the trunk: it is with its dimensions (trap of Seth)! The guests throw all on the trunk and lock up Osiris there. Seth throws it in the Nile. Thanks to the assistance of Nephthys, Isis the magician succeeds in finding the body of her husband and hiding it in a marsh. Seth learns how it and, furious, manages to find the body, and tears it in fourteen pieces. With the assistance of his/her Nephthys sister and Anubis, Isis finds the pieces scattered in all Egypt, except one (its sex), eaten by a fish. They reconstitute Osiris then the time of a union from which was born Horus (the god of the Pharaon S). Horus overcame Seth in duel and reigned on the Egypt. Osiris, him, became the king of the kingdom of deaths.

Myth of death

Among Egyptians of the antiquity, the ceremonies and beliefs related to death represented a big part of their life. The concerns related to died during the Egypt Antique were of order nuns. The myth of dead the represented a very important aspect of the religion of the Egyptians, but constituted especially a big step of the life of the Pharaon, brother of the God X, who owed after his death food near the God X an eternal rest. The Egyptians considered that after the death, the heart of late could reappear and reach the “ kingdom of dead the ” and with the eternal rest .

The myth of dead the can be broken up into two parts:

the first stage which is the voyage of late towards beyond with the ceremony of the Embaumement;
the second stage which corresponds to the judgment of late by the god Osiris when it reaches beyond to be judged and to perhaps reach the eternal rest .

Travel towards beyond - embalming

In Egyptian mythology, the body is divided into several entities of which the Djet, which correspond to the body, and the Ka, which corresponds to the spiritual double accompanying the body since the birth by the individual until his death. So that the late one can reach the kingdom of beyond via its Ka, the Embaumement of the Djet is necessary. Indeed, if the body is not embaumé, the Djet becomes the Khat after death and cannot reach the eternal rest . The rite of the Embaumement was created by Isis when it embauma his/her brother Osiris in order to give again life to him. This rite thus symbolizes the rebirth the late one and the access to the “ kingdom of dead the ” and to the eternal rest . The statues and offerings present at the sides of late in its Sarcophage make it possible to accompany it in its way towards the judgment by the heart.

This way towards the beyond is taken into account in the architecture of the Pyramide S. Indeed, within the Pyramide S, the corridors rising towards the tops of the Pyramide and the sky since the funerary room of late, seem to be passages making it possible the heart to rise and reach the “ kingdom of dead the ”. The purpose of the Book of dead the, placed at the sides of late, was to guide it towards the “ kingdom of dead the ” and to prepare it with the Jugement of the heart using collections and magic spells.

Judgment of the heart

The weighing of the heart consists in putting the heart of late on a balance and other side a feather (representing the goddess Maât); if the heart is lighter (what means that the heart is not sullied with sins), the late one can join the kingdom of deaths. If not, it will be made devour by a monster (most of the time symbolized by the goddess Touéris) and its heart will be lost forever. Osiris became god of the kingdom of deaths successfully only after having passed the test of the weighing of the heart. The late ones wanted thus to be identified in Osiris to reach the kingdom of dead and to rest in peace.

Myth of the cycle of the day

The myth describes the combat which Re carries out each night against the “forces of the chaos” represented by the snake Apophis in order to allow the reappearance of the sun each morning on the “world of in top”.

Re being regarded as the god of the sun, inter alia, when the sun disappeared each evening at the horizon, the god Re changed means of transport to adopt a crowned boat and to cross the underground Nile. During this tour, Re crossed the twelve doors corresponding at the twelve o'clock in the night (of 5:00 of the evening to 5:00 of the morning) in the underground world, the Douat, and was to thwart the traps of the forces of chaos trying to reverse at all times the boat of the god of the sun. It is helped in that by the god Seth who, being held with the prow of the solar boat, launches his features on Apophis. The purpose of this tour was the rebirth of the god Re each morning thus bringing back the light for the inhabitants of the “world of in top”. This rebirth of Re, represented by the rising of the sun, was also regarded as the rebirth of the world and the sign which the god Re had triumphed over the forces of chaos during his tour.

One also finds the notion of the twelve doors within the Pyramides of Egypt whose driving corridor with the Sarcophage consists of twelve door frames, corresponding to each hour of the night.

This combat between the god Re and Apophis, each night, as of laying down it sun, and leading to new a sunrise, each morning, thus constitutes the myth of the cycle of the day in Egyptian mythology.

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