Basic Attributes
The most important attribute of ancient Egyptian religion is that it was polytheistic. As we discussed previously, when talking about Mesopotamian religion, the word polytheism denotes the belief in many gods, who collectively control and manage the created world. In polytheistic religions, each god is believed to have control of specific natural phenomena - such as the rivers, the heavens, and the seasons, as well as lightning, flooding, and volcanoes, for example. The gods also guide human experience, helping or hindering man's everyday life, as well as deciding the nature of man's life after death, as we shall see below. A second characteristic attribute of religion in ancient Egypt is that it was quite inclusive in terms of gods. That is, the common ancient Egyptian was ready to accept any and all gods and goddesses that seemed appropriate. Such inclusiveness reflected the understanding that if x or y gods existed, then any number of other gods were also likely to exist. In fact, considering the infinite number of existing natural phenomena, an almost unlimited number of gods to control it all made sense. Many gods became part of the Egyptian pantheon through territorial conquest. In other words, if a new area was incorporated into the Egyptian state, its gods and goddesses would be added to the pantheon of those already worshipped. In part this facilitated the incorporation of new territories, as each region had its own patron deity, whom locals would have not wanted to reject. While some of these local or regional gods were worshipped only locally, others gained notoriety throughout Egypt. For example, the god Ptah gained power when the city of Memphis became the capital of Egypt. Later, the god Amon rose to supremacy in connection with the political authority of the pharaoh. A third attribute of Egyptian religion is that, from its earliest beginnings, Egyptian religious cults included animals. It is no accident that sheep, bulls, gazelles and cats have been found carefully buried and preserved in their own graves. Finally, Egyptian religion focused almost exclusively on the afterlife. That is, although gods controlled every aspect of life and the natural world, Egyptian religious practice was centered on achieving a positive life after death, one in which one would enjoy for eternity the best that life had to offer. I'll discuss this in greater detail in the slides that follow.