The Egyptian’s Belief In The After Life

By Author: Sherry Roberts
Total Articles: 81
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Introduction
Egypt was among the first countries to have civilization in Africa. There were many things introduced to assist the human race adapt and interact freely with the environment. Civilization is also an organizing principle that helps societies to live more comfortable lives and also make use of what the nature provides. Civilization helped man reshape the environment and also control other living species. Much of the Egypt civilization had a basis of the religion. The belief in the rebirth after death was a driving force in the funeral practices. They viewed death as a temporary interruption in life. There was an assurance of Eternal life from the piety to Gods, the preservation of the physical body through mummification, and the provision of other funeral equipment. Every human had a physical body, and they perceived their names and shadows as living entities. The best way in which they would enjoy the life after death was through sustaining and protecting all the elements described from harm. The bodies buried in the desert pits had a special preservation by desiccation. The wealthy people buried their bodies ...
... in stone tombs and used artificial mummification in preservation. The process involved the removal of the internal organs, wrapping the body in linen, and burying the body in a rectangular stone or a wooden coffin (Robert Edgar, et. al., 2000). The belief of afterlife is a common way that Egyptians used in having the hope of rebirth. Hence, death was only a temporary issue to humans, and people did not fear it. Egyptians used the early civilization trends to shape their lives and, as a result, did things in a different way to the other nations.
What are the Nile and afterlife beliefs according to the Egyptian civilization’s history?
The usefulness of the Nile in the daily life has a basis in the Ancient Egyptians’ belief in an afterlife. Egyptians buried the dead on the banks of river Nile on the west side. They had a common belief that the forces of the underworld were in the west where the sunset each day. The tombs had funny decorations showing the economic activities of the family along the Nile (Robert Edgar, et. al., 2000). The deceased were to enjoy the activities in the life after death. The tool believed to transport the soul in the life after death was the miniature boats placed on top of the tombs.
How did the treatment of the Dead happen? Was there a specific method used in the preservation of the body?
The treatments performed on the dead were to prepare the body for eternity. The early Egyptians had a belief in the likelihood of life after death. Hence, they had to prepare the dead for the rebirth. The treatment of the dead in the ancient Egypt had a design of preparing and equipping the deceased to remain ready for all the time. Another consideration is the materials used in making the burial items and the tombs that had to remain intact for long as the dead enjoy the life after dead. The common materials used were either stone or the precious metals. The other processes involved body preservation so that it would last for eternity without getting stale (Evans-Wentz, 2000).
Mummification was essential as a method of preserving the body to remain in the same condition and also develop a body that would last to eternity. They early Egyptians had a belief that the body has different elements, which were either physical or not. The physical element comprised of the body and the non-physical parts were the name and the shadow. The body formed by mummification processes was to accommodate the other non-physical elements. Since the body relied on food and drink for survival, the living left food offerings at the tombs of the ancestors for it to sustain the body. Other ways of depicting the scenario were to use drawings on the coffins of offerings, tomb walls, and other burial objects. The soul had the ability to move through the worlds of the living and the dead. The combination of the “ka”, “ba”, name and shadow formed the body. The dead survived if all the elements survived (Robert Edgar, et. al., 2000).
What do you know about the ancient Egyptian coffins?
The ancient Egyptians placed the coffins in secure tombs that protected the mummified bodies from foreign people and elements. The inscriptions and the visual elements on the coffins had the purpose of providing the dead with the magical help and knowledge required to help them prosper in the afterlife (Hackett & Molony, 2007). Among the common themes in the inscriptions and visuals used was the sun god. The Sun God was the maker of the universe according to their beliefs. The common belief was that, after death the souls would rise to the sky and accompany the sun god in all the journeys. In the similar way to the sun rising every morning, the dead would get renewal and reborn with the sun each day. The other major issue depicted by the decorations on the coffin was the “elements from the myth of Osiris.” The Egyptians believed that if they had a link with the Osiris, they were likely to get a second life after death the same way he did. The living therefore renamed the dead asThe Osiris (name)” (Robert Edgar, et. al., 2000).
What was the significance of the Canonic jars?
They served the purpose of preserving some of the body organs after wrapping them separately. The canonic jars had a purpose of protecting the internal body organs and remained in the tombs even after placing the internal organs in the mummified body. Mummification helped to transform the body into a new existence. Thus, the living had to remove the internal organs without threatening the chances of survival in the life after death. After treating the organs according to their importance, they then placed them in the canonic jars. The materials used in making the jars include; stone, pottery, or wood. The stoppers used had certain characteristics. They had human-headed stoppers as a representation of the deceased (Taylor, 2001).
Why did the Ancient Egyptians have the Shabti Figures?
They were model figures placed in the burials having a particular meaning. The living believed that the afterlife would be similar to the living world. Thus, the Shabti figures were a representation of the dead and the living friends and family surrounded them. They also believed that the figures needed food and drink and also required to work. Shabti had an active role in the community, and hence took the form of a mummy to make it more effective (Hackett & Molony, 2007).
Conclusion
Ancient Egyptians had a strong belief in life after death, and it made them have unique ways of preserving the dead. They treated the body and then preserved it through mummification procedures. The bodies were believed to have both the physical and the non-physical elements. The coffins used for preserving the dead had to be from materials that would last for long. Most of the tombs were on the west side of the Nile due to the belief that the forces of the underworld were in the west where the sunset each day. The Ancient Egyptians had meaningful decorations on the tombs of ways of preparing for the life after death. The canopic jars and the shabti figures all served the same purpose of showing the importance of life after death. Thus, life after death had a high value in the ancient Egypt history.
Works Cited
John H Taylor, “Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt” (2001) London: British Museum Press
Morkot, Robert. "Divine Of Body: The Remains of Egyptian Kings—Preservation, Reverence, and Memory in a World without Relics" Past & Present 206.suppl_5 (2010): 37-55. Retrieved on 27 Apr. 2015

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in online nursing papers. If you need a similar paper you can place your order for a custom research paper from custom research paper services.