-
Content count
37,172 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by Preety_India
-
These are the primordial elements 4 ? Science ? Intention ? Mastery ? Emotion
-
Concept of lack of happiness with oneself and mental momentum I have understood one thing through all of my insights And that thing is I should focus on 6 six different states like fulfillment Enrichment expression momentum Jouissance vigor And the next thing is the concept of There are 4 essential elements One is science One is intention or spiritual /moral/primordial One is emotion or spirit or mental One is mastery How to put these elements in motion That is you could use leadership in many ways. You can be an emotional leader who leads by inspiring You can be a leader with good intentions, that is whatever you do always has a good intention behind it even though you aren't very emotionally submerged in it You can use logic and science to determine cause and effect and still have good intentions but think less emotionally You can use Mastery to use brute force and skills and business acumen and strategies and use your art to work out solutions. All these elements blend together Science, intention, emotion and Mastery
-
1 Fulfillment. Opposite dissatisfaction 2 Enrichment opposite deprivation 3 Expression opposite stifling 4 Momentum opposite inertia of idleness and restlessness 5 Jouissance and felicity and vigor opposite enervation and languor also 6 Vigor opposite vexation and agitation build up. Discouragement. Leading to inertia Six states of mind as a part of inner fulfillment. Early morning feelings Part of spiritual and conceptual framework
-
Concept of lack of happiness with oneself and mental momentum
-
Take comfort in something
-
Two planes. Physical and spiritual. Spiritual is the privilege or the basic requirement and the physical is a bonus. Without the physical, the spiritual is a humble consolation and a support to thrive on. Without the spiritual the physical is just a show a fake an illusion and a gratification tool without real sentiment Together its a blessing. Examples for illustration Dying wife and the cook as a replacement Dead child or family member and a new nember or child Replacement of pets. Atm card dad. Good doctors in town but not in the local hospital. So spiritual is a cake whereas physical is an icing on the cake. People who care too much for the physical but disrespect the spiritual are fake cheap shallow selfish People who understand the physical but respect the spiritual but know the limitations of both physical and spiritual are reasonable People who idolize the spiritual but neglect the physical are a little impractical and less functional or usable Both should unite. Anything lacking in spiritual is meaningless and hollow and anything that is merely spiritual or intangible is only a sentiment and has meaning but not usable. Thus the primordial has to begin with spiritual and it's success lies in the manifestation in physical. Now the biggest secret is to know how to manifest the spiritual into the physical. This is the divine secret. You can also call it the divine secret of the ages. The secret is this. When you connect to the divine consciousness or divinity the power of the divine forces from the cosmic characters is absorbed and used to manifest the vision. However this vision has to be true and sublime or pure to appease the spirits of eternity, the (as in ancient Egyptian culture its called ma'at which means the governor of all good. This is the key. There is a cosmic force stronger than any force that eventually wants good to sustain and bring a balance and harmony. Your instinct should tap and resonate with this cosmic force. It's like pushing the right buttons but for that you need intelligence which once again arises out of good so everything is interconnected. That's why evil can't succeed because it can only have an instinct but get interfered in its plans and get thwarted due to the lack of mechanics or lack of intelligence and non congruence with the intelligent design. What does this mean. That everything is connected and a pattern. You can call it the cosmic pattern. It's a sequence governed by laws which support balance and harmony anything that pushes this off balance also suffers as a result so not only does the object of attention suffer but so also the source that causes this suffering. So if a flood is brought, the flood does not distinguish between good and evil and takes away both with it. Thus the evil can't escape its own doings and ends up getting the taste of its own medicine. Because the universe is designed that way. The natural course is designed that way. The way things exist in the universe and operate can be called the natural course. The laws that govern this course are the universal laws. The instinct that drives this forward is the divine instinct or ma'at which means "everything for the good" which drives the processes of natural course further. Here the divine instinct is the ma'at. The laws are derived from this and so all the laws are designed to make the good prevail and the destructive perish, the laws are designed for progress and the outcome of such a progress is sweet and harmony and balance. This law has been coded into each and every creation in this universe. Therefore what follows the law survives, what doesn't perishes. Every process in the natural course is owned by this law or laws. It resonates and chimes with the laws. It follows the law and when it does so it continues to flourish and sustain in harmony throughout eternity. Whatever that disrupts this harmony brings eventual chaos and if it doesn't follow the sequence of the processes in the natural course or goes against it, it then gets eventually degraded and destroyed. Whatever that fails to understand the sequence and doesn't follow the sequence or doesn't resonate with either the sequence or the laws governing it or goes against it will cause disruption of harmony and cause balance and bring out the bad. If it not destruction it will at least lead to mediocrity and lack of substance and hollowness. It will be vague and almost useless and or dysfunctional and shallow or messy. There will be no real beauty in it just an empty white noise. Without substance, meaning, beauty. Because these qualities belong to the ma'at, so without the ma'at, such qualities cannot exist and so without these qualities, the condition of the resultant state will be shallow and for fake glory or display. This is like buying a huge building fashioned like a Rolex watch fully made of cheap plastic and then auctioning it off as a treasure piece. That's how much sense anything makes when it lacks substance. It's not made out of meaning, beauty and substance. Now whatever that follows the sequence and is in resonance with the laws and the divine instinct of ma'at is bound to succeed and grow and prosper but the prosperity is not overnight. It will come gradually after an eternity of toiling but what it will create will be the most amazing splendid indestructible and glorious by itself without any validation or hype. It will stand by itself as an aura of beauty and substance. It will have a mysterious mythical grandeur and allure to it which becomes a part of it spiritual quality. Although it may be non living, it will still a carry a sentiment of good and beauty. It won't be perfect but at least near perfect. This can be said of both the living and non the living. All of this means that a wrongful/malicious instinct can only win a short race since in the long run it falls out of resonance with the harmonious sequence of the natural course and thus the instinct wins a short distance and eventually fails in the eternal scheme of things. But the right instinct always wins. Because the instinct is in direct harmony or resonance with ma'at and so it obeys and understands and follows the sequence/sequences of the natural course and goes with it and then matures into a beautiful state of harmony and continues its legacy and survives and flourishes both physically and eternally (that is spiritually). So here there are many components to the divine secret. One can say three are a few caveats. These components are The natural course The sequence/sequences in this natural course Ma'at or the instinct of goodness Harmony and balance and flourishing as the outcome (field of reeds or eternal garden) Universal laws derived from divine instinct/ma'at that govern the natural course Resonance with the instinct and the sequence. This can be called consonance. Lack of resonance. - this can be called discordance. Good instinct or noble instinct Bad instinct or bad intent or malicious instinct Good instinct wins because of consonance. Bad instinct wins only in the short run but eventually causes destruction of others and itself because of discordance. So here is the divine secret and the caveats The divine secret explained in 5 steps 1 Connection Connection to the divine forces or cosmic forces. This is invocation. Or the primordial birth of an instinct. 2 a good instinct as a requirement or caveat/condition. (A bad instinct will also find its way but will create problems eventually) there is freedom of will so even a bad intent is allowed its way in the universe. However there is no freedom of outcome. So outcome is decided by the natural course. This is more or less like a caveat 3 preservation of this instinct and its constant invocation This is the law of attraction. Having persistence 4.Harnessing. Following it. Resonance with not only the divine instinct(ma'at) but also the sequence of the natural course. Follow this sequence. Follow this wisdom. Follow this path This means just having a good instinct or intent is not enough. It has to follow a certain set of laws and actions that allow the manifestation of the good instinct. Like just wanting to help the diseased is not enough..harnessing means acquiring the knowledge of medicine to work on the disease and find a cure. 5. Manifestation and continuation Through constant harnessing and invocations and a determined pursuit, you display the qualities of hope and faith which are rewarded and the manifestation of your will in the physical world eventually happens. But you have to continue and not give up. You have to preserve the condition of this manifested state with all your effort and constant invocation and save it from degradation. It's a treasure now that needs to be cherished and preserved much like the pyramids and much like the tradition of ma'at. All the philosophies and principles need to be preserved not just in books but also in real life to keep the river of harmony the Nile river flowing and not let it dry up due to any change or modernity. In order to have harmony and in order to keep the yield going it's healthy or wholesome harmonious productive yielding state has to be maintained. It has to be maintained the exact way it always was by protecting it from unnecessary changes that can cause its degradation over time. Which means all the principles of resonance will always be in motion throughout time no matter how modern the age is. The same principles will hold true and continue And the ritual of invocation and gratitude has to continue. (This is not to confuse with natural degardation with age which is bound to happen since the physical is not eternal and has to die at some point. This is not "brought on" destruction. This is natural destruction or "withering" which is a part of the primordial cycle. It's not caused by forces of evil and chaos.) When you have a spiritual birth or a primordial birth which means growth of an instinct Law of transformation and accommodation This law means "anything that is bad and in a mangled or unusable state or considered bad can still be rejuvenated as long as it has a life force and vitality." And "everything that is good needs to be encouraged and accommodated into a system. A system that doesn't accommodate is unworthy or undeserving of such good." So there are 2 things here. One is framework and layouts and the other is a list of manifestations and hope faith devotion on the divine secret and its manifestation
-
7 step model 1 Pre - primordial - only intangible eternal elements exist and take shape for birth in physical form. Manifestation happens. The thunder starts and begins the primordial. 1 Primordial is the first strong form of an individual mentally and physically which is well nourished and enriched and ready to take wings. This is the initial Kickstart. 2 Secondary is the stage where the form is ready to make reasonable progress and gaining a foothold in the direction of the path. 3 Refining /Revising is the latest and adding layers in little details one at a time 4. Decaying.. Means this progress is gradually slowing down and decaying and aging. 5. Withered it's over. None stays. Complete Cessation of the tangible elements. Intangible elements survive through eternity. 6 Eternal - the energy and the spirit stays eternal. The spirit carries a vestige of feeling and thought/principle/idea/desire/ wish/dislike What's the meaning of these phases. It means an idea takes root and eventually turns into reality and reality dies out but the idea remains eternal and survives forever. It also means there is always a genesis and a first foundational stage to anything in life, including yourself which then further enhances and becomes functional with time or degrades eventually. This applies to any plan or idea or vision or goal and even to the body or state of mind. But with the intangibles it's much more advantageous because whatever that begins never ceases in existence. So a strong state of mind would not suddenly disintegrate but with careful effort continue to improve and get better and even reach a peak point of near perfection. This is also a huge benefit because it won't decay like matter or physical things. It does take time to have that mental emotional Mastery but it's worth the effort because it's more or less forever or semi permanent at least. Energy could be happy or unhappy intense or light. Thus it's only quantitative or symbolic or only "attribute"... The qualitative aspect of energy is the spirit which is a combined entity of thought/consciousness /invocation and emotion or feeling. It's a state of both consciousness and emotion and its aura is energy. The consciousness is a principle whereas the emotion is the intent or accompanying instinct. Consciousness is more thought based mutable whereas emotion is the reptilian part which is stable immutable and primitive form of expression a sentiment. Consciousness when applied to emotion can refine it or reject it or make it more understandable. It either intensifies or pacifies emotion. Consciousness can provide logic and order but without emotion can lack in innate understanding. It's like giving drugs to a depression patient without resolving the fundamental issue that is the root cause of his suffering. Emotion without logic can be uncontrolled unbalanced and disproportionate whereas logic without emotion can be misplaced and dissonant or lacking resonance or rhythm. Therfore both together is the spiritual duality or spiritual duet This is the spirit. The embodiment of mind and emotion. Of Judgement and intuition. This unique combination together can be called spirit consciousness Spirit is the identity of the soul. Power of the positive spirit Framework 1 - conceptual Guidelines or layout Outcome Framework 2 - spiritual Layout Outcome Framework 3 - Mythological Layout Outcome
-
3 step model Definition Process or "how" layout Outcome So this can be rephrased as follows Definition /framework of principles Layout or "how to do" Outcome Almost all of human civilization is based on this basic structure or model of framework, layout and outcome. The first comes the religious beliefs and then a layout of rituals and lastly the outcome of such processes.
-
This is my journal on personal development where I gather insights from ancient cultures and use their wisdom in daily life in my personal development journey.
-
3 step model Definition Process or "how" layout Outcome So this can be rephrased as follows Definition /framework of principles Layout or "how to do" Outcome Almost all of human civilization is based on this basic structure or model of framework, layout and outcome. The first comes the religious beliefs and then a layout of rituals and lastly the outcome of such processes.
-
Ancient Egyptian mythology and philosophy
-
This diary will be divided into 3 segments A.. Conceptual Framework B.. Spiritual framework C.. Mythological Framework Chapters will contain the letters to note the segment it belongs to.
-
Chapter 316 New chapter - Mythological Framework 1. Six phases and minor phases 2. 3 cosmic characters 3. Swan and the wolf 4. Two types of love - soft love and Devils love as Bdsm 5. Hell of chaos run by Satan. Eternal restlessness. Eternal restlessness and absence of eternity for the one governed by Satan 6. 4 demigods for the devil - the vulture, the snake, the wolf and the grim reaper. These are all masculine. Demigods and symbols for God, - Swan, dragon, pets, stuffed toys, trapezium mountain, rings, mother goddess, eternity dish, christ, chalice, a pillar and obelisks, shabti dolls, trees, 7. Satan represented by a gateway to hell like a place of total darkness and bad vibe. 8. Union with God in eternity and reincarnation. Final closure 9 afterlife. The field of reeds, the fulfillment of unfulfilled spiritual desires, the experience of paradise and an ideal life. 10 Swan practice 11. Concept of heath 12. Twin flame guardian 13. Imaginary friends and lovers, and spirit animals or demi gods. 14. Art, romance and fantasy 15. Concept of core body and specific layers. 16 importance of Mastery 17. concept of categories 18 Blend of spirituality and materialism and myth 19 Energies of Life 20 power of Conscience 21 energy of love 22 change of state 23 training the brain - part of Mastery 24 chain of support.. Imaginary 25 unshakable faith 26 moment to moment awareness and creativity 27 enrichment and yield. 28 internal state and internal fulfillment 29 Swan manual, tarot cards, the spirit exercise(water exercise), contemplation exercises, parts of mind exercises, review contemplation, brail exercise. Cup exercise. 30 We have 2 frameworks. One is conceptual framework and the other is Mythological Framework.. A short description of a concept discussed earlier. Primary truth - the reality. Fact Example - poor people get treated bad. Not so good looking people are ignored. You have to cooperate with the politicians or you cannot have freedom of speech or else you will be in jail. These truths are based on social fabric or social dynamics Secondary truth - you need food to survive. Or you need good sleep to function properly. Drugs are mad. These are things that you cant deny and are not dependent on social order or structure or fabric. It's a fundamental truth or applicable truth. It's directly applied. Example - Higher truth - its the universal truth, the idealistic truth, the truth of nature, the real truth. It's applicable in all circumstances. It goes beyond the limitations of either society or physical body. It's like an eternal truth that will continue to exist or survive even after death. It is always true no matter what.its like a cosmic truth Example - love heals the heart and truth wins or courage is powerful. Evil will not succeed. It looks like it's getting contradicted in reality. Space Blend of spirituality and materialism True soulmate Energies of Life Sleep issues Power of Conscience Aggressors Emotional aggression Investment of emotions Basic reality Energy of love Dehumanization and character assassination Quality of the day Change of State... Journaling. Poverty and insensitivity Family Control, Confidence and Independence Openness Training the Brain Profiling how to profile people Destressing Single Life and Happiness Time for healing Zero Expectations life Important concepts ? Space ? Zero Expectations ❤️ chain of support ❤️ Healing ?Moment to moment awareness and creativity ❤️ Universal love ? You are the hero ?Prayers ?Creativity and personal growth ?Use of science in daily life ?Unshakable faith
-
3 types of framework 1. Conceptual framework 2. Spiritual framework 3. Mythological Framework
-
domesticated the cat pyramids make-up women kings beer astronomy shadoff paper locks sun clocks, water clocks physical / spiritual medicinal care black Ink ox-drawn plows 365 day calendar and Leap Year organized labor hieroglyphics sails taxes obelisks canals arched ceilings survey techniques tunneling scaffolding bronze copper piping iron works, copper and tin mines fine metal works (jewelry, needles) vaulted ceilings indoor lighting / lighting to create specific visual effects air-cooling systems based on using water concept of a master bedroom potter's wheel glass making Faience identification and naming of internal and external body parts, development of various surgical instruments, surgical techniques specialists for treating specific ailments relating to the head, eyes, ears, the stomach and fertility. This also included dentists antibiotics Hieroglyphics flags for construction projects wills, marriage contracts and other legal documents recording harvests and controlling food supply and distribution documenting rainfall and water levels of the Nile census of the population postal system and the use of carrier pigeons maps comb including use of a hot hair straightening comb use of a form of henna for nail paint and hair coloring scissors wigs perfumes and deodorants toothbrush & toothpaste looms cloth dyes sistrum lyre oud kithara zummara ney kinnor hasosra ugab shofar sickels irrigation system domestication of cattle and the donkey beekeeping zoos rudder a navy the ramp the lever
-
New chapter - Mythological Framework 1. Six phases and minor phases 2. 3 cosmic characters 3. Swan and the wolf 4. Two types of love - soft love and Devils love as Bdsm 5. Hell of chaos run by Satan. Eternal restlessness. Eternal restlessness and absence of eternity for the one governed by Satan 6. 4 demigods for the devil - the vulture, the snake, the wolf and the grim reaper. These are all masculine. Demigods and symbols for God, - Swan, dragon, pets, stuffed toys, trapezium mountain, rings, mother goddess, eternity dish, christ, chalice, a pillar and obelisks, shabti dolls, trees, 7. Satan represented by a gateway to hell like a place of total darkness and bad vibe. 8. Union with God in eternity and reincarnation. Final closure 9 afterlife. The field of reeds, the fulfillment of unfulfilled spiritual desires, the experience of paradise and an ideal life. 10 Swan practice 11. Concept of heath 12. Twin flame guardian 13. Imaginary friends and lovers, and spirit animals or demi gods. 14. Art, romance and fantasy 15. Concept of core body and specific layers. 16 importance of Mastery 17. concept of categories 18 Blend of spirituality and materialism and myth 19 Energies of Life 20 power of Conscience 21 energy of love 22 change of state 23 training the brain - part of Mastery 24 chain of support.. Imaginary 25 unshakable faith 26 moment to moment awareness and creativity 27 enrichment and yield. 28 internal state and internal fulfillment 29 Swan manual, tarot cards, the spirit exercise(water exercise), contemplation exercises, parts of mind exercises, review contemplation, brail exercise. Cup exercise. 30 We have 2 frameworks. One is conceptual framework and the other is Mythological Framework.. A short description of a concept discussed earlier. Primary truth - the reality. Fact Example - poor people get treated bad. Not so good looking people are ignored. You have to cooperate with the politicians or you cannot have freedom of speech or else you will be in jail. These truths are based on social fabric or social dynamics Secondary truth - you need food to survive. Or you need good sleep to function properly. Drugs are mad. These are things that you cant deny and are not dependent on social order or structure or fabric. It's a fundamental truth or applicable truth. It's directly applied. Example - Higher truth - its the universal truth, the idealistic truth, the truth of nature, the real truth. It's applicable in all circumstances. It goes beyond the limitations of either society or physical body. It's like an eternal truth that will continue to exist or survive even after death. It is always true no matter what.its like a cosmic truth Example - love heals the heart and truth wins or courage is powerful. Evil will not succeed. It looks like it's getting contradicted in reality. Space Blend of spirituality and materialism True soulmate Energies of Life Sleep issues Power of Conscience Aggressors Emotional aggression Investment of emotions Basic reality Energy of love Dehumanization and character assassination Quality of the day Change of State... Journaling. Poverty and insensitivity Family Control, Confidence and Independence Openness Training the Brain Profiling how to profile people Destressing Single Life and Happiness Time for healing Zero Expectations life Important concepts ? Space ? Zero Expectations ❤️ chain of support ❤️ Healing ?Moment to moment awareness and creativity ❤️ Universal love ? You are the hero ?Prayers ?Creativity and personal growth ?Use of science in daily life ?Unshakable faith ?The beauty of art and fantasy 3 types of framework 1. Conceptual framework 2. Spiritual framework 3. Mythological Framework Concepts will be elaborated later.
-
Daily life in Ancient Egypt Daily Life in Ancient Egypt by Joshua J. Mark published on 21 September 2016 The popular view of life in ancient Egypt is often that it was a death-obsessed culture in which powerful pharaohs forced the people to labor at constructing pyramids and temples and, at an unspecified time, enslaved the Hebrews for this purpose. In reality, ancient Egyptians loved life, no matter their social class, and the ancient Egyptian government used slave labor as every other ancient culture did without regard to any particular ethnicity. The ancient Egyptians did have a well-known contempt for non-Egyptians but this was simply because they believed they were living the best life possible in the best of all possible worlds. Life in ancient Egypt was considered so perfect, in fact, that the Egyptian afterlife was imagined as an eternal continuation of life on earth. Slaves in Egypt were either criminals, those who could not pay their debts, or captives from foreign military campaigns. These people were considered to have forfeited their freedoms either by their individual choices or by military conquest and so were forced to endure a quality of existence far below that of free Egyptians. The individuals who actually built the pyramids and other famous monuments of Egypt were Egyptians who were compensated for their labor and, in many cases, were masters of their art. These monuments were raised not in honor of death but of life and the belief that an individual life mattered enough to be remembered for eternity. Further, the Egyptian belief that one's life was an eternal journey and death only a transition inspired the people to try to make their lives worth living eternally. Far from a death-obsessed and dour culture, Egyptian daily life was focused on enjoying the time one had as much as possible and trying to make other's lives equally memorable. Sports, games, reading, festivals, and time with one's friends and family were as much a part of Egyptian life as toil in farming the land or erecting monuments and temples. The world of the Egyptians was imbued with magic. Magic (heka) predated the gods and, in fact, was the underlying force which allowed the gods to perform their duties. Magic was personified in the god Heka (also the god of medicine) who had participated in the creation and sustained it afterwards. The concept of ma'at (harmony and balance) was central to the Egyptian's understanding of life and the operation of the universe and it was heka which made ma'atpossible. Through the observance of balance and harmony people were encouraged to live at peace with others and contribute to communal happiness. A line from the wisdom text of Ptahhotep (the vizier to the king Djedkare Isesi, 2414-2375 BCE), admonishes a reader: Let your face shine during the time that you live. It is the kindliness of a man that is remembered During the years that follow. Letting one's face "shine" meant being happy, having a good spirit, in the belief that this would make one's own heart light and lighten those of others. Although Egyptian society was highly stratified from a very early period (as early as the Predynastic Period in Egyptof c. 6000-3150 BCE), this does not mean that the royalty and upper classes enjoyed their lives at the expense of the peasantry. The king and court are always the best-documented individuals because then, as now, people paid more attention to celebrities than their neighbors and the scribes who recorded the history of the time documented what was of greater interest. Still, reports from later Greekand Roman writers, as well as archaeological evidence and letters from different time periods, show that Egyptians of all social classes valued life and enjoyed themselves as often as they could, very like people in the modern day. Population & Social Classes The population of Egypt was strictly divided into social classes from the king at the top, his vizier, the members of his court, regional governors (eventually called 'nomarchs'), the generals of the military (after the period of the New Kingdom), government overseers of worksites (supervisors), and the peasantry. Social mobility was neither encouraged nor observed for most of Egypt's history as it was thought that the gods had decreed the most perfect social order which mirrored that of the gods. The gods had given the people everything and had set the king over them as the one best-equipped to understand and implement their will. The king was the intermediary between the gods and the people from the Predynastic Period through the Old Kingdom (c. 2613-2181 BCE) when the priests of the sun god Ra began to gain more power. Even after this, however, the king was still considered god's chosen emissary. Even the latter part of the New Kingdom (1570-1069 BCE) when the priests of Amun at Thebes held greater power than the king, the monarch was still respected as divinely ordained. Upper class The king of Egypt (not known as a 'pharaoh' until the New Kingdom period), as the gods' chosen man, "enjoyed great wealth and status and luxuries unimaginable to the majority of the population" (Wilkinson, 91). It was the king's responsibility to rule in keeping with ma'at, and as this was a serious charge, he was thought to deserve those luxuries in keeping with his status and the weight of his duties. Historian Don Nardo writes: The kings enjoyed an existence largely free from want. They had power and prestige, servants to do the menial work, plenty of free time to pursue leisure pursuits, fine clothes, and numerous luxuries in their homes. (10) The king is often depicted hunting and inscriptions regularly boast of the number of large and dangerous animals a particular monarch killed during his reign. Almost without exception, though, animals like lions and elephants were caught by royal game wardens and brought to preserves where the king then "hunted" the beasts while surrounded by guards who protected him. The king would hunt in the open, for the most part, only once the area had been cleared of dangerous animals. Members of the court lived in similar comfort, although most of them had little responsibility. The nomarchs might also live well, but this depended on how wealthy their particular district was and how important to the king. The nomarch of a district including a site such as Abydos, for example, would expect to do quite well because of the large necropolis there dedicated to the god Osiris, which brought many pilgrims to the city including the king and courtiers. A nomarch of a region which had no such attraction would expect to live more modestly. The wealth of the region and the personal success of an individual nomarch would determine whether they lived in a small palace or a modest home. This same model applied generally to scribes. Scribes & Physicians Scribes were valued highly in ancient Egypt as they were considered specially chosen by the god Thoth, who inspired and presided over their craft. Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson notes how "the power of the written word to render permanent a desired state of affairs lay at the heart of Egyptian belief and practice" (204). It was the scribes' responsibility to record events so they would become permanent. The words of the scribes etched daily events in the record of eternity since it was thought that Thoth and his consort Seshat kept the scribes' words in the eternal libraries of the gods. A scribe's work made him or her immortal not only because later generations would read what they wrote but because the gods themselves were aware of it. Seshat, patron goddess of libraries and librarians, carefully placed one's work on her shelves, just as librarians in her service did on earth. Most scribes were male, but there were female scribes who lived just as comfortably as their male counterparts. A popular piece of literature from the Old Kingdom, known as Duauf's Instructions, advocates a love for books and encourages young people to pursue higher learning and become scribes in order to live the best life possible. All priests were scribes, but not all scribes became priests. The priests needed to be able to read and write to perform their duties, especially concerning mortuary rituals. As doctors needed to be literate to read medical texts, they began their training as scribes. Most diseases were thought to be inflicted by the gods as punishment for sin or to teach a lesson, and so doctors needed to be aware of which god (or evil spirit, or ghost, or other supernatural agent) might be responsible. In order to perform their duties, they had to be able to read the religious literature of the time, which includes works on dentistry, surgery, the setting of broken bones, and the treatment of various illnesses. As there was no separation between one's religious and daily life, doctors were usually priests until later in Egypt's history when there is a secularization of the profession. All of the priests of the goddess Serket were doctors and this practice continued even after the emergence of more secular physicians. As in the case of scribes, women could practice medicine, and female doctors were numerous. In the 4th century BCE, Agnodice of Athens famously traveled to Egypt to study medicine since women were held in higher regard and had more opportunity there than in Greece. Military The military prior to the Middle Kingdom was made up of regional militias conscripted by nomarchs for a certain purpose, usually defense, and then sent to the king. At the beginning of the 12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom, Amenemhat I (c. 1991-c.1962 BCE) reformed the military to create the first standing army, thus decreasing the power and prestige of the nomarchs and putting the army directly under his control. After this, the military was made up of upper-class leaders and lower-class rank and file members. There was the possibility of advancement in the military, which was not affected by one's social class. Prior to the New Kingdom, the Egyptian military was primarily concerned with defense, but pharaohs like Tuthmose III (1458-1425 BCE) and Ramesses II (1279-1213 BCE) led campaigns beyond Egypt's borders in expanding the empire. Egyptians generally avoided travel to other lands because they feared that, if they should die there, they would have greater difficulty reaching the afterlife. This belief was a definite concern of soldiers on foreign campaigns and provisions were made to return the bodies of the dead to Egypt for burial. There is no evidence that women served in the military or, according to some accounts, would have wanted to. The Papyrus Lansing, to give only one example, describes life in the Egyptian army as unending misery leading to an early death. It should be noted, however, that scribes (especially the author of the Papyrus Lansing) consistently depicted their job as the best and most important, and it was the scribes who left behind most of the reports on military life. Farmers & Laborers The lowest social class was made up of peasant farmers who did not own the land they worked or the homes they lived in. The land was owned by the king, members of the court, nomarchs, or priests. A common phrase of the peasants to start the day was "Let us work for the noble!" The peasants were almost all farmers, no matter what other trade they cultivated (ferryman, for example). They planted and harvested their crops, gave most of it to the land owner, and kept some for themselves. Most had private gardens, which women tended while the men went out to the fields. Up until the time of the Persian invasion of 525 BCE, the Egyptian economy operated on the barter system and was based on agriculture. The monetary unit of ancient Egypt was the deben, which according to historian James C. Thompson, "functioned much as the dollar does in North America today to let customers know the price of things, except that there was no deben coin" (Egyptian Economy, 1). A deben was "approximately 90 grams of copper; very expensive items could also be priced in debens of silver or gold with proportionate changes in value" (ibid). Thompson continues: Since seventy-five litters of wheat cost one deben and a pair of sandals also cost one deben, it made perfect sense to the Egyptians that a pair of sandals could be purchased with a bag of wheat as easily as with a chunk of copper. Even if the sandal maker had more than enough wheat, she would happily accept it in payment because it could easily be exchanged for something else. The most common items used to make purchases were wheat, barley, and cooking or lamp oil, but in theory almost anything would do. (1) The lowest class of society produced the goods used in trade and therefore provided the means for the entire culture to thrive. These peasants also made up the labor force which built the pyramids and other monuments of Egypt. When the Nile River flooded its banks, farming became impossible and the men and women would go to work on the king's projects. This work was always compensated, and the claim that any of the great structures of Egypt were built by slave labor - especially the claim of the biblical Book of Exodus that these were Hebrew slaves oppressed by Egyptian tyrants - is not supported by any literary or physical evidence at any time in Egypt's history. The claim by certain authors such as Egyptologist David Rohl that one misses the evidence of a mass enslavement of Hebrews by looking at the wrong time period is untenable since no such evidence exists no matter what period of Egyptian history one examines. Work on monuments like the pyramids and their mortuary complexes, temples, and obelisks provided the only opportunity for upward mobility of the peasantry. Especially skilled artists and engravers were in high demand in Egypt and were better paid than unskilled laborers who simply moved the stones for the buildings from one place to another. Peasant farmers could also improve their status by practicing a craft to provide the vases, bowls, plates, and other ceramics people needed. Skilled carpenters could make a good living creating tables, desks, chairs, beds, storage chests, and painters were required for decoration of upper-class homes, palaces, tombs, and monuments. Brewers were also highly respected, and breweries were sometimes run by women. In early Egyptian history, in fact, they seem to have been entirely operated by females. Beer was the most popular drink in ancient Egypt and was frequently used as compensation (wine was never that popular except among royalty). Workers at the Giza plateau were given a beer ration three times a day. The beverage was thought to have been given to the people by the god Osiris, and breweries were presided over by the goddess Tenenet. Beer was taken very seriously by the Egyptians as the Greek pharaoh Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE) learned when she imposed a beer tax; her popularity plummeted more for this one tax than for her wars with Rome. The lower class could also find opportunity through work in metals, gems, and sculpting. The exquisite jewelry of ancient Egypt, gems mounted delicately in ornate settings, was created by members of the peasantry. These people, the majority of the Egyptian population, also filled the ranks of the army, and in rare cases, could become scribes. One's job and position in society, however, was usually handed down to one's son. Homes & Furnishings These artists were responsible for creating the furnishings for the lavish palaces, upper-class homes, and temples of Egypt as well as the tombs which were considered a person's eternal home. The king, his queen, and family lived in a palace which was richly decorated and had their needs tended to by servants. Scribes lived in or near the mortuary or templecomplexes in special apartments and worked from scriptoriums while, as noted, nomarchs lived in greater or lesser accommodations according to their level of success. The peasants who provided the food for the upper classes also helped build their homes and supply them with chests, drawers, chairs, tables, and beds while they themselves could not afford any of these things. Nardo writes: After a hard day's work, the farmers returned to their houses, which stood near the fields or in small rural villages located nearby. An average agricultural peasant's house featured walls made of mud bricks. The ceiling was fashioned from bundles of plant stems, and the floors consistend of hard-beaten earth covered by a layer of straw or mats made from reeds. There were one or two rooms (perhaps occasionally three) in which the farmer and his wife and children (if any) lived. In many cases, the stabled some or all of their farm animals in the same rooms. Because such modest homes lacked bathrooms, the residents had to use an outside latrine (a hole in the ground) to relieve themselves. Needless to say, water had to be hauled in buckets from the river or the nearest hand-dug well. (13) By contrast, the palace of the pharaoh Amenhotep III (1386-1353 BCE), known as Malkata today, covered over 30,000 square meters (30 hectares) and included spacious apartments, conference rooms, audience chambers, a throne room and receiving hall, a festival hall, libraries, gardens, storerooms, kitchens, a harem, and a temple to the god Amun. The palace's outer walls were painted bright white while the interior colors were vibrant blues and yellows and greens. The entire structure, of course, had to be furnished and these articles were supplied by the lower class workers. In its time the palace was known as 'the house of rejoicing' and other similar names. It is known as Malkata today from the Arabic for 'place where things are picked up' owing to the massive debris field found there from the ruined palace. The apartments and homes of scribes, as with those of the nomarchs, were opulent or modest depending on their level of success and the region in which they lived. The author of the Papyrus Lansing, Nebmare Nakht, claimed to live in grand style and to own land and slaves on par with a great king. This claim is no doubt true, too, as it is well established that priests were able to achieve the same level of wealth and power as some rulers in Egypt, and scribes would have had that same opportunity. Crime & Punishment In ancient Egypt, as in every era of human history, the wealth of one person was often coveted by another who might choose to steal it, and in such cases, Egyptian law was swift. After the New Kingdom there was a police force, but even before this time, people were brought before the local official and charged with crimes ranging across the spectrum of criminal activity in the modern day. The state did not involve itself in local affairs unless the criminal had robbed or vandalized state property, such as robbing or defacing a tomb. Egyptologist Steven Snape writes: The opportunities for criminal activity provided by the concentration of weatlth and property in towns and sities were seized upon wholeheartedly by some ancient Egyptians, just as they have been within all societies. Equally, significant centres of population and administration provided places where justice could be done and punishments meted out. However, the picture we get from ancient Egypt is that the administration of justice was pushed as far down to local lecel as possible. Villagers were expected to regulate their own affairs. (111) Judgment and justice were ultimately the responsibility of the vizier, the king's right-hand man, who delegated that responsibility to officials beneath him, who further delegated to others. Even prior to the New Kingdom, there was an administrative building in any city called the Judgment Hall where cases were heard and verdicts rendered. In small towns and villages, these courts might be held in the market place. The local court was known as the kenbet, made up of community leaders of sound moral judgment, who would hear cases and decide on guilt or innocence. In the New Kingdom, the judgment hall and the kenbet were gradually replaced by oracular judgments in which the god Amun would be consulted directly on a verdict. This was accomplished by a priest of Amun asking the statue of the god a question and then interpreting his answer through various means. Sometimes the statue would nod its head, and other times there would be different signs given. If the defendant were found guilty, then punishment was swift. Most punishments were fines for minor offenses, but rape, robbery, assault, murder, or tomb robbing could result in mutilation (cutting off of the nose, ears, or hands), incarceration, forced labor (essentially slavery for life in many cases), or death. The Great Prison at Thebes held convicted felons who were used for manual labor on the Temple of Amun at Karnak and other projects. There was no death row in Egyptian prisons since a person who was found guilty of a serious offense meriting the death penalty was executed immediately. There were no lawyers to argue a case and no appeals made after a verdict was rendered. The priests were entrusted by the people to give a fair and just hearing to any complaint and to judge according to the precepts of the gods, knowing that they faced a far worse fate in the afterlife should they fail in these duties. Family & Leisure Priests could be male or female. The chief priest of any religious cult was usually the same sex as the deity they served; the head of the Cult of Isis was female, that of the Cult of Amun, male. Priests could and did have families, and their children usually became priests after them. This was the paradigm for all of Egypt as far as succession went: the children carried on the occupation of the parents, usually the father. Women had almost equal rights in ancient Egypt. They could own their own businesses, their own land, and their own homes, could initiate divorce, enter into contracts with men, have abortions, and dispose of their own property as they saw fit; this was a level of sexual equality which no other ancient civilizationapproached and which the modern era only initiated - under duress - in the mid-20th century CE. At least four women ruled Egypt, the best known two being Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BCE) and Cleopatra VII. This was not the norm, however, as most rulers were male. Royal women, for the most part, had slaves and servants who cared for the children and had no responsibility for cleaning or tending the home. They assisted their husbands in receiving foreign dignitaries and advancing certain policies. Women of the upper classes knew a similar lifestyle but might have taken more time caring for the children, while in the lower classes, the care of the home and children were wholly the woman's responsibility. Marriages in ancient Egypt were more of a secular than religious affair. Most marriages, in any of the classes, were arranged by the parents. Girls were usually married around the age of 12 and boys around age 15. Royal children were often betrothed to those of foreign kings to seal treaties when they were little more than infants, though it was forbidden for women to leave Egypt as brides for foreign rulers since it was thought they would not be happy outside of their own land. Since Egypt was the best of all places, it was considered disrespectful to a young woman to send her off to some lesser place. It was 8perfectly acceptable for foreign-born women to come to Egypt as brides, however. Once in Egypt, these women were accorded the same respect as natives. Women of all social classes were considered on par with their husbands, even though the man was considered the head of the household. Nardo notes: Upper-class husbands and wives dined, held parties, and went hunting together, while both well-to-do and poorer women shared many legal rights with men. In fact, ancient Egyptian women seem to have enjoyed more freedom in their private lives than women in most other ancient societies, even if men made most of the really important decisions. Egyptian men benefitted from positive, loving relationships as much as their wives did. (23) Although the wives of farmers did not go out to the fields with their husbands (for the most part), they still had plenty of work to do keeping the house clean, tending to any animals not used in plowing, administering to the needs of the elderly in the family, and raising the children. Women and children also would tend the family garden, which was an important resource for any family. Cleanliness was an important value of the Egyptians, and one's person and home needed to reflect that. Women and men of all classes bathed frequently (priests more than any other profession) and shaved their heads to prevent lice and cut down on maintenance. When an occasion called for it, they wore wigs. Men and women also both wore makeup, especially kohl under the eyes, to help with the sun's glare and keep the skin soft. Tomb inscriptions and paintings also often show men and women plowing and harvesting in the fields together or building a home. The life of the ancient Egyptians was hardly all work, however. They found plenty of time to enjoy themselves through sports, board games, and other activities. Ancient Egyptian sports included hockey, handball, archery, swimming, tug of war, gymnastics, rowing, and a sport known as 'water jousting,' which was a sea battle played in small boats on the Nile River in which a 'jouster' tried to knock the other out of his boat while a second team member maneuvered the craft. Children were taught to swim at an early age, and swimming was among the most popular sports, which gave rise to other water games. The board game of Senet was extremely popular, representing one's journey through life to eternity. Music, dance, choreographed gymnastics, and wrestling were also popular, and among the upper classes, hunting large or small game was a favorite pastime. There was also a sport called 'shooting the rapids,' which is described by the Roman playwright Seneca the Younger (1st century CE) who lived in Egypt: The people embark on small boats, two to a boat, and one rows while the other bails out water. Then they are violently tossed about in the raging rapids. At length they reach the narrowest channels and, swept along by the whole force of the river, they control the rushing boat by hand and plunge head downward to the great terror of the onlookers. You would believe sorrowfully that by now they were drowned and overwhelmed by such a mass of water when, far from the place where they fell, they shoot out as from a catapult, still sailing, and the subsiding wave does not submerge them but carries them on to smooth waters. (cited in Nardo, 20) After or even during such events, spectators enjoyed their favorite beverage: beer. The favored recipe most often consumed was Heqet (also given as Hecht), a honey-flavored beer similar to, but lighter than, the later mead of Europe. There were many kinds of beer (generally known as zytum), and it was frequently prescribed as a medicine as it made the heart lighter and improved one's spirits. Beer was brewed commercially and at home and was especially enjoyed at the many festivals the Egyptians celebrated. Festivals, Food & Clothing All of the Egyptian gods had birthdays which needed to be celebrated, and then there were individual birthdays, the anniversaries of great deeds of the king, observances of acts of the gods in human history, and also funerals, wakes, house-warming events, and births. All of these and more were celebrated with a party or a festival. The festivals of ancient Egypt were each unique in character depending on the nature of the event, but all had in common drinking and feasting. The Egyptian diet was mainly vegetarian and consisted of grains (wheat) and vegetables. Meat was very expensive, and usually only royalty was able to afford it. Meat was also difficult to keep in the arid Egyptian climate, and so animals who were ritually slaughtered had to be used quickly. Festivals were the perfect opportunity for indulging in every kind of excess, including meat eating for those who chose to do so, though self-indulgence was not appropriate at every gathering. Each celebration or commemoration had its own unique characteristics as historian Margaret Bunson explains: The Beautiful Feast of the Valley, in honor of the god Amun, held in Thebes, was celebrated with a procession of the barks of the gods, with music and flowers. The Feast of Hathor, celebrated at Dendera, was a time of pleasure and intoxication, in keeping with the myths of the goddesses' cult. The feast of the goddess Isis at Busiris and the celebration honoring Bastet at Bubastis were also times of revelry and intoxication. (91) These festivals were "normally religious in nature and held in conjunction with the lunar calendar in temples" but could also "commemorate certain specific events in the daily lives of the people" (Bunson, 90). At funerals, as one would expect, people dressed in respectful black (though the priests usually wore white) while at birthdays or other celebrations one wore whatever one pleased. At the Festival of Bastet, women wore nothing but a short kilt which they often raised in honor of the goddess. Clothing in ancient Egypt was linen woven from cotton. In the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods, women and men both wore simple linen kilts. Children went naked from birth until around the age of ten. Bunson notes that "In time women wore an empire-type long skirt that hung just below their uncovered breasts. Men kept to the simple kilts. These could be dyed in exotic colors or designs although white was probably the color used in religious rituals or court events"(67). By the time of the New Kingdom women wore linen dresses which covered their breasts and went to their ankles while men wore the short kilt and sometimes a loose shirt. Lower-class women, female slaves, and female servants are often shown wearing only a kilt through the New Kingdom period. At this same time, royal or noble women are shown wearing form-fitting dresses from the shoulder to the ankles and men are seen in sheer blouses and skirts. In the colder weather of the rainy season, cloaks and shawls were used. Most people, of every social class, went barefoot in emulation of the gods who had no need for footwear. On special occasions, or when someone was going on a long journey or to a place where they might injure their feet or in colder weather, they wore sandals. The cheapest sandals were made of woven rushes while the most expensive were of leather or painted wood. Sandals do not seem to have a great deal of importance to the Egyptians until the Middle and New Kingdoms when they came to be seen as status symbols. A person who could afford good sandals was obviously doing well while the poorest people went barefoot. These sandals were often painted or decorated with images which could be quite elaborate. At festival times - and there were many of them throughout the Egyptian year - the clothing of the priests was white, but people could wear anything they wanted or almost nothing at all. The Egyptians wanted to live life to its fullest, to experience all their time on earth had to give, and looked forward to its continuance after death. One's earthly life was only a part of an eternal journey, and one's death was seen as a transition from one phase to the next. A proper burial was of the utmost importance to the ancient Egyptians of every class. The body of the deceased was washed, dressed in wrappings (mummified), and buried with those objects which they would want or need in the afterlife. The more money one had, of course, the more elaborate one's tomb and grave goods, but even the poorest people provided proper graves for their loved ones. Without a proper burial one could not hope to move on to the Hall of Truth and pass the judgment of Osiris. Further, if a family did not honor the dead properly at death, they were almost guaranteeing the return of that person's spirit, which would haunt them and cause all manner of trouble. Honoring the dead meant not only paying respects to that individual but to the individual's contributions and achievements in life, all of which were made possible by the goodness of the gods. Living with mindfulness of kindness, harmony, balance, and gratitude toward the gods, they hoped to find their hearts lighter than the feather of truth when they came to stand in judgment before Osiris after death. Once they had been justified, they would pass on to an eternity of the very daily life they had left behind when they died. Everything in their lives which seemed lost at death was returned in the afterlife. Their emphasis, in every aspect of their lives, was to create a life worth living for an eternity. No doubt many individuals often failed at this, but the ideal was one worth striving for and imbued the daily lives of the ancient Egyptians with a meaning and purpose which infused and inspired their impressive culture. ... The ancient Egyptians have a very classism based life. Not much freedom with regard to occupation. Marriage is arrange marriage. Again no freedom. Peasants do not have a life at all. Scribes have all the power just because they are religious. Your luck depends on your wealth. They were very narcissistic in the display of their art and hugeness of their buildings or temples. Women rulers were hated. Women were only loved because they became wives. Sons were given a greater value over the daughters. The whole afterlife theory was bungled and used as a way to control the masses and their behaviors and to instill discipline and also as a means to extort money by the scribes more like emotional blackmail. Mummification was only for the rich and the poor were thrown in shallow Graves. The temples were only built to instill fear by showing magnificence and glory more like fake glory. Lots of festivals which made life confusing with too many meaningless rituals. No real reflection. Everything is symbolic. Polytheistic and thousands of useless gods to feel secure. Very rule oriented. No space for personal freedom. Sex as only a mechanical process. Human and animal sacrifice. No regard for life. Too many rituals rules and symbols. Looks very imposing and strict. Men revelled and women toiled. Drinking was a huge part of life. The poor lived a miserable life and the rich feasted on the hard work and exploitation of the poor. The rich wanted pride and glory and huge status, a perfect narcissistic display of wealth and power shown through the enormousneas and wealth of tombs and mortuary temples. It's not God who was eternal. It's the rich who were eternal. Even the good food was only for the rich. The religion was a total cult made of several cults with power struggles between different cults. The male gods had cult headed by a male and female gods had a cult dominated by a woman. Too many symbols and scripts very difficult to decipher by illiterate poor thus easily blackmailed and taken advantage of. In this kind of culture, life would feel like a punishment and death more like a deliverance and one would feel like a prisoner of life
-
Egypt Gods The vulture God Nekhbet and the snake God wadjet.
-
6 phases and minor phases 1 Birth major 2 Life major 1A Childhood 1B Teenage 1C Adult 1D Youth 1E Middle age 1st half 1E Middle age second half 1F Old age 1G End time 3 Death Major 4 Afterlife major 5 Reincarnation major 6 Eternity major ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️ Morality beliefs Redemption and atonement Heaven and hell ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️ 3 cosmic characters God Devil Satan Trinity ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️ Core Body and specific layers A core state of physical and spiritual and added layers to either improve or deteriorate its condition ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️ Internal state Psychological - means the accumulated state of mind through childhood experience and upbringing, environment, trauma, genetic disorders and general mental state over decades. Mental - temporary mental state over the past and current week. Emotional - emotional state which keeps fluctuating Energy - a vibe Spiritual - spiritual/moral/religious - issues regarding conscience, morality and connection with higher power and intangible matters of life. Existential/sacred duality aspect Existential(fight) and Sacred (self esteem, ego, character, nature, desires, identity, closure, humanity, dignity, immutable, formed, peaceful, equilibrium) Sexual (romantic and unromantic) ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️ Internal fulfillment There are 2 types of fulfillment. A fulfillment that comes from liberation from problems and chaos, a need to have stability in disorder and knowing that now there is freedom from the struggles. Liberation based. A fulfillment that comes from knowing that the business is doing good, everything is in order and things are going well, a form of stability and security. Security based or achievement based. A desire fulfilled or closure achieved. Security, structure, enrichment, comfort, achievement and closure. When there is a problem with this internal fulfillment it leads to a feeling of massive deprivation and resultant depression and brings a feeling of emptiness in life and lack of motivation. This state of fulfillment is very much based in the existential sacred duality aspect of internal state. People who are too driven suffer from the lack of this Security - a feeling of security that everything is done and going smoothly. The business is finished and running. Nothing to worry about structure - a framework, a sequence, an order to not feel chaotic enrichment - to feel like you are adequately being filled with all the nourishment both mentally and emotionally and spiritually comfort - feeling comfy and at ease. Feeling well rested and not being hassled and rushed. A feeling of relaxation and warmth and ease. achievement - having fulfilled the desires of the heart closure. - a feeling of healing after a distressing situation. No more struggle no more fighting for something. A closure to whatever happened and the feeling like it's done with. Liberation - feeling of escape from the endless struggle to defend one's space and livelihood. And freedom from sufferings. ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️ ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️ Key ingredients Good people Love Good health Morality... As maintenance Faith Happiness Art, work, passion, creativity Good energy A good childhood ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️ .. E E E Y E - enrichment. E - Energy. E - engagement. Y - yield Basic model Enrichment and Yield
-
Mummification and burial rituals Daily life Philosophy of afterlife Food and plants and animals Significance of gods Spells from the book of the Dead Significance of pyramids Burial chamber Myths and legends Artifacts Death
-
-
-
Rituals Ancient Egyptians preformed various kinds of rituals for various reasons; to maintain peace and order in the world, to protect the dead, to seek guidance, help and so forth. It’s no different than how the modern day society goes to church, synagogues, mosques, or temples to pray, praise or give out offerings. Daily offering ceremonies in temples were one of the most commonly practiced rituals in ancient Egypt. Offering food, clothing, carvings, weapons, tools and so forth was a way of honoring and caring for the gods that have created them. These daily ritual were supervised by temple priests. Private rituals, such as hymning or evoking mythical events, were also preformed, but these were often referred to as ‘magical’ and they were for the purpose of healing an illness or getting protection. Breaking red pots after it’s been used for purification by water, was also a customary ritual. It was part of the funerary tradition, which was purposed to protect the dead from their enemies or evil spirits. These pots had inscriptions of the enemy’s name and breaking it symbolized their destruction. “3 times half loaf offerings and reversion of offerings, 3 times removing the footprints and breaking of the red pots, once lay (down) the royal offering, wash, sit down by the offering, once libation water, incense fire, an offering which the king gives to the Osiris Ni-ankh-pepi” — Rule of this ritual from the Unas- cemetery, Mastaba of Ni-anch-Pepi Sacrifices Blood sacrifice was regarded as the most supreme form of rituals in ancient Egypt. It seen as a very powerful way of appeasing the gods. Initially, animals were the only creatures that were sacrificed. Bulls, for instance, were symbolized as the god Taurus, who had features of both human and animal. So sacrificing the bull was seen as a way of giving the gods a noble gift – a demigod. Crocodiles were also commonly slaughtered, as they symbolized Seth at Edfu and Dendera. Then with the course of time, Egyptians began to sacrifice humans. During human sacrificial ceremonies, the victims would first be treated and honored as gods before the killing. Historians believe that most of the sacrificial victims were criminals, rebels or prisoners of war. According to the legends, criminals were sacrificed to appease the most powerful goddess in Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet, who was killed by a rebellious person.
-
here were a lot of beliefs in ancient Egypt and most of them revolved around life, death and the afterlife. The first kinds of obituary writing in Egypt were Pyramid Texts, which were inscribed on the walls of burial chamber in pyramids. Pyramid texts, which included several figures representing humans and animals, were purposed to protect and help dead kings pass on to the afterlife safely. And the first of this kind of writing was used in the pyramid of King Unas, during the 24th century B.C. Then during the reign of the Middle Kingdom, Pyramid texts evolved to what is called Coffin Texts. The contents of the Coffin Text had much similarity to that of the Pyramid Text. But there certainly were obvious discrepancies; one was that this new form of funerary text was inscribed on the interiors of a coffin, sometimes on Papyri or the walls of a tomb, but mostly on the surface of coffins; secondly, unlike the Pyramid Texts, which were used only by the royals and the elite; the Coffin Text was available for the commoners as well. Then with the rise of the New kingdom around 1550 B.C., Egyptian writing and funerary tradition underwent yet another telling evolution, which was marked by the surfacing of the ‘Book of the Dead.’ The Book of the Dead is a funerary scripture aimed at facilitating an easy and safe navigation through the Duat (the Underworld) for the dead. It was also believed that this entity would enable the deceased to get help and protection from the Gods during this challenging journey. It is basically a collection of spells, some were new but most of them were collected from the Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts. It was written on a papyrus commissioned by the individual before death or by a relative. The quality of the papyri and the texts differed tremendously, and it all depended upon the individual’s financial standing. Papyri were very expensive during that period and only the royals or the elite were able to afford it. There was even a point where archeologists discovered a Book of the Dead written on a second-hand papyrus. The Book of the Dead, at certain occasions, would be written on linen shrouds, which would be used to wrap the dead bodies. Often times, the illustrations included the image of the deceased’s wife; but drawing of vicious lions, crocodiles, snakes, beetles and hippopotamus were also quite common. Each Book of the Dead was unique and different. There was no order or pattern in the way the chapters of the Book of the Dead were arranged. The illustrations, the texts, the spells were all developed in a way that’s to satisfy the preference of the deceased or their relatives. So far about 192 spells used in ancient Egypt and in the Book of the Dead are known. But there isn’t a single Book of the Dead that contains all these spells, and if there is, it hasn’t yet been found then. The greatest and most explicit relic of this funerary tradition that has survived for this long and still is in a good condition is The Papyrus of Ani – a legacy of ancient Egypt and one that is currently situated in The British Museum, London. life for ancient Egyptians was just a segment, a very small part of the eternal journey that awaited them after death. Bunsen, the historian, argues that ancient Egyptians believed that human life, its goal and purpose, was to simply serve as a phase of life through which one could acquire eternal happiness offered in life after death. But to accomplish a harmonious eternal journey one must live a good and just life here on earth. Death Death in Egyptian mythology doesn’t quite necessarily mean the end. It is viewed as the moment when the soul parts from the body and is brought before Osiris in the “Hall of Truth” for the final judgment. The god Anubis is said to be the one who escorts the soul to Osiris. However, before the soul stands to face Osiris and the final judgment, he or she must first pass through a series of gates and caverns that are infiltrated and guarded by mystical creatures that are vicious and will do whatever is possible to stop the passer-by. And to pacify these ferocious beings the deceased would use the spells in his or her Book of the Dead. Spell 31 used to stop the attack of crocodiles And if the deceased manages to circumvent all the obstacles and passes through all the challenges, then he/she will be escorted to the Hall of Truth. In the Hall of Truth, the deceased would then be asked to swear that he/she did not commit the forty-two sins, which are also known as the “Negative Confession.” Here are some of the sins on the list: I have not committed sin. I have not committed robbery with violence. I have not stolen. I have not slain men and women. I have not stolen grain. I have not purloined offerings. I have not stolen the property of the gods. I have not uttered lies. I have not carried away food. I have not uttered curses. I have not committed adultery. I have made none to weep. After reciting the Negative Confession before the forty-two judges, the heart, which is seen as the base of intelligence and memory, would then be put on a golden scale against the white feather of Maat or Ma'at and get weighed. The deceased would be considered as someone who has lived a life free of sins and will be granted entrance to the afterlife, if the heart weighs lighter than the feather. But if the heart weighs heavier than the feather, then the soul of the deceased would be thrown to the Underworld where the merciless monster, Ammut, would devour it. To avoid such calamity, ancient Egyptians would always take measures to protect and give the much needed strength to the deceased’s heart. There were two common ways they would execute this ritual and one was done through magical spells like the kind depicted in Spell 125 or Spell 30B which reads, “O my heart of my mother! O my heart of my mother! O my heart of my different forms! Do not stand up as a witness against me, do not be opposed to me in the tribunal, do not be hostile to me in the presence of the Keeper of the Balance, for you are my ka which was in my body, the protector who made my members hale. The other method ancient Egyptians commonly used for the protection of the deceased’s heart was the burying of the body with heart shaped scarabs. In Egyptian mythology the afterlife is a place of eternal bliss; the anxiously awaited paradise where only the gods and the pure would be able to live in. The illustration of the afterlife in Egyptian mythology is quite diverse, but most commonly it is imagined to be a rich and green place, where there were plenty waterways, crops, people, oxen and so forth. The afterlife is often referred to as the ‘Field of Reeds’ in the Book of the Dead; it’s represented as a place that has much similarity to that of life on earth. In the afterlife it is believed that the deceased will be able to join the Great Ennead (a group of gods) and his or her parents. It was also stated in various scriptures that once the deceased passes the judgment and enters the afterlife, he or she will not only join Osiris and all the other supreme Gods, but will also possess some kind of a divine power as well. This belief is illustrated by the way each Book of the Dead starts out as "The Osiris - [Name of the deceased].” The Book of the Dead clearly depicts the marvelous aspects of the afterlife, but it also states that it was mandatory for the deceased to take part in a number of laborious chores. For this reason, the burial mounds would often have several statuettes with spells written on them; these objects were called Shabti or Ushebti
-
Both male and female formsEdit Heh – Personification of infinity and a member of the Ogdoad[52] Kek – The god of Chaos and Darkness, as well as being the concept of primordial darkness. Kek's female form is known as Kauket. Nu – Personification of the formless, watery disorder from which the world emerged at creation and a member of the Ogdoad[53] Ra (Re) – The foremost Egyptian sun god, involved in creation and the afterlife. Mythological ruler of the gods, father of every Egyptian king, and the patron god of Heliopolis.[54] Tatenen – Personification of the first mound of earth to emerge from chaos in ancient Egyptian creation myths[55] Anubis/Anput – The god/goddess of embalming and protector of the dead[56]