Western Civilization

with a human body and the head of a falcon. The phar-

aoh took the title “Son of Re” because he was regarded

as the earthly embodiment of Re.

River and land deities included Osiris (oh-SY-russ)

and Isis (Y-sis) with their child Horus, who was related

to the Nile and to the sun as well. Osiris became espe-

cially important as a symbol of resurrection. A famous

Egyptian myth told of the struggle between Osiris, who

brought civilization to Egypt, and his evil brother Seth,

who killed him, cut his body into fourteen parts, and

tossed them into the Nile. Isis, the faithful wife of Osi-

ris, found the pieces and, with help from other gods,

restored Osiris to life. As a symbol of resurrection and

as judge of the dead, Osiris took on an important role

for the Egyptians. By identifying with Osiris, one could

hope to gain new life, just as Osiris had done. The dead,

embalmed and mummified, were placed in tombs (in

the case of kings, in pyramidal tombs), given the name

of Osiris, and by a process of magical identification

became Osiris. Like Osiris, they would then be reborn.

Later Egyptian spiritual practice began to emphasize

morality by stressing the role of Osiris as judge of the

dead. The dead were asked to give an account of their

earthly deeds to show whether they deserved a reward.

Other means were also employed to gain immortality.

Magical incantations, preserved in theBook of the Dead

from the period of the New Kingdom, were used to

ensure a favorable journey to a happy afterlife. Specific

instructions explained what to do when confronted by

the judge of the dead. These instructions had two

aspects. In the negative confession, the deceased gave a

detailed list of what he had not done:

I have not committed evil against men.

I have not mistreated cattle.

I have not blasphemed a god....

I have not done violence to a poor man....

I have not made anyone sick....

I have not killed....

I have not caused anyone suffering....

I have not had sexual relations with a boy.

I have not defiled myself.^9

Later the supplicant made a speech listing his good

actions: “I have done that which men said and that

with which gods are content.... I have given bread to

the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothing to the naked,

and a ferry-boat to him who was marooned. I have pro-

vided divine offerings for the gods and mortuary offer-

ings for the dead.”^10

THE PYRAMIDS One of the great achievements of Egyp-

tian civilization, the building of pyramids, occurred

during the Old Kingdom. Pyramids were not built in

isolation but as part of a larger complex dedicated to

the dead—in effect, a city of the dead. The area

included a large pyramid for the king’s burial, smaller

pyramids for his family, and mastabas (MAS-tuh-buhs),

rectangular structures with flat roofs, as tombs for the

pharaoh’s noble officials. The tombs were well prepared

for their residents. The rooms were furnished and

stocked with numerous supplies, including chairs,

boats, chests, weapons, games, dishes, and a variety of

foods. The Egyptians believed that human beings had

two bodies, a physical one and a spiritual one, which

they called theka. If the physical body was properly

preserved (that is, mummified) and the tomb furnished

with all the various objects of regular life, thekacould

return and continue its life despite the death of the

physical body.

To preserve the physical body after death, the Egyp-

tians practiced mummification, a process of slowly dry-

ing a dead body to prevent it from decomposing.

Special workshops, run by priests, performed this pro-

cedure, primarily for the wealthy families who could

afford it. According to Herodotus, an ancient Greek

historian (see Chapter 3) who visited Egypt around

450 B.C.E., “The most refined method is as follows: first

of all they draw out the brain through the nostrils with

an iron hook.... Then they make an incision in the

flank with a sharp Ethiopian stone through which they

extract all the internal organs.”^11 The liver, lungs,

stomach, and intestines were placed in four special jars

that were put in the tomb with the mummy. The

priests then covered the corpse with a natural salt that

absorbed the body’s water. Later, they filled the body

with spices and wrapped it with layers of linen soaked

in resin. At the end of the process, which took about

seventy days, a lifelike mask was placed over the head

and shoulders of the mummy, which was then sealed

in a case and placed in its tomb in a pyramid.

The largest and most magnificent of all the pyra-

mids was built under King Khufu (KOO-foo). Con-

structed at Giza around 2540B.C.E., the famous Great

Pyramid covers almost 13 acres, measures 756 feet at

each side of its base, and stands 481 feet high. Its four

sides are almost precisely oriented to the four points of

the compass. The interior included a grand gallery to

the burial chamber, which was built of granite with a

lidless sarcophagus for the pharaoh’s body. The Great

Pyramid still stands as a visible symbol of the power of

Egyptian Civilization: “The Gift of the Nile” 19

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

`ˆÌi`Ê܈̅Ê̅iÊ`i“œÊÛiÀȜ˜ÊœvÊ

˜vˆÝÊ*ÀœÊ*Ê

`ˆÌœÀÊ

/œÊÀi“œÛiÊ̅ˆÃʘœÌˆVi]ÊۈÈÌ\Ê