Ancient Egypt: Gods Beyond Earth and the Duat

benben

Words trambled his tongue, pressed at his teeth, until the need to speak made Ra create a voicebox, lungs and muscles to make it all move. Finally, Ra spoke. He yelled the first word over and over again. One fiery explosion of word-based creation montage later, Ra made a mound on the surface of Nun called benben and stood on it triumphantly as he knew he must speak, for in his words lay all creation.

benben

Tefnut and Shu

When Ra spat, the moisture from it made the goddess Tefnut, and the breath that propelled it made the god Shu. They were the products of his new mouth and lungs. Tefnut and Shu later had Geb and Nut, the sky and the earth, who later had Usir, Aset, Nebet Hut, and Set and so on.

Tefnut and Shu

Cat

Cats are depicted in tomb scenes as early as the Old Kingdom (over 4600 years ago) and it is in this context that we first see their domestication. Some tomb scenes show cats sitting below their owner’s chair, giving the sense that at some time they were seen as beloved family pets. In fact, mummified cats are sometimes found buried with, or close to, their owners.

Cat

Dog

In Egyptian religion, there were a number of canine deities. Some of these were represented by the wolf or dog, while others like Inpu were a more generic jackal.

Dog

Ibis

The sacred ibis was worshipped from Predynastic times (c. 5300-3000 BC) by the ancient Egyptians. The peak of cultic activities involving birds can be seen from the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty (c. 664-525 BC) to the Roman Period (c. 30 BC-AD 395).

Ibis

Baboon

The baboon can be seen in imagery from as early as the Predynastic Period and it played a significant role in ancient Egyptian religion and cosmology. From the Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2125 BC), human and monkey interaction was documented in wall paintings, where monkeys can be seen performing human activities and wearing leashes.

Baboon

Scarab Beetle

The sacred scarab beetle was modelled on the indigenous Egyptian dung beetle and is probably one of the most recognisable images from ancient Egypt. The insect spends its days rolling and crafting balls of dung, inside which the female beetle lays its eggs.

Scarab Beetle

The Ka

The Ka is the spark of light. It is said that right after the body is created the Ka enters the body and gives it life. The Ka can absorb energy from food, so often priests will paint pictures of food and drink on the tombstones if no offers are left by the living.

The Ka

The Ba

The Ba was said to have the heart and soul of that person. The Ba could take form of a bird with the deseased person's head and leave the tomb and the realm of the dead by day. The Ba needed to be careful on it's way. If it was damaged in any way, shape, or form it would "forget" were it was going and wander around forever.

The Ba

The Akh

Not a lot is known about the Akh. Some believe it is the part of the soul that will pass on to the afterlife, some believe it is attained when the Ba and Ka come together, and some believe it is a separate part of the soul that deals with religious matters.

The Akh

The Hall of Two Truths

Once the spirit reached the Hall of Two Truths, Tehuti was there, ready to weigh their heart to see whether or not the spirit passed on to the Field of Reeds. If the Heart was heavier than the feather of truth from the godess Ma'at weighed against it, the soul would be oblitorated instantaneously. If the Heart was lighter than the feather, the soul would travel to the Field of Reeds.

The Hall of Two Truths

The Field of Reeds

The Field of Reeds, according to many Books of the Dead, was a paradise, free of disappointment, disease, injury, death, and overall bad stuff. In A'Aru, the worthy souls would happily tend to their crops, and forever reaping the rewards with no bad season ever. It was basically farm heaven.

The Field of Reeds