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Man's first gods were the forces of nature. Terrifying and unpredictable, they were feared rather than revered by our ancestors. Yet while much of the world was in darkness, worshipping cruel incarnations of natural forces, a river valley in Africa held a people who followed a different path. They worshipped gods that were beautiful to behold, luminous beings that walked the earth, guiding the human race to Paradise. They had human forms but were much more powerful; yet like humans, they got angry, despaired, fought with one another, had children, and fell in love. They lived lives that were very much like those of the people who worshipped them, the ancient Egyptians.
They were gods to be feared yes, as all gods are, but they were also gods to be loved. What's more, the Egyptians enjoyed talking about the gods. Like the gods of the Greeks and Romans, the Egyptian gods seemed to be made for storytelling. There were tales to educate, tales to entertain, and tales with morals, and in those stories, the gods didn't seem so far away and unreachable. It was comforting to hear that the gods also wept for those they had lost, to hear about the gods laughing, to learn that the gods faced many of the same problems that the people did, albeit on a grander scale. In learning about the gods on such an intimate level, the Egyptians could better relate to the universe around them.
The ancient Egyptians practiced a belief system that was part totemism, part polytheism, and part ancestor worship. There were numerous gods, but rather than living on an isolated mountain or in an unreachable heaven, many of them lived invisibly in the mortal world, acting through sacred sites, items, animals, or even chosen people. Furthermore, the spirits of the deceased, if remembered and honored, could aid and guide the living from the Afterlife.
quote:Originally posted by Orionix: I'm not stealing, i'm just sharing. If you don't want to read it than don't.
If it's not your writing it's not yours to share without crediting the author. Don't you know that? ? ? Posts: 15202 | Registered: Jun 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Orionix: You guys here do the same. Give me a break.
No, we don't. Your parent post was highly unusual and improper. Just try to remember when you quote from others to source the quote. That goes for posting here or anywhere else. Just common sense guy. thank you.
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Another source that you might want to refer to is The Egyptian Divinities: The All Who Are the One, a book by Mustafa Gadalla. This book says that their beleif in gods and goddeses is a myth. It says that a better name for these characters would be the Neteru. The Neteru is suppose to represent the different attributes, functions, and forces of The Divine. So in a way the Egyptians believed in one God, but never truly had one name for The Divine. Gaudalla states that this is the highest form of Monotheism. For more info on this please refer to this website: www.egypt-tehuti.comPosts: 2 | From: Greensboro, NC USA | Registered: Aug 2004
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Gadalla's theories make sense to me. I think it's unfortunate that people tend to look at Kmt[Egypt] through the lens of a Judeo-Christian context. The assumption that the Kemetian word Ntru translates to god in the Egyptian divinity sense shows just how biased some scholars are when looking at ancient Kemetian religious systems. Some Ntru were simply representations of the local nomes and symbols instead of divinities.
The architectural type of the temple was symbolic of the first time of creation. The inner most holies of holies represented the center of creation. The colums were papyrus thickets from which the primordial mound arose and the temple was in the shape of a mound. The Kemetians[ Egyptians] did not place importance of statues of Ntru nor valued them as individual god or godesses as sometimes western Egyptologist try to present.
Posts: 8675 | From: Tukuler al~Takruri as Ardo since OCT2014 | Registered: Feb 2003
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