Gods of Ancient Egypt

Do you know that there are over 2,000 gods and goddesses in ancient Egypt? Some gods have a human body and an animal's head. When I read this article, I was shocked. I will never think that there are so many gods in Egypt. Furthermore, I hate the idea that the head of an animal sticks to the human body. Since I do not believe this, I decided to look it up myself. Ancient Egyptians are mainly polytheistic, which means they believe in many gods. When Akhenaten was Pharaoh, the Egyptians were monotheists, which meant they adore only one god.

Approximately 700 gods of ancient Egypt usually embody the power of nature such as the sun and the Nile River. An important characteristic of an ancient Egyptian religion is that the Egyptians considers Pharaoh as a reborn god. Egyptians are also known for their meticulous view of the afterlife. One of the main differences between the Egyptian and Mesopotamian religions is the "regional" or regional quality of the latter; in the early days of Mesopotamia, certain gods were identified as specific places. Another difference is the best creativity of division of the gods of Mesopotamia, the four gods - heaven, earth, water, and air.

The political structure of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia is different. In ancient Egypt, pharaohs were thought to be representatives of the gods on the earth. Even though ancient Egyptian citizens did not see his face directly in his speech, they believed their pharaohs to be gods (Richards & Van Buren, 2000). Most of the aristocracy appointed as an important position in ancient Egypt was related to Pharaoh. After his death, only one son of Pharaoh could take over. In ancient Mesopotamia, before the King Sargon was declared a king in 2370 BC, society consisted of autonomous regions for the 10th century (Brisch et al., 2008). However, the citizens of Mesopotamia do not consider the king or his heir sacred. In Mesopotamia, most of the scribes are members of the aristocratic family and are irrelevant to the rule of the king.

This ruling class is the main difference between the two civilizations. In Mesopotamia, the king insisted that the king was the representative of the gods on the earth, but in ancient Egypt the ruler was the instantiation of the god on the earth. Mesopotamian rulers are usually warriors, in ancient Egypt Pharaoh or the king of God dominated, in the posthumous world it was considered the deity god Horus, and the dark god Osiris. The two rulers not only gained power from relationships with God but also gained power from the economic power of their kingdom based on agriculture and technology specialization.