9. KINGS & DEATH; PERSONAL RELIGION
Priests as further intermediaries between people and gods
GODS
KING
Priests
People
Priests: day-to-day, local
King: national, builds temples
Death of king
Parallel of Osiris
Mummification
Mortuary cult of king
Mortuary Temple
Old King (Osiris) has to die for new king (Horus) to succeed
Funerary religion>Afterlife
Netherworld
Kingdom of Osiris
Place where sun goes at night
Death to rebirth
Sun's nighttime voyage through Netherworld
Book of Caverns
Re and Osiris
Early gods of the dead:
-Osiris
-Khentiamentiu
-Sokar
Cult of Osiris at Abydos
Move on to Personal Religion
Readings in Shafer book:
John Baines
Importance of ma'at: order
Threat of disorder
King central to maintaining order (ma'at)
4 categories of beings in society:
GODS
KINGS
“BLESSED DEAD”
HUMAN BEINGS
Outside of society:
-people who act contrary to ma’at
-dead who don’t pass judgment
-non-human, non-divine (animals, plants, etc.)
Morality
Ethics
Ma'at
King
Ruling elite: about 200-300 people
Administration, etc.: about 50,000 people
Population of ancient Egypt: about 1.5 million people
Over 1,000,000 Egyptians poor, illiterate, agricultural
workers
Life expectancy
Death and the family
Elite ideals
Maintaining order
Biographies/Autobiographies
Decorum
Social responsibility
The living and the Dead: offerings to the dead, letters to the dead, stela/stelae (plural
"Effective spirits"
"Ghost" stories
Story of Setna
Magic
HEKA
Rituals, spells, prescriptions
Intermediary of lector-priest
Oracles
“Wise woman”
Dreams
Hathor
“Personal piety”
Votive offerings
Statues
Deir el Medina