84-645: Great Mother may refer to: Goddesses [ edit ] Mother goddesses of various traditions, representing motherhood, fertility, creation, or the bounty of the Earth: Nammu , Sumerian creation goddess. Cybele , Roman goddess with the title Magna Mater (Latin for "Great Mother") Đạo Mẫu , in Vietnamese tradition Maia (mythology) , Roman goddess Prajñāpāramitā Devi in Mahayana Buddhism, known as
168-412: A ba , the set of spiritual characteristics unique to each individual. Unlike the ka , the ba remained attached to the body after death. Egyptian funeral rituals were intended to release the ba from the body so that it could move freely, and to rejoin it with the ka so that it could live on as an akh . However, it was also important that the body of the deceased be preserved by mummification, as
252-548: A Mother Letter, and every word uttered by Him Who is the Well Spring of Divine Revelation is a Mother Word, and His Tablet a Mother Tablet." There is difference of opinion between the academic and the popular conception of the term Mother goddess . The popular view is mainly driven by the Goddess movement and reads that primitive societies initially were matriarchal , worshipping a sovereign, nurturing, motherly earth goddess . This
336-408: A female-dominated one). That this form of society ever existed was supposedly supported by many figurines that were found. In academic circles, this prehistoric matriarchy is considered unlikely. Firstly, worshiping a mother goddess does not necessarily mean that women ruled society. In addition, the figurines can also portray ordinary women or goddesses, and it is unclear whether there really ever
420-519: A few gods who, at various points, rose to supreme importance in Egyptian religion. These included the royal patron Horus, the sun-god Ra, and the mother-goddess Isis. During the New Kingdom ( c. 1550 – c. 1070 BC ), Amun held this position. The theology of the period described in particular detail Amun's presence in and rule over all things, so that he, more than any other deity, embodied
504-417: A god often associated with chaos. Osiris' sister and wife Isis resurrected him so that he could conceive an heir, Horus. Osiris then entered the underworld and became the ruler of the dead. Once grown, Horus fought and defeated Set to become king himself. Set's association with chaos, and the identification of Osiris and Horus as the rightful rulers, provided a rationale for pharaonic succession and portrayed
588-532: A god. It seems most likely that the Egyptians viewed royal authority itself as a divine force. Therefore, although the Egyptians recognized that the pharaoh was human and subject to human weakness, they simultaneously viewed him as a god, because the divine power of kingship was incarnated in him. He therefore acted as intermediary between Egypt's people and the gods. He was key to upholding Ma'at , both by maintaining justice and harmony in human society and by sustaining
672-460: A more personal way, asking for blessings, help, or forgiveness for wrongdoing. Such prayers are rare before the New Kingdom, indicating that in earlier periods such direct personal interaction with a deity was not believed possible, or at least was less likely to be expressed in writing. They are known mainly from inscriptions on statues and stelae left in sacred sites as votive offerings . Among
756-724: A parallel in calling Mary "Our Mother" and the Almighty Yahweh as "Our Father". In contrast to the Pagan notion of a fertility goddess , Mary is both the Perpetual Virgin and the Mother of God at the same time, she is not considered the "Heavenly Mother" in reference to God the Father or the "Heavenly Father" as her consort . St Mary has never been referred to as a goddess in the Gospel 's accounts of
840-489: A part of the collective unconscious of all humans; various adherents of Jung, most notably Erich Neumann and Ernst Whitmont , have argued that such an archetype underpins many of its own mythologies and may even precede the image of the paternal "father." Such speculations help explain the universality of such mother goddess imagery around the world. The Upper Paleolithic Venus figurines have been sometimes explained as depictions of an Earth Goddess similar to Gaia. In
924-407: A set literary formula, designed to expound on the nature, aspects, and mythological functions of a given deity. They tend to speak more explicitly about fundamental theology than other Egyptian religious writings, and became particularly important in the New Kingdom, a period of particularly active theological discourse. Prayers follow the same general pattern as hymns, but address the relevant god in
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#17328451430541008-495: Is a major goddess characterized as a mother or progenitor, either as an embodiment of motherhood and fertility or fulfilling the cosmological role of a creator- and/or destroyer-figure, typically associated the Earth, sky, and/or the life-giving bounties thereof in a maternal relation with humanity or other gods. When equated in this lattermost function with the earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as
1092-414: Is derived mostly from hymns that detail the roles of specific deities, from ritual and magical texts which describe actions related to mythic events, and from funerary texts which mention the roles of many deities in the afterlife. Some information is also provided by allusions in secular texts. Finally, Greeks and Romans such as Plutarch recorded some of the extant myths late in Egyptian history. Among
1176-458: Is highly unlikely that such a civilization ever existed. For a long time, feminist authors claimed that these peaceful, matriarchal agrarian societies were exterminated or subjugated by nomadic, patriarchal warrior tribes. An important contribution to this was that of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas . Her work in this field has been questioned. Among feminist archaeologists this vision is nowadays also considered highly controversial. Since
1260-548: Is sometimes called "Mother" because she bore stars and Sun god . Nut was thought to draw the dead into her star-filled sky, and refresh them with food and wine. In Kongo religion , the Sky Mother , Nzambici , was the female counterpart of the Sky Father and Solar god , Nzambi Mpungu . Originally, they were seen as one spirit with one half male and the other half female. After the introduction of Christianity to Central Africa ,
1344-468: Is the divine ground of all being, the "world soul". This masculine potential is actualized by feminine dynamism, embodied in multitudinous goddesses who are ultimately all manifestations of the one great mother. Shakti, herself, can free the individual from demons of ego, ignorance, and desire that bind the soul in maya (illusion) . Practitioners of the Tantric tradition focus on Shakti to free themselves from
1428-759: The Annunciation , Wedding at Cana , or the Magnificat . Since the Apostolic age the church has believed that Mary entered heaven alive after her death and subsequent resurrection , known as the Assumption in the west and the Dormition in the east. As the foremost saint , some Christians believe she continues to supernaturally intervene in the world through Marian apparitions ( Our Lady of Velankanni ), Marian shrines ( Our Lady of Zeitoun ) and Marian devotions ( Our Lady of
1512-608: The Baháʼí Faith , Baha'u'llah uses the Mother as an attribute of God: "And when He Who is well-grounded in all knowledge, He Who is the Mother, the Soul, the Secret, and the Essence thereof, revealeth that which is the least contrary to their desire, they bitterly oppose Him and shamelessly deny Him.". Baha'u'llah further writes that "Every single letter proceeding out of the mouth of God is indeed
1596-456: The Egyptian language possessed no single term corresponding to the concept of religion. Ancient Egyptian religion consisted of a vast and varying set of beliefs and practices, linked by their common focus on the interaction between the world of humans and the world of the divine. The characteristics of the gods who populated the divine realm were inextricably linked to the Egyptians' understanding of
1680-692: The Latter Day Saint denomination . Some believe in multiple Heavenly Mothers married to one Heavenly Father in a polygynous relationship. Zahng Gil-jah is a South Korean woman, by the World Mission Society Church of God believed to be “God the Mother” ( Korean : 어머니 하나님 ; RR : Eomeoni Hananim ; Korean pronunciation: [ʌmʌɲi hanaɲim] ). Church members may also call her “ New Jerusalem Mother”, “Mother Jerusalem”, or “Heavenly Mother”. In Theosophy ,
1764-572: The Mother Earth or Earth Mother , deity in various animistic or pantheistic religions. The earth goddess is archetypally the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky Father or Father Heaven , particularly in theologies derived from the Proto-Indo-European sphere (i.e. from Dheghom and Dyeus ). In some polytheistic cultures, such as the Ancient Egyptian religion which narrates
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#17328451430541848-545: The Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BC and Egyptians began converting to Christianity . In addition practices such as mummification halted. The Ancient Egyptian religion was considered to have fully died in the 530s. Following the Arab conquest of Egypt under Amr ibn al-As , Egyptians started to convert to Islam . The beliefs and rituals now referred to as "ancient Egyptian religion" were integral within every aspect of Egyptian culture; thus
1932-517: The Stanford Figurines Project that examined the figurines of Çatalhöyük. This team came to different conclusions than Gimbutas and Mellaart. Only a few of the figurines were identified as female and these figurines were found not so much in sacred spaces, but seemed to have been discarded randomly, sometimes in garbage heaps. This rendered a cult of the mother goddess in this location as unlikely. In Egyptian mythology , sky goddess Nut
2016-656: The cosmic egg myth, the sky is instead seen as the Heavenly Mother or Sky Mother as in Nut and Hathor , and the earth god is regarded as the male, paternal, and terrestrial partner, as in Osiris or Geb who hatched out of the maternal cosmic egg . Between 1961 and 1965 James Mellaart led a series of excavations at Çatalhöyük , north of the Taurus Mountains in a fertile agricultural region of South- Anatolia . Striking were
2100-407: The cosmos . The Shakti sect is strongly associated with Samkhya , and Tantra Hindu philosophies and ultimately, is monist . The primordial feminine creative-preservative-destructive energy, Shakti , is considered to be the motive force behind all action and existence in the phenomenal cosmos. The cosmos itself is purusha , the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality that
2184-570: The "mother of Buddhas" or "Great Mother" (Tibetan: Yun Chenmo) Great Mother, an archetypal image in Analytical psychology Other uses [ edit ] The Great Mother , a book by psychologist Erich Neumann Great Mother ( Dungeons & Dragons ) , a deity character in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game Great Father and Great Mother , titles used in North America during
2268-409: The 1960s, especially in popular culture , the alleged worship of the mother goddess and the social position that women in prehistoric societies supposedly assumed, were linked. This made the debate a political one. According to the goddess movement, the current male-dominated society should return to the egalitarian matriarchy of earlier times (though a matriarchy is not an egalitarian society, but
2352-401: The 19th century in interactions with indigenous peoples to refer to various heads of state See also [ edit ] Goddess , a female deity Great Goddess , the concept of an almighty goddess or mother goddess, or a matriarchal religion Magna Mater (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
2436-567: The Collyridians as heretics, holding that Mary was only to be honoured, and not to be worshipped like the God-man of Christianity . In the Latter Day Saint movement , particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , many adherents believe in a Heavenly Mother as the wife of God the Father. They are collectively referred to as Heavenly Parents . The theology varies, however, according to
2520-637: The Creatress of all life. She is associated with the full moon and stars, the Earth , and the sea. In Wicca , the Earth Goddess is sometimes called Gaia . The name of the mother goddess varies depending on the Wiccan tradition. English historian Ronald Hutton, however, has forcefully stated that any use of the term "Mother-Goddess" can be accounted for, and disregarded, as the scholars and mythographers' own projection of
2604-428: The Earth goddess is called the " Planetary Logos of Earth ". The Mother Goddess, or Great Goddess , is a composite of various feminine deities from past and present world cultures, worshiped by modern Wicca and others broadly known as Neopagans. She is considered sometimes identified as a Triple Goddess , who takes the form of Maiden, Mother, and Crone archetypes . She is described as Mother Earth, Mother Nature, or
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2688-893: The Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, and disregard Protestant objections to Marian devotion . She is regarded as "Our Mother", the Blessed Mother , or the Holy Mother as she gave birth to Jesus Christ , since Christians alike refer to themselves as " Brothers and Sisters in Christ ". There is a Pater Noster but no equivalent Mater Nostra , however the Hail Mary and the Sub Tuum Praesidium have been popular forms of prayer and praise to Virgin Mary for many centuries. Some may perceive
2772-456: The Egyptians believed that the ba returned to its body each night to receive new life, before emerging in the morning as an akh . In early times the deceased pharaoh was believed to ascend to the sky and dwell among the stars . Over the course of the Old Kingdom ( c. 2686 –2181 BC), however, he came to be more closely associated with the daily rebirth of the sun god Ra and with
2856-565: The New Kingdom, this material gave rise to several "books of the netherworld", including the Book of Gates , the Book of Caverns , and the Amduat . Unlike the loose collections of spells, these netherworld books are structured depictions of Ra's passage through the Duat, and by analogy, the journey of the deceased person's soul through the realm of the dead. They were originally restricted to pharaonic tombs, but in
2940-445: The Old and Middle Kingdoms their designs grew more elaborate, and they were increasingly built out of stone. In the New Kingdom, a basic temple layout emerged, which had evolved from common elements in Old and Middle Kingdom temples. With variations, this plan was used for most of the temples built from then on, and most of those that survive today adhere to it. In this standard plan, the temple
3024-571: The Rosary ). According to Mariology and Scholasticism branches of study, though Mary is venerated as the foremost saint, she is still a creature and never viewed as an equal of the Triune God who is the Creator . In pre-Islamic Arabia , Collyridians were an unorthodox Christian denomination who reportedly worshipped Virgin Mary by making burnt offerings of dough to her. Ancient Christians viewed
3108-548: The Third Intermediate Period they came to be used more widely. Temples existed from the beginning of Egyptian history, and at the height of the civilization they were present in most of its towns. They included both mortuary temples to serve the spirits of deceased pharaohs and temples dedicated to patron gods, although the distinction was blurred because divinity and kingship were so closely intertwined. The temples were not primarily intended as places for worship by
3192-454: The Virgin Mary onto the evidence and source data. More recently Hutton was criticized in a review for ignoring the evidence of numerous goddesses identified as either mothers or both virgin and mother in pre-Christian antiquity, in addition to providing no evidence or secondary citations with which to substantiate his own position. Carl Gustav Jung suggested that the archetypal mother was
3276-634: The afterlife. The relationships between deities could also be expressed in the process of syncretism , in which two or more different gods were linked to form a composite deity. This process was a recognition of the presence of one god "in" another when the second god took on a role belonging to the first. These links between deities were fluid, and did not represent the permanent merging of two gods into one; therefore, some gods could develop multiple syncretic connections. Sometimes, syncretism combined deities with very similar characteristics. At other times, it joined gods with very different natures, as when Amun,
3360-568: The afterlife. The spells appear in differing arrangements and combinations, and few of them appear in all of the pyramids. At the end of the Old Kingdom a new body of funerary spells, which included material from the Pyramid Texts, began appearing in tombs, inscribed primarily on coffins. This collection of writings is known as the Coffin Texts , and was not reserved for royalty, but appeared in
3444-508: The all-encompassing power of the divine. The Egyptian conception of the universe centered on Ma'at , a word that encompasses several concepts in English, including "truth", "justice", and "order". It was the fixed, eternal order of the universe, both in the cosmos and in human society, and was often personified as a goddess. It had existed since the creation of the world, and without it the world would lose its cohesion. In Egyptian belief, Ma'at
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3528-424: The annual Nile flood and the succession from one king to another, but the most important was the daily journey of the sun god Ra. When thinking of the shape of the cosmos, the Egyptians saw the earth as a flat expanse of land, personified by the god Geb , over which arched the sky goddess Nut . The two were separated by Shu , the god of air. Beneath the Earth lay a parallel underworld and undersky, and beyond
3612-527: The course of Egyptian history as the status of the pharaoh declined. Egyptian belief in the afterlife and the importance of funerary practices is evident in the great efforts made to ensure the survival of their souls after death – via the provision of tombs, grave goods and offerings to preserve the bodies and spirits of the deceased. The religion had its roots in Egypt's prehistory and lasted for 3,500 years. The details of religious belief changed over time as
3696-568: The cycle of karma . The worship of the mother deity can be traced back to early Vedic culture. The Rigveda calls the divine female power Mahimata (R.V. 1.164.33) which means "great mother". Although no Mother Goddess exists in Christianity, both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church revere Virgin Mary as the Mother of God, a rendering of Theotokos and Deipara since
3780-453: The deceased soul traveled with Ra on his daily journey, was still primarily associated with royalty, but could extend to other people as well. Over the course of the Middle and New Kingdoms, the notion that the akh could also travel in the world of the living, and to some degree magically affect events there, became increasingly prevalent. During the New Kingdom the pharaoh Akhenaten abolished
3864-517: The description of Nzambi changed to Creator God and Nzambici to his wife, "God the essence, the god on earth, the great princess, the mother of all the animals, and the mystery of the Earth." In Hinduism , Saraswati , Lakshmi , Radha , Parvati , Durga and other goddesses represents both the feminine aspect and the shakti (power) of the supreme being known as the Brahman . The divine mother goddess, manifests herself in various forms, representing
3948-572: The existence of other gods; he simply refrained from worshipping any but the Aten. Under Akhenaten's successors Egypt reverted to its traditional religion, and Akhenaten himself came to be reviled as a heretic. While the Egyptians had no unified religious scripture, they produced many religious writings of various types. Together the disparate texts provide an extensive, but still incomplete, understanding of Egyptian religious practices and beliefs. Egyptian myths were stories intended to illustrate and explain
4032-514: The general populace, and the common people had a complex set of religious practices of their own. Instead, the state-run temples served as houses for the gods, in which physical images which served as their intermediaries were cared for and provided with offerings. This service was believed to be necessary to sustain the gods, so that they could in turn maintain the universe itself. Thus, temples were central to Egyptian society, and vast resources were devoted to their upkeep, including both donations from
4116-453: The general populace. The Egyptians produced numerous prayers and hymns, written in the form of poetry. Hymns and prayers follow a similar structure and are distinguished mainly by the purposes they serve. Hymns were written to praise particular deities. Like ritual texts, they were written on papyri and on temple walls, and they were probably recited as part of the rituals they accompany in temple inscriptions. Most are structured according to
4200-460: The god associated with a place had originated there. For instance, the god Montu was original patron of the city of Thebes . Over the course of the Middle Kingdom , however, he was displaced in that role by Amun , who may have arisen elsewhere. The national popularity and importance of individual gods fluctuated in a similar way. Deities had complex interrelationships, which partly reflected
4284-401: The god of hidden power, was linked with Ra , the god of the sun. The resulting god, Amun-Ra, thus united the power that lay behind all things with the greatest and most visible force in nature. Many deities could be given epithets that seem to indicate that they were greater than any other god, suggesting some kind of unity beyond the multitude of natural forces. This is particularly true of
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#17328451430544368-625: The gods in art were not meant as literal representations of how the gods might appear if they were visible, as the gods' true natures were believed to be mysterious. Instead, these depictions gave recognizable forms to the abstract deities by using symbolic imagery to indicate each god's role in nature. This iconography was not fixed, and many of the gods could be depicted in more than one form. Many gods were associated with particular regions in Egypt where their cults were most important. However, these associations changed over time, and they did not mean that
4452-444: The gods through offerings and by performing rituals which staved off disorder and perpetuated the cycles of nature. The most important part of the Egyptian view of the cosmos was the conception of time, which was greatly concerned with the maintenance of Ma'at . Throughout the linear passage of time, a cyclical pattern recurred, in which Ma'at was renewed by periodic events which echoed the original creation. Among these events were
4536-449: The gods with temples and offerings. For these reasons, he oversaw all state religious activity. However, the pharaoh's real-life influence and prestige could differ from his portrayal in official writings and depictions, and beginning in the late New Kingdom his religious importance declined drastically. The king was also associated with many specific deities. He was identified directly with Horus , who represented kingship itself, and he
4620-415: The gods' actions and roles in nature. The details of the events they recounted could change to convey different symbolic perspectives on the mysterious divine events they described, so many myths exist in different and conflicting versions. Mythical narratives were rarely written in full, and more often texts only contain episodes from or allusions to a larger myth. Knowledge of Egyptian mythology, therefore,
4704-402: The heart) to the feather of Ma'at, to determine whether he or she had behaved in accordance with Ma'at. If the deceased was judged worthy, his or her ka and ba were united into an akh . Several beliefs coexisted about the akh 's destination. Often the dead were said to dwell in the realm of Osiris, a lush and pleasant land in the underworld. The solar vision of the afterlife, in which
4788-618: The imagination. There was also a large number of sexless figurines, which Mellaart regarded as typical for a society dominated by women: Emphasis on sex in art is invariably connected with male impulse and desire. The idea that there could have been a matriarchy and a cult of the mother goddess was supported by archaeologist Marija Gimbutas . This gave rise to a modern cult of the Mother Goddess with annual pilgrimages being organized at Çatalhöyük. Since 1993, excavations were resumed, now headed by Ian Hodder with Lynn Meskell as head of
4872-610: The importance of particular gods rose and declined, and their intricate relationships shifted. At various times, certain gods became preeminent over the others, including the sun god Ra , the creator god Amun , and the mother goddess Isis . For a brief period, in the theology promulgated by the pharaoh Akhenaten , a single god, the Aten , replaced the traditional pantheon. Ancient Egyptian religion and mythology left behind many writings and monuments, along with significant influences on ancient and modern cultures. The religion declined following
4956-488: The interaction of the forces they represented. The Egyptians often grouped gods together to reflect these relationships. One of the more common combinations was a family triad consisting of a father, mother, and child, who were worshipped together. Some groups had wide-ranging importance. One such group, the Ennead , assembled nine deities into a theological system that was involved in the mythological areas of creation, kingship, and
5040-454: The many statues found here, which Mellaart suggested represented a Great goddess, who headed the pantheon of an essentially matriarchal culture. A seated female figure, flanked by what Mellaart describes as lionesses , was found in a grain-bin; she may have intended to protect the harvest and grain. He considered the sites as shrines , with especially the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük capturing
5124-471: The monarchy and large estates of their own. Pharaohs often expanded them as part of their obligation to honor the gods, so that many temples grew to enormous size. However, not all gods had temples dedicated to them, as many gods who were important in official theology received only minimal worship, and many household gods were the focus of popular veneration rather than temple ritual. The earliest Egyptian temples were small, impermanent structures, but through
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#17328451430545208-461: The most significant and extensively preserved Egyptian writings are funerary texts designed to ensure that deceased souls reached a pleasant afterlife. The earliest of these are the Pyramid Texts . They are a loose collection of hundreds of spells inscribed on the walls of royal pyramids during the Old Kingdom, intended to magically provide pharaohs with the means to join the company of the gods in
5292-475: The official worship of other gods in favor of the sun-disk Aten . This is often seen as the first instance of true monotheism in history, although the details of Atenist theology are still unclear and the suggestion that it was monotheistic is disputed. The exclusion of all but one god from worship was a radical departure from Egyptian tradition and some see Akhenaten as a practitioner of monolatry or henotheism rather than monotheism, as he did not actively deny
5376-463: The order of the cosmos , and repel Isfet , which was chaos. The state dedicated enormous resources to religious rituals and to the construction of temples . Individuals could interact with the gods for their own purposes, appealing for help through prayer or compelling the gods to act through magic . These practices were distinct from, but closely linked with, the formal rituals and institutions. The popular religious tradition grew more prominent over
5460-506: The pharaohs as the upholders of order. At the same time, Osiris' death and rebirth were related to the Egyptian agricultural cycle, in which crops grew in the wake of the Nile inundation, and provided a template for the resurrection of human souls after death. Another important mythic motif was the journey of Ra through the Duat each night. In the course of this journey, Ra met with Osiris, who again acted as an agent of regeneration, so that his life
5544-483: The properties of the world in which they lived. The Egyptians believed that the phenomena of nature were divine forces in and of themselves. These deified forces included the elements, animal characteristics, or abstract forces. The Egyptians believed in a pantheon of gods, which were involved in all aspects of nature and human society. Their religious practices were efforts to sustain and placate these phenomena and turn them to human advantage. This polytheistic system
5628-413: The significant Egyptian myths were the creation myths . According to these stories, the world emerged as a dry space in the primordial ocean of chaos. Because the sun is essential to life on earth, the first rising of Ra marked the moment of this emergence. Different forms of the myth describe the process of creation in various ways: a transformation of the primordial god Atum into the elements that form
5712-497: The skies lay the infinite expanse of Nu , the chaos and primordial watery abyss that had existed before creation. The Egyptians also believed in a place called the Duat , a mysterious region associated with death and rebirth, that may have lain in the underworld or in the sky. Each day, Ra traveled over the earth across the underside of the sky, and at night he passed through the Duat to be reborn at dawn. In Egyptian belief, this cosmos
5796-552: The temple libraries. Temples themselves are also inscribed with such texts, often accompanied by illustrations. Unlike the ritual papyri, these inscriptions were not intended as instructions, but were meant to symbolically perpetuate the rituals even if, in reality, people ceased to perform them. Magical texts likewise describe rituals, although these rituals were part of the spells used for specific goals in everyday life. Despite their mundane purpose, many of these texts also originated in temple libraries and later became disseminated among
5880-475: The title Great Mother . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Mother&oldid=1258565810 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Mother goddess A mother goddess
5964-537: The tombs of non-royal officials. In the New Kingdom, several new funerary texts emerged, of which the best-known is the Book of the Dead . Unlike the earlier books, it often contains extensive illustrations, or vignettes. The book was copied on papyrus and sold to commoners to be placed in their tombs. The Coffin Texts included sections with detailed descriptions of the underworld and instructions on how to overcome its hazards. In
6048-519: The underworld ruler Osiris as those deities grew more important. In the fully developed afterlife beliefs of the New Kingdom, the soul had to avoid a variety of supernatural dangers in the Duat, before undergoing a final judgement, known as the "Weighing of the Heart", carried out by Osiris and by the Assessors of Ma'at . In this judgement, the gods compared the actions of the deceased while alive (symbolized by
6132-453: The universal creative force . She becomes Mother Nature (Mula Prakriti), who gives birth to all life forms and nourishes them through her body. Ultimately she re-absorbs all life forms back into herself, or "devours" them to sustain herself as the power of death feeding on life to produce new life. She also gives rise to Maya (the illusory world) and to prakriti , the force that galvanizes the divine ground of existence into self-projection as
6216-410: The world, as the creative speech of the intellectual god Ptah , and as an act of the hidden power of Amun. Regardless of these variations, the act of creation represented the initial establishment of Ma'at and the pattern for the subsequent cycles of time. The most important of all Egyptian myths was the Osiris myth . It tells of the divine ruler Osiris, who was murdered by his jealous brother Set ,
6300-479: The world. About 1,500 deities are known. Rituals such as prayer and offerings were provided to the gods to gain their favor. Formal religious practice centered on the pharaohs , the rulers of Egypt, believed to possess divine powers by virtue of their positions. They acted as intermediaries between their people and the gods, and were obligated to sustain the gods through rituals and offerings so that they could maintain Ma'at ,
6384-453: The worship of deceased pharaohs as gods. The elaborate beliefs about death and the afterlife reinforced the Egyptians theology in humans possessions a ka , or life-force, which left the body at the point of death. In life, the ka received its sustenance from food and drink, so it was believed that, to endure after death, the ka must continue to receive offerings of food, whose spiritual essence it could still consume. Each person also had
6468-416: Was a mother goddess. Ancient Egyptian religion B C D F G H I K M N P Q R S T U W Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian culture. It centered on the Egyptians' interactions with many deities believed to be present and in control of
6552-460: Was based upon the nineteenth-century ideas of unilineal evolution of Johann Jakob Bachofen . According to the academic view, however, both Bachofen and the modern Goddess theories are a projection of contemporary world views on ancient myths, rather than attempting to understand the mentalité of that time. Often this is accompanied by a desire for a lost civilization from a bygone era that would have been just, peaceful, and wise. However, it
6636-476: Was built along a central processional way that led through a series of courts and halls to the sanctuary, which held a statue of the temple's god. Access to this most sacred part of the temple was restricted to the pharaoh and the highest-ranking priests. The journey from the temple entrance to the sanctuary was seen as a journey from the human world to the divine realm, a point emphasized by the complex mythological symbolism present in temple architecture. Well beyond
6720-423: Was constantly under threat from the forces of disorder, so all of society was required to maintain it. On the human level this meant that all members of society should cooperate and coexist; on the cosmic level it meant that all of the forces of nature—the gods—should continue to function in balance. This latter goal was central to Egyptian religion. The Egyptians sought to maintain Ma'at in the cosmos by sustaining
6804-400: Was inhabited by three types of sentient beings: one was the gods; another was the spirits of deceased humans, who existed in the divine realm and possessed many of the gods' abilities; living humans were the third category, and the most important among them was the pharaoh, who bridged the human and divine realms. Egyptologists have long debated the degree to which the pharaoh was considered
6888-435: Was renewed. He also fought each night with Apep , a serpentine god representing chaos. The defeat of Apep and the meeting with Osiris ensured the rising of the sun the next morning, an event that represented rebirth and the victory of order over chaos. The procedures for religious rituals were frequently written on papyri , which were used as instructions for those performing the ritual. These ritual texts were kept mainly in
6972-429: Was seen as the son of Ra, who ruled and regulated nature as the pharaoh ruled and regulated society. By the New Kingdom he was also associated with Amun, the supreme force in the cosmos. Upon his death, the king became fully deified. In this state, he was directly identified with Ra, and was also associated with Osiris , god of death and rebirth and the mythological father of Horus. Many mortuary temples were dedicated to
7056-587: Was very complex, as some deities were believed to exist in many different manifestations, and some had multiple mythological roles. Conversely, many natural forces, such as the sun, were associated with multiple deities. The diverse pantheon ranged from gods with vital roles in the universe to minor deities or "demons" with very limited or localized functions. It could include gods adopted from foreign cultures, and sometimes humans: deceased pharaohs were believed to be divine, and occasionally, distinguished commoners such as Imhotep also became deified. The depictions of
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