State religion in Ancient Egypt was directed towards the maintenance of cosmic order, which was centred on a divine Pharaoh. This was expressed through myths made concrete in temple architecture and religious iconography, regular rituals performed by extensive priesthoods, and festivals, which celebrated and reinforced the link between pharaoh and the multitude of his fellow gods.
The course will begin by providing a structure to facilitate the understanding of the vast interlinked pantheons of Ancient Egypt - gods and goddesses of creation, the sun, kingship, the afterlife and other functions - and the myths associated with them. The origins, roles, iconography and interrelationships of the major deities will be discussed.
Temples in Ancient Egypt were more than just religious buildings; they played a prime role in maintaining order in the material world by fulfilling functions associated in the present day with national and local administration, social, medical and arts centres and centres of employment, production and exchange. The purposes of the temple will be explained, and how it worked from day to day and year to year, served by great numbers of priests and priestesses and secular staff.
It will be shown how the formal aspects of religion, the less formal such as devotion to ancestors and patron deities and participation in the mass celebration of state and local festivals satisfied the individual‘s spiritual and social needs. The easy absorption of foreign religions and deities, contrasted with the radical and disastrous religious and political experiment of a form of ‘monotheism’, demonstrate how well their religion and its institutions supported the stability and coherence of Ancient Egypt as a community.
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