Ancient Religion: Egypt

The stories of Oairis and Isis are the major religious myths of ancient Egypt. They explain the seasonal cycle of birth, death and re-birth, in human beings and in nature. Osiris was the re-birth of crops in Spring, when nature is reborn after the death of winter. He taught people how to cultivate the earth. He protected the dead. Isis was motherhood, in humanity and in nature. She reproduced living creatures, and she had healing powers. She guarded her family against danger, and was fiercely loyal to her husband Oairis. Osiris and Isis had a son, Horus. He was embodied in the person of the pharaoh, who therefore had divine right to rule Egypt. When a Pharaoh died, his spirit joined the son god Ra, and a new Horus (Pharaoh) succeeded him. But the dead Pharaoh could only join Ra if his body was intact, so lavish attempts were made to preserve it. Egyptians believed that the spirit of a dead person journeyed to the Underworld, where it was judged. The dead persons heart was weighed against the feather of Maat (Truth). If the person had been evil, his heart would be heavy, and he would be devoured by the monstrous crocodile. But a good heart would balance evenly with the feather of Maat, showing that they were worthy of eternal life. Every person had a primary soul called a ka, located in their heart. It stayed in the body, even after death. The Ka of god lived in the gods temple, and received offerings from the priests. As well, every person had another soul called a ba which flew up and away from the body at the moment of death. It could go anywhere it liked, but eventually it found its way to the Underworld, to a world very like the one it knew when alive, but without any worries.