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Egyptian mythology features a pantheon of powerful gods and goddesses, with the pharaoh as intermediary. Rituals were central to society, including burial practices for the afterlife. Conflicting myths existed, but did not cause conflict. Primary beings included Nut, Geb, Nu, Duat, and Ra.
Egyptian mythology is beautiful and complex, with a pantheon of powerful gods and goddesses who ruled over the natural and human worlds. A common element found in the myths is the supremacy of the pharaoh, who was believed to be the chosen intermediary between the gods and the world of mankind. Not only could the pharaoh interact with the gods, but individuals could send supplications on the wings of prayers or even attempt to muster the powers of a mythological being through the use of incantation.
There is no doubt that the ritual associated with Egyptian mythology was at the heart of Egyptian society. Without regular ceremonial sacrifices to any number of gods and goddesses, the Egyptians believed the world would descend into chaos. To ward off this possibility, they invested enormous amounts of money and social effort into building temples and designing rituals to appease these mythological forces of nature.
The Egyptians weren’t just interested in life on earth; their pantheon also ruled the afterlife. Highly ritualized burial and burial practices included mummification and burial with items the corpse had loved on earth and would need in death. Pharaohs were buried inside the pyramids in a tremendous ceremony.
For the Egyptians, the cosmos was fixed, permanent and fair. These qualities were reflected in Egyptian mythology and imitated in their culture. There was order in the universe, it was believed; therefore, the things that took place were a matter of just justice. The circularity in nature, seen in the rising and setting of the sun, the birth and death of the pharaohs, and the flooding of the Nile, were metaphors for the greater circularity of all things.
With so many gods and goddesses and so many communities having little interaction, it’s no surprise that there were a vast number of conflicting myths addressing the origin of the universe, fertility, and the existence of the soul. Different regions would hold particular deities in higher esteem, and these mythological beings would become central to major stories. This did not cause religious conflict, with one group trying to impose their beliefs on another. Instead, multiple versions of the same stories could exist side by side.
Among the gods a goddess found in Egyptian mythology, primary beings included Nut, the queen of heaven, and Geb, who symbolized the earth itself. Beyond Nut, Nu, the god of chaos, maintained control. Duat possessed the underworld of death and rebirth, and Ra, god of the Sun, passed through it at night to be reborn.
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