The origins of religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians
Introduction
The study of the origins of religious doctrines of the ancient Egyptians relied on many sources, whether archaeological or varied, or what historians, travelers, and thinkers and philosophers have mentioned from the countries of the Greeks and Rome, who visited Egypt between the sixth and second centuries BC and there are many historians who settled in this time period and wrote many of the things they saw and heard about temples from the mouths of priests and other people of culture and thought.
Various archaeological sources
There are many different sources that refer to the origins of the various religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, as these sources refer to the earliest times, i.e. pre-dynastic times until the Ptolemaic and Roman times
Views of reliefs and walls of temples
It includes scenes, drawings, and inscriptions that cover the walls of major temples from the era of the modern state, such as the Luxor Temple, Karnak, and Ramsimiye, the city of Habu in the Western mainland, and the Ptolemaic and Roman era temples such as the Dandara and Isna Edfu, Kom Ombo, Philae, Deir Shalut and other temples that are still on its walls and remains of many The inscriptions are still present in Upper Egypt, especially those dating back to the Ptolemaic period.
These walls were covered with reliefs that include many different religious beliefs that detail a thorough and thorough detail that was unprecedented from a previous era before the Ptolemaic period, and undoubtedly the implementation of a work like this in the Ptolemaic era, which appears to us in this delicate and wonderful form, was one of the results Artists and people of expertise, and behind them a large number of senior priests, scientists, and specialists in hierograms, who were called "national protectors".
Tomb walls and sculptures
There were many important and influential texts in religious doctrines inscribed on the walls of the tombs and they are inscribed on the walls of the burial chamber from the inside such as the burial chamber of the pyramid of King and Ness from the late Fifth Dynasty, which was called the texts or the texts of the pyramids, as it was recorded inside the burial chambers in All the pyramids of the Sixth Dynasty.
It deals with the rise of the spirit of the king to the world of heaven and his resurrection and life in the world of heaven and depicts for us live with the world of deities in the sky in addition to the powers that he enjoyed in this worldly life in the belief that he will resurrect what he is where the king is resurrected as a king and the limit They served and this was recorded and in the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians.
Inscriptions and texts on some coffins
The taboon or body of the taboon is considered a collection of funerary formulas that are written on it with the black supply and the chapter titles with the red supply inside and outside the coffins such as coffins from (Al Barsha, Mir, Ashmounin, Assiut, Saqqara, Jabalin, Aswat, etc.).
It is dye and chapters to ensure the protection of the mummy in the cemetery and ensure the continued provision of offerings to it, and the members of the deceased mix with the bodies of the deities and their limbs in order to gain a strong immunity against corrosion and annihilation.
And he wrote on some of these coffins ways that lead to the world of the hereafter to guide the deceased, as the ancient Egyptians imagined that the deceased in the world of the hereafter should take two paths, the waterway and the other is a wild road, and between them, there is a burning fire that pleases the deceased if he cannot walk in the right path and does not turn right Not left.
And he had to face many dangers and obstacles in the two paths and many scary creatures and a guard standing in the face of every passing one who does not know the formula. If he knew the formula and said it in front of these fearful guards, he prepared the way for him and allowed him to pass from one place to another until he finally reached the fields of Osiris, After that, his soul is blessed with accompaniment and written for him for eternity.
Views of inscriptions in some paintings
Where many of the paintings appearing that place the origins of religious beliefs among the ancient Egyptians, we see paintings in its upper part, a scene depicting one or more deities receiving gifts or honors from the king or the owner of the painting, and the ancient Egyptians were drawing these paintings as akin to their idol.
These paintings contained texts expressing the chants of some deities such as the chant of the god Osiris and there are other paintings of the same quality on them other chants of other deities, and the areas, heights, and sizes of these paintings varied in the size of the deities and the extent of the ancient Egyptians' approximation to the ancient gods.