EGYPTIAN+MYTHOLOGY

Anna Mitchell Brooke Worthing Madeline Deveney Ryan Mayberry

= Introduction:Anna Mitchell = The Egyptians are known for their beautiful art work, their elaborate clothing and their social standings. However they are known for their belief in the gods, and goddesses, their traditions to worship those in the after life and their customs according to their mythology as well.

By Madeline Deveney
 * MAJOR ARCHETYPAL CHARACTERS AND PLOTS **

When reading and interpreting the mythology from various cultures, one would notice the underlying connections that bind one story to another. For example, you will find creation myths in varying cultures that have the same elements as the creation story in the Bible. This is to say that each story may have had a similar or unifying base story. In Egyptian mythology, the amount of mythological gods is quite practically never-ending. However, on this page five main gods will be discussed, Re, the sun and creator, Set, the evil brother of Osiris, Osiris, the King of the Dead and his beautiful and devoted wife Isis and their son Harpocrates, the eventual destroyer of Set. These main gods set the stage for the most basic Egyptian myths. In the story of Osiris, sets the stage for Isis’ story. After her husband’s death, Isis searches for his body, and eventually comes to the land of byblos. Here, she is the nurse of one of the many princes of this land. Every night she throws the child in the fire. This could be connected to the Greek myth of Prometheus, who had been sentenced to the eternal torment of having an eagle eat out his liver every day. However, in the story of Isis, she says that she was tempering the child to be a god. Osiris can also been seen as representing the biblical savior Jesus Christ. Osiris is born to Nut and Geb to rule the people as their King. He sets order to mortal world. But Set, his evil brother, was jealous and killed Osiris. After Isis recovers the body of her beloved husband, and he rises from the dead, he becomes King of the Underworld, or else King of the Dead. Jesus Christ was born of Mary, and was the son of God the Father. Jesus brings people to God in his time on earth until he is crucified and ascends into heaven to rule next to his father. Osiris’ post as King of the Dead may be a roundabout and semi creepy way of showing that role of which Jesus inhibits. Re, is the sun god and creator of earth. They say nothing existed but ocean, eventually leading into Re and his children being born to complete the earth, as atmosphere, sky, and earth. Just as nothing but ocean existed at first in Egyptain Mythology, nothing but darkness existed in the biblical creation story. Harpocrates battles Set, in a vicious and unrelenting battle of good versus evil. The myth says that that battles rages on even to this day, but one day Harpocrates will be victorious and, when he is, Osiris will return to rule the mortal world. All of these gods have common ground with other myths, being that every single one of them is related. Re marries Nut, who his daughter. Nut eventually leaves Re for Geb, her brother. They give birth to four children, of who are Osiris and Isis, eventually becoming husband and wife as well as brother and sister. Incest is common in most mythological stories, trying to show that all creation is interconnected. The pathway of common ground is made throughout every culture and the stories on which they were founded.

= Summary of Stories __:Anna Mitchell__=

The Osiris Legend
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The Legend of Osiris is one of the oldest myths in the Egyptian culture, so old that there are only bits and pieces of the story known to man. The story of Osiris comes to us from a Greek writer named Plutarch. The legend starts with Osiris' birth "The Lord of all the Earth is Born," which is where we learn of Nut and Geb giving birth to Osiris. Nut was married to Ra, but was in love with Geb and when Ra heard of this he was furious and banned Nut from having children during the 360 days of the year. After Nut conferred with her friends she enlisted the help of Silene, the moon goddess. Rivaling Ra the sun god she added five days to the year, which allowed Nut to give birth to her five children. However on the first day when Osiris was born there was a scream heard around the world exclaiming "The Lord of all the Earth is Born." The legend continues with "Osiris the Mighty King," which gives detail as to how well liked Osiris was, giving knowledge of agriculture, laws and much more. He was so well liked he went to other lands to spread his knowledge leaving his wife Isis in charge, however Osiris had a bitter enemy his brother Seth. "Seth Plots Against the King" aligning himself with the queen of Ethiopia and 72 others. Isis had a strong authority about her and nothing could be done with her ruling the land. Upon Osiris' return to the land Seth had a plan, he built a box that would surly do the deed. Inviting Osiris over for a feast he brought the box out as a present, he stated "anyone who can fit in the box it is theirs" so one by one everyone tried to fit into the box. Finally when Osiris had fit into the box they slammed the lid shut, nailed it closed, and poured multen lead in the box sealing him to his fate. Osiris would never be seen again, in the land of living or dead. Until Isis sets out and finds all of his remains that were scattered because of Seth. SHe burries his remains and builds a shrine for him. Horus has grown to manhood and resurrects Osiris into the underworld, and becomes king of the Underworld. He returns to Horus in the land of living to tell of what Seth did. Horus goes to avenge Osiris starting a huge battle. When the battle has one Osiris becomes returns to rule the world.

The Osiris Legend

The story RE
The god RE is the sun god of annu, he also known as "The god of all gods," "Father of the gods" and "Creator of men." Re was the father of Shu and Tefnut, he was the grandfather of Nut and Geb, the great-grandfather of Osiris, Seth, Isis, Nephthys and great-great-grandfather of Horus. Because the sun was a fire, the egyptian people believed that in order for the sun to set or for Re to travel through the waters of heaven to the after world he would need a boat. So Re had a small boat that was controlled by the goddess Ma'at. During the day the boat was known as "Madjet," which meant "becoming strong" that rose in the east from behind "Manu" the mountain of sunrise and passed through two sycamores. As the sun would set the boat was a small barge called "Samektet" meaning becoming weak. Re was never too lonely because several gods would accompany him on his journey. These gods had a purpose however, because the journey was not an easy one. They were constantly attacked by monsters named Sebau, Nak, and Apep. Every morning Re had to fight Apep in order to successfully rise. When Apep was successful the weather would be stormy and dark, when Apep swallowed the barge a solar eclipse occurred.

The Story of RE

Creation Story
There are two creation stories to the Egyptian culture, the Lower Kingdom and the Upper Kingdom. In the lower kingdom only the ocean existed at first then the Ra or Re the sun was hatched from an egg on the surface. He gave birth to four children, Shu and Geb the gods, Nut and Tefnut the goddesses. Tefnut and Shu became the atmosphere, they stood onto of Geb who became the earth who raised up Nut who became the sky. In the upper kingdom at first there was only "Nun" the chaotic ocean containing the beginnings of everything to come. From the ocean came Ra who alone gave birth first to Shu and Tefnut, Shu being the god of air and Tefnut the goddess of moisture gave birth to Geb and Nut. Geb is the earth god and Nut the sky goddess. They created the universe, men were created from Ra's tears, however they proved to be ungrateful and were destroyed. Ra created Sekhmet to do the job, all but a few humans were destroyed. Then Ra being reluctant tricked Sekhmet into stopping and thus was the present world created.

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[|Ancient Egyptian Creation] [|Creation Story]



= Major Archetypes Frequently Found in Egyptian Mythology -Ryan Mayberry= Within Egyptian culture, Their civilization was stooped with Mythology, artwork, and religion. Their history of mythology dates back over 3000 years ago during the times of great leaders such as Ramseys II. The mythology even goes back to the pre-dynastic area up until the beginning of Christianity's soaring popularity.The Egyptians were a polytheistic people and therefore worshiped many deities including many Gods of nature and things that seem ludacris to modern day people. The most popular ways to show worship to these deities were by sacrifice and portraying Gods and their actions by artwork. Throughout time, Egyptians did this artwork by their famous hieroglyphics drawn in caves or their also famous pyramids. Some of the artwork as seen throughout the Wiki shows the main creator Gods such as Ra and Osirus, but all their artwork tells a story. Our job as Egyptian Mythology researches is to breakdown and explain the stories to our Wiki viewers in a more modern and contemporary way. To begin any mythology overview, one must start with the culture's creation story. In ancient Egyptian culture, their creation story tells of Ra and an earth covered by nothing but water. Ra emerges from an egg atop the water and then mystically brings forth four children. Together, these four children: Shu, Geb, Tefnut, and Nut, become the earth, sky and atmosphere. After some disputes among the new Gods and their children, some of the Gods are killed by one another and the struggle for power determines the Gods standings as rulers over certain aspects of the Universe. In this creation myth, anyone could see that thirst for power archetype is present and will always be present in every culture. Every culture contains conflict within itself, always revolving around the control of land and power over each other. It is only natural that in the creation myth a little violence occurs to see who will become the supreme rulers of the Earth, Underworld, and Heavens.

History of Egypt and Egyptian Myths
Religion is the main source for the well-known myths of the Egyptian culture. Ancient Egyptian mythology can be dated back further than 3000 years into history. The culture was formed around polytheistic beliefs and rituals, which was the basis of the society’s myths. These many gods are noted to be the center of the tales formed by the Egyptians. The people believed that these many deities controlled the multiple elements of nature, as well as aspects of daily life. These beliefs can be viewed through the expression of archetypes in the myths. Along with these many gods, the ancient Egyptians believed that their pharaohs were holy as well. They believed that the kings were descendants from the gods, thus should be treated with the same respect. They recognized that their king was subject to human weaknesses. However, it spite of his human qualities, the Egyptians viewed the pharaohs to be divine because of their kingship. Exemplifying his divinity, the pharaoh was identified directly with Horus who represented kingship. The identification between the pharaoh and Horus is tied together through Horus’ father, Ra, who was believed to rule and regulate nature. Throughout history there is a sense of change in the Egyptian mythology. With time the beliefs morphed in such a way that the idea of many archetypes changed. This idea began to change into the belief that these archetypes were attributes of one outstanding god. This change was noticed in the 18th century and it can be seen to mimic the Christian belief of the trinity. However, the worship of the pharaohs and many gods lead to the manufacturing of the magnificent pyramids. The Egyptians built these massive structures beginning around 2700 BCE, and ending around 1700 BCE. All of these structures are awe provoking however there is one pyramid that can be seen to stand above the others. The Great Pyramid of Giza, built in honor of Khufu, is the largest of these ancient monuments. This pyramid was built in the year 2548 BC and stands an astounding, 455 ft tall. There are different types of pyramids built based on the Kingdom they were built in. Egyptian history is divided into the Old and New Kingdoms. The Old Kingdom is often referred to as “The Age of Pyramids”. It is during this time that The Great Pyramid of Giza was built. In the Old Kingdom, the size of the country greatly increased from the dynastic period before it, there was more wealth, and prosperity also increased. The Old Kingdom began with the third dynasty of pharaohs. This includes Djoser who is responsible for the creation of The Step Pyramid. In the fourth dynasty the most pyramids were manufactured. The pharaoh Sneferu alone is responsible for the creation of six different pyramids. The fifth dynasty differs from the previous two in the sense that they migrated away from the formation of pyramids and built the Sun Temples in Abu Sir. Finally, the sixth dynasty continued the creation of complex temples, as did the dynasty before it. At a later, the New Kingdom is known to be the most prosperous time in Egyptian history. This period included the eighteenth dynasty and continued through the twentieth dynasty. However the eighteenth dynasty of pharos includes the famous kings. They include, Ahmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, and multiple others. These famous leaders helped to advance their society in many ways. One way would be seen as their inventions that have influenced life, as it is known today. Paper was seen to makes it’s first appearance in the Egyptian society. However, it was made out of Papyrus, which included woven reeds pounded together. Other inventions that we use today that began in Egypt include, the water clock, the embalming process, number system, fractions, flat roofed homes, black ink, clocks, sun calendar, the pen, toothpaste, deodorant, wigs, a hieroglyphic alphabet, ox drawn plow, locks, and many other inventions that we use today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_mythology http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/545669?uid=3739592&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101454447541 http://www.egyptianmyths.net/ http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/home.html http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/egyptian-mythology.php** http://www.ancientscripts.com/egyptian.html http://www.cerisepress.com/02/05/hds-helen-in-egypt-myth-symbol-and-subjectivity/view-all http://www.egyptartsite.com/crea.html http://www.mythome.org/creategy.html http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/religion/deitiescreation.html []

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http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ancient-egyptian-inventions.html

http://www.phouka.com/pharaoh/pharaoh/kingdoms/03old.html