Beliefs In Deir El-Medina

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The ancient Egyptians believed firmly in the after-life and had complete faith in their gods and beliefs. The New Kingdom Egyptians believe in the cycle of life, death and rebirth, patterns that were apparent in nature. The study of the archaeological remains of Deir El-Medina (home to the artisans who built temples and tombs for pharaohs of the New Kingdom) and the Valley of the Kings (the home of tombs for kings and nobles of the New Kingdom) reveals the significance of religion to the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians’ religious beliefs and practices were many. There were two gods that influenced their ideals on rebirth and resurrection. The Egyptians believed that through Ra, the sun god, rebirth after death was possible. Ra promised survival after death and the Egyptians believed that Ra died every night with the sun and fought through the night until morning when he is born again. Mostly, Ra was depicted as a man with a falcon head but sometimes this image changed in accordance to the position of the sun in the sky. At sunrise he was portrayed as a young boy, at noon the falcon headed man and at sunset, an elderly man. Alongside Ra, there was another important god, Osiris that greatly influenced the ancient Egyptians beliefs on the afterlife. Osiris offered more hope for resurrection than Ra did for rebirth. The great influence of Osiris and his ideals on resurrection is evident throughout the burial practices of the ancient Egyptians. There is an ancient story of Osiris that tells the tale of his death that was at the hands of his evil brother, Seth. Seth cut his body into 14 pieces and spread the parts throughout Egypt, when Osiris’ wife, Isis, found a part of the body; she preserved it carefully and held a funeral for that part. She also made a wax model of the particular part and it was placed in the temple where it was worshipped. Isis collected the rest
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