Role Of Polytheism In Ancient Egypt Monotheism

However, when Akhetaten rose to power, he attempted to reform Egyptian religion by imposing the worship of one god. That attempt failed, which clearly shows in the economic crisis that resulted. The Hebrews also held religion as a vital part of their society. Originally polytheistic, the Hebrew nation found itself in despair during their exile.

The change of the religion came as a huge shock to the Ancient Egyptians, and most people did not agree with how he wanted to change the religion from polytheistic (a religion with many gods) to monotheistic (a religion with only one god). “The Amarna period, roughly 1353-1336 BCE” brought up a new period of art that was completely different to the previous inscriptions. (something inscribed on a book or monument) Another historical event associated with Akhenaten was the making of Akhetaten city. Akhenaten made this city the capitol of Egypt.

The reason for the large number of deities and gods that the Mayas worshiped was due to the fact that each god had different characteristics that would emerge in various circumstances. Each of their gods had both a compassionate side and a malicious side. “Some had more than one sex; others could be both young and old; and every god representing a heavenly body had a different underworld face, which appeared when the god “died” in the evening.” Itzamna is the creator god, as well as the god of fire and god of the home.

Born into an era of great social and political upheaval, Tutankhamun (meaning “the living image of Aten”) was born in 1341 B.C.E, as the Pharaoh at the time (Akhenaten) was changing religious and social beliefs. Akhenaten was converting the Egyptian public from a polytheistic religious belief, to a monotheistic belief, only worshiping one God, Aten the Sun Disk. Through these converted beliefs, the Egyptian public was in chaos. Following a seventeen reign through a more autocratic and corrupt regime, Akhenaten was most likely forced to abdicate from his throne. He died soon after, leaving the throne of Egypt to his eldest son, Tutankhamun.

Such as taking away the power that religious officials had. Amenhotep’s changes are extremely different than what we know about many Pharaohs before and after. Amenhotep III really built himself on a pedestal of being better than everyone else, whereas Horemheb did his best to weaken the power that religious figures had in Egyptian society. Horemheb oversaw the tearing down of many monuments and temples that the people before himself made, people such as Ay and Amenhotep III. The 18th dynasty ended with Horemheb, but Amenhotep III’s reign would show many religious changes that are actually quite surprising, where he saw himself more than a god than a member of his own family.

Among ideals which came from the east during this era were “Mystery Religions” which, revolved around individual gods or goddesses. They were thought to teach certain secrets or mysteries to their followers. The influence of Greek art spread through the lands and the Greek gained inspiration from eastern artwork. Alexander the Great 's legacy has been both far reaching and profound. Alexander destroyed the Persian Empire and founded an empire bigger than the world has seen beforehand.

Based off of what is given in Herodotus the Histories, Lycurgus is first mentioned as the son of Aristolaides, and the leader of the people in the plains in Lacedaemonia whom form together with Megacles who controlled the coasts (HDT.1.59). Prior to the alleged kingship of Lycurgus, Lacedaemon/Sparta was in a political upheaval between a diarchy of Kings who could not agree upon anything, and therefore set limitations to the powers of the Kings. These political disagreements continued all the way to Lycurgus inheritance who comes across a Sparta that seems to be wavering between being a Monarch or a Democracy. The state of Sparta prior to Lycurgus can be described as a aristocratic tyranny, one in which the rich easily preyed upon the poor. The combining of powers between Lycurgus and Megacles allowed them to expel the tyrannical leader Pisistratus who takes control of and later becomes the leader of Athens (Hdt. 1.59.60).

The Eleusinian cult spread in this way because of its alluring rituals that had a hold of thousands of subjects. In the religion the rituals were led by several important members, chosen from two families that through ancestry were deeply rooted within the mysteries themselves. The two families were the Eumolpids and the Kerykes. Eumolpids were thought to be the descendants of Eumolpos whom the goddess herself revealed her mysteries.

Gilgamesh is one of the oldest works in existence. It is believed he was a Sumerian king who was two thirds god one third human. Its author is unknown and it was passed down orally till the Babylonians translated and preserved the scripts. On the other hand the Adoration of the Disk was written as a correction of gods in ancient Egypt, the

Anubis is the ancient Egypt god of the dead. Anubis is how his name is spelled in the Greek version, and Anpu is how the ancient Egyptians knew him. Anubis is an extremely ancient god who appears in the Old Kingdom. He also protects and guards the dead in the Pyramid Texts. He was originally the god of the dead, but then he was switched to being the god of the embalming process and funerals.

The Old Kingdom was created when a king named Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt. The people obeyed and respected the king to maintain cosmic order. Disrespecting the king was considered to be like disrespecting a god. Later on, Egypt was divided into provinces governed by a nomarch.

Hapi was the patron of Upper and Lower Egypt. In this capacity he was described as twin deities named Hap-Reset (Upper Egypt) and Hap-Meht (Lower Egypt). Therse deities were depicted either pouring water from a jug (representing the innundation) or tying together the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt (the papyrus and the lotus respectively) in a knot which resembled the hieroglyphic word "sema" ("joined"). This role, together with his connection with the Nile and the innundation, made him one of the most popular and powerful deities of Ancient Egypt and yet no temple has been discovered which was specifically dedicated to

Mummification was a very important part of the ancient egyptians religion. Mummification is a process in which the skin and flesh of a corpse can be preserved. The reason why the ancient egyptians thought this was so important was because it was supposed to help them get to the afterlife. A man named herodotus visited Egypt in ancient times, he watched the mummification process and wrote the only eye witness account on record. “ In the best treatment, first of all they would take out the brains through the nostrils with an iron hook.

The three major monotheistic religions are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam  (p. 187). Knowing that these three are monotheistic, we know that Islam shares some similarities and differences with the other two religions. Since, our focus is Islam in how we compare and contrast. We can start off by saying that it all started when Muhammad had this spiritual vision, that introduced this religion called Islam, in Arabia (p.186).   Islam spread significantly among Arabia.