Mysteries of Ancient Egypt ~ Entertainment

Saturday 7 January 2012

Mysteries of Ancient Egypt

Mysteries of Ancient Egypt

Most scholars of ancient Egyptian religion agree that

mysteries in the sense that we know never existed in ancient Egypt. The 'Mysteries' of ancient Egyptian religion associated with the god Osiris, and is known as 'Mysteries of Osiris'. These were religious rites in which, during the Middle Kingdom, attended .....

Attendees watched all believers. The Mysteries celebrated at Abydos which was the main temple of God. Most information on the Mysteries from the Greek historian Herodotus.Unfortunately, no mention of the period during which it took place. Bearing in mind the nature of the Mysteries, then we can say that probably took place during the harvest. The Myth of the god Osiris order to understand the mysteries of Osiris, there must be at least a basic knowledge about the myth of the god. With the union of the god Geb (Earth) and the goddess Nut (Sky), born 4 children: Osiris, Isis, Set and the naphtha. King of Egypt was Osiris, who took his wife and his sister Isis. Osiris brought civilization in Egypt. Organized cities, introduced the worship of the Egyptian pantheon as a god of fertility, taught people to farm the land. But his reign did not last long. The kit, which symbolized the very opposite principles of Osiris, like war and barbarism, he decided to kill his brother and take the throne.So, Set killed Osiris, dismembered his body and scatter the pieces in ' four winds. " Isis, determined to find and join all the pieces of her beloved husband and brother, searched for years, gathered up the mutilated members of Osiris and united. Despite the magic of knowledge but could not revive Osiris. All they could do was embalming the body and give him half his life, making it the king of the Underworld and the Dead. but managed somehow to be fertilized by Osiris and bring to earth Horus, the avenger and heir of his father. When Horus arrived at the proper age, was prepared for war against Set. The war lasted for years and will keep forever if you do not intervene by Thoth, the god of wisdom and witchcraft, which divided the two kingdoms of Egypt and Lower Egypt gave (fertile part) in Horus and Upper Egypt (desert) the set. The Mysteries of Osiris represent all the events from the birth of God until the victory of Horus. Herodotus mentions several details. According to descriptions, the Mysteries began with the sunrise in the presence of large numbers of believers. The priests carried the statue of Osiris, which was later replaced a column known as a column Ntzent in a room next to the main temple. Outside the temple, priests representing various scenes from the myth of the god, while other priests tending the statue / column. > When arriving in the death of Osiris, the priests placed the column on the ground underfoot, thus symbolizing the dead god. This is precisely the point during the representation of the battle between Horus and Set, became something very unusual about the nature of the Mysteries: all believers and non-insiders participated. According to Herodotus, as it approached the west, began the reconstruction of the battle. Outside the church had gathered from early believers with clubs in hand: the entrance of the temple were the supporters / soldiers of Horus, while opposite were supporters / soldiers of the Series.The priests then placed on the column in a cart in order to carry the church. During transport, supporters of the set trying to prevent the priests to enter the temple, while supporters of Horus tried to protect them. As a result, it was a real battle between believers, with hits that lead even to death! The above scene is depicted in a tomb in Thebes, dating to around 1405-1370 BC With the victory of Horus, Pharaoh lifted the column and placed upright at the entrance of the temple. From that moment on, the column and symbolized the resurrected Osiris and Horus the winner. A priest who represented the Thoth, gave the column a calf's head, symbolizing the kit, and head of a goat, symbolizing the defeated supporters. After the offerings, the priest who represented Horus during the ceremony, wrap the column with ropes. At that time, the column symbolizing the defeated Set. Let us try to penetrate a little deeper symbolism of these mysteries and analysis. It is obvious that the ancient religion of Osiris and the Sacraments is another example of faith in a god who dies, only to rise again and bring the resurrection of hope for revival, for an afterlife and generally emphasize the strength of the cyclical phase of life. It is known that such rituals and doctrines existed in all ancient cultures and religions. There are sources that indicate that during the Old Kingdom, the Mysteries of Osiris had more the form of 'Mysteries'. Depicting the same events reported before, except that the mysteries were more 'closed loop' and included the commission of human sacrifice. Here, the position of Osiris took a 'fine', which took the place of Pharaoh for a few days or weeks. (In the pre-dynastic period, the Pharaoh himself was 'fine'). In celebration of the Sacraments, the chosen one 'Pharaoh sacrificed in place of Osiris. The sacrifice was done in 3 ways: a) slaughter, where the blood had to irrigate much of the land, b) fire, which scattered the ashes later in the fields, c) throttling, after which his body dismembered and buried in the States different parts of the country (representing the partition of Osiris). Also, a large number of slaves sacrificed to the resurrection of Osiris, symbolizing the massacre of his followers set. The position of slaves took later the sacrifice of many animals. The purpose of the ritual was of course to ensure the fertility of the land, since Osiris was the god of fertility before the 'death' of. After the sacrifices, the position of the resurrected Osiris anymore take the real Pharaoh, who had revived and was worshiped as a god. It is said that sometimes he Pharaoh he was a human sacrifice. In these cases the sacrifice had a dual role: the victim, and symbolized Osiris and Set, and Pharaoh symbolized the avenger Horus and Osiris resurrected. During the Middle Kingdom, the barbarous custom of human sacrifice has replaced the more 'civilized' ceremony column Ntzent.Perhaps the constant change roles during the ceremony of Osiris seem a little confusing, but it must be borne in mind that the initiates who took part in the Sacraments in the Old Kingdom but also the many believers who later participated in the ceremony at the Middle Kingdom, knew very well the symbolism. This is just the odd ˙ the Sacraments other sites, egthe Eleusinian mysteries, or even the oldest mysteries of Osiris, the symbolism and rituals known only to initiates. The reason for which the Mysteries were so openly by the Middle Kingdom onwards, a subject of study for many researchers. LIFE AFTER DEATH, BURIAL CUSTOMS and rituals SECONDARY Mysteries, Reincarnation Most rituals and beliefs of the ancient Egyptians on death from the religion of Osiris. The fact that Osiris became king of the underworld, a world where there was hunger, misery or pain (Paradise), immediately began the belief in the afterlife. Here, the main role played by rituals preparing the dead body of Osiris by Isis and Thoth, and of course the burial. According to the religion of Osiris, no dead could not pass to the underworld if before his burial was not precede all the ritual preparation was at a dead. The ancient Egyptians really believed that man continues to live in the underworld as they lived before. To accomplish this required the 6 elements which consist of: a) the body b) bork (personality) c) u (spirit) d) the edges (soul) e) the name f) the shadow if missing any of these items, then the man was not completed or in normal life, nor in postmortem. Thus, the familiar ritual of mummification came from this need to preserve the body. The details of this procedure are saved until today, also come from Herodotus. It was quite complicated and last about 70 days from the time of death until burial. first removed all internal organs except the heart, which is considered the center being a man.The other bodies washed and placed in 4 kanopika containers that symbolized and protected by 4 sons of Horus. The kanopika pots buried with the mummy. The only instrument that flew the ancient Egyptians because it was considered insignificant brain, which removed with the help of a hooked tool that permeated the nose and pulled from there brain to pieces. The next step was the drying of the body. After filling the inside of the body with resin and various spices over the body buried in a mixture of salt gathered from the Nile.The way they left around 40 days. The remaining 30, follow the ritual of wrapping the mummy. During this period, the mummy wrapped in linen cloth and resin. On each piece of fabric wrote prayers and made special ceremonies, while various talismans also placed among the fabrics. When all was ready, placed the mummy in a sarcophagus, usually limestone, which is elaborately decorated. On the day of burial the priests performed a ritual more which is a minor part of the main mysteries of Osiris. In this case the 'secret' was himself dead. The rituals they had as to completely transform the dead in Osiris. The main role was a priest who is depicting Horus in the performance of sacred duties towards his father. The statue of the deceased took the position of Osiris and the deceased took nicknamed 'Osiris'. The most famous burial ritual was 'Open Mouth'. The priest - Horus drew near the statue of the dead - Osiris with a special tool like a chisel first touched the lips of the statue and then his eyes. In this way, Horus' open the mouth of the deceased to be fed, and his eyes can see in this new life. The tomb also placed various objects that may be needed by the dead, and many small statuettes, called Ousamptis, which would serve him dead in his other life. For the passage of the dead to the underworld and their journey to save many details known to the Egyptian Book of the Dead, a series of texts, images, and prayers that either buried with the dead, or painted on the walls of tombs. These texts help the dead find the easiest path to the underworld. Of course, all these burial rituals were performed initially only for the pharaoh and later for the priests and nobles. The poor people of Egypt could not bury their dead in this way, so they bury in the sand. Given the importance for those who have life after death, we understand the psychological pressure and fear overwhelm them.And if only the dead who were buried with all the appropriate rituals were admitted to the underworld, those who had buried without them were condemned, in folklore, or to return to earth as vampires and cause harm to the living or going to another world, a form of hell, where all were upside down: they walked with his head down and legs High ate the anus and defecates in the mouth. The religion of Osiris brought with it many new ideas. Apart from the afterlife, brought the belief in reincarnation. According to Herodotus, the ancient Egyptians were the first people who argued that the soul was immortal and that after death the human body, the soul came back in the body of an animal. And after going through all of the animal kingdom (land animals, birds, fish) back again with a human body. The time needed to complete this phase of development was 3000 years. And as usual, the process of reincarnation concerned only the pharaohs, priests and nobles. The ancient Egyptians were the first people who established the commission Mysteries in religion, even in prime form.Many ancient writers such as Diodorus of Sicily, Plutarch and Herodotus say that the ancient Egyptian Mysteries was the basis on which were based on the Greek Mysteries, especially the Eleusinian ... volostv