Egypten 2.2 :: A world of gods
- Object description
There was no word for ’religion’ in ancient Egyptian. For the Egyptians, the gods were a way of explaining the world. Believing in them was just part of life.
The Egyptians had a great number of gods, many originating from the gods in the first villages. Some gods gained a higher status and national recognition while others remained local. The gods were woven into families and intricate systems of gods and goddesses relating to different areas of responsibility. The gods were often thought to be able to take the form of animals. Such sacred animals were the lion, vulture, cat, falcon, crocodile, baboon, ibis bird and certain fish.
The worldview of the ancient Egyptians centred on the Nile Valley environment and the natural phenomena seen there. The unknown and what could not be seen – such as where the sun went when not visible in the sky – was also explained in concrete terms, using familiar images taken from nature.
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