Religion: Themes Of Egyptian Culture And Religion

Through Egyptian culture and religion, various themes can be seen through various works of art such as The Story of Isis and Osiris, The Book of the Dead, and Palette of Narmer. Each of these show various theme through religion and culture; however, the most prominent themes are balance and resolution of contradictions. Both of these themes can be seen in both the day to day beliefs of the Egyptian people and their religious beliefs.

The first theme that will be discussed is the balance. In Egyptian culture, they enjoyed mostly uniform religious, political, and cultural balance. One example of this is through the balance of death and life that can be seen through The Story of Isis and Osiris. In this story, Osiris, Ruler of the underworld and god of the dead, was killed by his evil brother Set (Fiero). Set chopped up the body of his brother and threw it into the Nile river. Isis, Osiris loyal wife and Queen of Heaven, gathered the fragments out of the river and restored him. During this time, Isis also conceived a son with Osiris named Horus. Horus would then overthrow Set and become the ruler of Egypt (Fiero). This story shows the balance between life and death. It also shows the balance between good and evil and described the idea of resurrection.
Furthermore, the Nile river also demonstrates the balance between through Egyptians deep sense of order (Fiero, The Humanistic Tradition, Volume I: Prehistory to the Early Modern World, 2015).
This deep sense of order is through the dependence Egyptians have on the Nile river. The Nile rivers annual overflow which left fertile layers of rich silt along the banks. This lead to the 365-day cycle of the rivers. This cycle became the basis for the solar calendar which created their deep sense of order (Fiero, The Humanistic Tradition, Volume I: Prehistory to the Early Modern World,
2015).

The second theme that will be discussed is the resolution of contradiction. Through the works of The Story of Isis and Osiris and The Book of the Dead various contradictions can be seen. An example of this is the contradictions between the gods such as Isis (God of fertility) and Anubis (God of cemeteries). Another contradiction would be between Osiris (God of the dead) and Creators of the heaven.

In addition, another contradiction that was clearly seen was in the Palette of Narmer ( The Humanistic Tradition, Volume I: Prehistory to the Early Modern World, 2015). This piece of art was created when Northern and Southern Egypt were united. This depiction is clearly seen on the right of the Palette that shows a Falcon, which is the symbol of Horus, holding the leash of the land of Southern Egypt which was symbolized by a severed head. The top of the Palette depicts a victory procession flanked by rows of decapitated heads between their legs (Fiero, The Humanistic Tradition, Volume I: Prehistory to the Early Modern World, 2015). These examples contemplate what was thought as a peaceful transition between Northern and Southern Egypt.

In conclusion, through the various pieces of art, it can be concluded that Egyptians enjoyed a fairly uniform religious and cultural life that helped create a common perception of reality. This perception of reality was created through The Story of Isis, Osiris and The Book of the Dead, and Palette of Narmer through various depicted above. Through these examples, we are able to see the balance between life and death, the contradictions between the gods, and the importance of the land and the Bile river to the Egyptians.

References

(2015). In G. K. Fiero, The Humanistic Tradition, Volume I: Prehistory to the Early Modern World (p. 47).

Fiero, G. K. (2015). In The Humanistic Tradition, Volume I: Prehistory to the Early Modern World (p. 46).

Fiero, G. K. (n.d.). The Humanistic Tradition Volume I: Prehistory to the Early Modern World.