Why Was Preparing For The Afterlife The Most Important Aspect Of Egyptian Society?

Through this report I will address the ideas and beliefs the Ancient Egyptians had towards the afterlife and how it affected the way the people went about their daily lives, in particular I will answer the question, “Was preparing for the afterlife the most important aspect of Egyptian society?” This will go into depth about how their lives were drastically affected by the Afterlife and the preparations they underwent and why.
The afterlife was considered a heavenly place that your body and soul travelled to you once you had died. The Ancient Egyptians called the afterlife the Land of Two Fields. The first people to undergo the rituals and preparations for the afterlife were only the Pharaohs, but the god Osiris changed this and made everyone welcome to the afterlife. Entry to the
afterlife was not guaranteed and people had to undergo a dangerous journey through the Underworld and then face a final judgment before access was granted to them.
Preparations for the afterlife include, purchasing of small funerary items such as their coffin, which was the most important item they required. It was designed to protect the physical body in the underworld and the spiritual body in the afterlife, jewellery and furniture. There was 2 groups of items, one being items that would protect them on their journey through the underworld and the afterlife such as the Book of the Dead (or other funerary texts) from which they needed to memorise spells and formulas to help them on their journey and amulets, to give them magical powers and to protect and heal, and building their tombs. Once the souls had passed through the underworld they would be put to judgment in the Hall of Two Truths, with the god Anubis, whom was the god of the dead along with 42 other deities and judges. The heart is then weighed
alongside the heart of Ma’at, the goddess of truth and justice. If the heart of the deceased outweighs the heart of Ma’at because of evil deeds, the heart will be consumed by the god Ammut and the deceased will not be granted access to the Afterlife. If the heart is equal with the heart of the goddess, then the deceased has lead a pure, ethical and honest life and will be presented in front of Osiris to make their way to the Afterlife.
How did the Ancient Egyptian people prepare for the afterlife? The ancient Egyptian people spent their whole lives making sacrifices and not indulging in things because they were saving most of their money and belongings for the finest burial items their money would allow them to buy. Majority of the time their houses were made out of mud bricks when they could have afforded to be using granite or limestone. They spent their money on buying the most enduring and long lasting stone they could for their burial temples and spent years upon years planning and excavating their tombs to ensure they were in the best condition they could be, as these were the places they were to spend their time for the rest of eternity. Tombs were often referred to as ‘Houses of Eternity’. They were more often than not built on the western bank of the Nile, this corresponds with the rising and setting of the Sun, as it rises on the East which signifies rebirth, and sets on the West which signifies death, relating back to why the tombs are on the western bank. They were built from non-perishable materials such a stone to prevent their destruction.