River of death in Egyptian mythology. Ancient mythology of Egypt: features, gods, myths

Ancient Egypt, despite everything, remains one of the most mysterious civilizations. It is still called the “gift of the Nile” and is considered the birthplace of the pyramids and the Sphinx, which gazed into the boundless sands. The past and present of this state are intertwined with threads historical events And amazing stories. Ancient Egyptian myths are a truly valuable gift that helps modern historians unravel many of the mysteries of this country’s past. It is in them that the meaning of existence and their interaction with the outside world lies.

Features of Egyptian mythology

Even without being a historian, any person realizes that mythology of any ancient civilization based on the worldview of a particular people. The ancient mythology of Egypt has amazing features that are contained in numerous symbols hidden behind everyday events. It is almost impossible to understand them through a cold mind. To do this, you need to take a philosophical look at what is hidden behind the string of words. What does it consist of? main feature these ancient tales and legends? Ancient Egyptian mythology, first of all, called on a person not to resist current events, not to go against what is now commonly called fate, because everything done contrary to the “wise order” will turn against humanity.

Heroes of the myths of Ancient Egypt

The first myths in Egypt were written, or rather, told, even before the construction of the famous pyramids. They contained legends about the creation of all life on earth. In addition, the ancient mythology of Egypt contained stories about the struggle of gods for power. Unlike many eastern peoples, the Egyptians did not like to include in myths ordinary people, therefore, their main characters have always been numerous gods. The Egyptians revered and loved some, while others were feared or outright afraid. At the same time, the population of Ancient Egypt was considered close to the divine principle, because, according to the same myths, the gods in ancient times lived among people, and their direct descendants became kings and took care of their people.

Villain Gods and Helper Gods

What and who did mythology talk about? ancient egypt? Gods are the main characters of similar works in many other civilizations. And ancient Egyptian is no exception. As mentioned above, the Egyptians divided all gods into good and evil. If it was possible to “agree” with the former with the help of offerings, then the latter knew no mercy and could moderate their anger only after huge sacrifices were made to them in the form of human lives. It's time to remember all the higher beings that ancient Egyptian mythology has ever mentioned.

There were several supreme gods in Egypt; this depended primarily on the regions of a given state. Everywhere, Egyptians revered and respected the sun god Ra, and the pharaohs were considered his children. In Thebes (Upper Egypt) he was considered Amon-Ra, the god of the wind and the sun, while in Lower Egypt Atum, the god of the setting sun, reigned supreme. In Heliopolis, located in Lower Egypt, the main deity was Geb, the god of the earth, and in Memphis - Ptah. Such is the diversity. It is worth noting that in ancient Egyptian mythology there was more than one sun god. In those days, the Egyptians extolled not only the luminary itself, but also the stages of its existence on earth: the morning and evening sun. In addition, the god of the solar disk Aten was perceived as a separate divine principle.

In addition to the creatures described above, the myths about the ancient gods of Egypt also mentioned other, no less important and influential entities. Positive roles in this case belonged to Amat for sins), Apis (patron of fertility and strength), as well as Horus (god of the dawn or rising sun). In addition, often with positive side Anubis, Isis, Osiris and Ptah were mentioned in myths. The following were considered cruel, and, therefore, unloved higher entities in Egypt: Sebek - the god of lakes and rivers, who could only be appeased by making great sacrifices to him, Seth - the lord of the winds and the desert, Sekhmet - the goddess of war, cruel and merciless to all people.

Particularly interesting are the ancient Egyptian myths about heaven and earth, that is, the world. In different centers of Egypt, the main role was assigned to one deity, while others were either his assistants or resisted and plotted. There was only one point of contact between these cosmogonistic directions - the deity Nun, symbolizing the Primordial Chaos.

Myths about the creation of the world according to Heliopolis

The population of the Egyptian city of Heliopolis and its environs believed that the creation of the world, or rather, of everything on earth, took place thanks to Atum. In their opinion, it was this god who was the very first creature to arise in the depths of Nun - a vast, cold and dark substance. Not finding a solid place from which he could try to create light and heat, Atum created Ben-Ben - a hill rising in the middle of the cold, lifeless ocean.

After some thought about what else to create, God decided to create Shu (the god of the wind), who could set the surface of the ocean in motion, and Tefnut (the goddess of world order), who was called upon to ensure that Shu did not destroy what will be created next. Nun, seeing such a miracle, endowed Shu and Tefnut with one soul between them. Since there was no light in this new world, the first gods suddenly became lost. Atum sent his Eye to search for them, which soon led his children to their ancestor. Out of joy, Atum shed tears; they dripped onto the earth’s surface and turned into people.

Shu and Tefnut, meanwhile, gave birth to Geb and Nut, who soon began to live as husband and wife. Soon the goddess of the firmament Nut gave birth to Osiris, Set and Horus, Isis and Nephthys. The entire divine family, according to this myth, constitutes the Great Nine Gods of Egypt. But this is far from the only version of the order of appearance of higher beings, and therefore their primacy. The ancient mythology of Egypt contains several more stories on this topic.

Creation of the World: Memphis Cosmogony

According to the version of the creation of the world, set out in the scrolls that were found in Memphis, the first god to arise in the depths of Nun was Ptah, representing the firmament of the earth. By an effort of will, he tore himself out of the earth and gained a body. Ptah decided to create faithful helpers for himself from the same material from which he himself arose, that is, from the earth. The first to be born was Atum, who, by the will of his father, recreated the Great Nine Gods of Egypt from the darkness of Nun. Bird could only endow them with wisdom and power.

Theban version of the origin of the world

In Thebes the story is somewhat different from those followed in other areas of Ancient Egypt. The first and most significant difference is the number of gods: if in other versions it was the Great Nine, then the Theban suggests the presence of three supreme beings: Mina - Amun - the sun god, and the war god Montu. Ming was considered the creator of the whole world. Somewhat later, Min and Amon were already presented as a single deity, symbolizing the sun, which gives light, warmth and rich harvests.

Hermopolis cosmogony on the origin of the world

The largest pantheon of ancient Egyptian "primordial" gods existed in the mythological version of the creation of the world found at Hermopolis. In the abyss of the Great Chaos (Nuna), forces aimed at destruction reigned, consisting of three pairs of deities: Nisa and Niaut, symbolizing emptiness, Tenema and Tenemuit, symbolizing disappearance in the darkness, as well as Gerech and Gerecht - the gods of night and darkness. They were opposed by four pairs of deities endowed with positive powers: Huh and Hauhet (gods of infinity), Nun and Naunet Kuk and Kauket (gods of darkness), Amon and Amaunet (invisible gods). This is the so-called Great Eight. floating for a long time in the waters of the ocean, they created an egg and placed it on the only place above the water - Fire Hill. After some time, a young Ra hatched from him, who was given the name Khepri. So there were nine gods, and they were able to start creating people.

Life after death in Egyptian myths

The myths and legends of Ancient Egypt were not only dedicated to the creation of the world. The faith that reigned in this country assumed the existence of life after death. In Egyptian mythology, the underworld was a large, deep river, with boats scurrying between its banks. The souls of dead people, according to myths, after the extinction of the body, found themselves in such a boat and made a long journey between the world of the living and the dead. Only upon reaching the opposite shore could the soul of the deceased calm down. The success of this journey was ensured by the gods: Anubis was responsible for the safety of the body before and after burial, Selket protected the souls of the dead, Sokar guarded the gates of the underworld, Upuat accompanied the souls during the journey along the River of the Dead.

Preservation of the body of the deceased was also of great importance, for which purpose it was mummified, preserving internal organs in separate vessels. According to legend, a person could be reborn if all the rituals were carried out exactly as prescribed by the great wise law.

The fight between good and evil in Egyptian myths

The ancient mythology of Egypt did not ignore such a theme as the struggle between good and evil. To date, many stories have been translated about how the gods of Egypt fought with evil divine beings, who were most often represented in the form of crocodiles and hippopotamuses. The main fighter against them was, of course, the Sun God, and the main helpers in restoring order were the original gods - Shu, Montu, Nut and others. According to mythology, Ra's battles with evil take place every day, and not only in the world of the living, but also in the kingdom of the dead.

Ancient Egypt is a great civilization of bygone eras, which originated on the banks of the Nile River. This country still excites the minds of many researchers of antiquity with its mysteries and secrets, many of which remain unsolved.

Mythology of Ancient Egypt

The mythology of the ancient Egyptians was created under the influence of religion. The worship of the gods was the basis for the emergence of myths, and the afterlife was assigned a key role. The citizens of the ancient country paid even more attention to life after death than to earthly existence. All this was reflected in the grandiose - famous pyramids, which were not just tombs of kings, but carried a deeper religious and sacred meaning.
Scientists have been able to decipher ancient Egyptian writings written on papyrus, temple stones and tomb walls. Thanks to this, it was possible to recreate the beliefs, legends and myths of Ancient Egypt, which describe the acts of evil and good deities.

Gods of Ancient Egypt: myths

Some deities caused fear among the ancient Egyptians because they were evil and cruel to people. Other good deities, on the contrary, bestowed protection and help. The gods were depicted by the Egyptians as animals or people with the head or other part of the body from an animal. For example, Anubis, the god of the underworld, was painted as a man with the head of a jackal or dog.
The peculiarity of the mythological beliefs of Ancient Egypt is that in different cult centers of the country different figures were recognized as the supreme deities. In particular, in the temples of Heliopolis the main one was the god of the rising sun; he had two more hypostases, namely Atum - the god of the setting sun and Khepri - the creator in the form of a scarab. From Ra came the wind god Shu and the moisture goddess Tefnut, from whom the deities of earth and sky - Geb and Nut - were born. Osiris, the son of Ra and Nut, became the earthly ruler; he had a wife, the goddess of love and family. The main rival of Osiris was the evil god of the deserts, Set.
In the temples of Memphis they believed that the main creator of this world was the god Ptah. He had a wife, Sekhmet, the goddess of war and healing, she was depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness. Horus with the head of a falcon was considered the sun god - the patron and protector of the pharaohs. The lunar god Thoth personified wisdom and writing, he was a judge in conflicts between deities.

Tomb TT2 Valley of the Kings. Egypt

Legends - myths of Ancient Egypt

Creation Myth
Once upon a time, there was nothing but the vast ocean of Chaos - Nun. But a miracle happened and the first god Atum appeared from the water. He makes a hill and sits on it, thinking about the creation of the world. Atum creates the god of wind - Shu and the goddess of rain and water - Tefnut, who could control the ocean. But in the darkness that then ruled the Universe, he loses his children. Hoping to find what was lost, Atum tears out his eye and sends it to the depths of Nun. Without waiting for his eye to return, God makes himself something else.

After a while, Atum's eye returns with the missing children, but when he saw what happened, he became angry with his owner and turned into a cobra, wanting revenge. But Atum just took poisonous snake and placed it on his forehead so that she could contemplate the beauty of the world he created. From that moment on, all pharaohs wore the uraeus snake on their crown. Then a white lotus appeared from the water, and Ra emerged from the flower. illuminated the dark world, and when he saw Atum, Shu and Tefnut, tears of joy rolled down from his eyes. After falling to the ground, the tears turned into people.

Tombs of Ancient Egypt. Cult of Nut

The reign of Osiris and the conspiracy of Set
In the five days that Thoth won from the Moon, Nut gives birth to five children. The very first was Osiris, the main ruler, and after him his brother Horus was born. The third, ahead of schedule, appears from the side of the sky goddess the evil Set - the god of wars, natural disasters and the desert. He had an animal head and terrible reddish eyes and hair. The fourth Nut gave birth to Isis, the goddess of love and family, who fell in love with her husband and brother even before birth. The last to be born to her mother was Nephthys, the patroness of the souls of the afterlife, who became the wife of Seth.
Osiris sat on the earthly throne. At that time, the inhabitants of Egypt were barbarians, but Osiris, together with Thoth, taught people writing, languages, construction, art and various crafts. Under the reign of the wise god, the Golden Age began. And then Osiris went to enlighten the population of other lands, leaving him on the throne in his place. The goddess, with the help of Thoth, gave people magic, medicine and healing, passing on to women the knowledge of family care and housekeeping.
Osiris later returned, during which time Seth secretly fell in love with his wife Isis and wanted to kill his brother in order to sit on the throne. The god of the deserts organizes a conspiracy against Osiris, and takes as his assistants 72 demons who show hostility towards the king. They throw a feast at which they trick Osiris into a specially made box and throw him into fast waters rivers.

How did Anubis appear?
Before the murder of her brother by the evil Set, Nephthys was inflamed with love for Osiris. She, wanting to share a bed with a powerful god, came to him at night in the form of his wife Isis. Later, from this couple, the god Anubis is born, the protector of the souls of the dead.
Having betrayed Seth, Nephthys fears his revenge and the murder of the little

Egyptian mythology- one of the most ancient. It began to form around 5 thousand years BC, long before the emergence of a developed civilization. Each region developed its own pantheon of goddesses and gods, its own myths.

In Egyptian mythology, the cult of the dead and the other world played a huge role. The Book of the Dead tells about the afterlife, which was written from the period of the New Kingdom to the end of the history of Ancient Egypt.

A characteristic feature of Egyptian mythology is the deification of animals. Many goddesses and gods appear either as an animal or as a human being with the head of an animal or bird. This feature testifies to the deep archaism of the mythology of ancient Egypt, as it goes back to primitive totemism - the belief that people (or different tribes) descended from certain animals or birds.

Egyptian mythology has changed over time. The dynasties that ruled the country played a large role in the changes. They brought to the forefront the deity who patronized their family. The pharaohs of the 5th dynasty of the Old Kingdom brought Ra, the sun god, to the first place, since they came from Heliopolis (the “solar city”).

During the Middle Kingdom, the main god was Amun from the city of Thebes. From the end of the 3rd millennium BC. Osiris, the god of the dead, plays a special role.

Myths of ancient Egypt

According to ancient Egyptian mythology, the world from the very beginning was a bottomless abyss of water called Nun. From the primordial chaos, gods emerged who created the earth, sky, people, plants and animals. The sun god Ra was born from a lotus flower and illuminated the earth with his light.

The first nine gods became the rulers of Egypt - the pharaohs. People understood summer heat and drought as the wrath of the solar deity, who punishes people for deviating from traditions.

The struggle between light and darkness in Egyptian mythology

A large cycle of myths of ancient Egypt is dedicated to the struggle of the Sun with the forces of darkness. The most terrible enemy of the gods is the monstrous serpent Apep, who reigns in the underworld. The sun god Ra goes to the underworld along the waters of the “underground Nile” and defeats the serpent.

The son of the god Ra, Horus, in the form of a falcon, defeats not only all enemies who take the form of crocodiles and hippos, but also the leader of evil forces - the demon Set.

Myths about Osiris

One of the most famous gods of ancient Egyptian mythology is Osiris. Osiris was considered the god of agriculture, wine, grapes, as well as all the life-giving forces of nature.

Osiris was one of the “dying and rising” gods who personify the change of seasons, as well as the grains that, when germinating, give life to ears of corn and a new harvest.

At first Osiris ruled over all of Egypt, and the times of his reign were abundant and fertile. But his treacherous younger brother, Set, planned to kill him and take away his power.

The sister (and at the same time wife) of Osiris, Isis, searches for the body of her murdered husband for a long time, after which she gives birth to his son, Horus. When Horus grows up, he defeats Set and brings his father back to life. However, Osiris, after returning to the world of people, does not want to remain in it. Instead, he chooses the afterlife, in which he becomes the ruler and judge, weighing on the scales the sins that people committed during life.

The Egyptians believed that if the funeral ritual was strictly observed, then later they, like Osiris, could be reborn for eternal life.

Nile - the pearl of Egypt

It is impossible to imagine Egypt without myths about the Nile, because this river gave rise to one of the most ancient human civilizations. It was thanks to the Nile that the Egyptians managed to build a developed agricultural society.

The Nile in ancient Egyptian mythology flowed not only through the Earth - the world of people - but also through Heaven and the underworld. The Egyptians imagined the “earthly” Nile in the form of the god Hapi, who with his floods saturated the soil with fertile silt and fed people.

The river was inhabited by good and evil spirits who took the form of animals: crocodiles, hippos, frogs, snakes, scorpions.

Myths of Egypt in neighboring countries

The myths of ancient Egypt widely penetrated into neighboring countries, including Ancient Rome, where Isis was especially revered. In Isis, many Romans saw the Great Goddess - the mother of all things. At the same time, this image evoked conflicting feelings - the Roman authorities tried to fight the dominance of “alien” deities, whose cults began to supplant the ancient Roman deities themselves.

In our time, Egyptian mythology, along with Greco-Roman mythology, serves as a rich source for literature and painting. Filmmakers have repeatedly approached her. The famous director Roland Emmerich's film "Stargate" and the science fiction television series of the same name, which aired for ten years, are based on the images of ancient Egyptian mythology.

In the illustrations:

1. Horus, Osiris and Isis on an original ancient Egyptian amulet

2. God Ra sails through the underworld in a boat, accompanied by other gods

3. Goddess Isis in an ancient Egyptian image

4. Osiris - the central deity of fertility in ancient Egypt

Records of funeral rites on the walls of tombs. The most significant of them are the “Pyramid Texts” - the oldest texts of funeral royal rituals, carved on the walls of the interior of the pyramids of the pharaohs of the V and VI dynasties of the Old Kingdom (26-23 centuries BC); “Texts of sarcophagi”, preserved on sarcophagi from the era of the Middle Kingdom (21-18 centuries BC), “Book of the Dead” (see Fig. 1) - compiled from the period of the New Kingdom to the end of the history of Ancient Egypt (see . Fig. 2), collections of funeral texts. Mythological ideas are also reflected in such texts as “The Book of the Cow”, “The Book of Vigil Hours”, “Books about the Underworld”, “The Book of Breathing”, “Amduat”, etc.

Significant material is provided by recordings of dramatic mysteries that were performed during religious holidays and the coronation celebrations of the pharaohs by the priests, and in some cases by the pharaoh himself, who delivered recorded speeches on behalf of the gods.

Of great interest are magical texts, conspiracies and spells, which are often based on episodes from legends about the gods, inscriptions on statues, steles, etc., and iconographic material. The source of information about Egyptian mythology is also the works of ancient authors: Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century. BC, Plutarch (1st-2nd centuries AD), who left a detailed work “On Osiris”, etc.

An important role in E. m. was played by the idea of the afterlife as a direct continuation of the earthly, but only in the grave. Her the necessary conditions- preserving the body of the deceased (hence the custom of mummifying corpses), providing housing for him (tomb), food (funeral gifts and sacrifices brought by the living). Later, ideas arise that the dead (i.e., them) go out during the day sunlight, fly up to heaven to the gods, wander through the underworld ().

The essence of man was thought of in the inextricable unity of his body, souls (there were believed to be several of them: , ba; Russian word"soul", however, is not an exact correspondence to the Egyptian concept), name, shadow.

A soul wandering through the underworld is in wait for all sorts of monsters, from which you can escape with the help of special spells and prayers. The afterlife rules over the deceased, together with other gods (the 125th chapter of the “Book of the Dead” is specially dedicated to him).

In the face of Osiris, psychostasia occurs: the heart of the deceased is weighed on scales balanced by truth (the image of the goddess or its symbols).

The sinner was devoured by the terrible monster Amt (with the head of a crocodile), the righteous man came to life for happy life on the fields . He could have been acquitted at the trial of Osiris, according to the so-called. “Negative Confession”, contained in the 125th chapter of the “Book of the Dead” (a list of sins that the deceased did not commit), only the submissive and patient in earthly life, the one who did not steal, did not encroach on temple property, did not rebel, did not speak evil against, etc., as well as “pure in heart” (“I am pure, pure, pure,” states the deceased at the trial).

The most characteristic feature of E. m. is the deification of animals, which arose in ancient times and especially intensified in later periods history of Egypt. Deities embodied in animals were initially generally considered patrons of hunting; with the domestication of animals, some became deities of pastoralists.

The most revered animals - incarnations of various deities included (,) and a cow (, Isis), a ram (Amon and), a snake, a crocodile (), a cat (), a lion (the incarnation of many gods:, Sekhmet, Hathor, etc.) , jackal (Anubis (see Fig. 3)), falcon (), ibis (Thoth; the arrival of the ibis-Thoth in Egypt was associated with the Nile floods), etc.

Later, the pantheon was anthropomorphized, but zoomorphic features in the appearance of deities were not completely supplanted and were usually combined with anthropomorphic ones. For example, Bast was depicted as a woman with a cat's head, Thoth as a man with the head of an ibis, etc. (see Fig. 4)

Gods in the forms of bulls and cows were revered in many nomes. One demotic papyrus records the myth that at first all the gods and goddesses were bulls and cows with wool of different colors. Then, at the behest of the supreme god, all the bulls were incarnated into one black bull, and all the cows - into one black cow. The cult of the bull, which in ancient times was probably associated with the veneration of the tribal leader, with the emergence of the ancient Egyptian state began to move closer to the cult of the pharaoh.

In early texts the king was called a "calf". On the palette of King Narmer (Menes?) (c. 3000 BC) (see Fig. 5) the pharaoh in the form of a bull destroys the fortress of the enemy (Lower Egypt). During "Heb-sed" (the thirtieth anniversary of the pharaoh), an ox's tail was tied to the back of the king's robe. In Memphis, and then throughout Egypt, a black bull with white markings was considered the incarnation of the god Apis.

Both good and evil deities were embodied in the form of snakes. The head of all the enemies of the sun - was considered huge snake , personifying darkness and evil. At the same time, the goddess of fertility Renenutet, the goddess - guardian of cemeteries, was revered in the form of a snake., Isis and - protector of Osiris and, therefore, any deceased, goddess - patroness of Lower Egypt, guardian of Ra and Pharaoh, etc.

With the development of the ancient Egyptian state, mythological ideas changed. The cults of numerous local deities retained their importance, but the veneration of some of them spread beyond the boundaries of individual nomes and even acquired general Egyptian significance. With the establishment of the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, which originated from the city of Heliopolis, the center of the veneration of Ra, he became the main deity of Egypt.

During the era of the Middle Kingdom and especially since the reign of the XVIII (Theban) dynasty of the New Kingdom, another sun god, the Theban Amon, was established as the main god (the pharaohs of the Middle and New Kingdoms came from Thebes). Osiris as the god of the dead displaces from the end of the 3rd millennium BC. the ancient god - patron of the dead Anubis - a jackal always scurrying around the cemetery (who turned into the god - guardian of the necropolis and protector of Osiris in the mysteries dedicated to him), as well as the Abydos god of the dead , adopting the epithet “first in the West” (i.e. “first of the dead”). The rise of new religious and political centers and the development of theological thought were accompanied by a process of fusion and syncretization of gods. For example, Ra is identified with Amon,, Ptah, , with Ra - , Horus, Amon, Osiris, Ptah, etc.

The most significant cycles of myths of Ancient Egypt are the myths about the creation of the world, about the solar deities and about Osiris. Initially, it was believed that the world was a primeval abyss of waters -. Out of the chaos came the gods who created the earth, sky, people, animals, etc.

The first god was the sun, usually playing the role of. One of the myths says that a hill emerged from the waters, on which a flower blossomed (see Fig. 7), and from there appeared (the sun - Ra), (see Fig. 8), “illuminating the earth, which was in darkness.”

In other myths, the appearance of the sun is associated with an egg laid on a hill that rose from chaos by the bird “the great Gogotun.” There was a myth according to which the sun was born in the form of a calf by a huge cow - the sky. (The Pyramid Texts speak about Ra, the “golden calf born of heaven.” See Fig. 9). Along with this, there were ideas about the goddess of the sky - a woman who gives birth to the sun in the morning, swallows it in the evening - as a result, night comes - and the next morning gives birth to it again. (Remnants of the idea that conception occurs from swallowing have also been preserved by folklore: in “The Tale of Two Brothers,” Bata’s unfaithful wife conceived by accidentally swallowing a wood chip).

In some myths, male deities are the ancestors. In the Heliopolitan myth, the god Atum, identified with the sun - Ra, who emerged from chaos - Nuna (“who created himself”), fertilized himself by swallowing his own seed, and gave birth, spitting out of his mouth, the first gods, a pair and Tefnut (god and goddess of moisture). They, in turn, produced a second pair: the god of the earth and the sky goddess Nut, who gave birth to Isis and Nephthys, Osiris and Set. These gods make up the famous Heliopolitan "nine" - the Ennead, revered throughout Egypt and invariably present in religious texts. Gods considered the first kings of Egypt.

In the Memphis myth of the creation of the world, dating back to the Old Kingdom, the local god Ptah is the demiurge. Unlike Atum, Ptah, who created the first eight gods, first conceived creation in his heart (the heart is the “seat of thought”) and called them his tongue (Ptah created with “tongue and heart,” i.e., thought and word).

In the same way, he created the whole world: earth and sky, people, animals, plants, cities, temples, crafts and arts, and established the cults of the gods. In this myth, Ptah is endowed with all the attributes of a king.

During the period of the New Kingdom with the rise of the XVIII (Theban) dynasty (16-14 centuries BC), the Theban god Amon, identified with Ratheban, was established as the demiurge, who is called the king of all gods: “Father of fathers and all gods, who raised the sky and who established the land.

The third main cycle of myths of Ancient Egypt is associated with Osiris. The cult of Osiris is associated with the spread of agriculture in Egypt. He is the god of the productive forces of nature (in the Book of the Dead he is called grain, in the Pyramid Texts he is the god of the vine), withering and resurrecting vegetation.

So, sowing was considered the funeral of the grain - Osiris, the emergence of shoots was perceived as his rebirth, and the cutting of ears during the harvest was perceived as the killing of God. These functions of Osiris are reflected in an extremely widespread legend describing him and his rebirth. Osiris, who reigned happily in Egypt, was treacherously killed by his younger brother, the evil Set. Osiris’s sisters Isis (who is also his wife) and Nephthys search for the body of the murdered man for a long time, and when they find it, they mourn.

Isis conceives a son, Horus, from her dead husband. Having matured, Horus enters into a fight with Set; at the court of the gods, with the help of Isis, he achieves recognition of himself as the only rightful heir of Osiris. Having defeated Set, Horus resurrects his father. However, Osiris, not wanting to remain on earth, becomes king and supreme judge over the dead. The throne of Osiris on earth passes to Horus. (In a version of the myth, the resurrection of Osiris is associated with the annual floods of the Nile, which are explained by the fact that Isis, mourning Osiris, after the “night of tears” fills the river with her tears.)

Already in the era of the Old Kingdom, living pharaohs are considered as “servants of Horus” (which is intertwined with ideas about Horus of Bekhdet) and the successor of his power, and the dead are identified with Osiris. The pharaoh, thanks to a magical funeral rite, comes to life after death in the same way as Osiris came to life. Since the era of the Middle Kingdom, not only the pharaoh, but also every deceased Egyptian has been identified with Osiris, and in funeral texts the name “Osiris” must be placed before the name of the deceased.

This “democratization” of ideas about Osiris after the fall of the Old Kingdom is associated with the strengthening of the nobility and the emergence of a layer of rich commoners in the. 3rd millennium BC The cult of Osiris becomes the center of all funeral beliefs. It was believed that every Egyptian, like Osiris, would be reborn for eternal afterlife, if the entire funeral ritual is observed.

Myths associated with Osiris are reflected in numerous rituals. At the end of the last winter month "Khoyak" - the beginning of the first month of spring "Tibi" the mysteries of Osiris were performed, during which the main episodes of the myth about him were reproduced in dramatic form. Priestesses in the images of Isis and Nephthys depicted the search, mourning and burial of the god. Then the “great battle” took place between Horus and Set.

The drama ended with the erection of the “djed” pillar dedicated to Osiris, symbolizing the rebirth of God and, indirectly, of all nature. In the predynastic period, the holiday ended with the struggle of two groups of participants in the mysteries: one of them represented winter, and the other. Summer always won (the resurrection of nature).

After the unification of the country under the rule of the rulers of Upper Egypt, the nature of the mysteries changes. Now two groups are fighting, one of which is in the clothes of Upper Egypt, and the other - of Lower Egypt. Victory, naturally, remains with the group symbolizing Upper Egypt. During the days of the Mysteries of Osiris, dramatized rites of coronation of the pharaohs were also celebrated. During the mystery, the young pharaoh acted as Horus, the son of Isis, and the deceased king was portrayed as Osiris sitting on the throne.

The character of Osiris as the god of vegetation was reflected in another cycle of rituals. In a special room of the temple, a clay likeness of the figure of Osiris was erected, which was sown with grain. For the holiday of Osiris, his image was covered with green shoots, which symbolized the rebirth of the god. In the drawings, the mummy of Osiris is often seen with shoots sprouted from it, which are watered by the priest (see Fig. 14).

The idea of Osiris as the god of fertility was also transferred to the pharaoh, who was considered the magical focus of the country’s fertility and therefore participated in all the main rituals of an agricultural nature: with the onset of the rise of the Nile, he threw a scroll into the river - a decree that the beginning of the flood had arrived; the first to solemnly begin preparing the soil for sowing (the mace of the beginning of the Old Kingdom with the image of a pharaoh loosening the ground with a hoe has been preserved); cut the first sheaf at the harvest festival (see Fig. 15); for the whole country he made a thanksgiving sacrifice to the goddess of the harvest Renenutet and the statues of the dead pharaohs after completing field work.

The wide spread of the cult of Osiris was also reflected in ideas about Isis.

Revered as the loving sister and selflessly devoted wife of Osiris, caring mother baby Horus and at the same time a great sorceress (the myth of Ra and the snake, versions of the myth according to which Osiris was revived by Isis herself, etc.), in the Greco-Roman era she turned into the pan-Egyptian great mother goddess, and her cult spread far beyond the borders of Egypt (see Fig. 16). R. I. Rubinstein

Ra, Onuris, Thoth (see Fig. 17), Ptah, Khnum, Hapi, Hathor were also revered in Kush (in the myth about her journey to Nubia, the god who returned her to Egypt was identified with Shu Arensnupis). The inhabitants of Kush also adopted many of the Egyptian ideas about the afterlife and the judgment that Osir would execute on the dead.

E. E. Kormysheva (Minkovskaya)

Paintings and reliefs in tombs were supposed to be created for the deceased familiar surroundings: they depicted his house, family members, festivals, servants and slaves in the fields and in the workshops, etc. The tombs also contained figurines of servants engaged in various types agricultural, craft work, servicing the deceased. In the burials of the New Kingdom era, the so-called. Ushabti, special figurines, usually in the form of a swaddled mummy. It was believed that the deceased would revive them with the power of magical spells and they would work for him in the afterlife.

Religious and magical literature, which depicted many of the mythological ideas of the Egyptians, had high literary merits. Mythological subjects are widely reflected in fairy tales. For example, in the fairy tale “Snake Island” (“Shipwrecked”) there is a huge snake that can incinerate a person with its breath, but can also save him and predict the future. This image arose under the influence of ideas about snake gods.

In another tale, the god Ra appears to Reddedet, the wife of the priest Rauser, in the form of her husband, and from this marriage three twins are born - children of the sun, the founders of a new dynasty of pharaohs. Under the influence of the myth of Osiris, a fairy tale was created about two brothers Bata and Anubis, in which the falsely accused Bata dies and then comes to life again with the help of Anubis (the features of the god Bata, the bull, are also preserved in the image of Bata). In the fairy tale “On Falsehood and Truth,” the younger brother blinds the elder (whose name is Osiris) and takes possession of his goods, but Osiris’s son Horus avenges his father and restores justice. The tale of the wise young man Sa-Osiris (his name means “Son of Osiris”) describes the afterlife, where he leads his father, and the judgment of the dead.

Lit.: Korostovtsev M. A., Religion of Ancient Egypt, M., 1976, Mathieu M. E., Ancient Egyptian myths. [Research and translations of texts with commentary], M., 1956; Frantsov G.P., Scientific atheism, Izbr. works, M., 1972; Bonnet H., Reallexikon der dgyptischen Rehgionsgeschichte, B., 1952; Kees H., Der Götterglaube im Alten Agypten, 2 Aufl., B., 1956; his, Totenglauben und Jenseitsvorstellungen der alten Agypter, B., 1956; Erman A., Die Religion der Agypter, B., 1934; Cerny J., Ancient Egyptian religion, L., ; Vandier J., La religion égyptienne, P., 1949; Drioton E., La religion йgyptienne, in: Histoire des religions, t. 3, pt. l, P, 1955; Morenz S., Dgyptische Religion, Stuttg., ; Breasted J. H., Development of religion and thought in ancient Egypt, N. Y., 1912.

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EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

The sources for studying the mythology of Ancient Egypt are characterized by incomplete and unsystematic presentation. The nature and origin of many myths are reconstructed on the basis of later texts. The main monuments that reflected the mythological ideas of the Egyptians are various religious texts: hymns and prayers to the gods, records of funeral rites on the walls of tombs. The most significant of them are the “Pyramid Texts” - the oldest texts of funeral royal rituals, carved on the walls of the interior of the pyramids of the pharaohs of the V and VI dynasties of the Old Kingdom (26-23 centuries BC); “Texts of sarcophagi”, preserved on sarcophagi from the Middle Kingdom era (21-18 centuries BC), “Book of the Dead” - compiled from the period of the New Kingdom to the end of the history of Ancient Egypt, collections of funeral texts. Mythological ideas are also reflected in such texts as “The Book of the Cow”, “The Book of Vigil Hours”, “Books of the Underworld”, “The Book of Breathing”, “Amduat”, etc. Significant material is provided by records of dramatic mysteries, which were performed during religious holidays and coronation celebrations of the pharaohs by priests, and in some cases by the pharaoh himself, who delivered recorded speeches on behalf of the gods. Of great interest are magical texts, conspiracies and spells, which are often based on episodes from legends about the gods, inscriptions on statues, steles, etc., and iconographic material. The source of information about Egyptian mythology is also the works of ancient authors: Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century. BC e., Plutarch (1st-2nd centuries AD), who left a detailed work “On Isis and Osiris”, etc.
E. m. began to form in the 6th-4th millennium BC. e., long before the emergence of class society. Each region (nome) develops its own pantheon and cult of gods, embodied in heavenly bodies, stones, trees, animals, birds, snakes, etc. The nome itself is also personified in the image of a special deity; for example, the goddess of the Hermopolis nome was considered Unut, revered in the form of a hare. Later, local deities were usually grouped in the form of a triad led by the demiurge god, the patron of nome, around whom cycles of mythological legends were created (for example, the Theban triad - the sun god Amon, his wife Mut - goddess of the sky, their son Khonsu - god of the moon; Memphis - Bird, his wife Sekhmet - goddess of war, their son Nefertum - god of vegetation, etc.). Female deities, as a rule, had the functions of a mother goddess (especially Mut, Isis). The firmament was usually represented as a cow with a body covered with stars, but sometimes it was personified in the form of a female goddess Well t which, bent in an arc, touches the ground with the ends of the fingers and toes. “Mighty is your heart..., O Great One, who has become the sky... You fill every place with your beauty. The whole earth lies before you - you have embraced it, you have surrounded the earth and all things with your hands,” says the “Pyramid Texts.” There were ideas according to which the sky is a water surface, the heavenly Nile, along which the sun flows around the earth during the day. There is also the Nile underground, along which the sun, having descended beyond the horizon, floats at night. God was the embodiment of the earth in some nomes Geb, in others - Aker. The Nile, which flowed on earth, was personified in the image of the god Hapi, who contributed to the harvest with his beneficial floods. The Nile itself was also inhabited by good and evil deities in the form of animals: crocodiles, hippopotamuses, frogs, scorpions, snakes, etc. The fertility of the fields was controlled by the goddess - the mistress of bins and barns, Renenutet, revered in the form of a snake that appears on the field during the harvest, ensuring the thoroughness of harvesting. The grape harvest depended on the vine god Shai.
An important role in E. m. was played by the idea of the afterlife as a direct continuation of the earthly one, but only in the grave. Its necessary conditions are the preservation of the body of the deceased (hence the custom of mummifying corpses), the provision of housing for him (tomb), food (mortuary gifts and sacrifices brought by the living). Later, ideas arise that the dead (i.e., their ba, soul) go out into the sunlight during the day, fly up to heaven to the gods, and wander through the underworld (duat). The essence of man was thought of in the inextricable unity of his body and souls (there were believed to be several of them: ka, ba; the Russian word "soul", however, is not an exact correspondence to the Egyptian concept), name, shadow. A soul wandering through the underworld is in wait for all sorts of monsters, from which you can escape with the help of special spells and prayers. Osiris, together with other gods, administers the afterlife judgment over the deceased (the 125th chapter of the “Book of the Dead” is specially dedicated to him). In the face of Osiris, psychostasia occurs: the heart of the deceased is weighed on scales balanced by truth (the image of the goddess Maat or its symbols). The sinner was devoured by the terrible monster Amt (a lion with the head of a crocodile), the righteous man came to life for a happy life in the fields I'm dying. He could have been acquitted at the trial of Osiris, according to the so-called. “Negative Confession”, contained in the 125th chapter of the “Book of the Dead” (a list of sins that the deceased did not commit), only the submissive and patient in earthly life, the one who did not steal, did not encroach on temple property, did not rebel, did not speak evil against the king, etc., as well as “pure in heart” (“I am pure, pure, pure,” the deceased claims at the trial).
The most characteristic feature of E. m. is the deification of animals, which arose in ancient times and especially intensified in the later periods of Egyptian history. Deities embodied in animals were initially generally considered patrons of hunting; with the domestication of animals, some became deities of pastoralists. Among the most revered animals - incarnations of various deities were the bull (Apis. Mnevis, Buhis, Bata) and a cow (Hathor, Isis), ram (Amun and Khnum), snake, crocodile (Sebek), cat (Bast), lion (the embodiment of many gods: Tefnut, Sekhmet, Hathor, etc.), jackal (Anybis), falcon (Horus), ibis (That; the arrival of the ibis-Thoth in Egypt was associated with the floods of the Nile), etc. Later, the pantheon was anthropomorphized, but zoomorphic features in the appearance of deities were not completely supplanted and were usually combined with anthropomorphic ones. For example, Bast was depicted as a woman with a cat's head, Thoth as a man with the head of an ibis, etc.
Gods in the forms of bulls and cows were revered in many nomes. One demotic papyrus records the myth that at first all the gods and goddesses were bulls and cows with wool of different colors. Then, at the behest of the supreme god, all the bulls were incarnated into one black bull, and all the cows - into one black cow. The cult of the bull, which in ancient times was probably associated with the veneration of the tribal leader, with the emergence of the ancient Egyptian state began to move closer to the cult of the pharaoh. In early texts the king was called a "calf". On the palette of King Narmer (Menes?) (c. 3000 BC) the pharaoh in the form of a bull destroys the fortress of the enemy (Lower Egypt). During the festival of Heb-sed (the thirtieth anniversary of the pharaoh), a bull's tail was tied to the back of the king's clothes. In Memphis, and then throughout Egypt, a black bull with white markings was considered the incarnation of the god Apis. Both good and evil deities were embodied in the form of snakes. The head of all the enemies of the sun - Ra was considered a huge snake Apep, personifying darkness and evil. At the same time, the goddess of fertility Renenutet, the goddess - guardian of cemeteries, was revered in the form of a snake. Meritseger, Isis and Nephthys - the protectress of Osiris and, therefore, of any deceased, the goddess Uto is the patroness of Lower Egypt, the guardian of Ra and the pharaoh, etc.
With the development of the ancient Egyptian state, mythological ideas changed. The cults of numerous local deities retained their significance, but the veneration of some of them spread beyond the boundaries of individual nomes and even acquired general Egyptian significance. With the establishment of the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, which originated from the city of Heliopolis, the center of the veneration of Ra, he became the main deity of Egypt. During the era of the Middle Kingdom and especially since the reign of the XVIII (Theban) dynasty of the New Kingdom, another sun god, the Theban Amon, was established as the main god (the pharaohs of the Middle and New Kingdoms came from Thebes). Osiris, as the god of the dead, displaces from the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. the ancient god - patron of the dead Anubis - the jackal always scurrying around the cemetery (who turned into the god - guardian of the necropolis and protector of Osiris in the mysteries dedicated to him), as well as the Abydos god of the dead Khentiamenti, taking the epithet “the first in the West” (i.e. “the first of dead"). The rise of new religious and political centers and the development of theological thought were accompanied by a process of fusion and syncretization of gods. For example, Ra is identified with Amon, Montu, Ptah, Horus, with Ra - Atum, Horus, Amon, Osiris, Ptah, etc.
The most significant cycles of myths of Ancient Egypt are the myths about the creation of the world, about the solar deities and about Osiris. Initially, it was believed that the world was chaos, a primordial abyss of waters - Nun. Out of chaos came the gods who created the earth, sky, people, animals and plants. The first god was the sun, usually acting as a demiurge. One of the myths says that a hill emerged from the waters, on which a lotus flower blossomed, and from there a child (the sun - Ra) appeared, “illuminating the earth that was in darkness.” In other myths, the appearance of the sun is associated with an egg laid on a hill that rose from chaos by the bird “the great Gogotun.” There was a myth according to which the sun was born in the form of a calf by a huge cow - the sky. (The Pyramid Texts speak about Ra, the “golden calf born of the sky.”) Along with this, there were ideas about the goddess of the sky - a woman who gives birth to the sun in the morning, swallows it in the evening - as a result, night comes - and gives birth to it again the next morning . (Remnants of the idea that conception occurs from swallowing have also been preserved by folklore: in “The Tale of Two Brothers,” Bata’s unfaithful wife conceived by accidentally swallowing a wood chip). In some myths, male deities are the ancestors. In the Heliopolitan myth, the god Atum, identified with the sun - Ra, who emerged from chaos - Nu na (“who created himself”), fertilized himself by swallowing his own seed, and gave birth, spitting out of his mouth, the first gods: a pair Shu and Tefnut (god of air and goddess of moisture). They, in turn, produced a second couple: the earth god Heb and the sky goddess Nut, who gave birth to Isis and Nephthys, Osiris and Set. These gods make up the famous Heliopolis “nine” - ennead, revered throughout Egypt and invariably present in religious texts. The gods of the Ennead were considered the first kings of Egypt. In the Memphis myth of the creation of the world, dating back to the Old Kingdom, the local god Ptah is the demiurge. Unlike Atum, Ptah, who created the first eight gods, first conceived creation in his heart (the heart is the “seat of thought”) and named their names with his tongue (Ptah created with “tongue and heart,” i.e., thought and word). In the same way, he created the whole world: earth and sky, people, animals, plants, cities, temples, crafts and arts, and established the cults of the gods. In this myth, Ptah is endowed with all the attributes of a king. During the period of the New Kingdom with the rise of the XVIII (Theban) dynasty (16-14 centuries BC), the Theban god Amon, identified with Ratheban, was established as the demiurge, who is called the king of all gods: “Father of fathers and all gods, who raised the sky and who established the earth... People came out of his eyes, gods became from his mouth... King, may he live, may he live, may he be prosperous, the head of all gods,” says the “Great Hymn to Amon.” The pharaoh, called his son, is identified with Amon. Characteristic of the developed Egyptian society is another myth, sanctifying the divinely approved power of the king, which is given in a political treatise - the teaching of the Heracleopolitan king Akhtoy to his son Merikara (X Dynasty, 22nd century BC). It says that people - “the flock of God” - originated from the body of the creator god (whose name is not mentioned) as his exact likeness. For them, he created heaven and earth out of chaos, air for breathing, animals, birds and fish for food. According to other myths (apparently later), people arose from the tears of Ra or were sculpted on a potter's wheel by Khnum.
The myths about the solar gods are closely related to the myths about the creation of the world. Solar myths reflect two groups of ideas: about the change of seasons (the more ancient ones) and about the struggle of the sun with darkness and evil, personified in the images of monsters and various terrible animals, especially snakes. The myth of the return of the sun's eye, Ra's daughter Tefnut, is associated with the cessation of the sultry wind of the Khamsin desert, which brings drought, and the revival of vegetation. Tefnut (sometimes also called Hathor), having quarreled with Ra, who reigned in Egypt, in the form of a lioness retired to Nubia, to the region of Bugem (apparently, in the minds of the Egyptians, her departure caused the onset of drought). In order for her to return to Egypt, Ra sends Shu and Thoth, who have taken the form of baboons, for her to Nubia. They must return Tefnut to her father, luring her with singing and dancing. In an earlier version of the myth, she is lured to Egypt by the god of the hunt. Onuris. Returning, Tefnut marries his brother Shu, which foreshadows the birth of new rich fruits by nature. The holiday of the return of Ra's beloved daughter was also celebrated in historical period. In Egyptian calendars it was called “the day of the vine and the fullness of the Nile.” The population of Egypt greeted the goddess with songs and dances. “Dendera is flooded with intoxicating drink, wonderful wine... Thebes is filled with rejoicing, and all Egypt rejoices... Hathor goes to her home... Oh, how sweet it is when she comes!” says the hymn.
At the hottest time of the year, the sun was believed to burn with anger at people. Associated with this idea is the myth of the punishment of people for their sins by order of Ra. When Ra grew old (“his bones were made of silver, his flesh of gold, his hair of pure lapis lazuli”), people ceased to revere the god-king and even “plotted evil deeds against him.” Then Ra gathered a council of the oldest gods, led by the progenitor Nun (or Atum), at which it was decided to punish the people. The sun's eye, the beloved daughter of Ra, called Sekhmet or Hathor in myth, was cast upon them. The goddess in the form of a lioness began to kill and devour people, their destruction took such proportions that Ra decided to stop her. However, the goddess, enraged by the taste of blood, did not calm down. Then they cunningly gave her red beer, and she, drunk, fell asleep and forgot about revenge. Ra, having proclaimed Hebe as his deputy on earth, climbed onto the back of a heavenly cow and from there continued to rule the world.
A myth is associated with the period when the heat of the sun weakens, in which Ra is bitten by a snake sent by Isis, who wanted to know his secret name (the Egyptians believed that knowledge of the name gives power over its bearer). Only Isis, “great of enchantment,” “mistress of sorcery,” who knows a conspiracy against a snake bite, can heal Ra. As a reward, she demands that Ra tell her his secret name. Ra fulfills the condition, and Isis heals him.
The struggle of the sun with the forces of darkness is reflected in many myths. One of the most terrible enemies of Ra is their ruler underworld the huge serpent Apep. The myth tells that during the day, Ra sails, illuminating the earth, along the heavenly Nile in the barge Manjet, in the evening he sails to the gates of the underworld, and, having boarded the night barge Mesektet, sails with his retinue along the underground Nile. However, Apep, wanting to prevent Ra's voyage and destroy him, drinks the water of the Nile. A struggle begins between Ra and his entourage and Apop, the victory of which invariably remains with Ra: Apop has to spew out the water back. Ra continues on his way so that in the morning he will again appear on the heavenly Nile. There was also a myth according to which Ra the sun, in the form of a red cat, under the sacred sycamore tree of the city of Heliopolis, defeated a huge serpent (Apopos) and cut off his head.
One of the most striking and fully preserved myths about the struggle of the sun with enemies is the myth of Mount Bekhdet. Horus of Bekhdet, considered the son of Ra, was himself revered as a solar deity, embodied in the image of a falcon. In this myth, Horus acts not only as the son of Ra, but also as Ra himself, merging with him into one syncretic deity Ra-Garahuti (Garahuti means “Horus of both horizons”). The myth tells how Horus, accompanying the boat of Ra sailing along the Nile, defeats all the enemies of the great god, who turned into crocodiles and hippopotamuses. Horus, the son of Isis, joins Horus of Bekhdet, and together they pursue the fleeing enemies. The leader of the enemies, Seth, personifying all monsters, is also destroyed. The origin of the myth dates back to the beginning of copper processing in Egypt (according to one of the texts, Horus struck a crocodile with a harpoon made from an ingot of copper given to him by Isis). During the formation of the ancient Egyptian state, the victory of Horus was interpreted as the victory of Upper Egypt in the struggle for the unification of the country, and Horus began to be revered as the patron god of royal power.
The third main cycle of myths of Ancient Egypt is associated with Osiris. The cult of Osiris is associated with the spread of agriculture in Egypt. He is the god of the productive forces of nature (in the Book of the Dead he is called grain, in the Pyramid Texts he is the god of the vine), withering and resurrecting vegetation. So, sowing was considered the funeral of the grain - Osiris, the emergence of shoots was perceived as his rebirth, and the cutting of ears during the harvest was perceived as the killing of God. These functions of Osiris are reflected in an extremely widespread legend describing his death and rebirth. Osiris, who reigned happily in Egypt, was treacherously killed by his younger brother, the evil Set. Osiris’s sisters Isis (who is also his wife) and Nephthys search for the body of the murdered man for a long time, and when they find it, they mourn. Isis conceives a son, Horus, from her dead husband. Having matured. Horus enters into a fight with Seth; at the court of the gods, with the help of Isis, he achieves recognition of himself as the only rightful heir of Osiris. Having defeated Set, Horus resurrects his father. However, Osiris, not wanting to stay on earth, becomes the king of the underworld and the supreme judge of the dead. The throne of Osiris on earth passes to Horus. (In another version of the myth, the resurrection of Osiris is associated with the annual floods of the Nile, which are explained by the fact that Isis, mourning Osiris, after the “night of tears” fills the river with her tears.)
Already in the era of the Old Kingdom, living pharaohs are considered as “servants of Horus” (which is intertwined with ideas about Horus of Bekhdet) and the successor of his power, and the dead are identified with Osiris. The pharaoh, thanks to a magical funeral rite, comes to life after death in the same way as Osiris came to life. Since the era of the Middle Kingdom, not only the pharaoh, but also every deceased Egyptian has been identified with Osiris, and in funeral texts the name “Osiris” must be placed before the name of the deceased. This “democratization” of ideas about Osiris after the fall of the Old Kingdom is associated with the strengthening of the nobility and the emergence of a layer of wealthy commoners in the end. 3rd millennium BC e. The cult of Osiris becomes the center of all funeral beliefs. It was believed that every Egyptian, like Osiris, would be reborn to an eternal afterlife if all funeral rituals were followed.
Myths associated with Osiris are reflected in numerous rituals. At the end of the last winter month "Khoyak" - the beginning of the first month of spring "Tibi" the mysteries of Osiris were performed, during which the main episodes of the myth about him were reproduced in dramatic form. Priestesses in the images of Isis and Nephthys depicted the search, mourning and burial of the god. Then the “great battle” took place between Horus and Set. The drama ended with the erection of the “djed” pillar dedicated to Osiris, symbolizing the rebirth of God and, indirectly, of all nature. In the predynastic period, the holiday ended with a struggle between two groups of mystery participants: one of them represented summer, and the other winter. Summer always won (the resurrection of nature). After the unification of the country under the rule of the rulers of Upper Egypt, the nature of the mysteries changes. Now two groups are fighting, one of which is in the clothes of Upper Egypt, and the other - of Lower Egypt. Victory, naturally, remains with the group symbolizing Upper Egypt. During the days of the Mysteries of Osiris, dramatized rites of coronation of the pharaohs were also celebrated. During the mystery, the young pharaoh acted as Horus, the son of Isis, and the deceased king was portrayed as Osiris sitting on the throne.
The character of Osiris as the god of vegetation was reflected in another cycle of rituals. In a special room of the temple, a clay likeness of the figure of Osiris was erected, which was sown with grain. For the holiday of Osiris, his image was covered with green shoots, which symbolized the rebirth of the god. In the drawings, the mummy of Osiris is often seen with shoots sprouted from it, which are watered by the priest.
The idea of Osiris as the god of fertility was also transferred to the pharaoh, who was considered the magical focus of the country’s fertility and therefore participated in all the main rituals of an agricultural nature: with the onset of the rise of the Nile, he threw a scroll into the river - a decree that the beginning of the flood had arrived; the first to solemnly begin preparing the soil for sowing (the mace of the beginning of the Old Kingdom with the image of a pharaoh loosening the ground with a hoe has been preserved); cut the first sheaf at the festival of harvest; for the whole country he made a thanksgiving sacrifice to the goddess of the harvest Renenutet and the statues of the dead pharaohs after completing field work.
The wide spread of the cult of Osiris was also reflected in ideas about Isis. Revered as a loving sister and selflessly devoted wife of Osiris, a caring mother of the baby Horus and at the same time a great sorceress (the myth of Ra and the snake, versions of the myth according to which Osiris was revived by Isis herself, etc.), in the Greco-Roman era she turned into an all-Egyptian great mother goddess, and her cult spread far beyond Egypt.
R. And. Rubinstein.

Many of the characters of E. M. were revered in neighboring countries, in particular in Kush (Ancient Nubia), which was under Egyptian rule for a long time. The state god of Kush was Amun, his oracles elected the king. The cult of Horus developed in numerous local forms, penetrating Kush back in the era of the Old Kingdom. The myths about Isis, Osiris and Horus were popular, and Isis was considered the patroness of royal power (the queen mother was compared and identified with her); the place of Osiris was often taken by local deities (Apedemak, Arensnupis, Dedun, Mandulis, Sebuimeker). Ra, Onuris, Thoth, Ptah, Khnum, Hapi, Hathor were also revered in Kush (in the myth about her journey to Nubia, the god who returned her to Egypt was identified with Shu Arensnupis). The inhabitants of Kush also adopted many of the Egyptian ideas about the afterlife and the judgment that Osiris administers over the dead.
e. To.

The mythological views of Ancient Egypt were widely reflected in architecture, art, and literature. In and around Egyptian temples there were sculptural images of deities, thought of as “bodies” in which these deities were embodied. The idea that the dead should have a home led to the construction of special tombs: mastabas, pyramids, rock crypts. Tombs and temples were decorated with reliefs and paintings on mythological themes. In case of damage or destruction of the mummified body of the deceased, a portrait statue of him (along with the mummy, intended to be a receptacle for his ba and ka) was placed in the tomb. The paintings and reliefs in the tombs were supposed to create a familiar environment for the deceased: they depicted his home, family members, festivals, servants and slaves in the fields and in workshops, etc. Figurines of servants engaged in various types of agricultural and craft work were also placed in the tombs , serving the deceased. In the burials of the New Kingdom era, the so-called. Ushabti, special figurines, usually in the form of a swaddled mummy. It was believed that the deceased would revive them with the power of magical spells and they would work for him in the afterlife.
Religious and magical literature, which depicted many of the mythological ideas of the Egyptians, had high literary merits. Mythological subjects are widely reflected in fairy tales. For example, in the fairy tale “Snake Island” (“Shipwrecked”) there is a huge snake that can incinerate a person with its breath, but can also save him and predict the future. This image arose under the influence of ideas about snake gods. In another tale, the god Ra appears to Reddedet, the wife of the priest Rauser, in the form of her husband, and from this marriage three twins are born - children of the sun, the founders of a new dynasty of pharaohs. Under the influence of the myth of Osiris, a fairy tale was created about two brothers Bata and Anubis, in which the falsely accused Bata dies and then comes to life again with the help of Anubis (the features of the god Bata, the bull, are also preserved in the image of Bata). In the fairy tale “On Falsehood and Truth,” the younger brother blinds the elder (whose name is Osiris) and takes possession of his goods, but Osiris’s son Horus avenges his father and restores justice. The tale of the wise young man Sa-Osiris (his name means “Son of Osiris”) describes the afterlife, where he leads his father, and the judgment of the dead.
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P. I. Rubinstein.