Ancient Egyptian Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ancient Egyptian Religion - Essay Example During ancient history of Egypt, most religious practices centered on the pharaoh, who used to be the king of Egypt. This pharaoh was believed by ordinary Egyptians to be descended from the gods, as Egyptians, during this old time in history, believed in many deities, not just one God. In that sense, the pharaoh acted as the intermediary person between people and the gods. Another important aspect of the ancient Egyptian religion was the sincere belief in the afterlife and this belief shaped their funerary practices. As such, ancient Egyptians made great efforts to ensure the survival of their bodies and souls after death, providing tombs, grave goods, and offerings to preserve the bodies and spirits of the deceased. After believing in a number of deities for long periods of time, a new religious trend started to emerge, depending on monotheism and belief in one God. The birth of Moses represented the climax of this religious trend in old Egypt. Moses lived during the 13th or the 14t h century B.C. The story of the name as mentioned in the second chapter of the Exodus answers the question. The story says that the Egyptian princess who saved the child from the Nile gave him his name: â€Å"because I picked him up from the water†, so he will be called Moshe. But it is obvious that this is not the appropriate explanation (Freud, "Translation and study by Dr. Abdel Moniem El Hefny". 1991, 26) In another version of the story, an author says in Jadishness Lexicon magazine the interpretation of the name in the Torah is â€Å"the one who was picked up from the water† (the name of Moshe only means â€Å"the one who was picked up†). This opinion may be supported by two other arguments; the first one is that it is absurd to say that an Egyptian princess knows the Hebrew language, and the second one is that it is most probable that the water from which the child was picked up is not the Nile ("A History of Christianity in Egypt"). Many people suggested a long time ago that Moses’ name is derived from the Egyptian language because of a newly published book written by the chronicler Peristide, â€Å"Egypt’s history†: â€Å"It is important to notice that the name of Moses is an Egyptian name. It is not other than the word mose that means â€Å"a child†, which is an abbreviation of the compound name, for example â€Å"Amon Mose† that means â€Å"the child Amon† or â€Å"Betah Mose† that means â€Å"the child Betah†. But this divine name has been gradually omitted by use, and was limited to the boy’s name of Moses. However, when Peristide mentioned unrelated names, he reviewed the list of the names of the Egyptian kings which are similar in terms of the religious connotations, for example â€Å"Ah-Moses† (Ahmos), â€Å"Tut-Moses† (Tuhutmos) and â€Å"Ra-Moses† (Ramses). (Soliman, 1988, 25) Many authors who discovered that the name Moses is an Egyptian name, to conclude that the one who bears an Egyptian name must be Egyptian himself, or at least to say that this is possible (Freud, "Translation and study by Dr. Abdel Moniem El Hefny", 1991, 26). The first family where he was born is usually a special family according to legends. But it is here a very modest Jewish family. And the second family where the child was raised is, as usual, a modest one. But here, it is the Egyptian royal house as the princess has raised him by her side. This discrepancy from the traditional type of legends seemed really odd to many researchers, to the extent that Eduardo Myer and others said that the original form of the legend was different; as Pharaoh had a dream warning him of his grandson who will be dangerous to him and to his kingdom. Therefore, this resulted into delivering the child to the Nile waters