hi everyone,
I need some help for a paper I am writing that is my final for English. It is on Ancient Egyptians: steps to reach the afterlife.
I have the following already
1. the five import elements
2.purifying the body and announcement of the dead
3. The mummification process
4. The embalming process
5. the bandaging of the body
6. the final procession
7. the opening of the mouth ceremony
8. The weighing of the heart.
I have 2000 words but and need only 500 more is the anything else I can add to it, that is a part of the Egyptians process in reaching the afterlife.
Thank you so much,
Athena225
2007-12-07 17:36:15 · 6 answers · asked by Athena225 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
+PAX
Perhaps write about the "Book of the Dead" and how important it was to have one for burial. The more you paid the better book you rec'd which would help you through all the trials and tests of the afterlife.
Merry Christmas!
j
2007-12-07 17:54:40 · answer #1 · answered by teresa_benedicta_of_the_cross 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First of all, not everybody who died went through all this routine. Most of the "plain old people"were simply buried. If the Egyptians spent all their time with mummification for EVERYBODY, they would never had had enough time to do anything. So you might want to distinguish between those who were mummified and those who weren't.
Second, you haven't mentioned the "Book of the Dead", which was an instruction manual for doing all these things as well as a comprendium of the prayers to be said. You should be able to pick up a few more words there. One striking feature of the prayers therein was their negative structure. Some are quoted below (from Will Durant's The Story of Civilization, Volume I -Our Oriental Heritage (1935)
"... I have not committed iniquity against men...
I have not oppressed the poor... I have not laid labor upon any free man beyond that which he wrought for himself...I have not defaulted, I have not committed that which is an abomination to the gods..."
BTW: Durant's work is still a cornerstone in any research on Egypt.
2007-12-07 18:05:39 · answer #2 · answered by cattbarf 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you haven't done so already, you could discuss the reverse confession where the deceased was supposed to state all the crimes he didn't commit in life before he was allowed into the afterlife.
2007-12-07 17:49:39 · answer #3 · answered by scifiguy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You could add more with the weighing of the heart and the process of defense of one's life after death. google the Book of the Dead
2007-12-10 13:44:19 · answer #4 · answered by James O 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you could write about them mummifying their cats also and how they worshipped cats and etc.
you could include the religious beliefs of them, what they believe happens in afterlife. what happened to regular people vs the more powerful kings and queens. what would prevent them from going to the afterlife.
2007-12-07 17:41:13 · answer #5 · answered by deejay 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When I come up short like that, I just go back and start padding words... like add adverbs and descriptive terms.
2007-12-07 17:43:35 · answer #6 · answered by BeachBum 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋