The Egyptions Afterlife Beliefs.?

Question

Can anyone give me just a summary of the beliefs of the afterlife for the ancient Egyptions?

Answer 1

Hi Andrea!
This is maybe more than you want.

Remember that the Egyptian culture and society flourished and expanded in thought and richness for 4000 years, so the concept of the afterlife changed quite a bit during that time.

1)The Old Kingdom 3200=2700 BC
After Death, the Pharaoh's (and maybe some nobles') ba (body-spirit) continued to live in their tombs if their bodies were intact and food offerings were made to them.

2)The end of the Old Kingdom (Pyramid era)and the Middle Kingdom (2700-1900 BC) the Pyramid texts say that in addition to his ba living in the tomb, the Pharaoh's ka (departed spirit) would live with the other gods around the pole star in the heavens.
Rich commoners would have models made of farm and home tasks to enjoy life in their tombs. They had spells written inside their coffins )the coffin texts) to protect them against monsters after death. Maybe everyone got to try to live forever by the end of this period.
3)
The New kIngdom (1600BC-340 AD)
Everyone got to send their ka to the Hall of Judgement of the God Osiris where their heart (and its deeds) were weighed against the feather of Maat, goddess of truth. If their heart was not weighed down by evil deeds (and they had a list of things to say that they had never done) they went to a land in the far west (but probably not literally west) where they lived forever. It was a lot like Egypt and a fun, happy place.They had little statue people (washabti-"I answer") to do the work the gods assigned them there.
But they still needed people on earth to make sacrifices to keep them alive in the Far West and to remember their names by reading them aloud.
if they were judged to have evil hearts, they were thrown to a waiting monster to be eaten.
The book of instructions for the New Kingdom afterlife is called "the Book of the Coming Forth by Day" (or in movies, "the Book of the Dead")

Answer 2

One big thing is that the heart of the soul would be weighed against a feather for judgement. If the soul's heart didn't measure up, it would get eaten by a terrible alligator like monster.

Answer 3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_Dead

Answer 4

no 2p