Preview

Life After Death

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1825 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Life After Death
Katie Zorens
Mr. Bogo
Humanities 1101-Tuesday
4 December 2012
Life After Death In Ancient Civilizations Death and afterlife had a big role in people’s life at the time of ancient civilizations. There are lots of tombs which come from ancient times but you cannot find other structures as much as tombs now because most of them disappeared by passage of time. It shows to us; death is a crucial topic for ancient times and people give importance to afterlife so they build strong and flamboyant tombs. There are two main civilizations which have highly developed views about afterlife, ancient Egyptians and Sumerians. Ancient Egypt is a good sample for this. Religion is the main and most crucial factor for Egyptians. Their beliefs were based on their observation about life as a process which started on earth, but continued in the next world. Many of them organize their life to afterlife. They build magnificent structures such as Pyramids for their kings as tombs. Egyptians believe that the correct funeral only guarantees the dead to pass into the afterlife. Their belief is that in order for the soul to pass into the next life, the body must remain intact; therefore, to protect it, they build up the procedures of mummification, preserving bodies after death, usually by the use of chemical substances. The preservation was crucial to moving on to the next world. After that the conserved body would be placed in the pyramid which was considered a vessel that transported the dead into the next world “Egypt had an extremely developed view of the life after death with sophisticated rituals for preparing the body and soul for an endless life after death. Beliefs about the soul and afterlife focused greatly on preservation of the body, This was because they believed that the vitality or double, the Ka, was still associated with the body after death and it was necessary for the Ka to be reunited with the Ba, the spirit or soul, to support the Akh, hoped to ascend to the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    While reading chapter 3, it was pretty clear that the afterlife concept it is incorporated in the Egyptian art. They believed “in the eternal existence of a person’s ka, or life force, which continued to inhabit the corpse after an individual died” (Kindle Edition 55). Thus, individuals with the economic resources available to them decided to decorate their tombs. During the Predynastic period, the finding of the Palette of King Narmer served as the conventional pattern for Egyptian artists. During this period, the Imhotep designed the pyramid of Djoser. The pyramid is a tomb which integrated the Egyptians’ belief of the ka. Following the concept of the afterlife, the pyramids of Gizeh are a perfect example. The purpose of the pyramids was…

    • 190 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Egyptians believed that a body had to be properly prepared in order to live on in a similar way in the afterlife, more importantly, they thought the body had to be preserved. The Egyptians embalmed and mummified their dead to preserve them, the body needed to be accompanied by its Ba and Ka, the person’s dead spirit and the person’s life energy. It would also need familiar possessions to take with him/her.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King Djoser’s Step Pyramid, Pyramid of Amenemhet II, and Valley of the Kings are all important monuments regarding burial of either royalties or both royalties and officials. These three monuments are from different time period and it is clear that ancient Egyptian tombs come in all sort of kinds. The tombs, artwork, and sculpture shows that the belief in the afterlife existed back then.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The second time period I visited was the Old Kingdom of Egypt. The religious beliefs of the afterlife played a prominent role in the architecture of this time. Massive, static and serene architecture emerged from the need to preserve the gods for the afterlife.…

    • 1637 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    One colossal difference between the Egyptian and Mesopotamian’s religion is their belief in afterlife. Although they both believe in an afterlife, the Egyptians believed in a positive afterlife. They built elaborate tombs to “send” the pharaoh to his after life, allowing him a prime location so he could continue to overlook Egypt. They also had a book of the dead that guided people in their afterlife teaching good judgment and supporting a positive afterlife. In contrast, the Mesopotamian’s belief in afterlife is the complete opposite. They thought that the afterlife was gloomy and dismal like the one portrayed in the Epic of Gilgamesh when he is…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the ancient world there were many different aspects to developing culture. The Mesopotamians, Hebrews and the Egyptians shared many characteristics while at the same time differed greatly. Considering their views towards gods, social order, and life after death, one can discover the lives of the ancient people. Illustrations of their literature, art, and architecture help reveal this information. Although these different civilizations had similar living conditions, the way that they developed different aspects such as gods, social order and beliefs about life after death resulted in completely diverse cultures.…

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Egyptians and Mesopotamians cherished the importance of many things, however they differed immensely in the way they approached death and afterlife. Mummification is globally known and has become somewhat of a “Halloween joke”, nonetheless the Egyptians saw the preservation of the body as a serious subject. The purpose of mummification was to maintain the human structure as much as possible, in order for the spirit to find its way back to its body.…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Egyptians’ view of the afterlife contrasts with the Mesopotamian’s view in that the Egyptians believed in the afterlife as a continuation of life on earth and the Mesopotamians believed life after death would be a miserable existence. The geographical location of the two civilizations may have influenced their views on the afterlife. The Egyptians were blessed with fertile land that came regularly, which was thought to be the work of the gods. This led the Egyptians to believe the gods were generous and helpful, which is expressed by the gods’ role in the afterlife as the providers or caretakers for the Egyptians’ souls. This belief is conveyed through the Egyptians reverence of the gods in saying, “Hail, O all ye gods of the House of Soul.” Conversely, the Mesopotamians were plagued with unpredictable, life-threatening floods that led them to believe the gods cared very little for the Mesopotamians, or the gods were trying to harm them, so the Mesopotamian’s afterlife would be miserable. The Mesopotamians wrote,“There is a house where people sit in darkness; dust is their food and clay their meat... They who had stood in the place of gods...now stood like servants,” expressing their fear that life after death would be a time of hardship and servitude. This fear of death was the reason for the Mesopotamian’s interest in immortality, opposed to the Egyptian’s readiness for death. The geographical location of the two early civilizations led to differing beliefs of what happens after…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Ancient Egyptians believed that when the King or Pharaoh died, part of his spirit remained with his body. Ancient Egyptians were very concerned with the afterlife. By mummifying a dead person’s body the Ancient Egyptians thought that the person’s soul from their…

    • 1157 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    World History Chapter 1

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Life and human fortune was very instable in Mesopotamians’ eyes. People just observed death and afterlife from a distance and some made them into a series of myths. For instance, “The Epic of Gilgamesh” expresses its idea on eventual death. No matter how hard Gilgamesh tries to lengthen his life, his death is predestined. The Mesopotamians viewed afterlife as an inevitable end.…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Did you know that the Egyptian pyramids served as tombs for Pharaohs? Egypt was the first society in history to bury deceased inhabitants. Without Egypt, we may not be burying our deceased family or friends today. As a result of Egypt’s customs, later cultures began to bury their dead civilians and honor them. Prior to Egypt; Mesopotamia, Harrappan, and Chinese societies did not believe in preserving the dead or mummification. Also, Egypt gave women many more rights than the previous cultures did. Therefore, Egypt society is surpassing Mesopotamian, Chinese, and Harrappan society because they have more rights for women, further advancements in technology, and an improved funeral tradition.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The ancient Egyptians preserved the bodies of the dead. They believed that to live forever in the afterlife they had to preserve the body. At the time when the pyramids where being built they were still trying to find a good working way to preserve the dead bodies. The process that the ancient Egyptians came up with later is called embalming. They soak the body in salt for forty days to dry out the body.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Egyptian Beliefs

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Egyptians believed that when a king died, his spiritual body returned to its original abode with the gods. The Egyptians felt it was their duty to worship the kings even after they left earth. By having festivals at the tombs, placing offerings of food in the grave of the dead to prevent them from returning, and praying for the welfare of the dead; they believed that their offerings helped the kings find their way to the gods above. “This happy result was partly by the performance of certain ceremonies which first wholly magical, but late, partly magical and partly religious” (3).…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ancient Egyptians believed that life on Earth was only temporary, but life would continue on into the afterlife, where they would spend eternity. The decisions they made in the mortal world would predict their destiny after death. The egyptians believed one either was sent to the afterlife for their good deeds, or they suffer the consequences of their wrongdoings, and are sent to the underworld. The Egyptians lived their lives according to how they would want to live for eternity since “the Egyptian afterlife was a mirror-image of life on earth.” (Mark)…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The death gods, iris and Osiris, are all to be please before the person can go over to the next life. In their death rituals, they used different techniques to show their power. A sacred place is usually their tomb, and the person usually isn’t just buried with the family they are buried with many other things. Gold, jewelry, sacrifices, and other things will all to believe to help them go over to the other side to meet the god of death/after world, Osiris. They want to appease him so they can have a great afterlife. One example or I should say many examples are the relics we have seen come from the pyramids. They are all grand gestures toward death, and the artifacts in the tombs would have thought to help the individual into the afterlife. They symbols and the words on the walls of these tombs also to show the message of spiritually that they believe in. in King Tuts tomb, his mask shows his grandeur in even after life. Overall Egyptians sacred places are in the afterlife and the tombs to hold the dead…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays