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Ancient Egyptian Religion

For Maat, dishonesty and greed are considered to be natural and therefore were not entirely looked down upon. However, one could not prosper in these negative attributions. This would cause falsehood and threaten the equilibrium. The king was considered himself as one of the gods. He was believed to be an earthly carnation of Horus. This also meant that the king was the only person who could approach the gods and mingle with them. In every temple of Egypt, there are many drawings of the king being embraced by the gods. They show the king offering to the gods in order to receive life, health and dominion from them. .
             It was the duty of the king and his administration to punish anyone who was not living a justice life and abiding by the laws. Foreign invaders posed as a threat to the stability of the Egyptian state and therefore Maat so they were slayed immediately. There are many drawing of this taking place with the king punishing the wrong-doers while the gods watched. These drawings are all over the walls of the temples. By performing this act, the king was showing his worthiness to Maat in return for the safety and wellbeing of his kingdom. .
             The priests also played a big role in running the ancient Egyptian government. They performed daily rituals in honor of the gods. These rituals were performed inside of the temples where the common people were not allowed in. The main body of priests was preferred to as "the pure ones" and was split up into four groups. These groups were called "phyles" by the Greek. The phyles served one month in turn so most of the time most priests lived as laypersons. Amongst the priests, there were priestesses. There were not many priestesses because their main function in the temples was to sing and dance to brighten the god's meals. When entertaining the goddesses, the priestesses were used, also in leading positions. .
             The priests not only worshipped the gods on a daily basis, but they also taught religion within the Egyptian Mystery System.


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