Cc Project

Polytheism

Ancient Egypt&

Ancient Greece

Number of gods

Greece:

-12 principal gods who lived on Mt. Olympus.

-Each represented an aspect or cultural thing (ex. Agriculture) or/and an element like fire or water.

- Each god was important for every day life and upsetting one god could bring you bad fortune.

Egypt:

- Ancient Egypt worshipped 114 gods

- There were 8 main gods that were most important to please, for they had the most power over life and death. (ex. Horus god of life, and Anubis god of death.)

- These gods represented more then an animal or element but also aspects like leadership, or determination.

Effects in SocietyGreece:- Greeks would celebrate their gods with

festivals that included music, dance, and animal sacrifice.

- They would cremate their dead and place a coin in their mouth to pay the underworld ferryman for passage across the river Styx which is the afterlife.

- They would have a statue of a god they favoured and give them offerings so in return they would have good fortune.

Egypt:- Egyptians celebrated their gods with

festivals which where celebrated every year.

- The Egyptians’ would mummify and bury there dead and believed that Anubis would take them to the afterlife.

- They would have a statue of Osiris (the god of the underworld and vegetation) in their homes to help their fields grow larger.

Sacred objects & animals Greece:- Greek ceremonies and rituals were

performed at altars. These were devoted to one, or a few gods, and contained a statue of the particular deity on it.

- They offered food, drinks, and sacred objects to the alters and statues of their gods.

- Sometimes animal sacrifices would be performed here, with most of the flesh eaten, and the internal organs burnt as an offering to the gods.

Egypt:

- Egyptians had many sacred animals in there culture. Most Egyptian gods had an animal that was honoured towards that god. (ex. A Jackal represented Anubis, god of embalming and death.)

- They offered food and water to the statues of their gods in turn of good fortune.

Rituals

Greece:- The Greeks believed in an underworld

where the spirits of the dead went after passing away. If a funeral was never performed, it was believed that the person’s spirit would never reach the underworld and would haunt the world as a ghost.

- The dead was first bathed, oiled and dressed. During the laying out of the body, relatives and friends came to mourn and pay respects.

- Statues were erected over the burials because remembrance of the deceased was key to immortality.

Egypt:- Some rituals were based on calendar

events such as new seasons or months.- Pharaohs were the only representative of

the gods, nobody else was allowed enough power to be thought of in the same way.

- Many of the Rituals were to bolster the Pharaohs standing with the gods.

- The most important daily ritual was the purity ritual, in which people washed themselves and their goods in a sacred lake.

- In the morning priests would fill Egyptian temples with food to appease their gods.

Temples & Places of worship

Greece:- Often Temples and Sanctuaries were built

for the gods. Some of the most notable were the Temple of Zeus and the Parthenon, dedicated to Athena.

- Temples contained a naos, which had a grand altar and statue of the diety. Priests would attend and give offerings to the god. Some Temples contained orac les who would predict the future.

- Mount Olympus was considered to be the home of the Twelve Olympians, the principle gods residing over the world.

Egypt:- Egyptian temples could be single buildings

or large complexes.

- The most important room in a temple is the shrine, where images of gods are on display.

- Each city had a temple build for each of the main gods.

- Some temples had statues of the Pharaoh in power at the time the temple was build, as they were considered closest to the gods.