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Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs were centered around a variety of complex rituals that were influenced by many aspects of Egyptian culture. Religion was a major contributor, since it was an important social practice that bound all Egyptians together. For instance, many of the Egyptian gods played roles in guiding the souls of the dead through the afterlife. With the evolution of writing, religious ideals were recorded and quickly spread throughout the Egyptian community. The solidification and commencement of these doctrines were formed in the creation of afterlife texts which illustrated and explained what the dead would need to know in order to complete the journey safely.
References
- ↑ M. Brodrick, A. A. Morton, A Concise Dictionary of Egyptian Archaeology, Cosimo, Inc. 2005, ISBN 1-59605-213-9, p.30
- ↑ Adolf Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, Courier Dover Publications 1971, ISBN 0-486-22632-8, pp.319f.
- ↑ Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature: a Book of Readings, Volume One, University of California Press 1980, ISBN 0-520-02899-6, p.124
- ↑ Eric Csapo, Margaret Christina Miller, The Origins of Theater in Ancient Greece and Beyond: From Ritual to Drama, Cambridge University Press 2007, ISBN 0-521-83682-4, p.263
- ↑ Sigrid Hodel-Hoenes, Life and Death in Ancient Egypt: Scenes from Private Tombs in New Kingdom Thebes, Cornell University Press 2000, ISBN 0-8014-3506-4, p.172
- ↑ Dilwyn Jones, Boats, University of Texas Press 1995, ISBN 0-292-74039-5, p.35
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