Egyptian worldview | 3 Fun facts about the ideas of the ancient Egyptians

We can understand by cosmovision the set of beliefs or opinions that a society has. In other words, how society interprets everything that surrounds it and the origin of its existence . The Egyptian beliefs they were based basically on three elements: the sky, the air and the earth. Which in turn were represented by the many gods in which they believed, being therefore polytheists. As was the case with most ancient civilizations, the Egyptians looked to the gods for the solution to the things they did not know how to explain, because despite being a very advanced people, they evidently did not have the knowledge that we can currently have to explain phenomena. related to the cosmos . If you want to know more about the Egyptian worldview, you just have to continue reading these lines.

In the Old Egypt , cosmology was a very important science because with it they could predict the ups and downs of the Nile to better control their crops. Astronomers played a vital role in the life of the empire and with their rituals were able to predict many natural disasters in order to try to avoid them. In this article you will learn some curious facts about the ideas of the ancient Egyptians as well as the concept of Egyptian worldview. Uncover it!

Egyptian worldview | 3 Fun facts about ideas in Ancient Egypt

1. The passage of time and the daily journey of Ra

The vision that the Egyptians had of the cosmos was quite romantic since for them the gods were not simple symbols but had a direct influence with the day to day. The inhabitants of the Nile civilization explained the sunrise, sunset and dusk as a journey of Ra . It emerges from the ocean of darkness every time the sun rises over the horizon, every morning it rises with its boat to the highest point of the sky and each time the afternoon falls it emerges through the mountains, already old, to the kingdom of the underworld. During his trip through the night realm, Ra is responsible for defeating all the enemies of Ancient Egypt to return to resuscitate the next morning. As you may have noticed, this story that is part of the Egyptian worldview - apart from being quite curious - is very beautiful and would explain the whole journey that the sun makes over a day.

2. The Earth as a simple reflection

For the Egyptians, everything that happened on planet Earth was a simple reflection of what was happening in the celestial world. As can be seen in the innumerable paintings and hieroglyphics that have been found, for them all the acts that were carried out in the afterlife had their consequences in the world of the living. Egypt was the living image of the sky, so for astronomers the terrestrial geography was just as important as that reflected in the sky in the form of stars . From this thought arises the idea that the Pharaoh assumes the same function as the Sun in the sky. There is always an analogy between the earthly and the heavenly world, everything can be extrapolated. For example, the terrestrial Nile was the river that we all know, while the celestial river was what we call Milky Way .

3. The Nile as the last frontier

The importance that the great river had on the civilization was vital, not in vain this civilization arose in its borders. All the harvests, and consequently the food of an entire people, depended on him so that their floods and changes were studied in detail . In addition, the Egyptian worldview thought that the banks of the Nile separated the living and the dead. The river divides the Earth into two banks, and since the dawn, the new day or resurrected Ra appear on the eastern side, that area became the land of the living. While the other shore, was the land of the dead, where would end the day and die Ra or the Sun. Because of this belief, all buildings related to the life or development of the person were built on the eastern side . While on the western side all the necropolis and buildings that had something to do with death or the abandonment of life were being built.

As you will have seen after reading this article on the Egyptian worldview, the inhabitants of the Nile civilization had very particular ideas about the functioning of the world. Thanks to them, they explained all the phenomena that otherwise would be inexplicable since science had not advanced so much in that time. Now we would like you to give us your opinion about this text. Do you think the story of Ra's daily trip on his boat is pretty? Do you think logic the reflection theory of the ancient Egyptians? What do you think about the Egyptian worldview of the universe? Tell us your comments, we are looking forward to reading them!