Rituals
The Ancient Egyptians had many different rituals. Those include:
- Diurnal Rituals: These always occurred in sacred temples, where they would sing hymns, celebrate life, and order thanks to Pharaoh or in some time periods, Amen-Re. These celebrations were often lead by a priest.
- Monthly Observations: The new moon, first quater, (full moon) and third quater (20-day observations) were all dedicated to the Mystery of the Moon-god Osiris.
- Festivals: Ancient Egyptian festivals were celebrated to keep the order of creation on Earth. Priests, musicians, and dancers re-enacted the myths, with large offerings. Sometimes common people could join in on the fun, but this was uncommon.
- Human Sacrifice: There is not a lot of proof that Egyptians were engaged in human sacrifice, but some scientists believe they would take criminals and prisoners of war and decapitate them after slitting their throats. However, if the Egyptians believed their king was not a worthy person, the Egyptians would sacrifice the king and resume search of a new one. After decapitation, they would then put some blood in a bowl, but they don't know what they did with it. Cannibalism is ruled out, because that only occurred in times of great famine, and most of the cannibalism that happened was parents eating children.
- Funerary Events: The Ancient Egyptians are famous for their mummies and mummification process. They would first desiccate the body, then wrap the corpse, soon to be placed in a tomb. The tombs were various shapes and sizes, but they would often contain small models of humans because they believed that the body would have to go through all the work in the process of the afterlife, so they wanted the soul to have extra bodies. Wealthier people would often have food, furniture, jewelry, and many more personal belongings in order to magically protect the soul from the hazards of the afterlife.
- Wepet Renpet: This was known as the New Year celebration. It included many gatherings and feasts.
- Sed Festival: A gathering celebrating every 3 years of a pharaoh's rule. It included many feasts, gatherings, offerings, entertainment, and much more.
- Festival of Khoiak: Ancient Egytians believed Osiris was risen from the dead. So after the Nile River receded, they shaped the crop beds like Osiris, and they celebrate the crops flourishing like how Osiris flourished from the death.