Reply To: Egypt and Mesopotamia

[Kaitlyn]

Through the artwork we can see the gods played a very significant role in everyday life of the Egyptian people. In particular if you were a king, or other high ranking official, it was by divine right given from the gods, so the kings would devote a lot of time to pleasing the gods, for example building elaborate temples and shrines such as in the Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut. The temple of Amun at Karnak is another great example of the how highly devoted the Egyptians were to their gods, the article by Livescience.com says the temple was built, modified and rebuilt for over 2,000 years. The Egyptians obviously but a lot of value into honoring their gods with shrines, elaborate building, and the approval of the gods seemed very important in the artwork. In the Palette of King Narmer the goddess of Hathor is shown at the top of the piece and the god Horus is shown to be helping defeat the enemy alongside the king. The obsession with the afterlife and the rituals surrounding the passage is just another one of the many examples we have to show the Egyptians were highly devoted to their religion.