Gods

Pharoh's and many people were buried with statues of gods. Many people also had statues of gods in their house. Egyptians had many gods and allowed people to choose which god or gods or goddess or goddesses they wish to worship. There were gods for many things. Here are some famous ones.

Anubis: The god of embalming and the dead.
Aten: The sun god.
Osiris: The god of the dead, and ruler of the underworld.
Ra: Another sun god.
Shu: God of air.
Thoth: God of writing and knowledge.
Seth: God of chaos and the desert.
Tefnut: Goddess of moisture.
Nut: Sky Goddess.
Nun: God of water.
Horus: God of the sky and protector of Egypt.
Bes: Protector of pregnant women, newborn babies, and family.

There were thousands of other gods too but there are too many to list. These ones were just the most popular ones.

Burial

The Egyptains believed that east of the Nile River was life and the west was death, therefore the cities and population lived on the east side and the dead were buried on the west. The slaves were likely just dumped on the west side. The poor were likely buried by their family in holes. The wealthy likely built tombs. The Pharoh's important subjects (vizors, scribes, priests) were buried in tombs beside the pyramid. The pyramid, was reserved only for the pharoh. Early pyramids were small and step-like. Latter pyramids were smoothed. The pharoh choose a spot on a cliff to build his pyramid so all the citizens of Egypt can marvel at it. The biggest pyramid is the Pyramid of Giza. It was built for Khufu. At first the wife of the pharoh was buried in his pyramid but later the queens had their own pyramid. In the New Kingdom, pharohs were buried in The Valley of the Kings. The pyramids housed the pharoh and his posessions like gold, chariots, statues, pets, and many other stuff. The downside was that it was a beacon for thieves. At first soldiers guarded the pyramid, but after about 20 years pharoh is starting to be forgotten so the soldiers move away and robbers plunder the pyramid.

Mumification

Mumification likely began when a corpe was left in the sand. The sand absorbed all the water which allowed the body to dry up. An Egyptian likely found it and took it as a sign of god. In latter years, Egyptians used Natron (a type of salt) to dry up the body. Afterwards they would remove the organs and place them into jars. They would remove the brain through the nose. They removed these organs to prevent them from rotting. The wealthy and the important figures were done this way, whereas the poor were just dried up and buried. The slaves were not even bothered with but dumped in the sand. Dead soldiers were also likely left. After the organs were removed, the body was wrapped several times in order to better preserve it. Afterwards it was ready for burial.

Intro

Ancient Egyptians were very spiritual and religious. They believed that once someone dies, that the spirit will return to their body. Egyptians believed that in order for the spirit to return to the body, the body has to be recognizable to the spirit. Therefore the Egyptians had to learn how to preserve the body (mumification) and where to house the body (pyramids).