Afterlife concepts of the Pharaoh

Ancient History Research

Question D: Explain what funerary customs, rituals and texts reveal about afterlife concepts of the Pharaoh.

During the New Kingdom there were many traditional funerary customs and rituals. However the most important to that of the Pharaoh’s afterlife were new or modified concepts and texts. Sources regarding the afterlife of the Pharaoh include that of the Amduat, the Litany of Re, the processes included in mummification, the use and necessity of mortuary temples and various rituals including that of the Opening of the Mouth.

Funerary customs in the New Kingdom were extensive and numerous; however the most significant to the Pharaoh in assuring their afterlife, was the process of mummification. Sources of mummification include the current bodies of ancient Pharaohs that have been discovered, including that of King Ahmose, Thutmosis I and II , and written sources from The Histories by Herodotus . There were several funerary customs performed on the body of the Pharaoh, mostly under the practice of mummification, which was necessary to prepare the King for the uniting with Re and eternal life. Most of modern day knowledge about this process had been derived from the Greek historian Herodotus . Preparations include the drying of the body, inturn to preserve the skin, hair and features forever. This process however incorporated never removing the heart from the body, yet all other organs were extracted, as it was believed the heart was the centre of all emotion and intelligence . In addition, concepts of the afterlife that have been revealed by New Kingdom customs, include the need of the body’s skilful preservation, furthermore showing the necessity that the King’s body was preserved so the King’s akh could be reunited with the body to complete the journeys and trials, associated with the journey through the underworld to become a god.

Another necessary funerary custom after mummification included that of the Opening of the Mouth ritual that took place in the tomb. At this point, the ritual was conducted for the purpose to open the deceased’s eyes, mouth, nose and ears with an adze, thus bringing the deceased back to life in the underworld. The most common depiction of this however is from the tomb of Tutankhamen , nevertheless the scene was generic in the eighteenth dynasty and that of an earlier Pharaoh could replace that of Tutankhamen’s mummy, showing the same ideal. This reveals moreover the common belief that the earthly body was needed in the afterlife. In addition to the afterlife need for the ritual it was also practiced as a tradition so the deceased Kings’ successor would perform the ritual, as a result, once performed would initiate the successor as the now, ‘Living Horus’. Therefore the preservation was had other important rituals associated adding to the concepts and beliefs of the Pharaoh, and also that with the preservation came the Opening of the Mouth ritual and furthermore the tradition of establishing the rights to the new successor, making them the new Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Throughout ancient Egypt’s religious history, there were numerous incorporated texts for the deceased. In the early New Kingdom, the dominant text relating specifically to the Pharaoh’s afterlife was that of the Amduat. This essential text began to be depicted on the walls of the tombs; the earliest complete version found from the tomb of Thutmosis III . Thutmosis III’s tomb had depicted not only the Amduat but also the Litany of Re , the almost complete versions in the tomb reliefs are an important source of the texts, which furthermore reveal many stages and significance of the Amduat to the Pharaoh’s journey. The essential scenes were usually extracted from text and painted on the walls, though this excludes the almost complete copies found in Thutmosis III and Amenhotep II’s tombs, as the Amduat is the earliest narrative explanation of Egyptian religion. The text was intended as a guidebook to the afterlife for the deceased Pharaoh, that described the afterlife intentionally to aid the King in passing the various journeys and trials to be united with Re, as thought, “to possess knowledge of something was to have power over it” . So as depicted by the tomb scenes, the Amduat was divided into the twelve hours of the night, with each hour corresponding to a specific region or town. The text relates the events that emerge during the sun's night journey from dusk to dawn, from death to resurrection. A deceased Pharaoh was assumed to descend into the netherworld, where they would board the solar barge and join Re, where together they would travel through the underworld. Traveling through the night encountered numerous enemies that threatened the King’s quest for immortality, but with the help of hundreds of deities, provided by the Litany of Re, his body and soul would bond at midnight to give the Pharaoh strength to overcome the obstacles that remain.

Another important funerary texts specifically related to the Pharaoh’s afterlife that corresponded with the purpose of the Amduat, was the Litany of Re. The two part guide, firstly, the Litany of the Sun provides Re with fewer than seventy five different forms. The second part was a series of prayers in which the Pharaoh assumes diverse parts of nature and different deities but particularly that of the sun god. Developed in the eighteenth dynasty, it also praises the King for his union with the Re and like many funerary texts; it was written on the inside of the tomb for reference by the deceased. Unlike other funerary texts, however, it was reserved only for Pharaohs or very favoured nobility. Hence, through the evidence from the scenes of Thutmosis III and Amenhotep II’s tomb depictions, reveal that the Pharaoh believed that after entering the netherworld, they would amalgamate with Re and escort the him, thus becoming one with the earth, and resurrected as a god. Consequently there then became a need for offerings to be to the Pharaoh being worshipped as a god, to sustain their food source and eternal life.

As funerary texts were an important division of the beliefs of the Pharaoh, the belief of the scenes throughout the Amduat, illustrates the necessity and tradition of mortuary temples. As mortuary temples were constructed close to the tomb of the Pharaoh in the New Kingdom, an example of this is the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut , the temple was designed to commemorate the reign of the Pharaoh by whom they were built. Moreover used for the Pharaoh's cult after death, leading to the purpose as a ritual centre for the offering of food sources to the now god, believed to sustain their spirit, as a post-funerary custom.

Thus, through the various funerary customs, including the most important of mummification, the rituals performed including the custom and uses of mortuary temples, and the texts commonly buried or depicted on tomb scenes, all reveal a clear design about the beliefs and customary concepts held by the early New Kingdom Pharaoh’s. This overall image revealed is that, undeniably the preserved body, tomb scenes, texts and rituals all were required for the deceased King to successfully reach the afterlife. As soon the King reached the afterlife the concept of the akh bonding with the needed preserved body to successfully be resurrected as a god with the new day. In addition of the pre-funerary customs it also is seen that the mortuary temples were also imperative to that of the beliefs of the Pharaoh’s as their spirit had been sustained by the rituals and customs performed in their mortuary temple by priests.

Bibliography

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