School Stories

Cultural Temples

      Nowadays people think of majure buildings and think of the Empire State Building or the White House, but back in the times of ancient Egypt, Egyptians thought of temples.Temples were significant, they were a way for Egyptians to contact a god or gods. Temples in ancient Egypt like the Temple of Karnak, Philae Temple, and Temple of Kom Ombo where used to help ancient Egyptians to worship the gods and keep them pleased.

The temple of Karnak was a huge temple built two gods Mut and Khonsu. The Opet Festival was a celebration that lasted 27 days. It was a long march in which priests carried a statue of Amun from the temple of Karnak to the temple of Luxor. In fact, the statue had been bathed in holy water, dressed in linen, and decorated extensively with beautiful jewelry. This travel was 1 ½ miles. The Opet Festival celebration was done after the season of harvest to let the god Amun and Earth rest and regain power. During, these 27 days a ritual was done to take the rest of Amun's power, give it to the pharaoh, and give Amun back a full charge of power. 11,000 loaves of bread were given to the people of Egypt and 385 jars of beer. This temple was built 2,000 years ago and is the largest religious building. Alternatively,it covers 200 acres. The large lake located in the temple was sometimes used for ritual purposes, but mostly just to make the temple more magnificent. To conclude with both of the gods Mut and Khonsu get their own enclosures.The Temple of Karnak is dedicated to two gods. Mut the goddess of Thebes she is often envisioned with a vulture headdress or the head of a vulture. Khonsu was the god of the moon. "Often represented as a man with a falcon head and a crescent moon headdress. " Khonsu was believed to have the ability to drive out evil spirits.," As the article Discovering Egypt states.The Temple of Karnak was spiritual when it came to worshiping of their gods.

The Philae Temple was among many of the temples built to please a god. This beautiful structure has two pink lions made of granite and that's just the outside. Located on the inside was a obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics. These hieroglyphics helped Egyptologists decipher the Rosetta Stone that was written in hieroglyphics. In addition, there were two pylons located in the temple the first had three paintings on it and the second pylon was blank. Deeper inside were ten pillars with magnificent paintings of Egyptian plants. In the far back of the temple lay a sanctuary pedestal with Isis's boat placed upon it. The Philae Temple was built by the pharaoh Ptolemy II in 370 B.C.The goddess Isis was believed to be many things, such as a healer, protector, and magic. Her unique headdress resembled an Egyptian chair. She was the sister of the god Osiris although, she was also his wife. She was among some of the most famous of gods and goddesses. The Philae Temple was a huge part of Egyptian culture in the worship of the goddess Isis.

The Temple of Kom Ombo was one of the many cultural temples in ancient Egypt. This temple was built by Romans in the Graeco Roman era. This was when Romans had taken over Egypt and had full control of Egypt. There no longer was a pharaoh and all decisions normally made by Egypt were made by Rome. The temple was exactly around from 332 B.C to A.D 395.The Temple of Kom Ombo had two different gods worshiped there so there were two chapels one for each god and two gateways.Considering this, two different gods occupied the Temple of Kom Ombo the first one was know as Sobek was the god of the Nile. He was often represented with the head of a crocodile. Speaking of, Sobek having a crocodile head, crocodiles were considered to be sacred and not aloud to be killed. In fact, Egyptians would capture crocodiles and put them in the temple because it was Sobek's chief sanctuary. If the crocodiles died in the temple they were mummified and put back in the temple. The second god was Horus he was the god that weighs your heart in the underworld to decide if you get to stay or not. He was usually know to have a falcon head. As the article The Many Egyptian Gods states," Horus, son of Isis and Osiris, revenged his father's death by killing the god Seth. During the battle he lost an eye which was renewed by Isis. You often see the Eye of Horus in paintings, amulets, and jewelry representing renewal and protection." The Temple of Kom Ombo was important to not only Egyptians, but to the gods Horus and especially Sobek.

Now imagine, being a Egyptian and being able to see these temples and knowing that your people created this. To conclude, cultural temples such as the Temple of Karnak, The Philae Temple, and the Temple of Kom Ombo were when it came to their belief in the ancient Egyptian gods.

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