Ancient Egyptian Religion Cosmology

is the belief system of the ancient Egyptians about the structure and organization of the universe. According to Egyptian mythology, the universe was two main aspects – the physical world and the spiritual world. The physical world, famous as the ‘Duat’, was the place where the living and the dead coexisted. It was located below the earth’s surface and was divided into twelve regions, each corresponding to an hour of the night. The ‘Duat’ was also home to several mythological beings such as gods, goddesses, demons and spirits. On the other hand, the spiritual world consisted of three main aspects – the sky, earth and underworld. The sky was the home of the gods, with the sun god Ra being the most important god of all. 

The underworld

known as the ‘Duat’, was the realm of the dead. The souls of the dead travelled through this realm after death to reach the afterlife. The underworld was also the location of the final judgement of a person’s life. Another important aspect of ancient Egyptian cosmology was the concept of Ma’at or balance. This concept was central to ancient Egyptian religion and governed all aspects of the universe. The gods balanced the natural elements of the world to maintain Ma’at. The Pharaohs had the responsibility of maintaining balance on earth.

Overall

The ancient Egyptians believed in a complex and interconnected cosmology that was structured around the balance of natural, physical and spiritual elements in the universe.