Today's Flickr photo with the most hits: the Treaty of Kadesh - the oldest surviving peace treaty, signed around 1259 BCE between Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II and Hittite King Hattusili III
Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
#istanbul #ArchaeologicalMuseum #kadesh #treaty #hittites #egyptians
-> LOOK at ALL these Racist #Egyptians!!
:0 :) #FlyTheFlag #Perspective #Flags
Duat
This is a concept in Ancient Egyptian mythology involving death. It’s most commonly seen as a domain where people go after they pass away.
What we know about the Duat comes mainly from funerary texts such as: the Book of Gates, the Book of Caverns, the Coffin Texts, the Amduat, the (Egyptian) Book of the Dead.
It’s typically known best as a dark subsurface realm that not only houses the deceased, but an assortment of deities. The deities shown in these texts are: Osiris, Anubis, Thoth, Horus, & Ma’at in various forms. While all of those documents/books involve the Duat. Each of them fulfilled a different purpose & showed the Duat in a variety of unique ways.
The Duat is divided into sections by 12 guarded gates that represented each hour of the night & are closely connected with the journey of Ra & conspicuously feature Osiris, the god of the Duat & the personification of rebirth.
The west bank of the Nile was affiliated with the dead. Funeral barges would mimic the sun god Ra’s journey through the sky during the day. The Duat also is often described as having many realistic features like rivers, islands, fields, paths, & lakes.
Texts also depict fantastic lakes of fire, walls of iron, & trees of turquoise. These lands are described as being dark & were partitioned with a series of gates. They’re mostly identified as Shetit, a dangerous land translated as ‘The Beyond.’
There were important locations relating to the deceased would be ‘The Hall of Truth.’ It is often shown alongside the ‘Weighing of the Heart’ ritual in the Book(s) of the Dead & mentioned in the 6th hour of Ra’s journey.
If the dead are found to be virtuous, they’ll be allowed to live in A’aru. This is also known as ‘The Field of Reeds.’ It’s shown as a paradise where the dead could live their former life with their loved ones without pain or suffering.
There’s hundreds of different divinities of shifting importance related to the Duat throughout time with the most referenced being:
In order to receive judgment, the dead journeyed through the different parts of the Duat to be judged. If the deceased was successfully able to pass different challenges, then they would reach the Judgment of the Dead.
In this ritual, the deceased’s 1st task was to correctly address each of the 42 Assessors of Ma’at by name. While reciting the sins they didn’t commit during their lifetime.
After confirming that they were sinless, the heart of the deceased was weighed by Anubis against the feather of Ma’at which represents truth & justice. Any heart that’s heavier than the feather failed the test, & was rejected & eaten by Ammit, the devourer of souls.
As these people were denied existence after death in the Duat. The souls that were lighter than the feather would pass this most important test, & would be allowed to travel to Aaru.
The Duat isn’t equal to the notions of Hell in Abrahamic religions. This is where the souls are condemned with fiery torment. The absolute punishment for the wicked in ancient Egyptian though, was the denial of an afterlife to the deceased, ceasing to exist in the intellectual form seen through the devouring of the heart by Ammit.
Each night, Ra journeyed through the Duat. Bringing revival to the dead as their main benefit. When in the underworld, he was in his ram-headed form, Af. Ra travelled under the world on his Atet barge from West to East. On the course of the underground journey, he was transformed from his aged Atum form into his young Khepri form – the new dawning sun.
The role of the dead king, worshipped as a god, was also central to the mythology surrounding the concept of Duat, often shown as being identical with Ra.
Along with the sun god, the dead king travelled through the Duat, the Kingdom of Osiris, using the special knowledge he was supposed to possess, which was recorded in the Coffin Texts. This served as a guide to the Hereafter. Not just for the king but for all the deceased.
According to the Amduat, the underworld consists of 12 areas signifying the 12 hours of the sun God’s journey through it. Battling Apep in order to bring order back to the earth in the morning. As his rays illuminated the Duat during the journey, the revived the dead who lived in the underworld & let them enjoy life after death during that hour of the night when they were in the presence of the sun god. After which they resumed their sleep, waiting for the god’s return the next night.
One-Time Monthly YearlyMake a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
$1.00 $5.00 $10.00 $1.00 $5.00 $10.00 $5.00 $10.00 $15.00Or enter a custom amount
$Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearly
#42AssessorsOfMaAt #AAru #AbrahamicFaiths #Af #Amduat #Ammit #AncientEgypt #Anubis #Apep #AtetBarge #Atum #BookOfCaverns #BookOfGates #CoffinTexts #Crocodile #Duat #EgyptianBookOfTheDead #EgyptianMythology #EgyptianPantheon #Egyptians #Embalming #FuneralBarges #Hippopotamus #IbisHeaded #Jackal #JudgmentOfTheDead #Khepri #Lion #MaAt #Mummification #Nephthys #Nile #Osiris #Paradise #Ra #RamHeaded #Reincarnation #Scales #Set #Shetit #TheFieldOfReeds #TheHallOfTruth #Thoth #WeighingOfTheHeart
Apotheosis
This is also called divinization or deification. It’s from the Latin deificato, meaning “making divine.” This is the glorification of a subject to divine levels & commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity.
The original sense of apotheosis relates to religion & is the subject of many works of art. Figuratively “apotheosis” may be used in almost any context for “the deification, glorification, or exaltation of a principle, practice, etc.” So normally attached to an abstraction of some sort.
In religion, apotheosis was a feature of many religions in the ancient world. Some that are active today. It requires a belief that there’s a possibility of newly created God’s, so a polytheistic belief system.
The Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam, & Judaism don’t allow this. Though many recognize minor sacred categories such as saints. They’re created by a process called canonization. In Christian theology, there’s a concept of the faithful becoming god-like, called divinization or in Eastern Christianity theosis.
In Hinduism, there’s some range for new deities. A human may be deified by becoming regarded as an avatar of an established deity, usually a major one, or by being regarded as a new, independent deity (usually a minor one), or a mix of the 2.
In art, an apotheosis scene usually shows the subject in the Heavens or rising towards them. They’re often partnered by a number of angels, putti, personifications of virtues, or similar figures.
Especially from Baroque art onwards apotheosis scenes may show rulers, generals, or artists purely as an honorific symbol. In many cases, the “religious” context is classical Greco-Roman pagan religion, like The Apotheosis of Voltaire, which features Apollo. The Apotheosis of Washington (1865) sits high in the dome of the United States of America Capitol Building is another example. Personification of places or abstractions are also shown receiving an apotheosis. The classic composition was suited for artistic placement on ceilings or inside domes.
Before the Hellenistic period, imperial cults were known in ancient Egypt (pharaohs) & Mesopotamia (from Naran-Sin through Hammurabi). In the New Kingdom of Egypt, all deceased pharaohs were deified as the god Osiris, having been identified as Horus while on the throne. They were sometimes referred to as the “son” of other various deities.
The architect Imhotep was defied after his passing away. Though the process seems to have been gradual. This took over 1,000 years, by which time he had become associated with medicine. About a dozen non-royal ancient Egyptians became regarded as deities.
Ancient Greek & Roman religions have many characters who were born as humans but became gods. Like Disney’s Hercules. They’re usually made divine by 1 of the main deities, the 12 Olympians. In the Roman story of Cupid & Psyche, Zeus gave the ambrosia of the gods to the mortal Psyche. This transformed her into a goddess herself.
In the case of the Hellenistic queen Berenice II of Egypt was deified like other rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty. The court dispersed a myth that her hair, that was cut off to fulfill a vow, had its own apotheosis before becoming the Coma Berenices, a group of stars that still bear her name.
In the Greek world, the 1st leader who granted himself diving honors was Philip II of Macedon. At the wedding to his 6th wife, Philip’s enthroned image was carried in procession among the Olympian gods. Such Hellenistic state leaders might be raised to a status equal to the gods before death, like Alexander the Great, or afterwards, like members of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
A heroic cult status that’s similar to apotheosis was also an honor given to a few reversed artists of the distant past, such as Homer.
Up to the end of the Roman Republic, the god Quirinus was the only 1 the Romans accepted as having undergone apotheosis, for his identification/syncretism with Romulus. Syncretism is the practice of meshing together different beliefs & various schools of thought. Eventually apotheosis in Ancient Rome was a process whereby a deceased ruler was recognized as divine by their successors. This was usually done by a decree of the Senate & popular consent.
The 1st of these cases was the posthumous deification of the last Roman dictator Julius Caesar in 42 BC by his adopted son, the triumvir Caesar Octavian. In addition to showing respect, the present ruler often deified a popular predecessor to legitimize himself & gain popularity himself & gain popularity with the people.
A vote in the Roman Senate, in the later Empire confirming an imperial decree, was the normal official process. But this sometimes followed a period with the unofficial use of deific language or imagery for the individual. This was often done rather discreetly within the imperial circle.
There was then a public ceremony, called a consecratio, including the release of an eagle which flew high. This represents the ascent of the deified person’s soul to Heaven. Imagery featuring the ascent, sometimes using a chariot, was common on coins & in other art.
The largest & most famous example in art in a relief on the base of the Column of Antoninus Pius, showing the emperor & his wife, Faustina the Elder, being carried up by a much larger winged figure, described as representing “Eternity,” as the personifications of “Roma” & the Campus Martius sit below, & eagles fly above. The imperial couple are represented as Jupiter & Juno (or Zeus & Hera).
The historian Dio Cassius, who said he was present, gives a detailed description of the large, & lavish, public consecratio of Perinax, emperor for 3 months in 193, ordered by Septimius Severus.
At the height of the imperial cult during the Roman Empire, sometimes the emperor’s deceased loved ones (heirs, empresses, or lovers) like Hadrian’s Antinous were deified as well.
Deified people were posthumously given the title ‘Divus’ for men & ‘Diva’ for women to their names to signify their divinity. Traditional Roman religion distinguished between a deus (god) & divus (a mortal who became divine or deified), though not consistently. Temple & columns were erected to provide a space for worship.
The imperial cult was mainly popular in the provinces. Especially in the Eastern Empire, where many cultures were well used to deified rulers, & less popular in Rome itself, & among traditionalists & intellectuals.
Some privately, & cautiously, ridiculed the apotheosis of inept & feeble emperors, as in the satire The Pumkinification of (the Divine) Claudius. This is usually attributed to Seneca.
Numerous mortals have been deified into the Taoist pantheon. Examples are Guan Yi, Iron-crutch Li, & Fan Kuai. Song dynasty general Yue Fei was deified during the Ming dynasty. He’s considered by some practitioners to be 1 of the 3 highest-ranking heavenly generals. The Ming dynasty epic Investiture of the Gods deals heavily with deification legends.
In the complicated, & variable, conceptions of deity in Buddhism, the achievement of Buddhahood may be regarded as an achievable goal for the faithful. Many significant deities are considered to have begun as normal people, from Gautama Buddha (the original Buddha & the creator of Buddhism) downwards. Most of these are seen as avatars or re-births of earlier figures.
Some significant Hindu deities, in particular Rama, were also born as humans. He’s seen as an avatar of Vishnu. In more modern times, Swaminarayan is an undoubted & well-documented historical figure, who’s regarded by some Hindus as an avatar of Vishnu, or as being a still more elevated deity. Bharat Mata (Mother India) began as a national personification devised by a group of Bengali intellectuals in the late 19th century. But now it receives some worship.
Various Hindu & Buddhist rulers in the past have been represented as deities, especially after death, from India to Indonesia. Jayavarman VII, King of the Khmer Empire the 1st Buddhist king of Cambodia, had his own features used for the many statues of Buddha/Avalokitevara he erected.
The extreme personality cult instituted by the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung, has been to represent a deification. And continues to this day with the current leader. Even the nation is admittedly atheist.
In Christian theology, instead of the word “apotheosis,” they use the words “deification” or “divinization” or the Greek word “theosis.” Pre-Reformation, & mainstream theology, in both East & West, views Jesus Christ as the preexisting God who undertook mortal existence. Not as a mortal being who attained divinity. A view known as adoptionism. Adoptionism is an early Christian non-Trinitarian doctrine that holds that Jesus was born a mere human being. But Jesus was later adopted by God as His son, usually at Jesus’ baptism or resurrection, rather than being divine from eternity.
It holds that he has made it possible for human beings to be raised to the level of sharing the divine nature as II Peter 1:4 states that he became human to make humans “partakers of the divine nature.”
In John 10:34, Jesus referenced Psalm 82:6 when he stated: “Is it not written in your Law, I have said you are gods?” Other authors stated: “For this is why the Word became man, & the Son of God became the Son of man: so that Man, by entering into communion with the Word & thus receiving divine sonship, might be made God.” Accusations of self deification to some degree may have been placed on heretical such as the Waldensians.
The language of II Peter is taken up by St. Irenaeus, in his famous phrase, “if the Word has been made man, it is so that men may be made gods.” It becomes the standard in Greek theology. In the 14th century, St. Athanasius repeats Irenaeus almost word for word. In the 5th century, St. Cyril of Alexandria says that we shall become sons “by participation” (Greek methexis). Methexis is “group sharing,” where the audience actively participates in the performance.
Deification is the central idea in the spirituality of St. Maximus the Confessor. For whom the doctrine is the result of the Incarnation: “Deification, briefly, is the encompassion & fulfillment of all times and ages.”
The Roman Catholic Church doesn’t use the term “apotheosis” in its theology. This is equivalent to the Greek word theosis are Latin-derived words “divinization” & deification” used in the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church.
The concept has been given less prominence in Western theology than in that of the Eastern Catholic Churches. But is present in the Latin Church’s liturgical prayer.
Despite the theological differences, in the Catholic church art depictions of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in art & the Ascension of Jesus in Christian art do share many similarities in composition to apotheosis subjects. As there are many images of saints being raised into Heaven.
Anthropolatry is the deification & worship of humans. It was practiced in ancient Japan towards their emperors. Followers of Socinianism were later accused of practicing anthropolatry.
One-Time Monthly YearlyMake a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
$1.00 $5.00 $10.00 $1.00 $5.00 $10.00 $5.00 $10.00 $15.00Or enter a custom amount
$Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearly
#1865 #193 #42BC #4thCentury #5thCentury #AbrahamicReligions #Adoptionism #AlexanderTheGreat #Ambrosia #AncientRome #Angels #Anthropolatry #Antinous #Apollo #Apotheosis #AscensionOfJesus #AssumptionOfTheVirginMary #Atheist #Avalokiteshvara #Avatar #Avatars #BaroqueArt #bengali #BereniceIIOfEgypt #BharatMata #Buddha #BuddhaGautama #Buddhahood #Buddhism #CaesarOctavian #Cambodia #CampusMartius #canonization #CatholicChurch #Christianity #ColumnOfAntoninusPius #ComaBerenices #Consecratio #Cupid #Deification #Deity #Deus #DioCassius #Disney #DIva #Divinization #Divus #EasternCatholicChurch #EasternChristianity #EasternEmpire #Egypt #Egyptians #Emperors #FanKuai #FaustinaTheElder #GrecoRoman #Greek #GuanYi #Hadrian #Hammurabi #Heaven #Hellenistic #Hera #Hercules #Hindu #Hinduism #Homer #Horus #IIPeter14 #Imhotep #ImperialCults #India #Indonesia #InvestitureOfTheGods #IronCrutchLi #Islam #Japan #JayavarmanVII #Jesus #John1034 #Judaism #JuliusCaesar #Juno #Jupiter #KhmerEmpire #KimIlSung #Krishna #Late19thCentury #Latin #LatinChurch #Mesopotamia #Methexis #MingDynasty #NaramSin #NewKingdom #NorthKorea #Olympians #Osiris #pagan #Pertinax #Pharaohs #PhilipIIOfMacedon #polytheistic #Psalm826 #Psyche #PtolemaicDynasty #Putti #Rama #Reformation #Roman #RomanCatholicChurch #RomanRepublic #RomanSenate #Romans #Romulus #Saints #Senate #Seneca #SeptimiusSeverus #Socinianism #StAthanasius #StCyrilOfAlexandria #StIrenaeus #StMaximusTheConfessor #Swaminarayan #Syncretism #Taoist #TaoistPantheon #Temple #ThePumpkinificationOfTheDivineClaudius #Theosis #Triumvir #USCapitolBuilding #Vishnu #Waldensians #YueFei #Zeus
Learn #maths like an Egyptian: the secrets of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus.
Did you know that ancient #Egyptians were amazing number wizards? Maths wasn't just something they scribbled on papyrus – it was a practical tool that kept their whole society running like a well-oiled chariot.
https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/learn-maths-egyptian-secrets-rhind-mathematical-papyrus #globalmuseum #Britishmuseum
#archaeology #history #egyptians
More news is being announced about the missing Egyptian bracelet. According to latest news the bracelet was stolen on the 9th September from a conservation laboratory. A restorer sold it to a silver trader and eventually it passed hands into a gold traders hands. It was subsequently melted down. So sad that such an artefact has been treated in this way and the general public will never be able to see it. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/Egypt-says-missing-pharaohs-bracelet-melted-down-for-gold
#history #archaeology #egyptians
The hunt is on for a gold bracelet that has gone missing from a museum in Cairo. The 3,000 year old bracelet disappeared at an unspecified date but all Egyptian airports, seaports and land borders have been provided with a picture of the bracelet in order to prevent it from being smuggled out of the country. A specialist team are also taking an inventory of all artefacts that were kept at a restorative laboratory. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4l1w98nj1o
#archaeology #history #Egyptians
A gold coin has been found by archaeologists in Jerusalem. It is over 2,000 years old and bears the portrait of Queen Berenice II on one side and a cornucopia and two stars on the other. What makes the find really exciting is that only 17 coins have been found in the last century, making it a very rare find. the coin features a Greek inscription "of the Queen" meaning she could have been a ruler in her own right. https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2025/09/09/archaeologist-finds-tiny-rare-gold-coin-depicting-ancient-egyptian-queen/
🪷 On 27 Aug the ancient #Egyptians celebrated the going forth of #Bast, goddess of cats. Did #Antinous and #Hadrian see the big #Bastet cat temple when they arrived in #Alexandria in August 130 AD? How could they miss it? Now it has been rediscovered: https://antinousstars.blogspot.com/2025/08/happy-world-cat-day-is-your-home-cat.html 🪷
#archaeology #Egyptians #crafts #history
A 4,000 year old handprint has been found by museum curators. The complete handprint was described as a 'rare find' and was left by the maker of a clay model that was made between 2055 and 1650 BCE. The curators were putting together an exhibition about Egyptian crafts as this is an overlooked area of Egyptian life.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpqvzevep2eo
#archaeology #history #Egyptians
A newspaper is today reporting about a tunnel which has been found that is hoped will lead to Cleopatra's tomb. This was reported previously (see link) but is worth telling as the photos are great. It is thought that the tunnel collapsed as a result of an earthquake. Artefacts were found that mention Cleopatra VII. It is hoped that her tomb will be found. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-discover-4300-foot-long-tunnel-under-ancient-egyptian-temple-180981099/
#history #pets #cats #Egyptians
A study has challenged the theory that cats were first domesticated to control pests that ate grain. The study has found that cats were first domesticated between the 2nd and 1st millennium BCE. But though cats were important in keeping rodents at bay, more importantly the cats were used for religious purposes. The link being between cats and the Egyptian goddess Bastet. More docile cats were bred to make handling easy for sacrifice. https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/creepy-cat-domestication-sacrifice
#history #archaeology #Egyptians
The theory that Queen Hatshepsut's statues were destroyed as an act of revenge has been debunked. A study found that the facial statues were damaged by being scattered over large areas. It also found that statues were commonly reused and so the damage to the statues on the neck, knees and waist happened to many statues not just those of Hatshepsut. Destruction could also happen through rituals performed on statues.https://theconversation.com/queen-hatshepsuts-statues-were-destroyed-in-ancient-egypt-new-study-debunks-the-revenge-theory-260326
#archaeology #egyptians #history
Archaeologists have found an ancient city in the Nile Delta. the city Imet is providing valuable information about life at that time. They found tower houses which were like apartment buildings and existed between the Late Period and the Roman Period. The buildings are rarely seen elsewhere. Furthermore valuable information about daily life and the waning worship of Wadjet was also gained. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a65207682/lost-egyptian-city/
#archaeology #history #Egyptians
Archaeologists have been excavating the tomb of Prince Waser-If-Re whose father was the founder of the 5th dynasty. Inside they found a door directly connecting the tomb which was about 14 feet tall and over 3 feet wide. Where did the door lead to? Well mysteriously it led to nowhere it was a false door. The door made of pink granite is the first of its kind to be discovered. Archaeologists are seeking to learn more. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a64553966/ancient-tomb-door-to-nowhere/
#history #archaeology #Egyptians
A discovery near to Tutankhamun's tomb has led experts to believe that they are the oldest known evidence of a ritual known as Awakening of Osiris. The clay trays and wooden staffs may have been part of this ritual based on the God of the Underworld. They could also have been used in a ritual to guide the Pharaoh into the afterlife.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a64272818/king-tut-ancient-death-ritual/
#history #archaeology #egyptians
If you travelled back in time to Egypt, you would see that most Egyptians wore jewellery. Even the poorest wore jewellery. This is because it wasn't just for adornment but for spiritual purposes. Archaeologists have recently discovered an ancient Egyptian pot containing gold jewellery, beads and statues. The 2600 year old pot was broken but its contents were in good condition.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a64088529/egypt-jewelry-tomb/
#archeology #history #egyptians
After all the excitment of the recent discovery of a tomb after 12 years of serching; now it is believed that another tomb has been found. Currently it is buried 23 metres under a man made mountain.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/world-news/british-archaeologist-second-tomb-mysterious-pharaoh/
#Archeology #History #Egyptians
The first Egyptian tomb of a Pharaoh since Tutankhamun haas been discovered. The tomb was found in an area associated with royal women' burials but when the tomb was entered the symbol of a Pharaoh decorated the inside. The finding of the tomb happened after 12 years of searching and the archeologist was in tears with happiness.
Only two #Egyptians have scored a hat-trick in the Premier League 🇪🇬🎩
Premier League #Pl #bahdlex
#OmarMarmosh 🤝 Mohamed #Salah
The top two for goal contributions in Europe’s top five leagues.
#mosalah
#omarmarmosh #egypt
#top #goals #assists #premierleague #bundesliga
