Of all the cultural mysteries passed down from the ancient world, none beguiles us more than that of the Great Pyramid of Ancient Egypt. Dr Aidan Dodson charts their golden age and illustrates the significance of these 'magical machines' to the ordinary Egyptian.
Egyptian world of the dead:
For ancient Egyptians, it was of key importance that when someone died their physical body should continue to exist on earth, so they could progress properly through the afterlife. Consequently, providing proper eternal accommodation for their body after they had died was very important to them. The afterlife they wanted to attain was thought of as a bigger and better version of the earthly Egypt - and in it they were to live close to their family and friends.
There was one exception to this rather homely vision of the next world. This was for the king, already a divine being on earth, who would complete his apotheosis on death. According to the earliest set of texts dealing with the next world, the Pyramid Texts, which were inscribed inside the royal tombs of 2500-2300 BC, the king would dwell with his fellow gods in the entourage of the sun-god, Re. He would spend eternity traversing the sky and underworld: one might be tempted to regard the fate of his subjects as more desirable.
The spiritual part of the dead person was believed to have a number of aspects, including the ba, the akh, the ka and the 'shadow'. Of these, the ba was depicted as a human-headed bird, in which form the spirit could travel around and beyond the tomb, able to sit before the grave, taking its repose in the 'cool sweet breeze'.
The concept of the akh was somewhat more esoteric, being the aspect of the dead in which he...
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the great pyramid gateway to eternity
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