Ancient Egypt 2 Essay, Research Paper

Although both the Ancient Egyptians and the Book of Genesis linked the creation of time with divinity, their relationship towards each other and the distinctions between the two differ. In Genesis God is the creator of time and stands apart from it. The Egyptians saw their gods as a part of eternity and the unending cycle of life and death.

Ra was the God that first went through this process. He emerged from the primeval matter (Nu), which had already been in existence. He was not the creator of time and earth, he was rather the God who gave life to an indeterminate mass of death. He

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molded and shaped what was already there. This was a creation of life from a preexisting death. Rather then bringing something out of what was already there, God created the universe out of nothing. The matter of heaven and earth came from him. He created eternity and therefor had a control over it. To God eternity was a finite thing. It had a definite beginning which must be followed by a definite ending. In Genesis God brought forth existence, giving him power over time and eternity. Ra brought forth from existence making him more a part of time and eternity.

After Ra came into creation, the beings Shu and Tefant followed him. These were the gods of the heavens. Out of them emerged more creators of earth and nature. The gods were a part of their creations. Therefor, nature became an eternal and divine process. Because of this the Egyptians felt harmony and mutuality towards their gods. Nature was a sign of divinity and a gift given to them. The cycles of nature were a symbol of the creation of the earth and the life of the gods. It was life and it was death. The two

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worked together and emerged from one another. These gods created an unending circle which they were a part of.

Nature did not emerge from God, but was created by him. He was the creator and it was his creation. God was not a part of nature, but was above it. He had complete control over it and the ability to alter it. In exodus, when God appeared before Moses, his distinction and divinity was shown in the burning bush. He was not in a simple form like man or animal. He was shown as a contradiction in nature, a bush that did not burn. This was a sign to man of his greatness, and his power over the earth. It showed the division between God and his creation.

Rather then placing a part of his divinity in nature, God placed a part of himself in man. “And he said let us make man to our own image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.” Man was more similar to God because he also had a distinction from the rest of nature. Man had a soul which was

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beyond the physical. This gave him will and freedom. Because he is a creation from God, man will never hold the same timelessness of his divinity. Man does, however, have the ability to stand apart from his creator and has the control to make choices. This freedom could either bring harmony with God or bring punishment from God. Adam and Eve both acted against God s will. They made a decision that brought them further from God. It brought to them a fear of God. It made them feel their humanity and finitude. Although man contains some aspects of Gods divinity within his soul, he does not contain the timelessness and eternity of his creator.

The Egyptians did not live with such a division and fear of their creator, they felt a mutuality and togetherness with their gods. The body and soul were one together. The physical being did not stand apart from the spiritual being. The soul contained a divine timelessness and was attached to the body. Because of this, the Egyptians felt that man could be reincarnated. The eternal soul and the temporal body could be held together just as man and the divine. The creator was so close to man that they could go through the

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same infinite cycle. Ra represented this process with the rising and setting sun. He was depicted as a human body with a beetle s head. This image shows the unity between nature, man and the divine. They all contain the same ability of an eternal cycle. Man is an emergence from the gods. He is a part of their being and they are a part of his.

This cycle of rebirth and reincarnation must occur with a balance of oppositions. Eternity only can occur with light and dark, life and death, good and evil. Nu wills the birth of the cosmos as well as the destruction. In nature the Nile brings nutrients to the Egyptian crops as well as devastation. These differences were what held together the cycle of eternity. It was death from life and life from death. This circle of time was found within everything. It went from the dung beetle, to the mummification of pharaohs, to the travel of Ra in the underworld. The divine, the earth and eternity were all linked together.

However, in Genesis earth and time were separate from God through the contrasts of good and evil. They were not a part of the cycle of creation as in Ancient Egypt. God created the good on earth and the evil was a manifestation from his creation. When Adam

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and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, they became aware of the evil that could exist. This gave man the ability to distinguish for himself the difference between what is right and what is wrong. This also gave man the ability to do wrong. God then punished man and did wrong onto him. God used good and evil, light and darkness, life and death for the order of the earth. These contrasts were not used to maintain existence and eternity. God had the ability himself to end and begin time. Divinity and eternity both work together to create existence. In Genesis God is separated from these elements. In Ancient Egypt the gods are a part of these elements. These two different perspectives show the contrast of the ways in which man can conceive his creator.

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