ANTH 2 Museum Visit - Assignment Example

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egyptian religion has a complex pantheon, explain what you learned about the religious practices referenced in the museum.The Egyptians have an interesting history, various religious practices with many gods and goddesses, with its history broken into two parts. They also had rituals and practices for the dead because they had believed that there was life after death hence they respected the dead. There was also a culture of mummification to the dead. They were more concerned with the preservation of the body.

There was also a writing stone called Rosetta. Ancient Egyptians were polytheists and were the central part of the Egyptian community. They believed in many gods and they believed they controlled the nature hence they did everything to please them and have their favors (Kathleen 124) .They had a king called pharaoh to whom they believed came from the gods and all religious practices centered on him. The government of Egypt used most of its resources in performing rituals and building of temples.

Each individual interacted with the gods through prayers and believed in magic. They believed in life after death and they performed various funeral practices. They offered much treatment to the dead so as to maintain their bodies and spirits hence they offered various goods to the grave.They had gods that represented various things, such as sun god Ra, the creator god Amun, and the mother goddess Isis. They had strong beliefs in a pantheon of gods, who represented various aspects of society and human nature and had different roles.

They controlled the forces of the nature and existed in various forms. Gods were also closely interrelated and even had gods who existed as a family as it contained the father, mother and child and they worshipped them together.2. The history of Egypt is broken into different periods, explain why the differentiations matter. The Egyptian history is of two periods, that is the first and the second intermediate periods. The first intermediate (dark period) existed for close to 100 years. Two competing bases of powers characterized this period.

The Upper Egypt in Thebes, and the Lower Egypt in Heracleopolis. The reason for splitting Egypt into two power bases was political in nature as the ruler Pepi II ruled for so long time hence creating difficulties in succession hence leading to splitting, but later the Theban king who resided at the lower base conquered the north hence leading to the reunification of Egypt. The second intermediate period was also marked with political wrangles of succession. It started after the fall of the 12 dynasty.

After the queen died, there was no heir to succeed her. This marked the end of the first intermediate period and the start of the second intermediate period. First king who is a Semite ruled in this period, which is something that had not happened in the past. There was also splitting in this period as the central part broke away, forming the 14th dynasty. 3. View the mummies and take a tour of the tomb replica, then explain why ancient Egyptians were concerned with preserving the body.Ancient Egyptians had various customs for burials to ensure that they remained immortal even after death.

They performed rituals such as mummification and offering goods to the dead that they will use in life after death. They buried the dead in the desert as it preserved the dead naturally through dehydration. The graves were rectangular and oval, they contained food, and magical spells alongside. The graves first evolved from graves made in bricks and later becoming pyramids (Kathleen 74).They performed the process of mummification was done to dehydrate the body to ensure they live even after death and to reunite it with its soul. 4. View the replica of the Rosetta Stone and explain why is it significant in understanding ancient Egyptian writing.

They wrote Rosetta stone in two languages Greek and Egyptian. It used three scripts that are demotic, Greek and hieroglyphic. It contained documents that were religious in nature. The reason why they wrote in three scripts was to enable everyone to read it. It originated from a delta by the name RosettaCats’ received respect because they could protect homes. 5. Review your visit and describe what you found to be the most interesting item in the museum (and why).King tuts virtual tomb was the most striking artifact I came across in the mesuem.

It is situated at the valley of kings, which is thought to harbor a lot of secrets.Work CitedKathleen, Deady W. Ancient Egypt: Beyond the Pyramids. Oxford: Capstone publications. (2011). Print