Gods of the Nile
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0Ancient Egyptian religion finally makes sense. With a couple of decapitations every year, some enterprising animals (somehow gifted with the power of speech?) could do very well for themselves.
The ancient Egyptians are fascinating for a number of reasons. Modern people tend to focus on the monuments and amazing structures that they left behind, but their religion is also intriguing, as it is partially responsible for the creation of these architectural wonders.
The depictions of gods in Egyptian art were not meant to be seen as the actual forms these deities would appear in. They were, rather, intended to be symbolic images rife with alternate meanings pertaining to their functions within the pantheon. Thus, Sobek, the crocodile headed god featured in today’s strip, was the deification of crocodiles (creatures much feared by the Egyptians) and the Nile itself. As perceptions changed, he also came to symbolize the fertility of the River Nile and the protection of soldiers (with his crocodillian ferocity). Other gods, like Anubis, are even more obvious in their symbolism. Anubis’s black skin is representative of the color of mummified remains and the fertile soil of the Nile. Jackals, scavengers that threaten corpses, had long been associated with the dead by early Egyptians, thus the god of the dead is shown with the head of a jackal.
Much of the artwork from the ancient Egyptians (sculptures, and the like) depict the gods simply as animals, rather than the animal-human hybrids we think of today. This is likely due to the religion’s prehistoric roots in animism, the belief that all objects have some spirit, soul, or spiritual power, whether they be animals, humans, trees, or even rocks. Where other animist traditions, like Japanese Shinto, may draw heavily from both the animate (animals, humans) and the inanimate (rocks, trees, etc), it’s clear the prehistoric Egyptians focused more heavily on the animate world, taking many of their gods from the animals in their environment. Though the documented religion of the kingdoms isn’t, strictly speaking, animist, the influence of these roots is obvious. Most of the gods are personifications of natural phenomena and their forms are those of the animals that surrounded the Egyptian people, there is a clear progression from animal forms to more humanized elements, and there is a documented history of Egyptian beliefs evolving over the three thousand year course of their existence.
Take, for instance, the crocodile god Sobek. In the early days of his cult, he was worshiped by those that traversed the river Nile frequently. He was prayed to for protection from crocodiles and all the dangers of the river. As time went on and the people changed, so did Sobek. Though he still retained his powers of protection for the river faring people, he also came to represent the Nile itself and the benefits that it brought to the Egyptians, the fertility of the land and the produce it helped to sustain. Sobek became associated with the military (as so many gods did) and the ferocity and strength of the crocodile god was called upon by soldiers.
I’ve found that it is often hard for textbooks to convey this progression in history and religion. We, being the short-lived creatures that we are, find it difficult to look at history and see it as being alive, always changing. This tendency doesn’t stop at ancient history, either. Even more recent history, like the changes in modern religions or important historical events are murky and simplified. We look on the past as though it somehow sprang up out of the ground without thinking about the events that lead up to them. Picturing the web of cause and effect that leads to the rise and fall of civilizations and mythologies may be difficult, but it is startling and intriguing as well.
Life is about change and so is the history of life.
Even Sobek could tell you that.
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Awesome. Love how they’re all lined up.
“And no sickies or geezers! The crocodiles demand sacrifice in its prime!”
The idea is hilarious… But shouldn’t a cow use human woman’s body?
and that change, from viewing the past as 2D or 3D, is the difference between just Learning history, and Studying it.
ROFL
amaizing comic <3 it
A lovely and insightful little mini-essay. I’ve had the thought before that perhaps we teach history the wrong way. Instead of doing it in a linear, first to last, fashion, we should start with the present work backward topically, picking out prominent ideas and showing how they turn up in other subjects and how they have evolved over time. I think the problem isn’t just that we live a short amount of time, but also that our minds aren’t particularly linear and that isn’t necessarily the way we understand things best (especially when you’re going from unfamiliar–the past–into the familiar–the present; it would be more intuitive to start with the familiar and show the evolutionary steps that made it that way).
This wouldn’t be especially useful with ancient history, of course, unless you were to really dedicate some time to it rather than the haphazard way most children seem to go about learning it. (I actually don’t think I ever had a class related to ancient history. Mostly just early American and some modern European.)
Will you be my history teacher? Pleaaase? I can just imagine how epic that would be. ‘Everyone draw a comic about your favorite part of history, and write a blog post! Best one gets on the web site!’ Every week you’d have us discuss one of your comics. School boards love stuff like that. Technology integration, debates, writing, and creative ways to present ideas all in one. You could also teach mythology, but history has a better jobs market…
I can’t wait to see how the turtle gets up there!
Great comic! I actually had an audible chuckle when I finally figured out the punchline. (It was early.Don’t judge.)
I also appreciate your insight on the evolution of civilizations. It makes a good point when you think how much our current civilization is effected by something as powerful as a hurricane, or as strange as a new Brittany Spears song.
Great stuff, Scott!
And that explains that! I always wondered where the Egyptian animal-head business came from.
“Anubis’s black skin is representative of the color of mummified remains and the fertile soil of the Nile. Jackals, scavengers that threaten corpses, had long been associated with the dead by early Egyptians, thus the god of the dead is shown with the head of a jackal.”
Actually, their real God of Death was Osiris… Whose skin was green. Because zombies. Obviously.
All I can think of is that Horus has a really tiny head. X)