The sacralization of the power of the pharaoh in ancient Egypt

The cult of the pharaoh in Ancient Egypt played a special role in the existence of society. This phenomenon was supported by the teaching of the priests. According to him, Pharaoh was considered the embodiment of a deity or a God-man.

In other words, the ruler of Ancient Egypt was of a double nature. He had both human and divine origins. Even his birth was considered the result of a marriage between the god-father and the earthly mother. In connection with this, Pharaoh ruled the earth as the embodiment of Horus, and after death was identified with the lord of the underworld.

Dynasty rulers

The history of Ancient Egypt is divided into five periods. It was the Early and the Ancient, the Middle and the New, and also the Later Kingdom. All of them existed in the 3-1 millennium BC. In these times, the country was alternately ruled by thirty dynasties of pharaohs, each of whom was considered the incarnation of the supreme god Osiris on earth . The first such ruler was Mina. At one time, he united Lower and Upper Egypt.

Considering the culture of this country, it should be noted that it was of a religious nature. In addition, there was a sacralization of the power of the pharaoh (it will be briefly described in this article).

The attitude of ordinary people to rulers

All the rulers of Ancient Egypt embodied the unity of the country and were considered sacred figures. That is why the cult of the pharaoh was so developed. In ancient Egypt, he magically provided the much needed spills of the Nile by carrying out special rituals. To explain this supernatural gift is very simple. The fact is that the priests who possessed the relevant knowledge already knew what day the river would spill. Pharaoh, at their prompt, threw a scroll in the water with an order. In the eyes of ordinary people, their ruler was the half-life that caused a lot of water.

That is why all the inhabitants of the country were sure that the yield of fields, the litter of domestic animals and even the birth of children in each family depends on their ruler. The name of the pharaoh was forbidden to be spoken aloud. In this connection, the simple people had to use allegory. And only a few lucky people could see the living God. In the Egyptian texts one can find a description of such an audience. From the visitor it was required to lie on his stomach and kiss the ground near the feet of the ruler of the country. In this case, a simple person often lost consciousness, and sometimes life, from a sacred thrill before the deity.

Sacramentation

From the history of the development of society it is known that statehood in any country of the world arose on the basis of the power of kings or kings, which was, as a rule, unlimited. And this ruler was one for hundreds of thousands and even millions of his own.

So it was in ancient Egypt. There was a sacralization of the power of the pharaoh. This is a process that empowers the ruler with sacred properties. A strong centralized power in the ancient state was achieved on the basis of the idea of the divine nature of the pharaoh. And the main principles of this power was incomprehensibility and inviolability. The ancient Eastern people constantly organized themselves around the sacred figure of their ruler. With him the people correlated their thoughts and deeds, saw in it a source of disasters and good deeds. Pharaoh seemed to center the world in which his subjects lived, and was a kind of coordinate system of their views on life.

Religious views

The sacralization of the power of the pharaoh was expressed in the submission of the people to the will of one person. And this phenomenon was based on the belief of ordinary people that the ruler of their state is the representative of supernatural forces, which gave him multiple rights. An important moment in which it was possible to sacralize the power of the pharaoh was the affirmation of the concept of the "God-Man", whose authority is given to him from above and does not need any rational and logical explanation.

There was a traditional Greek representation. According to him, Pharaoh was the son of not only the supreme god, but all the other nine main gods. That is, all the supernatural forces were concentrated in the ruler of the country.

The sacralization of the power of the pharaoh was also based on the fact that he was to some extent superior to all the gods individually. And it's not just an intermediary between the two worlds. He is the continuation of the divine peace on earth. This vision of power is well seen in one of the ancient texts "Testament of Ramses."

Pharaoh status

The image and figure of the divine king received the most complete and complete expression in ancient Egypt. But, despite this, the cult of the pharaoh was only a tendency for preserving the primitive ideas. People who lived in the outback believed their local gods, and the cult of the ruler of the state existed for them only formally.

The fact that the pharaohs did not always bear the symbol of divinity in the eyes of those who were submitted, is evidenced by the ancient Egyptian texts that have come down to us. But still in this state the cult of the ruler was developed as much as possible in human society.

Theocratic nature of power

The head of Ancient Egypt was Pharaoh. In his hands, absolute power over the country, its material, natural, labor and land resources was concentrated. The name that such a sacralization of the pharaoh's power bears is theocracy. In translation from the Greek language, this word means "goddess". Everything that the country had was considered the property of its ruler. And it is not by chance that such a concept as "Pharaoh's house" meant the same thing as "state".

The teachings of the priests of Ancient Egypt demanded that the inhabitants of the country unquestioningly obey their ruler. Disobedience threatened people with terrible troubles, not only during life, but also after death.

The role of art

The sacralization of the power of the pharaoh was supported by Egyptian culture. The works of art created at the same time served not as a source of aesthetic pleasure.

They claimed in the images and forms that impressed the imagination of man the power that Pharaoh was endowed with. The culture of Ancient Egypt stood at the service of the interests of the top of the country and its head. First of all, it was called upon to create monuments that glorified the pharaohs and knew the theocratic state system. Similar works were performed according to certain rules, due to which the sacralization of the power of the pharaoh in Egypt was further strengthened.

Slate plate of Narmer

There is a vivid monument, indicating the sacralization of the power of the pharaoh in ancient Egypt. This is the slate slab of Narmer. It is a sixty-four centimeter tall plate with relief images and short hieroglyphic inscriptions on both sides. This plate tells of the victory of the ruler of Upper Egypt, Narmer over Lower Egypt and the unification of these territories in a single state. Here you can see the image of the pharaoh in the very center of the composition. He is carved with a mace, which crushes the head of the enemy leader. On the reverse side, Narmer as a winner goes to the group of prisoners of war he defeated.

The image on the plate proves the fact that there really existed a sacralization of the power of the pharaoh in the ancient Egyptian state. After all, the ruler is portrayed as taller than all the rest. And this principle adhered to artists for more than one decade in many works of art.

Creating Sculptures

The sacralization of the power of Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt found expression in many works of art. Sculptors of that time portrayed the rulers of the state with the help of statues. At the same time, they tried to idealize the "demigods", giving their face a calm expression, and making the figure more majestic and powerful.

A vivid example is the statue of the pharaoh Khafre. This tranquil and calm ruler sits on the throne, over which the god Horus spreads his wings . This statue, like all the rest, is cultic, containing, according to the Egyptians, the spiritual essence of the deceased. And in the portrait of the pharaoh, the main thing is not the resemblance to his features. The main emphasis here is on the type of ruler, detached from everyday life, which is the head of the largest ancient Eastern state.

Creation of temples

For the sacralization of the power of the pharaohs, not only paintings, statues and reliefs served. Their power was glorified by the creation of grandiose temples, as well as entire temple complexes. All of them were erected in honor of the deified rulers of Ancient Egypt.

One of the most striking examples of such an architectural masterpiece is the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut. It was built in the late 16th century. BC. In the Deir al-Bahri valley. All the main paintings and inscriptions of this funeral church describe the birth and coronation of the queen, as well as her remarkable military feat - a trip to the country of Punt. This was the first female pharaoh to rule Ancient Egypt.

The funeral cult

In the monuments of art that have come down to us from the time of the distant era, two themes are clearly traced - life and death. In Egypt, there was a doctrine that claimed that the dead was bound to be resurrected.

Pharaoh in this state is not only the holder of power, but also a divine being. Having finished his mission in the world of people, he was supposed to return to the gods again, where he remained until his earthly birth.

The erection of the tombs, which were to serve as the "home of eternity", additionally affirmed the sacralization of the power of the pharaoh. Theocracy and the funeral cult in this state found expression in these architectural monuments.

Powerful rulers collected huge army of workers who were forced to work hard, cutting huge granite blocks, delivering them to the construction site, and then lifting and stacking the heaviest materials using only primitive techniques.

History does not know of any other state where rulers would decide on such material and human costs only for the sake of erecting such a monument. However, in Ancient Egypt these tombs were of the most important cult significance. The people believed that with their help the pharaohs could make an ascent to the world of the gods. The pyramid itself was a symbol of a multistage bench for remembrance, on which there was enough space for every inhabitant of the state. This monument was the final stage in the funeral ritual, starting from the pier, on which the body of the pharaoh arrived, brought in a boat along the Nile. The whole last path of the ruler passed from east to west, that is, repeated the movement of the heavenly Sun in the sky.

Symbols of greatness

How else was the sacralization of the power of the pharaoh carried out? Attributes that the ruler of ancient Egypt wore were symbols of his greatness. One of the main of them was considered a headdress, which was called "pshent". It consisted of two crowns - red (Lower Egypt) and white (Upper Egypt). This headpiece was a symbol of power over both lands. Crowns were worn one on top of the other, attaching the images of the goddesses in front, the patrons of these territories.

Every day a headscarf for the people of Egypt was considered a handkerchief. In Pharaoh he was in the form of a large piece of striped cloth, a hoop with a snake and a ribbon. This handkerchief was called "claft", sometimes a crown was worn on it.

Also among the attributes of the power of the pharaoh since ancient times was a staff. It reminded of the old times, when cattle breeding played a significant role in people's lives.

The rod with a curved upper end is also a symbol of the power of the ruler of Egypt. It is called "hake", or "hook". In addition to the pharaoh, this symbol was worn by high officials. In addition, there was one more wand - uas. He was a long cane with a split end. The top of the waza was adorned with the stylized head of a dog or jackal.

In addition to these attributes, the symbol of the power of the pharaoh was a whip, or neheh (chain). An important dignity was also a beard. It was made of gold and tied to the ruler.

Pharaoh sat on the throne. This seat was made in the form of a cube and had a very low back. On both sides of the throne there was a symbol of the unification of the Egyptian lands, which was a reed transplanting the papyrus.