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Pharaoh Amenhotep II making an offering to the gods - Eighteenth Dynasty - Egyptological Museum of Turin. The functions of the Pharaoh are the various religious and governmental activities performed by the king of Egypt during Antiquity (between the years 3150 and 30 BC). As a central figure of the state, the pharaoh is the obligatory ...
Pharaoh is the only intermediary between the divinities and mortals. Since the maintenance of divine harmony requires numerous daily services throughout the land of Egypt, Pharaoh alone cannot ensure its material execution. This is the fundamental role of the priest: to replace Pharaoh in the material execution of daily rites. [2]
This event transformed Egyptian religion, as some deities rose to national importance and the cult of the divine pharaoh became the central focus of religious activity. [117] Horus was identified with the king, and his cult center in the Upper Egyptian city of Nekhen was among the most important religious sites of the period.
Pharaoh (/ ˈ f ɛər oʊ /, US also / ˈ f eɪ. r oʊ /; [4] Egyptian: pr ꜥꜣ; [note 1] Coptic: ⲡⲣ̄ⲣⲟ, romanized: Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: פַּרְעֹה Parʿō) [5] is the vernacular term often used for the monarchs of ancient Egypt, who ruled from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BCE) until the annexation of Egypt by the Roman Republic in 30 BCE. [6]
In ancient Egypt, it was standard for pharaohs to be worshipped posthumously as transfigured beings amongst the royal ancestors. This was generally performed in the form of a mortuary cult . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] During the pharaoh's lifetime, they were generally recognized as having divine properties, in accordance with imperial cult government.
Aten, also Aton, Atonu, or Itn (Ancient Egyptian: jtn, reconstructed ) was the focus of Atenism, the religious system formally established in ancient Egypt by the late Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten.
The Pyramid Texts (c. 2400–2300 BCE) describe the nature of the pharaoh in different characters as both Horus and Osiris. The pharaoh as Horus in life became the pharaoh as Osiris in death, where he was united with the other gods. New incarnations of Horus succeeded the deceased pharaoh on earth in the form of new pharaohs. [14]
Gods could share the same role in nature; Ra, Atum, Khepri, Horus, and other deities acted as sun gods. [40] Despite their diverse functions, most gods had an overarching role in common: maintaining maat, the universal order that was a central principle of Egyptian religion and was itself personified as a goddess. [41]