Questions in Egyptology No. 4: Did the Ancient Egyptians Have a Religion?

Questions in Egyptology No. 4: Did the Ancient Egyptians Have a Religion?

Did the ancient Egyptians have a religion, or did they worship cults?

Whether the ancient Egyptians possessed a religion remains a hotly debated topic among Egyptologists. The complexity of their beliefs is a puzzle that scholars continue to explore. In this blog post, we will delve into the evidence and theories surrounding the spiritual practices of this fascinating civilization.

Defining Religion:

Before we embark on this journey, it’s crucial to understand what “religion” meant to the ancient Egyptians. Our modern interpretation may not entirely align with theirs.

The word religion has a Latin origin. The ancient Egyptians had no word for religion and so the argument goes, therefore, they had no concept of religion. They also had no word of cosmos or art but they believed they lived in a god-made cosmos and they practiced all manner of arts. So, the absence of a word for something does not mean it did not exist.

Egyptologists take their lead on religion from anthropologists. This makes religion into the study of people, not the study of belief or spiritual beings and relationships with them. (Tylor, 1871). Tylor’s definition is not the most up-to-date. But it works. It provides a good definition of what most of us think of when we think about religion.

The anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor (1832–1917) defined religion as belief in spiritual beings and stated that this belief originated as explanations of natural phenomena. … They used this by extension to explain life and death, and belief in the afterlife.

Book by Stephen Quirke https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cult-Ra-Sun-worship-Ancient-Egypt/dp/0500051070

What is a cult?

In Egyptology, the term cult means the daily tending and worship of an image of a deity. In ancient Egypt, the temples were the houses of the gods. The gods were thought to descend from the sky temporarily to live in their cult statues which were located in the temple’s inner sanctuaries.

The temples were also the stage for daily rituals that were ideally performed by the pharaoh, but in practice were performed by the resident priests. During religious festivals, cult statues could be brought out of the temple. For example at Dendera statues were brought out onto the cult terrace so that people could see them.

The Daily Cult Routine and Ceremonies

The shrine containing the god’s cult image was:

  • opened at dawn,
  • greeted and praised with prayers and hymns,
  • purified with libations and the burning of incense,
  • clothed in fresh linen, and
  • fed with bread, cakes and water.
The Magic of Heka: Ancient Egyptian Rituals That Have Crossed Cultures and Time | Ancient Origins
The Obsequies of an Egyptian Cat, John Reinhard Weguelin, 1886.

Every day at dawn the priests performed the ceremony of the creation of the cosmos. It began with a ritual called “Lighting the Fire.” This ritual was held in the most sacred room of the temple and was performed by the high ranking members of the priesthood in the name of the king. It was a reenactment of the first appearance,
and daily reappearance, of the sun.

Next, they performed a ritual known as “Drawing the Bolt.” During this rite, the priests opened the door to the shrine where the main cult statue stood. The statue’s clothing was removed; and underwent ritual purification, dressing, and feeding. The lower-ranking priests were responsible for preparing the ceremony and disposing of the food and water.

At midday, ceremonies of ritual purification for the lesser gods were performed and as the daylight faded the whole morning ceremony was reversed. The statues of the gods were closed again and left to sleep overnight ready for their morning awakening.

So, was there an ancient Egyptian religion, or was it a collection of cults?

When Jean François Champollion unlocked the secret code of Egypt’s most sacred language, hieroglyphs, in 1822 he unlocked many wonders of a long-hidden world. It was a world populated by strange and mysterious gods with human bodies and animal heads.

From the start, Egyptology committed itself to the study of Egypt’s ancient religion; particularly to its beliefs about life after death. But it has never been agreed that the ancient Egyptians had a comprehensive worldview or ‘metaphysical moral vision’ that was accepted as binding because it was held to be in itself basically true and just even if all dimensions of it could not be either fully confirmed or refuted.

And so, since the translation of the ‘divine words’ Egyptology has fallen short in one important respect: it has failed to produce a description of the ancient Egyptian gods and religion that is in any way commensurate with the scale and impressiveness of its sacred monuments.

Egyptologists focused on words, almost to the exclusion of everything else. Buildings and monuments are the domain of the archaeologists; the wonderful art of the tombs and precious funeral artefacts found in them were the domain of art historians, and the anthropologists are processing ancient Egyptian religion through a variety of pan-world theories that render religion down to observable social behaviours.

Image result for gods of ancient egypt creative commons

Enthroned Osiris judging the dead


Worship of Deities:

Central to their spiritual framework were gods and goddesses who symbolized natural forces and concepts. These divine beings influenced daily life and the cosmos.

The Gods

Today the gods and religion of ancient Egyptians are portrayed as mundane and soulless; there is no sense that the gods were holy, divine, or transcendent and certainly no sense that once people believed they contained the ultimate mystery of life, death and, the cosmos.

Image result for cosmos ancient egypt creative commons

The sun rises over the circular mound of creation as goddesses pour out the primeval waters around it.

Image result for god statue ancient egypt creative commons

Brooklyn Museum A figure of the Goddess Nephthys

In ancient times, the gods were kept from common view, they were kept or made pure and special. This kept them sacred and helped people to believe the gods were powerful enough to help them fulfill their deepest needs and longings. But the gods were not just there to help when times were bad they filled people with both reverence and terror. What was sacred was protected and adored. Sacred spaces and objects represented the intersection between the limits of temporal human effort and the unlimited possibilities of the metaphysical.

Egyptian religion was not an individual means for orienting or transforming oneself in the world as religion is in the West today. Instead, it was a complex and rich human phenomenon that formed the mental architecture of the whole of society.

The King

In Egyptology, sacredness is believed to lie primarily in the person of the king; in his tomb, his temples and in his cult statue, in his images and in the ritual objects he used in sacred performances.

In theory, it was the pharaoh’s duty to carry out temple rituals, as he was the human link to the gods – his dead father and mother were believed to be gods and he himself would become a god when he joined them in the afterlife.

For the Egyptians, the king was the pinnacle of Egyptian society. He was the head of the state, their supreme warlord, and the chief priest of every god in the kingdom.

The ancient Egyptian king was believed to be the son of a god, chief priest, and mediator between the gods in heaven and the people on earth. So, in reality, his ritual duties were almost always carried out by priests.

Image result for king statue ancient egypt creative commons

The picture above: Khafra (also read as Khafre, Khefren and Greek: Χεφρήν Chephren) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He was the son of Khufu and the throne successor of Djedefre. According to the ancient historian Manetho, Khafra was followed by king Bikheris, but according to archaeological evidence, he was instead followed by king Menkaure. Khafra was the builder of the second-largest pyramid of Giza.

The Priests

The king’s priests were initiated into the sacred cults; they learned and maintained the sacred systems; its requirements, and its taboos; and they maintained the sacred order and the prevailing worldview among the non-literate. The concept of sacredness extended beyond the king to the natural world, to the river Nile, the sky, the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Once initiated, the priest led the community in connecting with the supernatural to access its divine benefits – health, good fortune, and life after death.

During the Old and Middle Kingdoms, government officials served as priests on a part-time basis. Full-time priests only appear in the New Kingdom.

The temple staff also included many people other than priests, such as musicians and chanters in temple ceremonies.

Outside the temple were artisans and other labourers who helped supply the temple’s needs, as well as farmers who worked on temple estates. All were paid with portions of the temple’s income. Large temples were therefore very important centres of economic activity, sometimes employing thousands of people.

There were many different types of priests:

  • Male priests were known as hem-netjer, females as hemet-netjer or servants of the god. The top priest was the hem-netjer-tepi,  or ‘first servant of god’.
  • The wab priests, the lowest rank, did all the routine unskilled work in the temple.
  • The hour-priests were astronomers.
  • Sem priests presided over mortuary rituals and conducted funeral services.
  • The Lector priest or hery-heb or cheriheb wrote the religious texts, instructed trainee clergy, and recited the prayers invoking the gods’ presence in the temple and at festivals. In ancient Egyptian literature, lector priests are often portrayed as the keepers of secret knowledge and the performers of amazing magical feats.

Sacerdote kher-heb

The Moral Vision

Evidence from the archaeological record shows that the ancient Egyptians believed they were responsible for their own moral behaviour. They believed, at least in some form, of what we would call ‘free will’. The gods, particularly Osiris, were the ultimate judges of people’s moral actions. Leading a moral life was the gateway to a second life beyond death and was called ma’at.

The average ancient Egyptian was a lover of life. He or she felt sure that right-doing brought success and happiness, whereas evil-doing was bound to bring failure. This social ethic covered all members of society. Family, friends, neighbours, village and town, the nation and foreigners too. Fair dealing and benevolence were viewed as the leading virtues; greed was deemed the most pernicious vice.

In sum, the ancient Egyptians recognized the brotherhood of mankind.

Conclusion

The question of whether ancient Egyptians practised religion is an enigma that eludes a definitive answer. But, by understanding what was sacred to the ancient Egyptians it is possible to get a new view of ancient Egypt and ancient Egyptian religion. What we see is rich religious symbolism and philosophy and the development of the world’s first great religion.

Whether we could recreate this religion with all its rituals, ceremonies and mysticism is unlikely. It would be difficult to fool an ancient Egyptian into believing he/she was in a real temple, following a real service because there is so much we don’t know and perhaps will never know. However, I am sure the ancient Egyptians had a religion and that it was deeply meaningful to them. After all, look at what their beliefs inspired.

 

 

Questions in Egyptology No 3. Did the Egyptians Influence the Greeks?

Questions in Egyptology No. 2: How Long Did it Take to Mummify a Pharaoh?

The Tragic Life of Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla

Questions in Egyptology No 3. Did the Egyptians Influence the Greeks?

Questions in Egyptology No 3. Did the Egyptians Influence the Greeks?

I know that the generally accepted academic view is that the ancient Egyptians had no influence on the development of Greek mathematics, philosophy and cosmology.

But I believe there is evidence, that has been overlooked by the mainstream. This evidence shows the Greek mathematicians and philosophers such as Meltis, Pythagoras (or the Pythagorean cult I know the character we call Pythagoras probably never existed) and Plato were all influenced by what they learned about numbers in Egypt.

In Raphael’s fresco The School of Athens, Pythagoras is shown writing in a book as a young man presents him with a tablet showing a diagrammatic representation of a lyre above a drawing of the sacred tetractys.

The Academics do not Understand

The reason Egypt’s contribution to the development of mathematics and Western culture has been misunderstood is because academics do not understand what the ancient Egyptians did with numbers. They have decided Egyptian numbers were used in a purely profane way, meaning to quantify stuff or put things in numerical order. However, there is a good deal of evidence that the ancient Egyptian also used numbers as metaphors to describe the cosmos. I’m working on a book about numbers as metaphors for what was sacred in ancient Egypt, and the evidence is compelling. Well, I can hear you say. ‘She would say that wouldn’t she.’ But I think when the book comes out a lot of people will agree.

In the ancient Greek civilisation where the first philosophers attempted to explain the creation of the Universe, the hymns of mysticist Orpheus proved to be of significant importance. These myths introduced the term ‘Chaos’ to our vocabulary. This is another reason Egyptian cosmology has not been understood. The Greek notion of chaos has been superimposed onto the ancient Egyptians whose prima materia was not chaotic but inert, dark, limitless, timeless and without form.

According to Orpheus, Chaos condensed into the giant Cosmic Egg, whose rupture resulted in the creation of Phanes and Ouranos and of all the gods who symbolise the creation of the Universe. Later, Greek philosophers supported the view that chaos describes the unformed and infinite void, from which the Universe was created.

Engraving of a marble relief of Phanes.jpg. From Wikimedia Commons …

After visiting Egypt, so his biographer said, Thales of Miletus (624/623 – c. 548/545 BCE) claimed that the Earth floats on water and that earthquakes occur when the Earth is rocked by waves, an idea he probably picked up in Egypt where they believed all of creation came out of the infinite waters of the Nun and where the Earth was believed to be surrounded by the water of Nun.

Thales was also known for his innovative use of geometry. For example, he said: Megiston topos: apanta gar chorei (Μέγιστον τόπος· ἄπαντα γὰρ χωρεῖ.) The greatest is space, for it holds all things. Again this is an idea he may have learned about in Egypt. The ancient Egyptian god Shu was the god of space or emptiness. Shu held the bubble of air that contained the Earth in the ancient Egyptian cosmology. Shu’s role in creating the triangle of creation occurred when he mythically lifted the body of the goddess Nut to form the vault of the sky, beneath him lay the body of the Earth god Geb. Flinders Petrie was the first to notice that the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Giza was based on a 3–4–5 pyramid, built c. 2,500 BCE and this may be why it’s there.

Wikimedia: Nut forming the arc of the heavens, Shu supported by Khumn in the centre, and Geb in a prone position lying on the Earth.

Mathematically, topos, Newtonian-style space, is connected with the verb, chorei. This word has the connotation of yielding before things or spreading out to make room for them, which is ‘extension’. Within this extension, things have a position. Points, lines, planes and solids related by distances and angles follow from this presumption. Thales’ understanding of triangles may have started in Egypt where the triangle is an enduring feature of their architecture and creation myths. However, unlike the Egyptians who used triangles for sacred things.  Thales may well have taken what he learned about Egyptian sacred space and used in a more practical way. It is said that he measured the height of the pyramids by their shadows at the moment when his own shadow was equal to his height. This is possible because a right triangle with two equal legs is a 45-degree right triangle, all of which are similar. The length of the pyramid’s shadow measured from the centre of the pyramid at that moment must have been equal to its height.

Thales use of the right-angled triangle is a clear indication he was familiar with the Egyptian seked, or seqed, the ratio of the run to the rise of a slope (cotangent). The seked is at the base of problems 56, 57, 58, 59 and 60 of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus which dates to the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt. It was copied by the scribe Ahmes (i.e., Ahmose; Ahmes is an older transcription favoured by historians of mathematics), from a now-lost text from the reign of King Amenemhat III (12th dynasty).

Wikimedia Commons: Rhind Mathematical Papyrus

Pythagoras of Samos (c. 570 – c. 495 BC)

Pythagoras was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and, through them, Western philosophy.

According to Aristotle, the Pythagoreans used mathematics for solely mystical reasons. Their use of number was devoid of all practical application. They believed that all things were made of numbers.

The number one (the monad) represented the origin of all things.

The number two (the dyad) represented matter.

The number three was an “ideal number” because it had a beginning, middle, and end and was the smallest number of points that could be used to define a plane triangle, which they revered as a symbol of the god Apollo.

The number four signified the four seasons and the four elements.

The number seven was also sacred because it was the number of planets and the number of strings on a lyre, and because Apollo’s birthday was celebrated on the seventh day of each month.

They believed that odd numbers were masculine, that even numbers were feminine, and that the number five represented marriage because it was the sum of two and three.

Ten was regarded as the “perfect number” and the Pythagoreans honoured it by never gathering in groups larger than ten. Pythagoras was credited with devising the Tetractys, the triangular figure of four rows which add up to the perfect number, ten.

The Tetractys

The Tetractys was made using counting stones (psēphoi). Four rows of stones were placed one above another in the shape of an equilateral triangle. The equilateral triangle was considered a perfect figure.

The Pythagoreans regarded the Tetractys as a symbol of utmost mystical importance.

Iamblichus, in his Life of Pythagoras, states that the Tetractys was “so admirable, and so divinised by those who understood [it],” that Pythagoras’s students would swear oaths by it. As a mystical symbol, it was very important to the secret worship of Pythagoreanism.

Pythagorean cosmology was based on the assumption that the cosmos is harmoniously ordered according to mathematical rules. For the Pythagoreans, the Tetractys expressed the universal harmony of the cosmos. Therefore, some Pythagoreans assumed that there must be ten celestial bodies in motion.

Tetractys - Wikipedia

The Tetratys

 

Modern scholars debate whether these numerological teachings were developed by Pythagoras himself or by the later Pythagorean philosopher Philolaus of Croton.

I believe Pythagoras whoever he was, and his followers developed the Tetractys after visiting Egypt.

The Pythagorean Mystery Numbers are not exactly the same as the meaning of the Egyptian sacred numbers I have discovered but I believe the Pythagoreans got the idea of modelling the universe with numbers from the Egyptians. I will show how they did it in the book I’m working on with the working title, ‘The Numbers of Thoth’ by Julia and Martin Herdman.

Short Bibliography

Imhausen, A. (2016). Mathematics in Ancient Egypt, A Contextual History. Princeton University Press

Rossi, C. (2004). Architecture and Mathematics in Ancient Egypt. Cambridge University Press.

Smith, D. (1958). The History of Mathematics: Volume II. Dover.

Thomas, I. B. (1983). Plato’s Theory of Number. The Classical Quarterly, 375-384.

Zhmud, L. (1989). Pythagoras as a Mathematician. Historia Mathematica, 249-268.

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See Also:

 

Forty years of documenting the Great Sphinx of Giza

Ancient Egypt – Cheapskate Coffin Makers

 

Getting the Pharaoh to the Afterlife

 

Garden Paintings in Tombs

 

 

 

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How long did it take to mummify a pharaoh?

How long did it take to mummify a pharaoh?

How long did it take to mummify a pharaoh?

Unveiling the Secrets of Egyptian Mummification – In this blog, we will explore the secrets of Egyptian mummification, we embark on a journey that transcends time and immerses us in the captivating world of ancient rituals, mythology, and reverence for the afterlife.

By unravelling these mysteries, we gain a deeper appreciation for the rich cultural heritage of Egypt and the extraordinary lengths to which ancient Egyptians went to ensure the eternal preservation of their loved ones.

Unveiling the Secrets of Ancient Egyptian Mummification

Natural mummification

The study of mummified remains has unveiled many secrets including societal and cultural aspects surrounding mummification. From the elaborate funeral rituals to the role of priests, embalmers, and various deities like Anubis, the jackal-headed god associated with embalming, each aspect contributes to our understanding of the intricate beliefs and practices of ancient Egyptian society.

The ancient Egyptians held a deep-seated fear of the body’s disintegration. The scorching heat of the sand played a crucial role in aiding the preservation process by drawing out the body’s liquids. This natural mummification, as it is termed, occurred without any direct human intervention.

The ancient practice of mummification in Egypt has long fascinated archaeologists, historians, and enthusiasts alike. This captivating funerary tradition, dating back thousands of years, involved a complex set of rituals and techniques aimed at preserving the physical bodies of the deceased for eternity.

The Egyptians’ reverence for the body stemmed from their belief in the afterlife and the concept of bodily resurrection. They believed that the preservation of the physical form was essential to ensuring a successful transition into the next life. Through mummification, they sought to safeguard not only the body but also the spirit within, allowing it to traverse the realm of the dead and continue its existence in the afterlife.

The Mummification Process

For centuries, the secrets of Egyptian mummification remained shrouded in mystery. However, modern scientific techniques and advancements have allowed us to delve deeper into this ancient practice. Through X-ray imaging, CT scans, and chemical analysis, researchers have gained valuable insights into the lives and health of individuals from the past. These scientific examinations of mummies have revealed fascinating details, such as age, diet, diseases, and even intricate embalming techniques employed by ancient Egyptian embalmers.

In the realm of ancient Egypt, mummification served as a means to surpass the limitations of nature. The practice held such significance that it was deemed essential, particularly for Pharaohs. Initially, mummification involved wrapping specific body parts, such as the face and hands, as a means to protect the body from the elements and ensure its integrity.

Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, provides the most comprehensive account of the mummification process. According to his writings, the entire process spanned a period of seventy days. The first thirty days were dedicated to evisceration and drying, followed by forty days of meticulous stuffing and embalming with oils.

Stage one of the embalming process – 30 days

The elaborate mummification process involved multiple stages, each contributing to the successful preservation of the body. To begin the mummification, the internal organs, excluding the heart and kidneys, were extracted through an incision in the left side of the body. These organs were then dried, wrapped, and placed in canopic jars, although later practices saw their placement back inside the body. The brain, on the other hand, was typically removed through the nose and discarded. While physical evidence for the removal of the heart during the Old Kingdom remains elusive, ancient texts suggest its removal or replacement with a heart amulet.

The practice of embalming or mummifying aimed to improve on what nature could do on its own. It was considered essential to mummify a Pharaoh. Early mummification involved the wrapping of specific parts of the body such as the face and hands. The best literary account of the mummification process is given by Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian. He records that the entire process took seventy days. There were 30 days of evisceration and drying and 40 days of perfecting with stuffing and embalming with oils.

Stage two of the embalming process – 40 days

The body underwent a meticulous drying process, with bags of natron or salt packed inside and outside the body for a period of forty days. Bags of natron or salt were packed both inside and outside the body and left for forty days until all the moisture had been removed from the remaining body tissue. The body was then cleansed with aromatic oils and resins and wrapped with bandages, often household linen torn into strips.

Between the layers of wrapping, the embalmers place amulets to protect the deceased. Heart scarabs were placed in the wrappings of the mummy. They had spells carved on them to protect the deceased person’s heart from being lost or separated from the body in the underworld. This ensured the removal of all moisture from the remaining body tissues.

Following the drying process, the body was cleansed using aromatic oils and resins before being carefully wrapped with bandages, often made from torn strips of household linen. Amulets were placed between the layers of wrapping to protect the deceased, including heart scarabs with carved spells to safeguard the heart from being lost or separated in the underworld.

The Canopic Jars – Preserving the Soft Tissue

Canopic jars played a vital role in the mummification process, used to store preserved soft tissues. By the time of the New Kingdom, these jars were reduced to four in number, each lid representing a god known as the ‘four sons of Horus.’ These deities were responsible for protecting specific internal organs, with Duamutef safeguarding the stomach, Hapy caring for the lungs, Imsety overseeing the liver, and Qebehsenuef guarding the intestines.

The internal organs, apart from the heart and kidneys, were removed via a cut on the left side. The organs were dried and wrapped and placed in canopic jars, or later replaced inside the body. The brain was removed, often through the nose, and discarded.

Texts suggest that the heart was removed during the Old Kingdom, although there is no proof of this from the physical bodies. The Pyramid Text (1162a), concerned might be referring to putting a heart amulet in place of the original heart. It reads: “To say: my father made for himself his heart after the other (heart) was taken from him” In this passage, the word “other” could be a reference either to the god giving another heart to the deceased, or providing a heart amulet in its place.

Unveiling the Secrets of Ancient Egyptian Mummification

The canopic jars.

The canopic jars were used to store the soft tissue. “Anubis, who is the chief of the divine booth (sh-ntr), has commanded thy purification with thy eight nmst-jars and [thy] eight ‘3bt-jars, which come from the sh-ntr ” (2012b-c ).

The Role of Anubis – The God of Embalmer’s Tent

At the heart of the mummification process was the god Anubis. Anubis was responsible for embalming, particularly for Pharaohs. The Pyramid Texts refer to Anubis as the embalmer of the Pharaoh, highlighting his role in washing the viscera of the deceased king.

Egyptologist Bob Brier suggests that the embalming process took place in a tent situated atop a hill, away from the unpleasant odours associated with treating the deceased. This tent, referred to as the “sh-ntr,” served as a divine booth where the purification procedures for the bodies of kings took place.

The tent is described in various texts. it had a number of rooms, and the central part of the tent was the place where the purification procedures were carried out. The doorways were shown as closed wooden doors (Merrewka), or curtains as in the tomb of Qar, or they were left open as in the tomb of Idu.

 

Unveiling the Secrets of Ancient Egyptian Mummification

Anubis, with the deceased on the lion bed of resurrections, beneath the four canopic jars face right, Anubis offers a libation.

Unveiling the Secrets of Ancient Egyptian Mummification

Anubis mummifies the Pharaoh in his tent.

Scientific analysis of mummies using processes such as X-ray and CT scanning has revealed a wealth of information about how individuals lived and died. It has been possible to identify conditions such as lung cancer, osteoarthritis and tuberculosis, as well as parasitic disorders.

Sources:

British Museum website, Mummification in The Old Kingdom By Ahmed Saleh

 

See Also:

Questions in Egyptology 6: Did Anubis Have a Magic Eye?

Questions in Egyptology 5: What was the punishment for Ancient Egyptians if caught tomb-robbing?

Questions in Egyptology No. 4: Did the Ancient Egyptians Have a Religion?

Questions in Egyptology No 3. Did the Egyptians Influence the Greeks?

Questions in Egyptology No. 2: How Long Did it Take to Mummify a Pharaoh?