The Egyptiens believed that to keep your soul to your body once you die, you have to go through a special mummification and burial process. to preserve the body, they rub the body in a special oil, took out the brain, kidney, liver and intestine, put them in four special jars that signifies the sons of Horus, and leave the heart, which will be needed in the afterlife. Then they wrap the body with tissues for better preservation. The poor are usually buried like that in a small coffin with amulets and trinkets, but the rich get many layers of coffins, each made of gold, and gems, and wear amulets and jewleryfrom many things. In the old kingdom, the pharaohs were buried in pyramids, and in the new kingdom, in tunnels in the Valley of the Kings. Both types had supplies and entertainment sources for the afterlife, basically, all the things the pharaoh needed in in real life, all made of gold and other treasures, and the book of the dead, a book which will help the pharaoh in the underworld. He thens goes through an "Opening of the mouth" ceremony to let the soul go free.
After the burial, it is thought that the spirit reawakens, and travels into the Underworld, and must face harsh tests to determine if he is worthy to live in the afterlife, or die again. In the final judgement room(below), Anubis weigh the pharaoh heart on a scale with the Feather of Truth, to determine if the pharaoh was a truthful person. If he passes, he is allowed to meet Osiris and live happily forever in the Afterlife. If he fails, Anubis tosses his heart to the monster Ammut, a beast with a crocodile head, and hippo's leg, and the pharaoh dies again. Toth notes the results.
The Egyptians worshipped many gods. In their religion, the world started when the sun god, Amun-Ra (7 and 8) appeared from the earth and created all the other gods and the sun. He rode on the sun boat every day, and entered the Duat, a mythical realm that has the Afterlife, every night. The most powerful gods ruled the others, so one day, Isis (12), the goddess of magic, was tired of Ra and wanted her husband, Osiris (11), to rule. So she tricked Ra and banished him into the Duat, leaving Osiris to rule. They had a son named Horus (1), a protector god and the god of pharaohs. But, the god of chaos, Seth (2), Osiris' borther, was jealous and killed him, splitting his body into pieces and scattering it all over Egypt. Isis was able to find the pieces and, with the help of Anubis (10), the god of funerals and death rituals, created the first mummy, and reincarnated him in the Afterlife, where he ruled as king.
Other gods are Hathor (5), the goddess of women, music, and parties, and her double Sekhmet, the goddess of war and bloodshed. there is Geb the Earth god, and Nut, the sky goddess. There is the crocodile god sobek (6), god of the nile river. There is bes, the protector of family, and Ptat (9), the god of craftmen. There are many more, but it would take a while to name them, so these are the most important. But of course there is toth (3), the god of writing and knowledge.
Anciant Egyptians worshiped many gods according to what they thought was important. The most important things were the sun, life and seath, magic, and the Nile River, their source of food. There were dozens of gods, each worshiped and "lived" in a different city, with a couple of important gods worshipped all over Egypt and who's temples were in the capital. They also believed that their pharaohs were "living gods" and were treated with great praise. They also had celebrations to celebrate a certain god. Priests and pharaohs worshipped and took care of the statues of the god that was said to be "possesed" by that god. When someone died, the Egyptians believed that they took a death journey to the kingdom of Osiris, the god of death (unsurprisingly), and must be judged by their rights and wrongs of life to enter. They thought that the body was required to be mummified and had to carry all they need to get to the kingdom.
