The Role of the Egyptian Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Role of the Egyptian Religion - Essay Example The New Kingdom is the time period between roughly the sixteenth century BC and eleventh century BC in ancient Egyptian history. It could be described as the ancient civilization’s most affluent period with the most power it ever enjoyed. The main stalwart of Egypt’s power during this time, taking the civilization to a new height was Ramesses the Great. His campaigns into the Levant, to recover the once lost lands brought him great splendor as a king. Particularly of remembrance was his great military victory at the battle of Kadesh. The Egyptian religion played a strong roll in the lives of the people. The gods, who were believed to be manifested in their cult images, were taken care of by the priests. Offerings were made to them regularly to bring their blessings upon the people. There was a sense of hierarchy about the gods as well with Isis enjoying a higher position than the local gods like Tawaret. The primary difference in this came from the institutional gods be ing there to help in concerns of kingship whereas the local gods were prominent among the locals of Egyptian towns. There was a kind of ascendency involved with the higher state gods starting out as local deities but climbing slowly to a higher level as more temples were built in their name and opportunities for their worship increased.