The importance and the rituals of preparing the ancient Egyptian for the afterlife, and the oldest and greatest idea in building engineering

 

The importance of the afterlife for the ancient Egyptian and the rituals of preparing him for the afterlife

The belief in the afterlife for the ancient Egyptian has reached an advanced degree of prosperity, and thousands of graves have been dug along the edge of the Nile Valley, the oldest of which dated back to the fifth millennium BC,  and the human body was lying in these graves at the bottom of a hole not more than a few feet deep, and his knees folded towards his chin, surrounded by a little luggage of pottery utensils, stone weapons, and other household tools, in addition to some ornaments, and all these things put next to him to prepare the deceased for another life upcoming after death.

This was the shape of the ancient Egyptian tomb before the establishment of any kingdom in the Nile Valley thousands of years, and it gradually moved to the people at the era of monarchy and the upscale civilization that was accompanied by Beautifully crafted physical materiel in the form of a huge tomb contain on its funerary rituals, The oldest huge tomb built by the people looked like an uncompleted pyramid, its sides were steep, and on the eastern side of the pyramid there was a rectangular room was offering in it the eucharist to the deceased, and his own ceremonies was performing in it.

It has become customary from the 34th century BC onwards, the close employees and followers of the king be buried in the royal tombs, such as the tombs of the first dynasty, and the king became bound by obligations to help his honorable men build their tombs, and supply them from the state treasury thus helping to the splendor and perfection of their tombs.

The oldest and greatest idea in building engineering

The pyramid considered through the ages the best geometric form in terms of construction, as the king recumbents under this huge mountain of impregnable stones, was looking forward to the immortality of his body and his personality that was closely linked with him, the pyramidal tomb was a solar symbol very sacred.

The pyramid was not an Isolated building stand-alone, as on the east side of the pyramid was located a low temple adjacent to the pyramid building, it has a portico with beautiful pillars in the front, leads to a hall With fabulous pillars surrounded by it the temple rooms on either side, and there was at the back of the temple a sacred place, and the wall which behind the sacred place "Holy of Holies" was the eastern facade of the pyramid, and in front of this wall erected an imaginary door adjacent to it that the deceased king could exit from his tomb to receive the offerings that present to him and enjoying it in that place.

Then after this, there is a road leading from the Nile Valley to the level of the plateau which the pyramid or temple is located above it, and that road roofed and its length great, and it was set up of huge solid stones and extended to the temple door, and at the lower end of the road, there was another luxurious temple with pillars, by these two temples were held the Funerary religious rites, which were regularly conducted on the soul of the king.

The collection of composite buildings from (the pyramid, the Funerary temple or "Mortuary temple", the roofed road, and the temple of the valley) are considered the greatest idea in  Construction Engineering that appeared in that early era, and when they were discovered, added to our information a new chapter in the history of architecture.

The continuity of life after death became The king's greatest concern and the government, and the king was often unable to complete this group of building  before his death, thus was put responsibility on the king's successors who were assigned to complete it, as at the same time they were doing everything they could to complete their own tombs.

At the completion of the construction of this set, the priests were giving organized formulas to preserve the temple and the pyramid, as for the king’s supplies while he recumbents under the pyramid, were taken care of its with utmost care, by practicing the wonderful rituals in the temple adjacent to his tomb, and those rituals were saved parts of it in "Pyramid Texts", which show us that what was familiar in life from the feasts, was doing to the deceased king the same feasts and the same rites, and that was in the greatest degree of splendor.

These rituals dealt with the offering of abundant food and included the names of what was offered of food, drink, clothes, oils, aromatic smells, and incense, and from those names, it appears to us what the king's table contains from the countless colors, as well as his clothes, and otherwise of his supplies in the afterlife.