NEAREAST 240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Maat, Seker, Renews-Cappahayden

• School: U of M
• Department: Near East Studies
• Course: NEAREAST 240
• Professor: Terry Wilfong

Document Summary

King essentially the only god on earth. Acts as intermediary between gods and people. Slightly junior to all other gods due to mortal portion. King has some divine precedent in myth: (take on certain roles) Dead king = osiris first king of egypt. Reigning king = horus succeeds his father (after long feud with seth) King of upper and lower egypt frequently used. Ph-aa = great house used much later; refers to where lived. People usually afraid to refer directly to the king because he"s a god on earth. King"s main job maintain ma"at necessary for the survival of everything this requires many rituals and festivals. Frequently described as child of a god divine birth stories. Divine birth stories in which mother is visited by a god disguised as husband. God is typically osiris, sometimes others for political reasons. Most common when there isn"t an eldest son to take over, so someone else succeeds.