Meeting the Gods

Description

Divine communication: Animals as intermediaries between humans and gods Animals played an enormous role in the everyday lives and religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians: a complex relationship which can be difficult to comprehend through modern Western eyes. Greek and Roman historians, often responsible for our earliest documentary evidence relating to the role of animals in Egypt, considered this to be ‘animal worship’. Centuries on, current understanding of the civilisation has sought to better understand this relationship and has studied human and divine interaction through the use of animal imagery. Animals were familiar to the ancient Egyptians. They lived and worked on the land and their lives were governed by cyclical events they witnessed in the natural world. Animals, due to their characteristics and attributes, became recognisable symbols associated closely with both the human and divine worlds. Gods depicted in composite form epitomise this duality. Animals themselves, both alive and dead, played a number of roles in ancient Egyptian religious practices. From the role of cult animals as avatars on earth to the use of animal mummies as votive offerings, this talk with animals acted as intermediaries in ancient Egypt.

Period	13 Feb 2016
Event title	Meeting the Gods : interactions between Mortals and the Divine
Event type	Workshop
Location	Manchester, United KingdomShow on map