Religious Object Analysis Research Paper

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Religious Object Analysis

Male God

The statue of the male god present in the metropolitan museum of art belongs to the New Kingdom period. This statue is of a male God and it is made in the style of the pharaoh Amenhotep III. In one of his fist, the God is seen to be holding a 'was scepter'. The 'was scepter' is basically a straight staff and has a forked base. The base is capped with an angled horizontal section. The representation that the 'was scepter' provides is of dominion or power. This is seen held by many gods, goddesses and even pharaohs. The other hand, which is seen missing from the status, would have been holding the ankh hieroglyph. The latter would depict life. This statue is one of the many statues that were built and put up by the pharaoh in the period of the new Kingdom. It was erected in the huge mortuary temple in Western Thebes. The statues basically represented the get together of the Egyptian Gods at the heb-sed or the King's 30-year celebration. This belongs to the dynasty 18 and is made in Granodiorite medium. The statue measures about 92 cm and is present in the Metropolitan museum of art.

The statue was basically present and recognized by the colossi of Memnon. Over there, the pharaoh had continuously celebrated three Heb-seds and then later made a palace at this site. The mortuary or temple where this statue was located a mile south from the pharaoh's palace. The statue is carved very elegantly and gives the look of a very neat finish. The fact that arms are missing could be due to them being broken while the statue was being removed from the temple. What's interesting in this is that the arm comes at an exact angle to be holding the was scepter. Another possibility could be that there were no arms made and the God was still shown to be powerful. The was scepter in front of the body could depict that in all means, the male god has power over the people.

Meaning to ancient visitor

It was important for the Egyptians to put the Gods and goddesses at a high level. The Egyptians believed that the more love, respect and devotion they would give to the Gods, the better their life would be. There are different Gods like Horus and Osiris which are very commonly known in Egypt. This statue is of a male God and the name is not disclosed. The fact that this statue is of a male god is relevant in its self.

Every community had their own God and thus they went to go worship it. Some of the Gods were known to be responsible for sun, rain and floods. The Gods were worshiped at shrines and the shrines could be located at different quarters and would be followed by distinct cults. The Egyptians believed that the Gods required houses forever and that is where the idea of the temple came in. That is what this statue was also located in the temple. If an ancient Egyptian saw the statue like this, firstly they would be shocked why the statue isn't at the temple. According to the Mat laws, the Egyptians had to keep the temples very neat and the clean. The Gods and goddess preferred to be in a clean place. If the Egyptians were to leave the places dirty, the Gods can then leave the temples. Egyptians believed that the Gods leaving would be a bad sign for the Egyptians and would cause them all to be restless.

The gods were made from special metal and were in an important symbol of their belief and of divinity. Surely, these days for many religions to believe in god, they don't require a statue in front of them. The Egyptians however believed that the Gods were in those statues and that they had to be worshiped. They were cared for, worshiped towards, and were given offerings by the Egyptian people. The temples where the gods resided provided a place like modern churches today. Egyptians went there to go communicate with the gods, give food to the gods or just clean the palace. They believed that the nicer they were the Gods, the better their life would be.

Not everyone could go on and make a statue up. Special people were hired to do the job and they had to follow some set of rules. The ranking of the different artists was done after seeing how goodly they followed the laws. Just like it is shown the arms had to be glued to the side. There shouldn't have been any expression of emotions on the face.

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Special material and decent carving was required. The Egyptians believed that the harder they worked on the production of the statue, the better their God would reward them.

The Egyptians were the people who had many questions as to why diseases happen, why natural disasters happen and how does good happen to them. Statues like this one and other three dimensional structures portraying Gods gave the ancient people something or someone to look up to. The people had questions and in these statues, they found the answers. They believed that doing good to them would fix their problems and make their life peaceful as well. This statue would have been seen with respect by most of the Egyptians. It would have been cared for and respected. Just how these days, all followers of religion believe in their God and respect him. The Egyptians would have exactly felt these sentiments towards the statue of the male god in the museum

Statuette of a Male Deity

The statuette of a male deity is a figure present in the Brooklyn Museum and belongs to the third Dynasty. This figure is of the old kingdom and it belongs the time period between 2675 and 2625 B.C.E. The medium that the figure is made in is Gneiss. The figure is there wearing a wig and an odd attire. The clothing consists of a covering of the penis that is attached to the belt. The fact that the sheath of the penis is linked to the belt can explain that this a deity. A deity is basically anyone who has powers or superpowers that are above and beyond those of normal humans.

It is not sure whether the figure was produced for a temple or the king's tomb. Since the stone is gneiss, it can be assumed that this figure was made for a royal tomb. The carving and the material both show that the figure holds value. The figure was extravagantly molded and finely. This deity is reviewing a very strong outlook. The figure has a toned body with prominent triceps and biceps outline showing on the arms. Also, the broad shoulders and the stern look are also depicting the strong look as mentioned before.

The statue is seen to be having something on its back. This could be either a weight that the deity is holding or is part of a throne that had been broken off from the bottom. The facial hair, which was a prominent feature of Egyptian gods, was also shown in this statuette. The facial hair on this deity is attached to the chest that could go on to reveal more strength.

Importance to Ancient Egyptians

Deities are another word for Gods and Goddesses and their importance has been discussed earlier as well. This statute was of a male deity as is revealed by the penis sheath. It has been revealed that the deity in most of the instances was male. The body that has been seen is a youthful one. This can go onto state that if the believers saw their God in such shape, they would want to be like that as well. Youth is surely liked by everyone and to would one of the things wanted by the Egyptians as well. Some of the believers in this deity could think that being good to this figure would provide them with eternal youth and strength. Doing well to the Gods was the main basis of the religion of the Egyptians. Many a times Egyptians maintained a communication with the God through their King. Other times, they would visit the temple and provide their offerings as well.

The penis sheath was part of the costumes of men all around Egypt. This is important in locating that his figure beings to that era. Some might think that the sheath is there to protect the modesty of the figure. However, this was worn to protect the sacred organ. This sheath has been worn by kings as well and has historical relevance to in wearing it with the ankh sign.

As it has been stated above, this figure could be present in a tomb or a temple. Since it is not sure, it is a possibility that a certain king has special connections to his….....

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