Mythology. Egyptian and Babylonian mythologies

Mythology.Mythology refers to the study of the myths. A myth is a sacred story that explains how something came to be or is. The main features in myths are gods, supernatural beings or heroes. To a certain community to which the story belongs to, it is considered as a true account of what happened.

In this text will consider Egyptian and Babylonian mythologies that explain some of their gods. Isis was a goddess wife to Osiris and mother to Horus. She is a Queen of Goddesses and had a sun disc on her head and horns. She was considered a great magician and healer, got her powers from Ra (king of Gods represented by a falcon). She was worshipped as a great mother and wife. She was the friend of slaves, sinners and at the same time listened to the prayers of the wealthy and maidens. Osiris (husband to Isis father to Horus). He was god of the dead dressed in white with crook and flail and white crown. He was considered a judge in the afterlife but also the underworld agency of life responsible for sprouting and growth of vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile. He was often related to the nature of events such as flooding of the Nile and vegetation. Horus was the believed to be the son of Osiris and Isis, hawk, or a man with a hawk’s head crowned with the crown of all Egypt (Pinch, 2004). He was believed to be the god of the sun, war and protection. He was said to be the sky that included the sun and the moon. As a god of war and protection too he was considered a symbol of majesty and power as well as the model of the pharaohs. The Pharaohs were said to be Horus in human form. This belief in gods shows Egyptians believed that every aspect had one who was in charge of it. Their stories show the people based most of their things on the gods and depended on them for existence and leadership. The Babylonian Enuma Elish is a myth that explains the cycle of seasons. It describes the war between various gods who represented various seasons. It describes a series of vengeance cases that lead to the development of winter, summer and the other seasons. The Babylonians believed the different seasons were brought about by the chaos between gods. The Babylonians lived on the lower parts of Asia while Egyptians lived in the northern parts of Africa.

The myths stated above show revenge in the society in the case of Babylonians, while the Egyptians had both respect and each aspect were accounted for. They took deep pride in their gods and respected them.

Myth of Esfandyar is the short story about a prince Esfandyar son of the king Goshtasp, who was divine and won many battles for his nation. His father, the king, sent him on many missions all with the promise of giving his son the throne. The story shows betrayal and jealousy since the king wanted the death of his son in order not to take up the throne. Esfandyar is patient since he obeys and still does what his father says despite the constant breaking of his promise. Goshtasp on the other hand is jealous since he wants the persecution of his son in order to maintain his place as ruler. Rostam is an arrogant and ruthless ruler who refuses to listen to what he is told and has the desire to kill and does not care what the consequences will be. The myth gives an overview of the tension between fathers and sons(Fazekas,2005).

Pinch, G. (2004). Egyptian mythology: a guide to the gods, goddesses, and traditions of ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fazekas, I. (2005). The alkalizing diet: your life is in the balance. Virginia Beach, Va.: A.R.E. Press.