Ancient Egyptians Temples

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             The main purpose of this paper is to find out why and how the Egyptians built their temples, looking over their architecture, design, symbolism, and decoration. .
             The ancient Egyptians built many temples during the course of their period in history. No matter how many or how big these temples were; they had several purposes, their main two being to serve as houses for the gods, and tombs for the dead. The houses for the Gods also served as a place for the people to worship their gods whereas the tombs served as a place were the Egyptians could worship the dead. Worshiping the dead was very important to them since they believed that the afterlife was a much better place than the life here on Earth. Additionally, many temples were used as a center of government, commerce, economy, and sometimes as a fortress. A number of them were even used as a place to perform and enact symbolic ritual dramas, where Egyptians congregated in the gardens and courts to watch. The temples also let us know how important the gods were for the Egyptians, and how the gods influenced the decision making in government and social issues.
             The oldest "house of God" that we know of is the temple of Hierakonpolis. Barely any of these temples are visible today. We know of its existence by recent excavation on the site where a great city once stood. The majority of the temples built to worship the gods are no longer standing, but some of their foundation can still be seen.
             The other kinds of temples that the Egyptians built, and perhaps are the most widely recognizable are the tombs. As the "houses of Gods" the Egyptians" tombs were a magnificent architectural accomplishment, not to mention governmental and social as well. The only difference is that many tombs can still been seen today, after 5 thousand years of exposure to the elements, raids, destruction of its materials, and more. The Egyptians believed that the temple-tomb "stood at the nexus of the three spheres of heaven, earth, and the netherworld; and it thus served as a kind of portal by which gods and men might pass from one real to another".