The Cycle of Order and Chaos: Ancient Egyptian Religion Ascertained in The Story of Sinuhe Embedded in ancient Egyptian literature are the cultural values of a civilization centered around the systemic belief of order and chaos that creates the concept of early religion. This all-encompassing ideology that links the gods, the kingship, and the land of Egypt is presented as the theme in The Story of Sinuhe. Highly regarded as a distinguished period of cultural progression, the Middle Kingdom (c. 2025-1650 B.C.) signifies the emergence this famous piece of Egyptian literature. The author of the widespread text is unknown, but numerous replications of their work attest that it was well received. Analyzed as a work of fiction that can be…show more content… When the messengers notified Sesostris I of his father’s untimely death, “the falcon flew with his attendants” and immediately returned to the palace to take his father’s place. Often in ancient Egyptian culture, the god Horus was represented as a falcon (anthropomorphism), believed by the Egyptian people to embody each pharaoh that ruled. Based on the belief that Horus, the son of Osiris, was the rightful ruler over all of Egypt kingship was often established through nepotism. As only the ruler of all Egypt can do, Sesostris I restores order when he welcomes Sinuhe home and performs a ritual of sorts that brings peace to Sinuhe in Egypt. Nevertheless, the supremacy of the pharaoh is governed by the love and honor he receives from his people so long as he defends them from chaos and maintains ma’ at. The effect of religion on kingship is exemplified by the language Sinuhe uses his monologues that shed light on his reason for flight , his admiration for the new pharaoh, and in his rebuttal to Sesostris I upon his return to Egypt. The high regard with which the royal attendant has for the pharaoh and willingness to essentially give his life to “the good god” Sesostris I to “do as he wishes” , reinforces the author’s…show more content… To have lived a life comparable to a royal in a foreign land for many years, the protagonist is never fully satisfied and yearns for mercy from the gods to return home at the end of his life. Sinuhe proclaimed, “What is more important than that of my corpse be buried in the land in which I was born!” , a powerful declaration that provides the reader with a meaning behind “land” and Egyptian funerary beliefs. After the new pharaoh forgives an elderly Sinuhe for his departure, a transition occurs that eludes to the permanence of stability in death. According to Harrington, it is a popular belief that ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death and mortuary provisions based on the cost of burial and extreme mortuary preparations. Now in the favor of the king, Sinuhe has a “stone pyramid” built for him by “masons who build tombs”, hired “mortuary priests”, statue made from gold, and a “funerary domain” which is assumed to have cost a small fortune. However, in ancient Egypt the expenses were expected for an elite and such preparations and references of the term ba and ka direct the reader’s attention to similar instructions found in the Book of the Dead, which exist to help the dead peacefully transition into the