Analytical Paper on Egypt

Hekanakhte, a ka-priest to a chief government minister who had died before his generation, lived around 2,000 B.C.E. A ka-priest generally took care of the tomb of his benefactor. He is considered to be a valued part of their religion because their patron would leave them money, or in Hekanakhte’s case an estate was left, so they could protect the deceased person’s soul or spirit. For this particular priest he had a family and family problems like everybody else. The responsibilities for a priest of his stature gave the Egyptians certain levels of value and beliefs. The obligations of a ka-priest involved multiple responsibilities.

Hekanakhte was most likely the son or close friend of the deceased chief government minister. Since Hekanakhte oversaw many tombs, he had to travel for more than half the year. This caused problems for his family and many of his close friends because of the distance messengers needed to travel to deliver messages. The ka-priest is mostly known as the “water-pourer” because they were supposed to give the deceased a drink to quench their eternal bodies. The role of a ka-priest wasn’t that much different from a botanist as one might see it. A botanist takes care of the plants by watering them and giving them a comfortable environment to live in. The ka-priest, however, is given the honorable task of watching and caring for the body of a nobleman.

The idea of looking after someone who has already passed away does not seem all that special to people of today’s culture but it was in that time. It had a significant amount of meaning behind it. Being able to hang on to a duty of such importance to their religion was tuff in those days. It was amazing how they could put so much trust and belief into something so strange to this lifetime. The creators of this religion and its practices deserve to be given an award for confidence and diligence. Not only did ka-priests deal with the dead noblemen, they also had to deal with...