What religions did people in Indus and Egypt civilization practice? Did any other religions emerge in either region?
In the Indus Valley civilization, which existed around 3300-1300 BCE in what is now modern-day Pakistan and northwest India, the religious practices are not well understood due to the limited deciphering of their written script. However, various artifacts, including terracotta figurines, seal impressions, and clay tablets, depict various symbols and images that may be related to religious beliefs. Some scholars suggest that the people of the Indus Valley practiced a form of proto-Hinduism, with reverence for deities associated with fertility, water, and animals.
In ancient Egypt, which thrived from around 3100 BCE to 30 BCE, the religious beliefs were centered around the worship of many gods and goddesses. The primary religious figure was the pharaoh, who was considered divine and served as the mediator between the gods and the people. Some of the prominent gods and goddesses in Egyptian mythology included Ra, Osiris, Isis, Horus, and Anubis. The Egyptians believed in the afterlife and had complex burial rituals to ensure a smooth journey to the afterlife.
Over time, both the Indus Valley and Egyptian civilizations witnessed the emergence of other religious practices. In Egypt, during the Hellenistic period, the influence of Greek culture led to syncretism between traditional Egyptian religion and Greek polytheism, resulting in the worship of deities such as Serapis. Additionally, during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten in the 14th century BCE, a short-lived monotheistic religion centered around the worship of the sun disk, Aten, was established.
In terms of the Indus Valley civilization, as it declined and disappeared, the region saw the rise of new religious traditions with the arrival of different groups such as the Indo-Aryans around 1500 BCE. The religious practices of these newcomers eventually evolved into what we now know as Hinduism. It is important to note that these developments are still subjects of ongoing research and debate among scholars.