Lost in Egyptian Mythology

I’m basically going to discuss all the Egyptian references that have popped up throughout the show.  Season 5 has been heavy on the Egyptian references, so much in fact that it seems like it’s going to be an important part of the whole show’s mythology.  Right now it’s looking like it’s going to be a way of explaining the origins of the island.

Egyptian mythology has had a part in the show since the second season.  Remember in The Swan station, when someone fails to push the button, hieroglyphs appeared on the countdown timer.  During Comic Con 2006, Damon Lindelof said that the meaning of the hieroglyphs meant “underworld.”

Hieroglyphs appeared on Ben’s secret door to where he summons the smoke monster during season 4.  A rough translation of the hieroglyphs seem to read “to summon protection”  Now this seemed right as during “The Shape of Things to Come” Ben summons the smoke monster to take out the commandos.  Though during the episode “Dead is Dead” Ben tries to summon the smoke monster in order to be judged, though as we know, the smoke monster didn’t come.

Hieroglyphs also appeared once again in the frozen donkey wheel room.  Some of the hieroglyphs seem to translate to “travel.”  There are also a set of hieroglyphs which seem to translate to “time” or “vicinity.”  During a podcast, Damon Lindelof stated that some of the hieroglyphs in the frozen donkey wheel room, translate to “resurrection.”

The main reason why Egyptian mythology has been much talked about in the past few weeks was the reveal of the back of the four-toed statue.  The statue looks like Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead.  The statue seems to be holding ankhs in both hands.  An ankh is a symbol for “eternal life.”  It also seems to be wearing a “shedndyt” which is similar to Anubis.

Anubis

One and the same?

The similarities are there but I think that’s all it is.  I don’t think that the four-toed statue is Anubis but I think Cuse and Lindelof have used Anubis as a template for the statue.  Though it’s hard to argue against the statue not being Anubis when there is so much evidence to support it being Anubis.  Though there has have been a debate between Lost fans that the statue is that of Taweret. She was a protector of pregnant women but mostly over childbirth.  Considering all the issues of women having trouble giving birth on the island, then it is a plausible theory.  Plus the statue seems to be holding two ankhs and Taweret is often depicted as holding two ankhs.  I would agree with those who think it could be a representation on Taweret.

Taweret

During the episode “Dead is Dead” we got a huge indication of what the smoke monster’s role is.  Smokey seems to judge people and then decides to spare a person’s life or kill them.  It judged Eko and when he wouldn’t atone for his sins, smokey killed him.  It then judged Ben and he was forgiven for his past crimes and was sparred.  Inside the chamber where the smoke monster appears, there is a drawing of what appears to be smokey facing Anubis.

Now if we look at Egyptian mythology then we see similarities between Smokey and another Egyptian figure, Ammit. Ammit was refered to as the Devourer.  Ammit’s role was to devour souls who had wronged, if those souls weren’t worthy then Ammit would devour them.  Ammit is depicted as having the head of a crocodile or dog, the front body of a lion and the back end of a hippopotamus (see below).  Now that’s not what the smoke monster looks like but it’s as about as fucked up as what Ammit looks like.

Is the Island, Duat?

Duat is basically the underworld in Egyptian mythology.  The term “underworld” has popped up through hieroglyphs.  Duat was a place where souls went after death and considering how many dead people keep showing up then it’s a plausible theory to go with.  Though it’s not to say that the island is actually Duat, what’s under the Temple where Ben went to be judged could be the representaion of Duat and the island itself is the paradise of Aaru. The wiki entry tells of Aaru as a place of paradise where you could live for eternity.  It also states that deceased people who are judged are allowed to live there as well.  Aaru was depicted as being a series of islands.

Is it the answer to everything?

Egyptian mythology will probably be a big part of the show once it’s all said and done.  The references are so obvious now that it seems to be a big part of the show’s DNA.  To say everything is going to be explained through Egyptian mythology would be naive.  While it is very apparent, I think it’s way of comparing themes.  The sixth and final season will probably delve deep into the origin of the island so we’ll wait to see how important Egyptian themes are towards explaining everything.  Until we see that front part of the statue then it’s all heresay.  The parallel of themes are very apparant, Egyptian mythology is a big part of the show.  Right now all us Lost fans are trying to determine just how big.