List of Major Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
Amun (alt. Amon)
'The Hidden One', a god of the Theban region who eventually became the principal divinity of the royal lines and the nearest approach to a national god of Egypt. The Temple of Amon in Thebes was one of the most powerful religious foundations, specially in the later periods, eventually threatening the royal power.
Andjeti
A god of the Delta with whom Osiris, who was first associated with the Delta twn of Busiris, was assimilated.
Anbur
A god identified as the creative power of the sun, later recognised as a god of war.
Anubis
A very ancient divinity, originating in Abydos, He is represented as a wolf or jackal; he was associated especially with mummification, the practice of which was the responsibility of his priests.
Apis
A manifestation of Ptah incarnate in a bull with particular markings and physical characteristics, Apis was known in the First Dynasty. His cult became widespread in the Late Period, when the chosen bull (and his mother) were given lives of great luxury in the temple at Memphis and, at death, sumptuous obsequies at Saqqara.
Ash
A god of deserts, of great antiquity, sometimes identified with Set, particularly in the south.
Aten
The personification of the sun's rays, proclaimed by Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) as the supreme god of Egypt. After the king's death Aten was overturned by the priests of Amon, a return to whose worship was demanded by them, signalled by such events as the renaming of King Tutankhaten, Akhenaten's eventual successor, as Tutankhamun.
Atum
'The Undifferentiated One', 'The All', the original creator of the cosmos who, after lying inert in the abyss, appeared on the primordial mound, 'The Divine Emerging Island', to initiate the process of creation. Finding himself alone he masturbated and from his sperm produced the first generation of gods.
Bes
A dwarf god, popular in later times, who was invoked for luck and who facilitated childhirth.
Buchis
A sacred bull, associated with Montu at his cult center at Armant (Hermonthis); the bull was an incarnation of Re and Osiris.
Bastet
A cat goddess, worshipped at Bubastis, a Delta town named in her honour.
Geb
The earth god and father, by the goddess Nut, of Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys. Initially he divided the sovereignty of Egypt between Set and his nephew Horus, gods of the south and north respectively, but eventually gave dominion over the whole land to Horus.
Hapy
The god of the Nile, portrayed with bisexual secondary haracteristics.
Hathor
An ancient cow goddess, associated with Isis, and in whose form queens were frequently depicted.
Heh, Hehet
Frog divinities, representing the element water who, with others of their kind, produce the egg which is placed on the 'Divine Emerging Island'. Heh was also the god of eternity, represented anthropomorphically.
Horakhty
A manifestation of Re as the dawn light appearing on the eastern horizon. In New Kingdom times the Great Sphinx at Giza was thought to be an image of the god Horus and was identified with Horakhty.
Horus
A very ancient sky divinity from the south, the son of Osiris and Isis according to a relatively late myth, who avenged his father's murder by Set, becoming King of Upper and Lower Egypt. All subsequent kings of Egypt were revered as incarnations of Horus. There were many local manifestations of Horus throughout Egypt.
Isis
Sister-wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. Queens were identified with Isis and, especially in the early dynasties, the succession to the throne often passed through the female line by marriage to the heiress. Isis was represented astronomically by the constellation Sirius (Egyptian Sopdet).
Khentiamentiu
An ancient god of the necropolis of Abydos, 'The Foremost of the Westerners' with whom Osiris was assimilated and whose form, swathed in mummy cloths, he adopted. Like Anubis, with whom Khentiamcntiu shares a number of attributes, he is also manifest as a dog or jackal.
Khepri (alt. Kheper)
The scarabeus beetle which was regarded as the manifestation of the sun god. Its practice of laying its eggs in a ball of dung came to symbolise regeneration, and the hieroglyph derived from it signified 'becoming'.
Khnum
The ram-headed god of Elephantine who was responsible for fashioning the Ka of the royal child at the moment of conception, on his potter's wheel.
Ma'at
Truth, divine order; the goddess in whose name the king was said to rule, and by whom he was bound to rule justly.
Mefnut
A lioness goddess.
Mertsager
A snake goddess, revered as the 'Lady of the Pek ' and associated with the pyramid-shaped mountain which rises over the Valley of the Kings at Thebes. Her name means 'She who Loves Silence'.
Meshkent
The goddess of childbirth.
Min
'Lord of Copros', often represented as thongh one-armed and usually ithyphallic.
Mnevis
A god who manifested his presence in a selected bull (see also Apis, Buchis).
Montu
A warrior-god of the Theban region, manifest both as a falcon and as a bull. Montu was particularly reverenced by the kings of the Eleventh Dynasty, eventually being replaced by the ram of Amon as the principal divinity of the Thebaid.
Mut
A lioness-headed goddess whose temple was located at Asher (Thebes). She was sometimes represented as vulture-headed.
Nefertum
Horus as a child, born in the lotus flower and associated with the sun god.
Neith
An ancient warrior-goddess, resident in Sais in northern Egypt. From very early times she was symbolised by a device of crossed arrows.
Nekhbet
The vulture goddess of Nekhen in Upper Egypt and patron goddess of the south, one of 'the Two Ladies', with Uadjet whose power protected the king. Some kings and a number of queens wore the double Uraeus of vulture and cobra.
Nephthys
One of the Heliopolitan Ogdoud, the company of eight primeval gods, the daughter of Geb and the consort of Set.
Nun
The personification of the primeval waters, the abyss, from which the earliest generations of gods were born. At night the sun journeyed to Nun on its voyage through the Underworld.
Nut
The sky goddess whose body symbolised the vault of the heavens. Every evening she swallowed the sun, Re, and every morning gave birth to him. She is trequently represented in the decoration of coffins.
Osiris
The ruler of the Underworld, identified with the king-in-death, who became Osiris. He was the father of Horus who avenged his murder by his brother Set. Osiris was regenerated that he might impregnate Isis; as a consequence he came to be worshipped as the god of rebirth and redemption. In time all the 'justified'
dead became Osiris.
Ptah
The immensely ancient artificer god, Lord of Memphis, where his principal temple was established and hence especially identified with the royal house. He is depicted in human form, though wrapped in mummy cloths. He could also manifest himself in animal form, for example as a bull like Apis, Buchis or Mnevis.
Ptah-Soker-Osiris
A manifestation of Ptah combined with Osiris, particularly important in the region of Saqqara. Later Ptah-Soker-Osir is became transformed into the Graeco Fgyptian god Serapis, one of the archetypes of the bearded, patriarchal sky god.
Re (alt. Ra)
The sun god, from time to time regarded as the king of the gods, with whom the king was united at death.
Sekhmet
A lioness goddess, the consort of Ptah, she roamed the desert outside Giza. Because of an injury done to the eye of Re, her father, she determined to destroy the race of men and was only prevented from doing so by the subterfuge of making her drunk, so that she became unconscious and was carried back to heaven.
Selket
A scorpion-goddess who protected the coffin of the king.
Seshat
An ancient goddess, charged with responsibility for preparing all the divine records, hence for writing, architecture, the measuring of land on which a temple was to be built and, with the king, for determining the temple's axis.
Set (alt. Seth)
Originally the high god of the south of Egypt, Set became a god of deserts, of the storm and chaos. Later, he was regarded as the murderer of his brother, Osiris, and the antagonist of Osiris' heir, Horus. Their conflict over the kingship of Egypt is one of the archetypal themes of Ancient Egypt.
Shesemuw
A god of wine and of the vintage, who also presided over the butchering of bulls.
Shu
The god of air and the sun; he was particularly associated with Heliopolis. He was said to be one of the first two divinities created by Atum.
Sobek
A crocodile-god, worshipped at Kom Ombo, who was especially popular in the Thirteenth Dynasty, when a number of the kings adopted Sobek's name as part of their titulary.
Soker
A god of the dead of Memphis; he was associated in late times with Osiris and Ptah to form the composite divinity Ptah-Soker-Osiris.
Taurt
A hippopotamus goddess, represented standing upright on her rear legs, who was particularly concerned with the supervision of pregnancy and childbirth.
Tefnut
A form of the lioness-goddess Sekhmet.
Thoth
The god of wisdom and the moon who was manifest both as an ibis and as a cynocephalus baboon. It was him who brought the arts of civilization to men.
'The Two Ladies'
The godesses Nekhbet and Uadjet.
Uadjet
The cobra-goddess of the north, the partner of Nekhbet who with her protected the king as part of his Uraeus diadem, sometimes forming with Nekhbet the double uraeus.
Wepwawet (alt. Upwaut)
A dog-god from Abydos, associated with graveyards. His name signifies 'Opener of the Ways' and it was believed that he conducted the dead to judgement.
Amun (alt. Amon)
'The Hidden One', a god of the Theban region who eventually became the principal divinity of the royal lines and the nearest approach to a national god of Egypt. The Temple of Amon in Thebes was one of the most powerful religious foundations, specially in the later periods, eventually threatening the royal power.
Andjeti
A god of the Delta with whom Osiris, who was first associated with the Delta twn of Busiris, was assimilated.
Anbur
A god identified as the creative power of the sun, later recognised as a god of war.
Anubis
A very ancient divinity, originating in Abydos, He is represented as a wolf or jackal; he was associated especially with mummification, the practice of which was the responsibility of his priests.
Apis
A manifestation of Ptah incarnate in a bull with particular markings and physical characteristics, Apis was known in the First Dynasty. His cult became widespread in the Late Period, when the chosen bull (and his mother) were given lives of great luxury in the temple at Memphis and, at death, sumptuous obsequies at Saqqara.
Ash
A god of deserts, of great antiquity, sometimes identified with Set, particularly in the south.
Aten
The personification of the sun's rays, proclaimed by Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) as the supreme god of Egypt. After the king's death Aten was overturned by the priests of Amon, a return to whose worship was demanded by them, signalled by such events as the renaming of King Tutankhaten, Akhenaten's eventual successor, as Tutankhamun.
Atum
'The Undifferentiated One', 'The All', the original creator of the cosmos who, after lying inert in the abyss, appeared on the primordial mound, 'The Divine Emerging Island', to initiate the process of creation. Finding himself alone he masturbated and from his sperm produced the first generation of gods.
Bes
A dwarf god, popular in later times, who was invoked for luck and who facilitated childhirth.
Buchis
A sacred bull, associated with Montu at his cult center at Armant (Hermonthis); the bull was an incarnation of Re and Osiris.
Bastet
A cat goddess, worshipped at Bubastis, a Delta town named in her honour.
Geb
The earth god and father, by the goddess Nut, of Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys. Initially he divided the sovereignty of Egypt between Set and his nephew Horus, gods of the south and north respectively, but eventually gave dominion over the whole land to Horus.
Hapy
The god of the Nile, portrayed with bisexual secondary haracteristics.
Hathor
An ancient cow goddess, associated with Isis, and in whose form queens were frequently depicted.
Heh, Hehet
Frog divinities, representing the element water who, with others of their kind, produce the egg which is placed on the 'Divine Emerging Island'. Heh was also the god of eternity, represented anthropomorphically.
Horakhty
A manifestation of Re as the dawn light appearing on the eastern horizon. In New Kingdom times the Great Sphinx at Giza was thought to be an image of the god Horus and was identified with Horakhty.
Horus
A very ancient sky divinity from the south, the son of Osiris and Isis according to a relatively late myth, who avenged his father's murder by Set, becoming King of Upper and Lower Egypt. All subsequent kings of Egypt were revered as incarnations of Horus. There were many local manifestations of Horus throughout Egypt.
Isis
Sister-wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. Queens were identified with Isis and, especially in the early dynasties, the succession to the throne often passed through the female line by marriage to the heiress. Isis was represented astronomically by the constellation Sirius (Egyptian Sopdet).
Khentiamentiu
An ancient god of the necropolis of Abydos, 'The Foremost of the Westerners' with whom Osiris was assimilated and whose form, swathed in mummy cloths, he adopted. Like Anubis, with whom Khentiamcntiu shares a number of attributes, he is also manifest as a dog or jackal.
Khepri (alt. Kheper)
The scarabeus beetle which was regarded as the manifestation of the sun god. Its practice of laying its eggs in a ball of dung came to symbolise regeneration, and the hieroglyph derived from it signified 'becoming'.
Khnum
The ram-headed god of Elephantine who was responsible for fashioning the Ka of the royal child at the moment of conception, on his potter's wheel.
Ma'at
Truth, divine order; the goddess in whose name the king was said to rule, and by whom he was bound to rule justly.
Mefnut
A lioness goddess.
Mertsager
A snake goddess, revered as the 'Lady of the Pek ' and associated with the pyramid-shaped mountain which rises over the Valley of the Kings at Thebes. Her name means 'She who Loves Silence'.
Meshkent
The goddess of childbirth.
Min
'Lord of Copros', often represented as thongh one-armed and usually ithyphallic.
Mnevis
A god who manifested his presence in a selected bull (see also Apis, Buchis).
Montu
A warrior-god of the Theban region, manifest both as a falcon and as a bull. Montu was particularly reverenced by the kings of the Eleventh Dynasty, eventually being replaced by the ram of Amon as the principal divinity of the Thebaid.
Mut
A lioness-headed goddess whose temple was located at Asher (Thebes). She was sometimes represented as vulture-headed.
Nefertum
Horus as a child, born in the lotus flower and associated with the sun god.
Neith
An ancient warrior-goddess, resident in Sais in northern Egypt. From very early times she was symbolised by a device of crossed arrows.
Nekhbet
The vulture goddess of Nekhen in Upper Egypt and patron goddess of the south, one of 'the Two Ladies', with Uadjet whose power protected the king. Some kings and a number of queens wore the double Uraeus of vulture and cobra.
Nephthys
One of the Heliopolitan Ogdoud, the company of eight primeval gods, the daughter of Geb and the consort of Set.
Nun
The personification of the primeval waters, the abyss, from which the earliest generations of gods were born. At night the sun journeyed to Nun on its voyage through the Underworld.
Nut
The sky goddess whose body symbolised the vault of the heavens. Every evening she swallowed the sun, Re, and every morning gave birth to him. She is trequently represented in the decoration of coffins.
Osiris
The ruler of the Underworld, identified with the king-in-death, who became Osiris. He was the father of Horus who avenged his murder by his brother Set. Osiris was regenerated that he might impregnate Isis; as a consequence he came to be worshipped as the god of rebirth and redemption. In time all the 'justified'
dead became Osiris.
Ptah
The immensely ancient artificer god, Lord of Memphis, where his principal temple was established and hence especially identified with the royal house. He is depicted in human form, though wrapped in mummy cloths. He could also manifest himself in animal form, for example as a bull like Apis, Buchis or Mnevis.
Ptah-Soker-Osiris
A manifestation of Ptah combined with Osiris, particularly important in the region of Saqqara. Later Ptah-Soker-Osir is became transformed into the Graeco Fgyptian god Serapis, one of the archetypes of the bearded, patriarchal sky god.
Re (alt. Ra)
The sun god, from time to time regarded as the king of the gods, with whom the king was united at death.
Sekhmet
A lioness goddess, the consort of Ptah, she roamed the desert outside Giza. Because of an injury done to the eye of Re, her father, she determined to destroy the race of men and was only prevented from doing so by the subterfuge of making her drunk, so that she became unconscious and was carried back to heaven.
Selket
A scorpion-goddess who protected the coffin of the king.
Seshat
An ancient goddess, charged with responsibility for preparing all the divine records, hence for writing, architecture, the measuring of land on which a temple was to be built and, with the king, for determining the temple's axis.
Set (alt. Seth)
Originally the high god of the south of Egypt, Set became a god of deserts, of the storm and chaos. Later, he was regarded as the murderer of his brother, Osiris, and the antagonist of Osiris' heir, Horus. Their conflict over the kingship of Egypt is one of the archetypal themes of Ancient Egypt.
Shesemuw
A god of wine and of the vintage, who also presided over the butchering of bulls.
Shu
The god of air and the sun; he was particularly associated with Heliopolis. He was said to be one of the first two divinities created by Atum.
Sobek
A crocodile-god, worshipped at Kom Ombo, who was especially popular in the Thirteenth Dynasty, when a number of the kings adopted Sobek's name as part of their titulary.
Soker
A god of the dead of Memphis; he was associated in late times with Osiris and Ptah to form the composite divinity Ptah-Soker-Osiris.
Taurt
A hippopotamus goddess, represented standing upright on her rear legs, who was particularly concerned with the supervision of pregnancy and childbirth.
Tefnut
A form of the lioness-goddess Sekhmet.
Thoth
The god of wisdom and the moon who was manifest both as an ibis and as a cynocephalus baboon. It was him who brought the arts of civilization to men.
'The Two Ladies'
The godesses Nekhbet and Uadjet.
Uadjet
The cobra-goddess of the north, the partner of Nekhbet who with her protected the king as part of his Uraeus diadem, sometimes forming with Nekhbet the double uraeus.
Wepwawet (alt. Upwaut)
A dog-god from Abydos, associated with graveyards. His name signifies 'Opener of the Ways' and it was believed that he conducted the dead to judgement.
