The Egyptian Gods

The existance of the Egyptian gods pre-dates the existance of the nation itself, having existed before the language and the country makes you wonder if Egypt was all built in accordance to the religious doctrine it held, which wouldn't be a surprise that the most mysterious and ancient nation was a just another church-based country!

Anubis, one of the major
Egyptian gods

The Creation of the Egyptian Gods:

Seems like first Egyptian gods were actually animal deities, still no surprise, the human race always feared then worshipped any natural force that had more might than his body did, or simply that was way over his head. Cows and falcons are probably the first to be worshipped, followed by jackals, cattles, rams and gazelles. Though we are not sure if these animals were directly worshipped, we are pretty sure that they were at least divinly repsected and appreciated.

The Need of the Egyptian Gods:
Needless to say, huamans always needed fear in order to get diciplined, and that was basically why the ancient Egyptian, in a way or the other, chosen to have as many as strong gods as he could ever have, and just like its Hindu counterpart, the Egyptian god usually had a certain job to take care of, while anther fellow god would take the responsibility of another aspect of life.

Pharaohs have always been pictured as the incarnation of the god Horus, and they ruled by his name, and that would automatically mean they were believed to be perfect and complete, and as a result to that, they owned every thing in the Two Lands (Egypt), they could dictate any part of people's social and spiritual life. So the rulers of Egypt always understood that the main (and maybe the only) source of power they had was religion, and to lose that source, means they no longer rule.

The Temples of the Egyptian Gods:
As little as we know about the origin of religion in Egypt, we seem to know less about the origin of temples in ancient Egypt. At the time religious doctrines started to develope in ancient Egypt, the Egyptian architect was not yet fully developed, which resulted similar shapes of all buildings in the "country", makes it so hard for us to understand what is holly and what is not!

However, it is now believed that the Nabata Playa Ancient Stones seem to be the first religious structure in the nation and the continent, dating back to 6000 years ago. The sites lays on the shore of an ancient lake that doesn't exist anymore. It contains some 2.75-meter-high stones that were brought from more than a mile away! Many of those stones were carefully lined up in east-to-west direction. Though the site's builders were not confirmed to be related to pharaohs or Egyptians, the site's holds the same features that all later Egyptian temples held, the water and the sun.

Of course the temples didn't remain that humble for too long, it was just a matter of time before they developed in every single way. Having gold figures and fancy furniture and halls. No wonder they had to be that way, since they were believed to be somehow the houses of god on earth, so it reflected the richness of the pharaohs and the gods.

The Death of the Egyptian Gods:
The ancient Egyptian mind didn't seem to have a problem imagining the death of gods, no matter what the term would be, "death" was the destiny of some ancient Egyptian gods. The god Osiris who was killed by Seth, was never stated to be "dead", but the conception is unmistakenabely the same. He was actually killed twice!

Apart from the real death, the technical death met many (of course all now) Egyptian gods throughout the history. The most magnificent death of gods is clearly seen when looking at Akhenaten's life. Phataoh Akhenaten (also known as the Heretic King) was the first to call for the worship of one god, but in order to acheive that goal, all old gods had to be abandoned, names of previous gods were sometimes erased from temples and holly scripts. He and his wife Nefertiti succeeded to take away the old relgion from the people and to hand them a new one, a new city, a new temple and a new god were found. But seems like they took religion from people but couldn't take people from it! After Akhenaten's death, the old religion was restored and the new one god was put aside. Once again, another Egyptian god dies.

The Origin of Religion in Ancient Egypt - Introduction

Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt List

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.