The Basics of Ancient Egypt’s Gods

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In ancient Egypt religion played a central role in the lives of people. The inhabitants of the region had long worshiped natural objects such as animals, stones, trees, and mountains.

Over a period of time, a colorful pantheon of animal gods emerged as a reflection of the varied wildlife that once thrived in Egypt. Although these gods were initially represented in their natural forms, many were eventually depicted in human form, with only the heads retaining animal features. Amongst these animal deities were the lion-god Mahes, the hippopotamus-goddess Taurit, the crocodile-god Sebek, and the frog-goddess Heqit.

Ancient Egypt’s Gods were invisible to humans, but they were able to ascend to earth and inhabit statues or animals, and through these manifest their will to the priests, who then delivered the messages to ordinary people.

Ancient Egyptian Gods are represented as animals or humans, or half of each. The animal with which the god or goddess is identified often has some qualities that are associated with the divinity. Furthermore, they have different crowns to help characterize them.

Following is a list of some of the more important gods and goddesses in ancient Egyptian religion:

Amun
Amun is the principal ancient Egyptian god of Thebes; he became increasingly important during the New Kingdom, and was in time elevated to the role of a tutelary divinity in various parts of Egypt. He is represented wearing a crown with two long plumes.

Anubis
Anubis is a male divinity with the head of a jackal; he presided over the funerary cult and was believed to have invented the technique of mummification. He accompanied the dead person to the hereafter and was therefore identified with Mercury during the Roman period.

Aten
Aten is the solar disc, and the source of life and heat. He is first mentioned as a divinity under Amenhotep III. However, it was during the sovereignty of Amenhotep IV – Akhenaten – that his cult, chiefly instituted to counter the authority of the priesthood of Amun, was precisely codified and started to become far-flung in Egypt. When Akhenaten died the adoration of Aten was suppressed.

Atum
Atum was the primordial solar divinity and the patron of Heliopolis. He was symbolized by the setting sun and was represented as a man wearing a double crown to symbolize his rule over the whole of Egypt.

Hathor
Hathor was the incarnation of the quintessence of femininity, and was widely worshipped in many areas of Egypt. She is represented as a cow, or a woman with cow’s ears.

Horus
Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis. He is often represented as a falcon or a falcon-headed man. He was worshipped in various parts of Egypt and the ruling king was identified with this ancient Egypt god.

Isis
Isis was the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. She was widely worshipped throughout the Mediterranean in Roman times. During the pharaonic period she was portrayed as a woman with a throne or a solar disc and two cow’s horns on her head.

Maat
Maat was the ancient egypt goddess of justice and the daughter of Ra. She is shown as a woman wearing an ostrich feather on her head. She represents the principal of order, which inspires the king as he governs the ostrich feather. She also appears as a counterweight to the dead person’s heart on Anubis’s weighing scale when the dead are judged.

Nephthys
Nephthys was the sister and wife of Seth. She was involved with her sister Isis in seeking and remaking the dismembered body of Osiris. She is represented as a woman with her own name in hieroglyphs on her head.

Osiris
The ancient Egypt god Osiris was the brother and married man of Isis. He was born of the union between the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. He became king of Egypt and was then killed by his brother Seth. He was worshipped as the king of the dead and represented as a mummy and with the Atef, a white crown with two ostrich plumes.

Ra
Ra was the sun god and was mainly worshipped at Heliopolis. He is shown as a man with the head of a falcon crowned with the solar discs.

Selqet
Selqet was a scorpion goddess, and the protector of the king and the boat of the sun since the remotest antiquity. She is shown as a woman with a scorpion on her head.

Seth
Seth was the ancient Egyptian god of darkness, death, the desert and chaos. He killed his brother Osiris.

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