Egyptian Mythology
The picture above shows the Ennead of Heliopolis, the nine fundamental deities of the Egyptians.
- Nun or Nu - chaos, the primordial ocean or waters
- Atum - arose from the waters as a serpent, became known as Atum-Ra. Represented with a man's head wearing double crown. The mongoose was said to be the incarnation of Atum.
- Ra (or Re) - creator, lord of the sky (Hindu Ishwara). Ra spoke the word bringing everying into existence. Khepri is the manifestation of the creator God as the rising sun (to come into existence) - scarab-beetle.
- Shu - God of air and light, "he who hold up" (Atlas to the Greeks). Usually a human with an ostrich feather on his head.
- Tefnut - Goddess of dew and rain. Human form with suns disk encircled by a cobra.
- Geb, Seb or Keb - Earth God, or Father of the Gods.
- Nut - sky Goddess (Rhea of the Greeks).
- Osiris - (Greek Dionysus and Hades) God of the dead and vegetation. Wife Isis, put his body back together when he was murdered by Set. This well-known myth may be describing a form of genetic engineering.
- Isis - wife of Osiris. Became the Dog Star in Sirius in heaven.
- Set, Seth, Sutekh - (Greek Typhon) evil brother of Osiris, in opposition to the good.
- Nephthys - (Greek Bebthet, Plutarch called Aphrodite and Nike) barren wife of Set. Fooled Osiris into bearing a son (Anubis), and abandoned Set after he killed Osiris.
- Horus (Hor, Haroeris, Behdety, Hot Behdetite, Harakhtes, Harmakhis, Harsiesis) - Greek Horos, solar God (Apollo to Romans).
- Hathor (Athyr) - daughter of Ra and wife of Horus. Shown as a cow or cow-headed Goddess. Protectress of women, goddess of job, love, song and dance.
- Anubis - black jackel headed god with bushy tail. Lord of Mummy wrapping, presiding over funerals, and leads the dead by the hand.
- Upuaut - "he who opens the way". Wolf-headed or jackal-headed God.
- Thoth - (Greek Hermes, messenger of the Gods). Moon God, patron of science and literature, wisdom and inventions. Shown with an ibis head.
- Seshat, Sesheta - spouse of Thoth.
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| Ra | Geb | Osiris |
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| Set | Nephthys | Isis |
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| Horus | Hathor | Anubis |
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| Thoth | Amon-Ra | Mut |
Protective Divinities of the Pharaohs
- Nekhebet - (Greek Eileithyia) protectress of childbirth.
- Buto, Edjo - snake goddess, protecting Pharaoh from enemies.
- Mont, Methu, Montu - falcon headed god of the sun (similar to Greek Apollo).
- Amon, Amun, Ammon, Amon-Ra - King of the Gods (Greek Zeus).
- Mut - (Greek Hera) wife of Amon-Ra. Her headress is in the form of a vulture.
- Khons, Khensu - Navigator "he who crosses the sky in a boat".
- Sebek - (Greek Suchos) crocodile divinity.
- Ptah - patron of artists, artisans, goldsmiths, and other arts.
- Seker, Sokar - vegetation God (Greek Sucharis).
- Sekhmet - (Greek Sakhmis). The powerful. Goddess of war and battle, wife of Ptah (son Nefertum).
- Nefertum (Temu) - (Greek Iphtimis, sometimes identified with Prometheus) "atum the younger".
- Bast, Baast, Bastet - (Greek Artemis) lioness Goddess, sacred animal the cat. Goddess of pleasure, music and dance, and protected men from contagious diseases.
- Neith, Neit, Mehueret - (Greek Athene) Warrior Goddess, skilled in domestic arts. Bisexual goddess and a virgin creator.
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| Khons | Sebek | Ptah |
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| Nefertum | Bast | Neit |
Akhenaten replaced the worship of Osiris with that of Aten - the Sun. The Trinity was Ra (Father), Aten (sun) and Akhenaten (King on Earth).
Local Gods
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| Khnemu | Ma'at |
- Khnum, Khnemu - (Greek Khnoumis) God of fecundity, "the moulder".
- Harsaphes - ram-headed god from the Nile.
- Sati, Satis, Satet - "she who runs like an arrow" (river current), wife of Khnum.
- Anuket, Anquet - second wife of Khnum, "the clasper" (of the river bank).
- Min - (Greek Pan) god of the roads and protectors of travellers in the desert.
- Hapi - the Nile deified.
Gods of Birth & Death
- Taueret, Apet, Opet - "the great", goddess of childbirth, maternity and suckling. Shown as female hippopotamus with handing breasts.
- Heket - frog-goddess, symbolising the embryonic state.
- Meskhent - goddess of childbirth, shown as two bricks which the Egyptian women crouched on at time of birth.
- The Hathors - Fairy Godmothers which sometimes appeared at time of birth and foretold the child's future.
- Shai, Shait - destiny.
- Renenet - goddess presiding over a baby's suckling.
- Renpet - goddess of the year, mistress of Eternity.
- Bes - marriage God, and presides over women's toilet.
- Selket, Selquet - scorpion-goddess. Protected a conjugal couple from all annoyance.
- Four sons of Horus - sons born to Isis: Imsety (liver), Hapi (lungs), Daumutef (stomach), Qebhsnuf (intestines).
- Ament - "the westerner", goddess wearing an ostrich feather plume. The West was the land of the dead.
- Mertseger, Merseger - Friend of Silence or the Beloved of Him who makes Silence (Osiris).
- Maat - Goddess of law, truth and justice.
- Neheh, Heh - eternity deified.
| Animal | Associated God/Goddess |
| Bennu | Phoenix, coming once every 500 years |
| Bull | Osorapis, Apis, Mont |
| Cat | Bast (sometimes Mut) |
| Cow | Hathor, Isis (when identified with Hathor), Nut |
| Crocodile | Sebek |
| Dog-faced ape | Hapi, sometimes Thoth |
| Donkey | Set |
| Falcon | Ra-Harakhte, Horus, Mont, Khons-Hor, Qebhsnuf |
| Frog | Heket |
| Goose | Amon |
| Hippopotamus | Taueret |
| Ibis | Thoth |
| Jackal | Anubis, Daumutef |
| Lion | Nefertum |
| Lioness | Sekhmet, Tefnet (sumetimes Mut and Renenet) |
| Mongoose | Atum |
| Ram (curved horns) | Amon |
| Ram (wavy horns) | Khnum, Hershef, Harsaphes |
| Scarab | Khepri |
| Scorpion | Selket |
| Serpent | Buto (Mertseger and Renenet also) |
| Typhonian animal | Set |
| Uraenus | Serpent (terrible asp spitting flames) |
| Vulture | Nekhebet |
| Wolf | Upuaut, Khenti Amenti |
| Item | Meaning |
| ankh | amulet shaped implement, means "life" |
| atef | ostrich feathers in headgear |
| barque (bark) | a ship, or a shrine shaped like a ship |
| cartouche | elongated sign of shen which means to encircle |
| crook | hooked-staff or sceptre as a symbol of authority for Kings of Egypt |
| decans | period of 10 days in Egyptian calendar (360 days total) |
| demotic | script used by Egyptians from about 700 BC onwards |
| epagomenal days | 5 days added to Egyptian year (12 months of 30 days) to make 365 |
| faience | quartz sand heated in crucible with soda, until quartz melts and solidifies into a glaze (often green or turquoise) |
| flail, flagellum | symbol of royal authority |
| khepesh | curved scimitar |
| mastaba | private tomb from the Old Kingdom |
| menat-collar | bead necklace with couterpoise to hang down back of wearer |
| obelisk | shaft of stone (often granite) with pointed top |
| pschent | double-crown of hte Pharaohs |
| stela, stele | rectangular in shape with curved top, decorated with inscriptions |
| waas-sceptre | staff with straight shaft split into two at bottom and topped by the head of an animal. Symbol of Royal authority. |
| wadi | dried up river bed |
References:
Watterson, Barbara: The gods of Ancient Egypt, Guild Publishing, London 1984.
Hamlyn publishing: New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, Hamlyn Publishing Group 21st impression 1986, Yugoslavia.
Herodotus: The Histories.
Plutarch: Isis and Osiris, Volume V, The Moralia.
Shrine of Wisdom editors: The Divine Pymander of Hermes Trismegistus, Shrine of Wisdom publishing, 1970.
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