Ancient Egypt Gods and Goddesses

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Egyptian gods and goddesses

Ancient Egypt Gods and Goddesses

Egyptian gods and goddesses
Egyptian gods and goddesses by PublicDomainPictures PD-Art.

Each ancient Egyptian god represented a different aspect of the world, from the sun to the earth to the sky. They provided balance and stability to the universe. The ancient Egyptian story of creation describes the first and most important gods and goddesses and their roles in the universe.


The ancient Egyptian story of creation

Nun_Raises_the_Sun
Nun, god of the waters of chaos, lifts the barque of the sun god Ra (represented by both the scarab and the sun disk) into the sky at the beginning of time. PD-Art.

  • The ancient Egyptians believed that before life on earth there was only Nun. This was the term they used to describe the only thing that existed — the dark waters of chaos. Nun was also associated with the edges of the universe. Nun was depicted by the Egyptians as a man carrying a ”bark” (a small boat).
ben-ben_stone
Benben representation, with the solar disk arises between two mountains. Photographed by George Shukla, (CC BY-SA 3.0)
  • Out of Nun rose a hill or a mound of land. The hill was called Ben-Ben, which eventually turned into a pyramid shape. A sacred pyramid-shaped stone called the Ben-Ben stone derived its name from this mound — it was placed in the temple of Ra at Heliopolis and was positioned where the first morning rays of sunshine would hit it every day, symbolising the birth of a new day as the mound represented the birth of creation.
Atum
Atum, an ancient Egyptian god of creation. Based on New Kingdom tomb paintings. Author: Jeff Dahl, GFDL.
  • On the Ben-Ben mound stood the first god in ancient Egyptian mythology, Atum. He was the creator, or father god, who all other gods and life followed from. The word atum represents “Perfection”, and he is depicted as a human god with two crowns.
Shu_with_feather
The ancient Egyptian god Shu is represented as a human with a feather on his head, as he is associated with light and air. Author: Jeff Dahl, GFDL.
  • Atum created the next two gods — first there was Shu, the god of air, and then his twin Tefnut, the godess of moisture.
  • Shu was born out of Atum’s nose on his breath, and was believed to have a calming nature. He was always depicted with an ostrich feather, which was a symbol of light.
Tefnout
Tefnut by Mbzt, (CC BY-SA 3.0)
  • His twin sister Tefnut represented rain and dew. It was believed that she was spat out of Atum’s mouth. She is depicted as a human god with a lion head.
  • Later in ancient Egyptian mythology, it was said that Tefnut and Shu argued — their disagreement was the cause of extreme weather that was disastrous for the Old Kingdom of Egypt. As a result of the argument, Tefnnut left Egypt and turned into a cat. Anyone who approached her was killed. She did eventually return, after being persuaded by another god, Thoth.
Relief_of_Horus_and_Geb_from_KV14_(Kairoinfo4u)
A relief of the Egyptian gods Geb (depicted on the left) with his (sometimes) grandson Horus, from tomb KV14 in the Valley of the Kings. Author: kairoinfo4u, (CC BY-SA 2.0)
  • The twin gods Tefnut and Shu had two children who were also gods. They were called Geb and Nut.
  • Geb was the god of earth and Nut the goddess of the sky. Geb’s laughter brought about earthquakes and he had the power to make crops grow or fail. He was also known to be the father of snakes and is sometimes shown to have the head of a snake.
Geb_and_Nut
Sky goddess Nut and Geb with the head of a snake. Author: E. A. Wallis Budge (1857-1937), PD-Art.
  • His sister Nut is portrayed as a naked female figure covered in stars. She shelters the earth and in many pictures is literally covering her brother Geb, the god of the earth. She is sometimes shown as a cow, or as a ladder leading to the skies.
  • Following their parents’ tradition of having children with their siblings, Nut and Geb had five offspring together — Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys and Horus.
Osiris
Osiris was the lord of the dead in the ancient Egyptian religion. Here, he is shown in typical mummy wrappings.[1] Based on New Kingdom tomb paintings. Author: Jeff Dahl, GFDL.
  • Osiris was the god of the dead, and of life, resurrection and the afterlife. He had green skin, and like his grandfather Shu, always wore an ostrich feather. His legs were also shown to be partly mummified. He was the king.
Isis
The goddess Isis portrayed as a woman, wearing a headdress shaped like a throne and with an Ankh in her hand. Author: Jeff Dahl, GFDL.
  • Isis was a goddess who was worshiped by the Romans and Greeks in later years, but the ancient Egyptians were the first. She represented the perfect female — wife and mother. She was the queen.
Set
Set, an ancient Egyptian deity. Based on New Kingdom tomb paintings. Author: Jeff Dahl, GFDL.
  • Set was the god of the desert — he was responsible for storms, chaos, disaster and violence. He is depicted as having an animal head which looks like a slender dog. In mythology, the story is told that Set killed and destroyed the body of his brother, Osiris. Isis put him back together and brought him back to life for a short time before he went back to the underworld. Set then became king.
Nepthys
Nepthys, an ancient Egyptian goddess. Author: Jeff Dahl, GFDL.
  • Nephthys’ name means “lady of the house” but that doesn’t mean she was a goddess of domestic matters or a housewife — she was revered as god of the temple. She was the protector of the dead and often believed to be the mother of the reigning pharaoh. She is depicted as having falcon wings or as a kite.

Horus
Horus, an ancient Egyptian falcon headed-deity. Author: Jeff Dahl, GFDL.
  • Originally considered to be the son of Nut and Geb, Horus was later understood instead to be the son of Isis and Osiris. Sometimes the first one is known as Horus the Elder, and the second one as Horus the Younger. After Set killed Osiris and sent him into the underworld, Horus took revenge and took the title of King from Set, and Osiris became the king of the underworld.

These first gods were not the only gods in the ancient Egyptian belief system. They believed that the pharaoh kings of Egypt would ascend to become gods after they died. There were more than 200 gods in total.

Other important gods included:

  • Thoth — the god of writing and knowledge
  • Sobek — the crocodile god
  • Ra — the sun god
  • Montu — the warrior god
  • Khnum — the god who protected the River Nile

To learn more about the Ancient Egyptians, see:


Gods and Goddesses – Ancient Egypt

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atum
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/home.html
http://www.landofpyramids.org/ben-ben-stone.htm
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/explore/atum.html

Click here to view the complete list of sources…

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