The polytheistic religion of ancient Egypt spanned millennia and varied in its social and political implications during that time. However, some basic ideas can be witnessed across the entire timeline. Take the reinforcement of religious doctrine through hierarchical class structures. The state religion associated pharaohs with the supreme deities, and the general populace considered him a manifestation of the patron deity. These ideas helped kings maintain control of society. While temples and other state-sponsored religious sites embellished specific deities, the ordinary people also worshiped different gods at home.
The ancient Egyptians believed that a human being was made up of six different components: the the life force: ka, the personality [ba], the combination of both [ka and ba] known as the spirit [akh], the identity [or the name], the shadow, and the body. Since the preservation of all of these parts was important, the Egyptians undertook elaborate rituals like mummification to counter death. But, it should be noted that these rituals were also concentrated in the upper strata, restricted to the burials of kings and queens.
The barrier between the religion of the elites and the common man existed during the Pre-Dynastic Period but developed more thoroughly during the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom Periods. It was not until the unprecedented rise of priesthood during the New Kingdom, when the potency of this idea was challenged. The role of the pharaoh as a medium was undermined because of the rise of the clergy, who claimed themselves to be equally efficient bridges to the realm of supernatural.
The Egyptian origin myth varies across different versions, but most detail 8 primordial deities in 4 male-female pairs known as Ogdoad. These included Nu and Naunet, Hehu and Hehut, Kekui and Kekuit, Qerh and Qerhet. Nu was the most important of these eight and led to the creation of Ra, Amun, and Atum. These deities disappeared by the Old Kingdom, but just like the ancient Indian and Mesopotamian cultures, served as a springboard for an outpouring of mythological characters. Osiris, Horus, and Seth eventually emerged as prominent gods and Isis, Nephthys, and Hathor as important goddesses.
From Ra and Osiris to Hathor and Anubis, all these deities possessed unique qualities, abilities, and supernatural powers. The Egyptians’ zoomorphic understanding of life gave way to several gods and goddesses. For instance, Bastet not only possessed the head of a cat, she also displayed other qualities the Egyptians associated with felines. Close to 2,000 deities appeared over the long course of ancient Egyptian history, but most of them gradually descended into oblivion. Some, however, managed to scale the tide of obscurity and stay relevant for multiple centuries.
Let’s take a look at some of the most important gods and goddesses of anceint Egypt:
Ra, Amun, & Amun-Ra
Let’s start with the most prominent of all Egyptian gods: Ra, the creator of the universe and the god of the sun, skies, and kings. The ancient Egyptians believed that the sun god sailed his boat across the sky during the day. In the night, he would traverse the underworld and battle with the serpent, Aposis, to strike the darkness away. Ra was considered the father and patron of the earthly pharaoh.
The sun god Ra is often portrayed as a falcon head with a sun disk around his head. Over centuries, Ra combined with other gods to form composite deities. Take the patron deity of Thebes, Amun, who was associated with the sun and air. Amun, his wife Mut, and their son Khons formed the Theban Triad. During the New Kingdom, an amalgamation of two, Amun-Ra, became one of the most important deities in the Egyptian pantheon.
Hathor
If Ra was the father of the pharaoh, then Hathor was the mother. Hathor or Bat, another goddess she absorbed in the Old Kingdom, appears on the Palette of Narmer, the oldest piece of existing Egyptian art. With her large horns and the sun in-between, she was often represented as a cow, signifying maternity. The goddess of music and dance, she served as a symbolic mother to the Egyptians.
Her image varied across different eras, and she was even considered Ra’s mother in some cases. However, for the most part, she comes across as the Eye of Ra, who protects her from his enemies.
Ptah
Ptah “crafted the world in the design of his heart” by using his creative speech. The patron saint of craftsmen and architects, Ptah was represented with a beard and a was-sceptre. For centuries, the cult of the high priests of Ptah was highly sought after by kings and courts. They served as viziers and undertook major construction projects as architects.
During the Old Kingdom, he absorbed multiple deities in the city of Memphis and became one of the most gods by the New Kingdom. The Memphis Triad consisted of Ptah, his wife Sekhnet, and their son Nefertem.
Sekhmet and Bastet
Sekhmet, the daughter of sun god Ra, was the goddess of war and is often represented as a red lioness with a solar disk holding an upright cobra called Uraeus. Sekhmet protected the pharaoh and warded off curses and evils like the plague.
If Sekhmet the lioness was the vengeful manifestation of feminity, then Bastet the cat was its gentler side. The goddess of chidbirth and domestic matters, Bastet was high popular, offering protection to children and good luck to pregnant women. Some historians believe that Bastet developed as an extension of Sekhmet over centuries.
Osiris
After Geb, the god of dry land, fell in love with his sibling, Nut, the goddess of sky, Osiris was conceived. Ra took issue with this union and separated them. But, the Nut was already pregnant and gave birth to Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys.
Osiris was the god of fertility, agriculture, alcohol, and resurrection, and most importantly, death and afterlife. The story goes that Osiris was able to trick Ra and take over the world. He became a great pharaoh, who taught men how to farm and created some of the earliest cities in history. Depictions of the god show him carrying a crook and flail and wearing a distinct crown. The crook represents kingship and the flail fertility, qualities respected and cherished by the people he ruled.
Like all pharaohs, he was supposed to join Ra in the afterlife. But, he was tricked by his brother Set, who made him lie in a golden coffin, cut him up, and scattered his multiple pieces all over Egypt. After he was wrapped up and mummified, he could not return fully to life and was relegated to the underworld. There, he sat with the dead and cast judgement on them. The green color in his portrayal signifies his resting place.
Isis
Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, she helped Osiris in tricking Ra. But, after Set’s horrible betrayal, she was beside herself. She set out in search of her husband’s pieces, painstakingly collecting them one by one. She called upon the god of embalment, rejuvenation, and guidance, Anubis, for help. They placed Osiris’ pieces together and wrapped them up with cloth, forming the first mummy. However, Osiris was only half-resurrected. Upon witnessing this, Isis could not contain her anger and sent her son to Set to avenge his father’s death.
“The Mother of the Gods,” Isis was considered the divine mother of the pharaoh. One of the most widely worshiped deities throughout Egypt, she featured in funerary rites and helped Egyptians in the afterlife just like she had helped her husband.
Set
The god of evil, chaos, destruction, and disorder, Set mutilated his brother, Osiris to take control, only to be defeated by his son. After his defeat, he left civilization behind and settled outside the Nile Valley. Depicted with a red skin, he carries the was-sceptre. Although Set became the villain in the folk stories of the Egyptian religion, he initially used to accompany Ra on his boat journey across the skies.
Horus
The son of Osiris and Isis, Horus was the god of kings and skies. When he came of age, his mother, Isis, sent him to exact revenge on Set. He searched far and wide, before finally avenging his father’s death. Once Set relinquished the throne, he took over and ruled the land with order and dignity in complete contrast to his uncle.
It is important to note that there are various versions of Horus across Egyptian history. In some cases, he is considered a sibling to Osiris, Isis, and Set. In others, he is considered the son and-or the husband of Hathor. The pharaoh was sometimes considered a manifestation of Horus in life and Osiris in death. He was mostly represented as a falcon wearing a pschent, a crown symbolizing kingship.
Nephthys
As a sibling of Osiris, Isis, and Set, Nephthys assisted her twin sister, Isis, in finding the scattered pieces of Osiris. She also helped nurse the god, Horus. As such, she is often paired with Isis and is considered crucial to funerary rites. The mother of Anubis, she was the goddess of mourning and childbirth.
Isis and Nephthys formed two sides of Ma’at, the goddess of harmony and balance. Isis signified light and Nephthys darkness. Ma’at was an important goddess in her own respect as she helped regulate seasons and brought order and justice from chaos. The Egyptians would offer the heart of the deceased to Ma’at in the Hall of Truth. The heart would be weighed against the feather, and if the two weighed equal, the person would be received by Osiris in the afterlife.
Thoth
The god Thoth taught man to write and was the inventor of hieroglyphs. A keeper of records, he witnessed the birth of Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, Set, and Horus the Elder—the version of Horus that was considered a sibling to these gods. A master of physical and divine laws, he perfectly calculated the cycles of the moon, the sun, and the stars.
Althought Thoth was quite important to the ancient Egyptians, an interesting aspect of his powers is related his tales in the middle ages. In the tradition of Western occult studies and Hermeticism, Thoth is given high credence. Since he was the keeper of wisdom and knowledge in ancient Egypt, hermeticists trace their lineage to him and believe that he possessed arcane knowledge beyond our wildest expectation.
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