Basic Concept: Ancient Egyptian Religion

Religious universe stretching over a period of time of about 3000 years, from about 3000 BC to 0 BC, centered in today's Egypt and northern Sudan, cultures centered around the river Nile.

When we try to make some sense out of the many Egyptian gods and goddesses, we must keep two important facts in mind. First, early in Egyptian history Lower (north) and Upper (south) Egypt were unified under one ruler. This union resulted in the merging of several cultural traditions. Second, because ancient Egyptian civilization existed for more than three thousand years, the deities and myths gradually changed over time as a result of new ideas, contact with other peoples, and changing cultural values.

Often gods and goddesses were represented as part human and part animal. Egyptian gods and goddesses (deities) were all forms of the Creator but they took on identities of their own. Some had special areas of interest. Egyptian gods were not considered as perfect. They were also thought of as characters in human-like bodies, but often with animal heads.

Gods were connected to natural phenomenons, or animals. This is part of the immanence of the gods in nature. Seldom were the representations of a god's qualities thought of as metaphorical. Hence any appearance of the animal is in itself carrying a religious importance, and often the worship of animals could be very direct. This belief survived through all stages of ancient Egyptian religion. The respect for animals is central in ancient Egyptian traditions. There was in the religion a strong connection between human problems, and natural phenomenon, as the divine was present in everything.

Temple's daily ritual was a dramatization of the god's daily life. It was ritual not myth that dominated the religious thought of Ancient Egypt. The main services at dawn, midday, and night consisted of washing, anointment, adornment with clothing and feeding of the deity with offerings. The great festivals represented the god's social life when he was taken in procession to visit another deity in his house or received such a visit. These procedures stand in sharp contrast with the religious practices of the majority of the Egyptians. In the daily rituals the public had no role, in fact access to the inner parts of the temple was strictly forbidden to the common people, they can only participate in the great festivals, such as The feast of Opet held in Thebes, and The Beautiful Feast of the Valley.

Ammut: Head of a crocodile, mane and front legs of a lion, and hindquarters of a hippo. It was believed that when a person died, the soul had to pass through a dangerous underworld known as Duat where it faced all sorts of dangers like monsters and lakes of fire. If the heart is heavy with sin, it is thrown to Ammut, "the devourer of the dead," who gobbles it up, denying the the spirit an afterlife and causing it to cease to exist!.

Amun Re: The father of all gods, the creator of every human being and all creatures. Mut is his wife and Khonsu is his son.

Anubis: The jackal-headed god responsible for the processes of embalming and the protection of cemeteries. He guided the deceased through the underworld which entailed a special judgment ceremony called "The Weighing of the Heart" which deteremined whether or not the person could go on to Osiris. But if the heart is heavy with sin, it is thrown to Ammut. The heart of the dead person is weighed against "the feather of truth," a symbol of Ma'at (the goddess of truth, justice, and order).

Ausar aka Osiris: Lord of the dead. He was the first child of Geb and Nut; brother of Set. Representative for the setting sun, he was the ruler of the dead and the resurrected king, as well as god of fertility. God of agriculture and ruler of the dead. Osiris is the god to whom the credit of learning the Egyptians skills of law, agriculture, and religion.

Auset aka Isis: Queen of the gods. Both sister and wife of Osiris, mother of Horus and the daughter of Nut and Geb. Goddess of fertility and motherhood, love and gaiety, and she had magical skills. In the Book of the Dead, Auset is regarded as the giver of life and food to the dead. Auset was also the purest example of the loving wife and mother and it was in this capacity that the Egyptian people loved her the most.

Bes: Was an ancient Egyptian god who was a god of protection against evil with his tambourine or harp, swords, maces and knives. He was thought to have been able to strangle bears, lions, antelopes and snakes with his bare hands. In this role, he was seen as a supporter of Ra, helping to defeat his serpent enemies.

Geb: God of the earth. Green-skinned man, with leaves all over his body and a goose on his head. Sometimes he was shown laying on his side under his wife, the sky goddess Nut. Shu (father), Tefnut (mother), Osiris and Set (sons), Auset and Nephthys (daughters). As the god of the earth, it is Geb who causes earthquakes whenever he laughs.

Hathor: Goddess of love, dance, birth and death, fertility, beauty and love.

Heru:aka Horus Son of Osiris, his powers devoted to the sky, light and goodness.

Khonsu: Son of Amun Re and Mut; the god of the moon.

Ma'at: Deity associated with justice and truth. At the final judgment of souls Ma'at helped to determine the ultimate fate of the deceased. Ma'at had a role in the judgement of the dead. In "The Hall of Ma'at" the heart of the deceased was weighed against Ma'at's "feather of truth." If the heart was free of guilt and sin, it would be lighter and the soul would get to pass on to Osiris. But if the heart was heavy with sin, it is thrown to Ammut, who gobbles it up, denying the spirit an afterlife and causing it to cease to exist. Ma'at's husband is Thoth the divine record-keeper.

Mut: Godmother of the gods. Wife of Amun Re; sky goddess and divine mother, her name means mother. She acted as an older woman among the other gods, she was the queen of them all.

Nephthys: A goddess who protects the dead; goddess of the North. Wife of Set; mother of Anubis; sister of Auset, Osiris and Set; daughter of Nut and Geb.

Nut: Goddess of the Sky. Wife of the earth god Geb; the mother of Auset. Woman with a round pot on her head and vulture wings; or a woman covered with stars, bending over the earth with her hands and feet on the eastern and western horizons, often with Shu (her son) and Geb (her husband) beneath her.

Ptah: His wife was the lioness goddess Sakhmet.

He was the God of architects and artisans, also known as a god of the creation of the earth. Ptah was a great creator god who merely had to speak the names of things and they would exist. Ptah was credited with the creation of many things:

boats for the souls of the dead to use in the afterlife;

framework of the universe;

the roof of the sky and the supports that held it up the gods, humans, and

the world.

Ra (Re): The sun god in it's many forms. Ra (Re), the sun god, is pictured with the falcon-head of Horus and the sun disk and the sacred serpent, symbol of sovereignty depicted on the headdress of some deities. Re had been the main sun god of Egypt since as far back as the Old Kingdom. During the fourth dynasty, pharaohs began to use the title "Son of Re" to remind everyone that they were not mere mortal humans but offspring of the #1 deity!

Sakhmet: Goddess of war and vengeance. The Eye of Ra. Wife of Ptah. Sekhmet was not a goddess to mess around with! Her main job was to get even with anyone who wronged Re. She was believed to wander the desert, spreading terror wherever she went. In fact, the ancient Egyptians thought the hot desert wind was Sekhmet's fiery breath. In order to calm her rage, a five-day festival was held in her honor at the end of every year. It was feared that if she was not satisfied, she would go on a rampage and prevent the next year from coming.

Set aka Seth: God of evil. Form of a man, with the head of an unidentified donkey-like animal. Nut (mother); Geb (father); Osiris (brother), Auset and Nephthys (sisters). God of chaos, evil, war, violence, and conflict.

Shu: God of the air. Shu, along with his sister Tefnut, were the first deities to be created by Atum. He is the lord of cool air and the upper sky. He also was believed to hold up Nut, the sky goddess and his daughter, above his son the earth god Geb. Without Shu holding the two apart, the Egyptians believed that there would be no area in which to create the life they saw all around them. The Egyptians believed that there were also pillars to help Shu lift up the sky - these pillars were on the four cardinal points, and were known as the 'Pillars of Shu'.

Sobek: God of water (rivers, marshes, canals, and lakes). A man with the head of a crocodile, wearing a solar disc and the atef crown on his head. Hathor (wife), Neith (mother). Sobek also had a role as a fertility god-- he made all the plants green. It was said that the more crocodiles in the water, the greater the flood, and the more bountiful the crops.

Tefnut: Goddess of Moisture and the Moon, and Dryness and the Sun.

Thoth: The god of the moon, and therefore the god who measured time. He was also the god of calculation, writing, learning, wisdom, laws and magic. He was the god who invented writing and the languages. His wife is Ma'at. Thoth is also a divine record-keeper. Before the soul of a dead person could join Osiris in the afterlife, it had to pass a test called "The Weighing of the Heart," given by Ma'at, Thoth waits to record the results.