Having found yourself, try to compare the description with yourself and with your loved ones. Just remember - this is a general horoscope. It is rather a characteristic of certain groups of people. I don’t believe in horoscopes, and you can only believe in them or not - it’s not science. But sometimes I am surprised by the accuracy of the compiler’s observations.
And yes, please don’t write obscurantist comments about paganism, about the purity of our faith - the 21st century is in the yard, after all, distinguish a joke from a sermon. Good luck! Good mood to you all.
The god Nile and the river of the same name were a source of endless energy in Egypt. The Egyptians believed that the Nile River gave life to its inhabitants. Thanks to its waters, the lands were irrigated and fertilized. Therefore, the inhabitants of Egypt, in times of famine, asked for help from this river. The god Nile was the god of fertility among the Egyptians. Representatives of this sign are very passionate and impulsive natures. The motto of their whole life is - it’s better to do it and not regret it than not to do it and regret it. Any profession is suitable for them, where they do not have to sit at a workplace all day, they can move around and easily change their type of activity.
The supernatural ability of the Nile people is the gift of healing.
People feel good and calm around you. Your biofield carries a huge positive charge. Personality: cheerful and patient. You easily adapt to any environment. You are very insightful, which is why people are drawn to you.
You always find yourself where your help is needed. But be careful! Because of this, you are often taken advantage of. You do not forgive betrayal, you fly into a rage and act impulsively. Your judgments are categorical.
You can be called a passionate person: you throw yourself headlong into everything you do. You are a deeply family person. Treat your loved ones with special tenderness. You try to support them with kind words and inspire them to new exploits.
Amon combined the characters of many gods: Ra (the god of the Sun), Min (the god of creation and reproduction), as well as the militant god Montu. Over time, Amon-Ra became a protector. He is represented as a man with the head of a ram. Sometimes the head remained human, but was decorated with ram horns or a solar disk. He was the consort of Mut, the "mother goddess".
His charges are wise and integral natures. In addition, one of their main qualities is optimism. In a team, they usually play the role of leader. And among the professions they choose those that allow them to demonstrate their personal talents.
The desire for fame is in their blood.
Supernaturalism is the ability to see the future. Among these people there are many predictors.
Character: Your integrity and boundless charisma attract people to you. You know how to persuade and have oratory talent. But sometimes you are so popular among friends, colleagues and girlfriends that you simply don’t have time for your loved one.
Courage and cheerfulness are your allies. You have a gift for calming people down. Next to you, everyone feels at their best. Sometimes this even goes beyond what is permitted. You have the aura of a leader, but not a dictator. You are a good diplomat, as you often act cunningly and on the sly.
Oddly enough, in a love relationship it is difficult for you to fully open your soul to your partner.
The goddess Mut symbolizes a strict mother. Mut is the second most important goddess in Egyptian mythology after Isis. Her name literally translates to "mother". She was depicted as a woman with a double crown on her head: the crown of High and Lower Egypt. Sometimes she was presented in a more dangerous form: a lioness or a vulture.
Her students are demanding of themselves and others. Alien to romance, they are always ready to help not in word, but in deed. Among the wards of the goddess Mut there are a lot of testers, experimenters and people who bring progress to our society.
Your supernaturalness lies in your great physical strength, health and talent to sense any trouble a mile away.
Personality: You are very emotional, and perhaps this is why you often lack self-confidence. You are often thrown from sadness to joy.
To please you, you need to stock up on remarkable patience. You are able to live in isolation from other people and cultivate your own secret garden. You think that this is how you protect yourself from negative emotions. Love plays a big role in your life. Despite your sometimes exaggerated fears, you are able to move mountains to win and achieve peace of mind in a strong union with your partner.
The Egyptians considered it a symbol of the Earth, a strong union and unity. Geb symbolizes earth, plants and minerals. He was depicted as a man with a red crown or wearing a wig, divided into three parts, with the image of... a goose.
If you were born under this sign, it means that you are a very good adviser, a kind and sensitive person. Among Geb's wards there are many public figures, psychologists and specialists in the field of technology.
Your supernaturalness lies in the fact that everything blossoms under your hands.
Once you throw a seed into the ground, it will sprout. Everything green on the planet shares its strength and energy with the people of Geb. Character: are you sure that you are phlegmatic? It's more likely that you lack energy. More precisely, you have your own way of managing time: no rush, no fuss.
You are sensual, impressionable and very attractive. Friends trust you so much that even if you don’t want them to, they begin to share their problems with you, in full confidence that your advice will change their lives for the better. In love, you are looking for a person who is sensitive, trusting and energetic.
Egyptian horoscope - Isis (March 11-31, October 18-29, December 19-31) Isis symbolizes femininity and motherhood. Consort of Osiris, she personifies the mother goddess and protects newborns and seafarers. Isis gained particular popularity for the fact that she once revived her husband Osiris, who was killed by a jealous brother. She is often depicted as a woman with the sun's disk shining between her bull's horns, and the son of Horus sitting on her lap.
Happiness if a representative of the fairer sex was born under her sign. After all, the main essence of Isis is love. Her charges sow warmth and tenderness around them. But at the same time they know exactly what they want in life. The stars predict success for them in economics and pedagogy.
A supernatural gift brings good luck to everyone - that's your talent. You are like a lucky talisman. All dark forces bypass the place where Isis’s ward resides.
Personality: You are cheerful, open, ambitious. Live to the fullest, beautifully, energetically, without prejudice or remorse. You love new and exciting experiments. You are calm, trusting, generous, love people and trust them endlessly. You are amorous, but you know how to love for a long time, flavoring your family life with pleasant (or not so pleasant) surprises. However, you are so idealistic that, having not once found a worthy partner, you become disappointed in people and prefer to live “alone than with just anyone.”
Osiris is one of the greatest Egyptian gods. Having married his sister Isis in order to rule Egypt and bring civilization there, he enraged his brother Set, who tried to kill him, but Isis brought her husband back to life. Thus, Osiris, a symbol of fertility and development, became the master of the “other world.” God of the dead, he spoke to people about their lives and was the guarantor of the survival of people underground. This deity symbolizes renewal, as it never dies. His students are excellent speakers and organizers.
From the supernatural, the gods have given you the ability to see through people. Sometimes it seems that these people can read the thoughts of others. Nothing can be hidden from them. Personality: Your curious nature pushes you to new, unusual and unexpected experiments. You believe in life and are confident in yourself. You live every moment to the fullest, without fear of failure.
After all, there is always an alternate path for you, an opportunity to fix everything, to embark on new, even more exciting adventures. Everything flows, everything changes.
However, your uncontrollable optimism also requires rest, so from time to time you fall into a slight depression. Self-doubt can also be caused by the fact that you cannot stay away from anything. You successfully combine strength and fragility, passion and altruism. Sometimes you are looking for a pie in the sky when a tit is already sitting in your hands. Friendship is often stronger than love for you.
He helped people master speech, writing and arithmetic. He is considered the patron saint of scientists and philosophers.
God of Knowledge and Letters, Thoth was the adviser of Osiris and the protector of Horus. He was depicted as a man or baboon with the head of an ibis, decorated with a moon.
He was revered as the god of oratory and numeracy. Considered the scribe of the gods and the measure of time. This earned him the favor of the magicians. They also say that he helped astronomers, accountants and healers.
His students are distinguished by great attention to detail and the ability to analyze and think logically. The supernatural thing about Thoth people is that they can easily master the techniques of hypnosis. Convincing anyone of anything is not a problem for them. You just need to look into the person's eyes.
They can distinguish truth from lies in five seconds.
Character: curiosity coupled with entrepreneurship pushes you to search for everything new and unknown. You always strive to get to the bottom of the truth. Your generosity is matched only by your honesty.
You always and everywhere feel at home. You love to work with words and are also endowed with teaching talent.
These qualities will help you choose a profession to which you will be faithful throughout your life.
When it comes to love, you are able to give your partner your best, masterfully hiding all your shortcomings.
Anubis in Egyptian mythology, this god was engaged in embalming the dead. However, this ceremony under his leadership was held festively, as they would say now, with jokes and jokes. Anubis, the god of the dead, was the master of funeral ceremonies and mummification. He waited for the dead at the entrance to the dark kingdom, presided over the judgment of the soul and carried out their protection, bringing food and a grave.
His name means "jackal", and his depictions in the frescoes were of a jackal or wild dog with pointed ears and an elongated snout.
Anubis endowed his charges with a sense of dark humor and the ability to find funny moments in difficult situations.
These people are night owls. They like to go to bed late and wake up late. They prefer solitude to noisy companies. And in the service, being left alone with a problem can bring much more benefits than working in a team.
The supernatural ability of the people of Anubis is the talent to administer justice. Thanks to the patronage of this mysterious god, no mortal can hide the truth from people. He always stands up for the weak and punishes the guilty.
Character: you prefer shadow to light, loneliness to popularity... To many you seem to be a very mysterious person. You are valued for your sensitivity, sincerity and loyalty.
You are a bit idealistic and very emotional. This is why you sometimes get depressed. But perhaps it is she who helps you solve some problems. You are an excellent psychologist, because the world of the unconscious is not a secret to you.
You are adamant and do not change a decision once made. This creates some problems in love relationships. Old wounds do not heal, which is why it is so difficult for you to find a soul mate.
Therefore, you choose a partner very carefully, making sure ten times that your relationship is built on complete mutual respect and agreement.
Among the ancient people, Seth was considered a symbol of freedom. God of darkness, disorder, deserts, storms and war. He was often depicted as a man with the head of a boar. The Egyptians attached special importance to the cult of Set.
Out of jealousy, he killed his brother, Osiris, but Isis, the wife of Osiris, with the help of Thoth and Anubis, revived him. As punishment for such an act, Seth was banished to the desert. Other sources report that he was sent to heaven, where he now appears to us in the form of the Big Dipper.
Those born under the sign of Seth are extremely ambitious, inventive, confident in themselves and in their rightness. Such people are often elected to politics and leadership in the highest echelons of power.
The supernaturalism of Seth's wards manifests itself when they begin to tell fortunes on cards, on coffee grounds, and even on clouds.
Personality: You are a conqueror and believe that obstacles are created in order to overcome them. That's why you are constantly looking for them. Don't dwell on the past, but look to the future with hope.
You don’t know how to learn from your past mistakes, so you constantly start something again, test your abilities, compete with someone. You find inner peace in the struggle with internal paradoxes.
Often you feel like you can only rely on yourself. You cannot stand restrictions in professional, social and love spheres. With your selfishness, you protect yourself from events that could hurt you. You prefer to run and hide in order to maintain your freedom. In love, you can hardly control your jealousy: you subconsciously choose those partners who will like your impulsive behavior.
Bastet is the goddess of love and fertility. She was depicted as a woman with the head of a cat or lioness. She protected the pharaohs and humanity.
The deity in the guise of a cat gives its charges charm, the ability to subtly feel and understand the situation. These are ideal wives and mothers.
They will easily achieve success in all professions that are considered feminine. They make excellent teachers, nurses, florists and accountants. They knit, sew and cook deliciously. Their ability to calm and relieve stress can be considered supernatural. They have an amazing “cozy” biofield that warms everyone around.
Personality: You are used to being on the defensive. Vigilance is your strength, but excessive caution prevents you from correctly assessing the situation. You need to overcome shyness and open up to the world, then life will seem much more interesting and brighter. Your charm and natural charm, as well as diplomacy, grace and generosity, attract people to you. Insight, well-developed intuition and a sense of tact make your friends turn to you for advice. And they are not wrong, because you will always find the right words for everyone.
In love, you are looking for a partner who can appreciate your sensuality and emotionality. You surround your loved ones with special attention, care and boundless love.
He is often depicted as a man with a bird's head. God of the Sky, Stars, Love, protector of the pharaohs, Horus is one of the most ancient and important Egyptian gods. He is most often depicted as a falcon, with a solar disk above his head, or as a man with the head of a falcon. They say his eyes can see at night.
Those who were born under the auspices of Horus were created for flight. They have a great imagination, a rich imagination, and they perfectly realize themselves in the field of creative professions. They make good biologists and zoologists and animal trainers.
The supernatural nature of Horus's charges is manifested in the fact that they can understand the language of animals. Cats and dogs respond happily to their commands. With affection and strength they can tame any animal. Character: You are valued for your cheerfulness, nobility and healthy pragmatism. You see your goals clearly, so achieving them should not be a problem. You have the soul of a creator, and you are not afraid of difficult work, on the contrary, you strive for it. You love risks and do not shy away from responsibility. Moreover, they are always confident in themselves.
You like to manage, to control everything; those around you are not happy with your despotism. You are not very tactful. You need to work on patience and diplomacy. You are quite capable of love at first sight. But such love is fleeting. Everything has its time. As you age, you will become more consistent in your feelings.
This is a deity with a lion's head. His court is impartial. The main goal of his life is justice. Sekmet means “power, strength.” Sekmet was the goddess of quarrel and war. She caused dryness or flood, in general, she was the source of human troubles. This harmful girl spread epidemics, but she also had the power to get rid of diseases. She patronized doctors and magicians.
She was represented as a lioness or a woman dressed in a long tunic with the head of a lioness. If you were born under the sign of this deity, then most likely you enjoy great authority among mere mortals and are demanding of yourself and others.
You will be equally talented in all professions where you often have to communicate with people and make important decisions. Your luck seems supernatural.
You know how to appear at the right time and in the right place. And no matter what business you undertake, luck will always accompany you.
Character: you are a passionate, unyielding, proud person. You always have a lot of friends, although you are not too lenient towards others. You control yourself well, and therefore rarely make mistakes.
However, behind your proud exterior lies an honest, sensitive, cautious nature that awaits recognition. Being a perfectionist down to the tips of your nails, you are always left unsatisfied. More flexibility, imagination and less self-criticism will help you accept this life more easily.
Well, how? Did you find yourself and your loved ones in any description? Learned?
Ancient Egyptian names– these names were used in Ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt was a civilization of the ancient world that existed in northeast Africa along the lower reaches of the Nile River. The period of existence of Ancient Egypt is from the middle of the 4th millennium BC. e. to the 4th century AD e.
The history of Ancient Egypt spans approximately 40 centuries and is divided into the pre-dynastic period, the dynastic period, the Hellenistic period (influenced by the Greco-Macedonian culture) and the Roman period (within the ancient Roman state, as a province of the Roman Empire).
Names in Ancient Egypt, like other peoples, they emphasized the individuality of a person, his character and appearance, his devotion to one or another god, the names of animals and plants, the names of objects, professions, as well as names indicating origin from a particular area.
For example, Rahotep - Ra is satisfied, Nefertiti - beautiful.
The most common names were those that included the names of the most important deities: Ptah, Ra, Amon, Horus, Isis, Montu, etc. Such names reflected a person’s hope for God’s favorable attitude towards himself. For example, Djed-Amen-iuf-ankh (“Amon said: he will live”).
Were prophecy names- This is the answer of the oracle deity to the parents’ request.
Were spell names, which protected a person from negative influences, and the protector from which was the deity. For example: Chai-Ise-Imu (“may Isis seize them”).
Some names were used equally for women and men, they differed in the hieroglyph at the end.
As a rule, the Egyptians had two names, both personal. The Egyptians did not have surnames.
Names and words spoken aloud or written on papyrus, the ancient Egyptians attached mystical meaning. They believed that if you know secret name, then you gain power over this person. If you write the name of an enemy, a predatory animal or an evil spirit on a pottery and then break it, you can kill the evil.
The ancient Egyptians received at birth secret name, which was kept secret so that no one could harm the person.
Ancient Egypt left a huge cultural heritage for world civilization.
Male ancient Egyptian names
Abant– Ethiopian warrior
Agenor- Andromeda's groom
Agyrt– Ethiopian warrior
Actor
Agrey
Alexippus- companion of Memnon
Alcyoneus
Amenemhet
Amenhotep– peace, satisfaction, on behalf of the Egyptian god Amun
Amon- Ancient Egyptian sun god, king of the gods and patron of the power of the pharaohs
Ampik– priest of Demeter from Ethiopia, singer
Amphidamant
Amphimedon
Amphiphemid(Amphitemis) - also called Garamant
Anubis- a deity of Ancient Egypt with the head of a jackal and the body of a man, a guide for the dead to the afterlife
Apis
Apopis- brother of Helios, fought with Zeus, Osiris helped him
Arueris– Egyptian deity, elder Horus, called Apollo
Astyages– Ethiopian warrior
Archandr
Atlant– river and mountain in Libya
Outuh(Autuh)
Akhenaten– meaning: spirit Aten
Bebon– one of Typhon’s friends or an epithet of Typhon
Bel- tsar
Brotead
Busiris- tsar
Bucur– Moorish god or hero
Varsutin- god of the Moors
Garamant
Harpocrates– Egyptian god, son of Osiris and Isis, embodies silence
Gelik– Ethiopian warrior
Giant
Gypsum
Gore- Egyptian god and Egyptian pharaoh of the XIII dynasty
Gunei
Danai- King of Libya
Dictys
Diodorus
Doryl– Ethiopian warrior
Eurypylus- epithet of the god Triton
Idmon
Imandes (Ismandes)- Egyptian king buried in the labyrinth near Lake Merid
Imhotep– meaning: he comes into the world
Iopad
Eumolpus
Egypt
Carchedon
Cafavre
Keladon
Kenchris
Kefei
Kinifey
Kinif
Klany– Ethiopian warrior
Knef– deity
Klidon
Klymen
Cleitus– Ethiopian warrior
Clytius– Ethiopian warrior
Korif
Krategon
Livy
Face- King of Libya
Liket
Melanea
Mendez– deity
Menes
Menkheperr
Methion
Memphis
Nasamon
Nile- son of Ocean and Tethys
Niktei- tsar
Niley- warrior born of Nile
Nirey
Nihiy
Nomiy
Audit
Omphalus
Omphis- second name of Osiris
Parammon– Libyan god
Pelusius- name of the prince
Pettal
Pirras
Polyb- King of Thebes of Egypt
Proteus
Raamses- son of the sun god Ra
Ramses- son of the sun god Ra
Ramessu– the same as Ramses
Rahotep
Ret– Ethiopian warrior
Set- name of Typhon
Serapis
Sesostris- semi-mythical king of Egypt
Sirofan– Egyptian who introduced idol worship while mourning his son
Sofak
Tisian– Moorish god or hero
Tanit
Telegon- King of Egypt, King of Memphis
Typhon
Thoth (Teuth)- Egyptian deity
Triton- King of Libya
Tryphon- Egyptian deity
Thutmose- son of Thoth
Tutankhamun– meaning: living likeness of the god Amun
Theoclymenes
Ferodamant (Pheromedont)- Libyan king
Foon (Fonis)- ruler from the mouth of the Nile
Thrasius- a soothsayer from Cyprus. He came to Egypt and predicted to the king that the crop failure would stop if the Egyptians slaughtered a stranger every year on the altar of Zeus. King Busiris was the first to kill Thrasius
Fta (Ptah)- Egyptian god, founder of philosophy among the Egyptians
Feskel (Teskel)
Phlegiat
Foakt (Toakt)- squire of the king of the Ethiopians
Khremet- river god
Chromide– warrior
Emafion- son of Typhon and Eos, king of Ethiopia
Endium- Ethiopian king
Erics– Ethiopian warrior
Erith- son of Actor. Ethiopian warrior
Akhenaten– meaning: spirit Aten
Efion (Ethion)- Ethiopian soothsayer
Ahmose- son of the Egyptian God Iah
Female Ancient Egyptian Names
Akakallida
Alkandra– queen
Andromeda- daughter of the Ethiopian king Kepheus and Cassiopeia
Ankhinoya (Ancheroya)
Argithia
Asteria
Afiri- the name of Isis among the Egyptians
Aeria– aerial ground
Bentesicima (Benfesichima)- wife of the Ethiopian king Endius
Bubastide– Egyptian goddess of hunting, fertility, goddess of female chastity
Butoh- Egyptian goddess
Gersa- Danae's wife
Hephaestina
Hypermnestra
Gorgo
Gorgophone
Dido- the king's sister
Eurorrhoya
Iseya
Isis (Isis)- goddess, wife of Osiris, mother of Horus
Ifinoya
Kaliadna
Callirhoe
Cassiopeia- wife of Epaphus, mother of Livia
Carthago- goddess
Kissia
Cyrene
Lamia
Libya
Lisianassa
Megara
Medusa- queen of the Libyans
Melia
Memphis
Mefier
Nate- goddess of war, military strategy and wisdom, patroness of cities and states, sciences and crafts, intelligence and ingenuity
Nephthys- goddess of beauty
Niktimena
Pieria
Polydamna
Sofis (Sothis)- the Egyptian name for the constellation Isis
Tethys
Tingis (Tinga)
Tyria- wife of Egypt
Tritonida- nymph from Libya
Hatshepsut- noble woman
Nefertari- the most beautiful
Nefertiti– beautiful
Phoebe
Theonoia (Theonoia)
Thebe
Thebaid
Khione
Elephantis
Oleg and Valentina Svetovid
Our new book "The Energy of Surnames"
Book "The Energy of the Name"
Oleg and Valentina Svetovid
Our email address: [email protected]
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Ancient Egyptian names. Male and female ancient Egyptian names
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Note! We do not engage in healing or magic, we do not make or sell talismans and amulets. We do not engage in magical and healing practices at all, we have not offered and do not offer such services.
The only direction of our work is correspondence consultations in written form, training through an esoteric club and writing books.
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People who write slander about us are guided by the basest motives - envy, greed, they have black souls. The times have come when slander pays well. Now many people are ready to sell their homeland for three kopecks, and it is even easier to slander decent people. People who write slander do not understand that they are seriously worsening their karma, worsening their fate and the fate of their loved ones. It is pointless to talk with such people about conscience and faith in God. They do not believe in God, because a believer will never make a deal with his conscience, will never engage in deception, slander, or fraud.
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Therefore, please be careful!
Sincerely – Oleg and Valentina Svetovid
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Any religion or simply belief appears when a person cannot explain many life events or natural phenomena that are incomprehensible to him. Today science can interpret, if not everything, then a lot. IN Ancient Egypt For clarification, people turned to the gods through their servants on earth - priests. The latter stood guard over the power of the kings. But the ancient Egyptians should not be condemned for this - their faith was subject to the realities of life.
What did the gods of Ancient Egypt “grow out of”?
Religion has been inherent in the social life of society since primitive times. Prehistoric people were just beginning to live in communities, but even then the first beliefs arose, called by some scientists proto-religion. It existed in the form of animism (the soul is an impersonal principle), totemism (the mystical connection between man and animals), fetishism (a certain object will become a mystical force) or magic (all three of the above).
At different times, these beliefs were also inherent in the peoples of Ancient Egypt. The so-called local deities later emerged from totemism. They existed for millennia and disappeared with the development of the Egyptian religion - a system of beliefs and rituals.
The very first deities in these Egyptian lands of northeast Africa, in the minds of the Egyptians, looked like birds and animals. They believed in them because then the main activity was hunting. When the importance of hunting decreased and people began to intensively engage in farming and fishing in the Nile, the heads of some representatives of the fauna that lived there were still “attached” to the human body of the gods.
“Quid prodest” – who benefits from it?
The deities multiplied for a reason. Who needed the ancient Egyptian pyramids, for the construction of which artisans and farmers, as well as slaves, took many years away from their businesses and families? To the pharaohs! As evidence of the power of royal power, that is, the dominant structure in class society. The people eked out a miserable existence and worshiped unknown idols.
And this power had to be constantly supported not only by brute force, but also “spiritually.” The people were constantly convinced that power was created by the gods forever. And they need to obey both the pharaohs and the common people. This was done by the idle priests. Therefore, the Egyptians silently waited for improvements from the gods - from Pharaoh to Pharaoh. From kingdom to kingdom.
Ancient pantheon of northeast Africa
Let's look at what the gods of Ancient Egypt were, their pictures and names, which of them are the main ones, and which are simpler. Their pantheon is quite extensive. There were about one hundred and twenty deities. Of these, local (individual cities, relatively small territories), according to various estimates, are twenty-five. Some of the local gods in different eras of the development of the ancient Egyptian kingdom became national gods, for example, goddesses Amaunet, Amentet, Maat, god Bekh (Buhis). There were also so-called minor gods. For example, Duamutef is an astral deity.
In the above list there is also a category of gods and goddesses where there is no image of them or at least a brief description. For example, the god or goddess Anedzhti, Bata, Bennu, Mafdet, Nebej and others. They are waiting for their researchers.
There were other transitions of gods from category to category. Belief in the famous god Amun originated in the Old Kingdom, when the centralization of the ancient Egyptian state took place. In the Middle Kingdom he turns into a local deity, in the New Kingdom he becomes a national god (18th century BC). At the beginning of our era, he was demoted in “position” by the gods, who by that time had become common in Egypt: “husband” and “wife” Osiris and Isis.
Using the example of the god Amun, we will show how not only preferences for deities changed, but also their type of depiction on stone and in papyri. They are found in the largest quantities on rock paintings, on the sarcophagi of the tombs of many pharaohs and priests. At first, Amon was depicted on them as a man with the head of a frog; in the other two kingdoms, the disk of the Sun was already adorned on his head.
How the gods “competed”
The same natural phenomena were personified by different gods of Ancient Egypt, their pictures and names differed, and what they meant. Let's look at the example of the Sun gods.
The main ones in the hypostasis of the solar gods (mythologization of the luminary) in Ancient Egypt were the named Amon, Ra and Aten. Between them, or other deities, there was, as they now say, fierce competition for the minds of the Egyptians. It was developed, of course, by people, and not by mythological creatures.
Aten was depicted in a then unconventional religious way - not as a man with someone’s head or an animal with a human head. This was the only ancient artistic exception in depictions of the divine pantheon. Aten is a drawing of the solar disk with rays, as modern children like to depict it. Its heyday occurred during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten. The pharaoh in Ancient Egypt was considered the conductor of the idea of god on earth. Therefore, the name of God was added to the names of such kings.
Akhenaten recognized the role of only one god, Aten, and under him the cult of dozens of famous gods was stopped. When Akhenaten was replaced in his post by the boy pharaoh Tutankh, he immediately returned polytheism. As a sign of protest, Akhenaten added Amon to his name. Now the entire modern world knows this pharaoh named Tutankhamun.
He paid for the fact that the sun disk was also depicted on the falcon head of this deity. God accompanied any ruling dynasty of pharaoh kings in Thebes.
Suppressed from the pantheon by the god Aten.
The solar deity was Atum. He also had a complex “relationship” with the god Ra from the solar pantheon. Atum moved from local gods to general Egyptian gods. But soon (at that time) Ra ousted him. All the sun gods of Ancient Egypt went the same way. But it was not the gods who competed with each other, but the people in power, as is said about Akhenaten, and religious figures (priests) helped the rise of the gods and their fall.
At this time, the sun god Ra became the main one, whom the ancient Egyptians endowed with the abilities of creating the earth, people, animals and birds, and plants. Ra closes his eyes? This means darkness and night are coming.
Special gods
Let's name the gods that can be translated into separate groups of the pantheon. For example, the Nile River, which is fit to be called the god of fertility and a well-fed life for the Egyptians. The sun has become a deity! The Nile is the nurse and drinker of the Egyptians. If today the question arose about recognizing the Nile as a god, then the prefix “honorable” would be added to it and would be extolled as a god.
This opinion would probably be supported by believers in ten other countries on the African continent, through which an uncontrolled river flows from south to north.
In Ancient Egypt, the Nile flooded and fertilized the land with fertile silt. This turned the sands in the valleys closest to the river into fertile fields. But often in July the Nile overflowed and flooded the crops, dooming the people to hunger. Therefore, the ancient Egyptians came up with a god for the river - Hapi to help them. Hapi is depicted as a man with a woman's bust, which symbolized fertility.
Other gods also strengthen it: Sebek- the god of rivers and lakes, as well as the god of vegetation Osiris. The first was depicted in the guise of a crocodile or a man with the head of this aquatic animal.
But the cruel god demanded abundant and regular sacrifices. The god Hapi failed to tame the Nile before it disappeared from the sky with the introduction of Christianity.
Sebek - God of rivers and lakes.
Osiris also heads a group of twelve gods of the so-called funerary cult of the ancient Egyptians. Five of them are his companions in the afterlife. What kind of god is this? In mythology, he is killed by an envious relative. The goddess Isis, almost like an experienced surgeon, collects Osiris from parts scattered throughout Egypt and buries him. In the afterlife, he was resurrected and became a judge there. Other gods of the cult include Aker, Amentet, Geb and others.
Pharaoh plus god
Over time, the priests formed and disseminated the postulate in society that the pharaohs descended from the gods. After all, mythical deities had the same imaginary families and relatives. And it’s not for nothing that they did this in advance. Already in the Early Kingdom, the pharaoh was perceived as the embodiment of the god Horus, and the human image and its properties were transferred to the deities. Remember the Russian folk tale about Baba Yaga. She is as anthropomorphic as the ancient Egyptian gods. Pharaohs allegedly received magical powers, and commoners were not allowed to approach him.
Tags: ,Type: polytheism
Peculiarities: deification of animals, developed funeral cult
Cycle of myths: creation of the world, punishment of people for sins, the struggle of the sun god Ra with Apep, death and resurrection of Osiris
Ancient Egyptian religion - religious beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Egypt from the pre-dynastic period until the adoption of Christianity. Over its many-thousand-year history, the ancient Egyptian religion went through various stages of development: from the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms to the Late and Greco-Roman periods.
Early beliefs
The prehistoric tribes of the Nile Valley, like representatives of other primitive cultures, saw manifestations of powerful mysterious forces in all diverse objects and natural phenomena inaccessible to their understanding. A typical form of early religion for them was fetishism and totemism, which experienced various changes under the influence of the population's transition from nomadism to a sedentary lifestyle. The most famous ancient Egyptian fetishes: Imiut, Ben-Ben stone, Iunu pillar, Djed pillar; The common Egyptian religious symbols also originate from ancient fetishes: Ankh, Wadjet, Was.
To a large extent, the beliefs of the primitive Egyptians, as well as their entire lives, were influenced by the Nile, the annual flood of which deposited fertile soil on the banks, which made it possible to collect good harvests (the personification of beneficial forces), but sometimes it caused significant disasters - floods (the personification of destructive forces for humans). The periodicity of the river flood and observation of the starry sky made it possible to create the ancient Egyptian calendar with sufficient accuracy; thanks to this, the Egyptians early mastered the basics of astronomy, which also affected their beliefs. In the first settlements-cities of the Egyptians that emerged, there were various deities, specific for each individual locality, usually in the form of a material fetish, but much more often in the form of an animal - a totem.
Animal cult
The deification of animals in dynastic Egypt took place over the centuries, going back to prehistoric totemism, with which in a number of cases it was very close, actually constituting phenomena of the same order. Nomes and cities were often compared and were associated with their animal gods, which was reflected in their names (see list of nomes of Ancient Egypt), and many hieroglyphs of Egyptian writing were symbols of animals, birds, reptiles, fish and insects, which were ideograms denoting which -or deities.
Pantheon of Gods of Egypt
The ancient Egyptian religion, with all its inherent diversity of gods, was the result of a merger of independent tribal cults.
Appearance
Egyptian gods have an unusual, sometimes very bizarre appearance. This is due to the fact that the religion of Egypt consisted of many local beliefs. Over time, some gods acquired aspects, and some merged with each other, for example, Amun and Ra formed the single god Amun-Ra. In total, Egyptian mythology has about 700 gods, although most of them were revered only in certain areas.
Most gods are a hybrid of man and animal, although for some only decorations remind of their nature, like the scorpion on the head of the goddess Selket. Several gods are represented by abstractions: Amun, Aten, Nun, Bekhdeti, Kuk, Niau, Heh, Gerech, Tenemu.
Deities of Ancient Egypt
God Ptah.
Ptah or Ptah, is one of the names of the Creator God in the ancient Egyptian religious tradition.
God Atum.
Atum (Jtm) is the god of creation in ancient Egyptian mythology. It symbolized the original and eternal unity of all things.
Geb and Nut. (Here the goddess of the cosmos is depicted as a woman, she is curved in the form of a dome, has exorbitantly long arms and legs (supports) and only touches the ground (depicted as a man) with the tips of her fingers and toes. Shu, who separates this pair, also does not look tense under the weight "celestial body")
Geb - Ancient Egyptian god of the earth, son of Shu and Tefnut, brother and husband of Nut and father of Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys.
Chickpeas (Well, Nuit) is the ancient Egyptian goddess of the Sky, daughter of Shu and Tefnut, sister and wife of Geb and mother of Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys. In the ancient beliefs of the Egyptians, Nut was a heavenly cow who gave birth to the sun and all the gods.
God Shu wearing an elaborate crown with four feathers
Shu - Egyptian deity of air, son of Atum, brother and husband of Tefnut. After the identification of Atum with Ra, he was considered the son of Ra. The veneration of Shu was especially expressive in Letopolis in the delta.
Tefnut , also Tefnet, laudatory name Nubian cat - goddess of moisture in Egyptian mythology. She is also the eye of Ra, in this capacity Tefnut shines with a fiery eye in his forehead and burns the enemies of the great god. In this capacity, Tefnut was identified with the goddess Uto (Uraeus).
God Amon
Amon
(Amen, Amun, Imen) - the ancient Egyptian god of the Sun, king of the gods (nsw nTrw) and patron of the power of the pharaohs.
Amun is the god of the sun in Egyptian mythology.
Goddess Mut
Mut , Egyptian goddess (actually “mother”) is an ancient Egyptian goddess, queen of heaven, second member of the Theban triad (Amun-Mut-Khonsu), mother goddess and patroness of motherhood.
God Montu
Montu (mnṯw) - the ancient god of the city of Ermont, in the region of which Thebes rose and became the capital of Egypt, which also revered Montu, hence his traditional epithet - “lord of Thebes”.
God Khonsu
Khonsou - an Egyptian god, revered in Thebes as the son of Amun and Mut, with whom he formed the Theban triad of gods, the deity of the moon. The latter brought him closer to Thoth already during the Middle Kingdom, when he was sometimes called the scribe of truth.
God Ra
Ra(ancient Greek Ρα; lat. Ra) - the ancient Egyptian sun god, the supreme deity of the ancient Egyptians. His name means "Sun". The center of the cult was Heliopolis.
God Osiris.
Osiris (Osiris) (Egyptian wsjr, ancient Greek Ὄσιρις, lat. Osiris) - god of rebirth, king of the underworld in ancient Egyptian mythology.
Goddess Isis.
Isis
(Isis) (Egyptian js.t, ancient Greek Ἶσις, lat. Isis) is one of the greatest goddesses of antiquity, who became a model for understanding the Egyptian ideal of femininity and motherhood. She was revered as the sister and wife of Osiris, the mother of Horus, and, accordingly, the Egyptian kings, who were originally considered the earthly incarnations of the falcon-headed god.
Being very ancient, the cult of Isis probably originated from the Nile Delta. Here was one of the most ancient cult centers of the goddess, Hebet, called Iseion by the Greeks.
God Horus
Choir , Horus (ḥr - “height”, “sky”) - the god of the sky, royalty and sun; the living ancient Egyptian king was represented as the incarnation of the god Horus.
Goddess Nephthys.
Nephthys
(Greek), Nebetkhet (ancient Egyptian “Lady of the monastery”). Its essence is almost not revealed in Egyptian religious literature. Nephthys was often depicted together with Isis as her opposite and at the same time as her complement, symbolizing inferiority, passivity, and infertile lands.
Nephthys, whose name is pronounced Nebethet in Egyptian, was considered by some authors as the goddess of death, and by others as an aspect of Black Isis. Plutarch described Nephthys as “the mistress of all that is unmanifest and immaterial, while Isis rules over all that is manifest and material.” Despite the connection with the Lower World, Nephthys bore the title of “Goddess of creation who lives in everything.”
Heh in the image of the primordial ocean.
Heh or Huh - an abstract deity of Egyptian mythology, associated with the constancy of time and eternity, the personification of infinity, endless space.
Nun (Ancient Egyptian “nwn” - “water”, “aquatic”) - in ancient Egyptian mythology - the primordial ocean that existed at the beginning of time, from which Ra emerged and Atum began the creation of the world.
God Khnum.
Khnum
- creator god, creating man on a pottery disk, guardian of the Nile; a man with the head of a ram with spirally twisted horns.
“Khnum is the god of fertility in ancient Egyptian mythology, the demiurge god who created the world on a potter’s wheel.
God Anubis.
Anubis (Greek), Inpu (ancient Egyptian) - the deity of Ancient Egypt with the head of a jackal and the body of a man, a guide for the dead to the afterlife.
God Set
Set (Seth, Sutekh, Suta, Seti Egyptian. Stẖ) - in ancient Egyptian mythology, the god of rage, sandstorms, destruction, chaos, war and death. However, initially he was revered as the “protector of the sun-Ra”, the patron of royal power, his name was included in the titles and names of a number of pharaohs.
Goddess Hathor
Hathor , or Hathor (“house of Horus”, that is, “sky”) - in Egyptian mythology, the goddess of the sky, love, femininity, beauty, fun and dancing.
Bogiga Bast
Bast or Bastet - in Ancient Egypt, the goddess of joy, fun and love, female beauty, fertility and home, who was depicted as a cat or a woman with the head of a cat. During the early dynasties, before the domestication of the cat, it was depicted as a lioness.
Goddess Sekhmet
Sekhmet
(Sokhmet) - patron goddess of Memphis, wife of Ptah. The goddess of war and the scorching sun, the formidable eye of the sun god Ra, a healer who had the magical power to induce diseases and cure them, patronized doctors who were considered her priests. Guarded the pharaoh.
Goddess Neith
Nate - Egyptian goddess of hunting and war, patroness of Sais in the Western Delta. Possibly Neith corresponds to the Carthaginian and Berber goddess Tanit. The cult of Neith was also widespread among the Libyans. Her hieroglyph was one of the signs of their tattoo. Sebek's mother.
God Sebek
Sebek (Sobek, Sobk, Sokhet, Sobki, Soknopais, in Greek Sukhos (Greek Σοῦχος)) - the ancient Egyptian god of water and the flood of the Nile, depicted with the head of a crocodile; it is believed that he scares away the forces of darkness and is the protector of gods and people. Sebek was the patron saint of crocodiles.
God Thoth
That (otherwise Teut, Tut, Tuut, Tout, Tehuti, other Greek Θώθ, Θόουτ from Egyptian ḏḥwty, possibly pronounced ḏiḥautī) - the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom and knowledge.
Goddess Maat
Maat (Ammaat) is an ancient Egyptian goddess who personifies truth, justice, universal harmony, divine institution and ethical norms.
The goddess Isis seated on a throne, bas-relief on the sarcophagus of Ramesses II
About Egyptian mythology
The sources for studying the mythology of Ancient Egypt are characterized by incomplete and unsystematic presentation. The nature and origin of many myths are reconstructed on the basis of later texts. The main monuments that reflected the mythological ideas of the Egyptians are various religious texts: hymns and prayers to the gods, records of funeral rites on the walls of tombs. The most significant of them are the “Pyramid Texts” - the oldest texts of funeral royal rituals, carved on the walls of the interior of the pyramids of the pharaohs of the V and VI dynasties of the Old Kingdom (XXVI - XXIII centuries BC); “Texts of sarcophagi”, preserved on sarcophagi from the Middle Kingdom era (XXI - XVIII centuries BC), “Book of the Dead” - compiled from the period of the New Kingdom to the end of Egyptian history.
Egyptian mythology began to take shape in the 6th - 4th millennia BC, long before the emergence of class society. Each region (nome) develops its own pantheon and cult of gods, embodied in heavenly bodies, stones, trees, birds, snakes, etc.
The significance of Egyptian myths is invaluable; they provide valuable material for the comparative study of religious ideas in the Ancient East, and for the study of the ideology of the Greco-Roman world, and for the history of the emergence and development of Christianity.
Cosmogonic myths
Judging by archaeological data, in the most ancient period of Egyptian history there were no cosmic gods who were credited with the creation of the world. Scholars believe that the first version of this myth arose shortly before the unification of Egypt. According to this version, the sun was born from the union of earth and sky. This personification is undoubtedly older than the cosmogonic ideas of the priests from major religious centers. As usual, the existing myth was not abandoned, and the images of Geb (god of the earth) and Nut (goddess of the sky) as the parents of the sun god Ra were preserved in religion throughout ancient history. Every morning Nut gives birth to the sun and every evening hides it in her womb for the night.
Ancient temple on the banks of the Nile
Theological systems that proposed a different version of the creation of the world probably arose at the same time in several major cult centers: Heliopolis, Hermopolis and Memphis. Each of these centers declared its main god to be the creator of the world, who was, in turn, the father of other gods who united around him.
Common to all cosmogonic concepts was the idea that the creation of the world was preceded by the chaos of water immersed in eternal darkness. The beginning of the exit from chaos was associated with the emergence of light, the embodiment of which was the sun. The idea of an expanse of water, from which a small hill appears at first, is closely related to Egyptian realities: it almost exactly corresponds to the annual flood of the Nile, the muddy waters of which covered the entire valley, and then, receding, gradually opened up the land, ready for plowing. In this sense, the act of creating the world was repeated annually.
Egyptian myths about the beginning of the world do not represent a single, coherent story. Often the same mythological events are depicted in different ways, and the gods appear in them in different guises. It is curious that with many cosmogonic plots explaining the creation of the world, extremely little space is devoted to the creation of man. It seemed to the ancient Egyptians that the gods created the world for people. In the written literary heritage of Egypt there are very few direct indications of the creation of the human race; such indications are the exception. Basically, the Egyptians limited themselves to the belief that a person owes his existence to the gods, who expect gratitude from him for this, understood very simply: a person must worship the gods, build and maintain temples, and regularly make sacrifices.
Atum with double crown
The priests of Heliopolis created their own version of the origin of the world, declaring him the creator of the sun god Ra, identified with other gods - creators Atum and Khepri (“Atum” means “Perfect”, the name “Khepri” can be translated as “The One who arises” or “The One who who brings it into existence"). Atum was usually depicted in the form of a man, Khepri in the form of a scarab, which means that his cult dates back to the time when the gods were given the form of animals. It is curious that Khepri never had her own place of worship. As the personification of the rising sun, he was identical to Atum - the setting sun and Ra - shining during the day. The appearance of a scarab given to it was associated with the belief that this beetle is capable of reproducing on its own, hence its divine creative power. And the sight of a scarab pushing its ball suggested to the Egyptians the image of a god rolling the sun across the sky.
The myth of the creation of the world by Atum, Ra and Khepri is recorded in the Pyramid Texts, and by the time its text was first carved in stone, it had probably been around for a long time and was widely known.
Statue of Ramses II in the Temple of Ptah in Memphis
According to the Pyramid Texts, Ra - Atum - Khepri created himself, emerging from chaos called Nun. Nun, or the Prime Ocean, was usually depicted as an immense primordial expanse of water. Atum, emerging from it, did not find a place where he could stay. That's why he created Ben-ben Hill in the first place. Standing on this island of solid soil, Ra-Atum-Khepri began to create other cosmic gods. Since he was alone, he had to give birth to the first pair of gods himself. From the union of this first couple other gods arose, thus, according to the Heliopolitan myth, the earth and the deities that ruled it appeared. In the ongoing act of creation, from the first pair of gods - Shu (Air) and Tefnut (Moisture) - Geb (Earth) and Nut (Sky) were born. They in turn gave birth to two gods and two goddesses: Osiris, Set, Isis and Nephthys. This is how the Great Nine of Gods arose - the Heliopolis Ennead. This version of the creation of the world was not the only one in Egyptian mythology. According to one legend, the creator of people was, for example, a potter - the god Khnum, who appeared in the guise of a ram - who sculpted them from clay.
Memphis today
The theologians of Memphis, the largest political and religious center of Ancient Egypt, one of its capitals, included in their myth about the creation of the world many gods belonging to different religious centers, and subordinated them to Ptah as the creator of everything. The Memphis version of cosmogony, compared to the Heliopolitan one, is much more abstract: the world and the gods were created not through a physical act - as in the process of creation by Atum - but exclusively through thought and word.
Sometimes the firmament was represented in the form of a cow with a body covered with stars, but there were also ideas according to which the sky is a water surface, the heavenly Nile, along which the sun flows around the earth during the day. There is also the Nile underground, along which the sun, having descended beyond the horizon, floats at night. The Nile, flowing through the earth, was personified in the image of the god Hapi, who contributed to the harvest with his beneficial floods. The Nile itself was also inhabited by good and evil deities in the form of animals: crocodiles, hippopotamuses, frogs, scorpions, snakes, etc. The fertility of the fields was controlled by the goddess - the mistress of bins and barns, Renenutet, revered in the form of a snake that appears on the field during the harvest, ensuring the thoroughness of harvesting. The grape harvest depended on the vine god Shai.
Anubis in the form of a dog. Figurine from the tomb of Tutankhamun
Anubis with a mummy. Painting on the wall of Sennejem's tomb
Myths of the mortuary cult
An important role in Egyptian mythology was played by ideas about the afterlife as a direct continuation of the earthly one, but only in the grave. Its necessary conditions are the preservation of the body of the deceased (hence the custom of mummifying corpses), the provision of housing for him (tomb), food (mortuary gifts and sacrifices brought by the living). Later, ideas arise that the dead (that is, their ba, soul) go out into the sunlight during the day, fly up to heaven to the gods, and wander through the underworld (duat). The essence of man was thought of in the inextricable unity of his body, souls (there were believed to be several of them: ka, ba; the Russian word “soul,” however, is not an exact correspondence to the Egyptian concept), name, shadow. A soul wandering through the underworld is in wait for all sorts of monsters, from which you can escape with the help of special spells and prayers. Osiris, together with other gods, administers the afterlife judgment over the deceased (the 125th chapter of the “Book of the Dead” is specially dedicated to him). In the face of Osiris, psychostasia occurs: the weighing of the heart of the deceased on scales balanced by truth (the image of the goddess Maat or her symbols). The sinner was devoured by the terrible monster Amt (a lion with the head of a crocodile), the righteous man came to life for a happy life in the fields of Iaru. Only those who were submissive and patient in earthly life could be justified at the trial of Osiris, the one who did not steal, did not encroach on temple property, did not rebel, did not speak evil against the king, etc., as well as “pure in heart” (“I am pure , clean, clean,” the deceased asserts in court).
Goddess Isis with wings
Agricultural myths
The third main cycle of myths of Ancient Egypt is associated with Osiris. The cult of Osiris is associated with the spread of agriculture in Egypt. He is the god of the productive forces of nature (in the Book of the Dead he is called grain, in the Pyramid Texts - the god of the vine), withering and resurrecting vegetation. So, sowing was considered the funeral of the grain - Osiris, the emergence of shoots was perceived as his rebirth, and the cutting of ears during the harvest was perceived as the killing of God. These functions of Osiris are reflected in an extremely widespread legend describing his death and rebirth. Osiris, who reigned happily in Egypt, was treacherously killed by his younger brother, the evil Set. Osiris’s sisters Isis (who is also his wife) and Nephthys search for the body of the murdered man for a long time, and when they find it, they mourn. Isis conceives a son, Horus, from her dead husband. Having matured, Horus enters into a fight with Set; at the court of the gods, with the help of Isis, he achieves recognition of himself as the only rightful heir of Osiris. Having defeated Set, Horus resurrects his father. However, Osiris, not wanting to stay on earth, becomes the king of the underworld and the supreme judge over the dead. The throne of Osiris on earth passes to Horus. In another version of the myth, the resurrection of Osiris is associated with the annual floods of the Nile, which are explained by the fact that Isis, mourning Osiris, after the “night of tears” fills the river with her tears.
God Osiris. Painting of the tomb of Sennejem, 13th century BC
Myths associated with Osiris are reflected in numerous rituals. At the end of the last winter month "Khoyak" - the beginning of the first month of spring "Tibi" the mysteries of Osiris were performed, during which the main episodes of the myth about him were reproduced in dramatic form. Priestesses in the images of Isis and Nephthys depicted the search, mourning and burial of the god. Then the “great battle” took place between Horus and Set. The drama ended with the erection of the “djed” pillar dedicated to Osiris, symbolizing the rebirth of God and, indirectly, of all nature. In the predynastic period, the holiday ended with a struggle between two groups of mystery participants: one of them represented summer, and the other winter. Summer always won (the resurrection of nature). After the unification of the country under the rule of the rulers of Upper Egypt, the nature of the mysteries changes. Now two groups are fighting, one of which is in the clothes of Upper Egypt, and the other - of Lower Egypt. Victory, naturally, remains with the group symbolizing Upper Egypt. During the days of the Mysteries of Osiris, dramatized rites of coronation of the pharaohs were also celebrated. During the mystery, the young pharaoh acted as Horus, the son of Isis, and the deceased king was portrayed as Osiris sitting on the throne.
God Osiris. Painting, 8th century BC
The character of Osiris as the god of vegetation was reflected in another cycle of rituals. In a special room of the temple, a clay likeness of the figure of Osiris was erected, which was sown with grain. For the holiday of Osiris, his image was covered with green shoots, which symbolized the rebirth of the god. In the drawings one often sees the mummy of Osiris with shoots sprouted from it, which are watered by the priest.
The idea of Osiris as the god of fertility was also transferred to the pharaoh, who was considered the magical focus of the country’s fertility and therefore participated in all the main rituals of an agricultural nature: with the onset of the rise of the Nile, he threw a scroll into the river - a decree that the beginning of the flood had arrived; the first solemnly began preparing the soil for sowing; cut the first sheaf at the harvest festival, and for the whole country made a thanksgiving sacrifice to the harvest goddess Renenutet and to the statues of the dead pharaohs after completing field work.
Bastet cat
The cult of animals, widespread in all periods of Egyptian history, left a clear mark on Egyptian mythology. Gods in the form of animals, with the heads of birds and animals, scorpion gods, and snake gods act in Egyptian myths along with deities in human form. The more powerful a god was considered, the more cult animals were attributed to him, in the form of which he could appear to people.
Egyptian myths reflect the peculiarities of the worldview of the inhabitants of the Nile Valley, their ideas about the origin of the world and its structure, which have developed over thousands of years and go back to primitive times. Here are attempts to find the origins of being in the biological act of creation of the gods, the search for the original substance personified by divine couples - the embryo of later teachings about the primary elements of the world, and, finally, as one of the highest achievements of Egyptian theological thought - the desire to explain the origins of the world, people and all culture as a result of the creative power embodied in the word of God.
A list of the gods of ancient Egypt and their descriptions will help reveal an integral part of the daily life of people of early civilization. Such information will be useful for 5th grade students studying ancient history, as well as for anyone interested.
There were more than 2,000 deities in the Egyptian pantheon. More famous gods became state deities, while others were associated with a specific region or, in some cases, ritual.
The well-known pictures of ancient deities are widely known in modern society.
The history of the ancient world was shaped by these deities and the important role they played in the immortal journey of every person.
Features of the gods of Ancient Egypt
The main value of Egyptian culture is maat - harmony and balance, represented by the eponymous goddess Maat with a white feather.
Egyptian deities were fictitious personalities, had their own names and individual characteristics, wore different types of clothing, held different positions, led, and reacted individually to events.
The Egyptians had no problem with many gods. Characteristics and roles were combined to reconcile different religious beliefs, practices or ideals. For example, for political and religious reasons, the god Amun, who was considered the most powerful deity of the New Kingdom, was combined with Ra, whose cult was associated with the more ancient period of Egypt.
Why did the Egyptians worship Amon-Ra? The sun god is the embodiment of the solar disk, which brought the harvest to the Egyptians. The entire civilization of ancient Egypt was largely dependent on the sun's rays.
From this point of view, it was the deity of the Sun that became the main one among the ideas of the population. In addition, the presence of a single cult of a deity was an excellent lever for strengthening power in the role of patron of the Pharaoh.
The main gods of Ancient Egypt
Amat- a goddess with the head of a crocodile, the torso of a leopard, and the back of a hippopotamus.
It was located under the rocks of justice in the Hall of Truth in the afterlife and absorbed the souls of those who failed to justify themselves to Osiris.
Amon (Amon-Ra)- deity of the sun, air, king of the gods of Egypt. One of the most powerful and popular gods, patron of the city of Thebes. Amun was revered as part of the Theban triad - Amun, his wife Mut and their son Khonsu.
By the time of the New Kingdom, Amun was considered the king of the gods in Egypt, and his worship was limited to monotheism. Other gods were considered different aspects of Amun. His priesthood was the most powerful and the position of wife of Amun, granted to royal women, was almost on par with that of the pharaoh.
Anubis- god of death, the dead and embalming, patron of the pharaoh. Son of Nephthys and Osiris, father of Kebes. Anubis was depicted as a man with the head of a jackal. He guided the souls of the dead in the Hall of Truth, and was part of the Weighing of the Soul Heart ritual in the afterlife.
He was probably the first god of the dead before that role was given to Osiris. He acted as the patron of the ruling pharaoh in Egypt.
Apis- a divine from Memphis, playing the role of an incarnation of the god Ptah. One of the early gods of ancient Egypt, depicted on the Narmer Palette (circa 3150 BC).
The cult of Apis was one of the most important and long-lasting in the history of Egyptian culture.
Apophis (Apophis) the serpent that attacks Ra's solar boat every day as it travels through the underworld towards dawn.
The ritual known as the overthrow of Apophis was performed at the temples to help the gods and departed souls protect the boat and ensure the coming of the day.
Aten- solar disk, originally the deity of the Sun, which was elevated by Pharaoh Akhenaten (1353-1336 BC) to the position of the only god, creator of the universe. 
Atum or Atum (Ra)- deity of the sun, supreme ruler of the gods, first lord of the Ennead (tribunal of nine gods), creator of the universe and people.
This is the first divine being who stands on a primordial hill in the midst of chaos and relies on Heki's magical powers to create all the other gods.
Bastet (Bast)- a beautiful goddess of cats, mistress of women's secrets, childbirth, fertility and protection of the home from evil or misfortune. She was the daughter of Ra and was closely related to Hathor.
Bastet was one of the most popular deities of ancient Egypt. The Persians used Egyptian devotion to the cat goddess to their advantage, winning the Battle of Pelusium. They painted images of Bastet on their shields, knowing that the Egyptians would rather surrender than offend their goddess.
Bes (Besu, Beza)- guardian of childbirth, fertility, sexuality, humor and war. He is one of the most popular gods of Egyptian history, who protected women and children and fought for divine order and justice.
Geb- deity of the earth and growing plants.
Gore- An early bird god who became one of the most important deities in ancient Egypt. Associated with the sun, sky, strength. Horus acted as the patron of the pharaoh of Egypt already in the First Dynasty (approximately 3150-2890 BC). When Horus came of age, he fought with his uncle for the kingdom and won, restoring order to the land.
The pharaohs of Egypt, with a few exceptions, associated themselves with Horus in life and with Osiris in death. The king was considered the living embodiment of Horus.
Imhotep- one of the few people deified by the Egyptians. He was the court architect of Amonhotep III (1386-1353 BC).
He was considered so wise that after his death, several centuries later, Imhotep became a living god. He had a large temple at Thebes with a healing center at Deir el-Bahri.
Isis- the most powerful goddess in Egyptian history. She was associated with almost every aspect of human life and over time rose to the position of the supreme deity of the "Mother of Deities" who cared for her fellow creatures.
She is the ancestor of the First Five Gods.
Maat- goddess of truth, justice, harmony, one of the most important deities in the Egyptian pantheon. She created the stars in the sky, created the seasons.
Ma'at embodies the principle of ma'at (harmony), which was central to the culture of ancient Egypt. She is depicted as a woman wearing a crown with an ostrich feather.
Mafdet- the goddess of truth and justice, who pronounced condemnation and quickly carried out executions. Her name means "She Who Runs" and was given to her for the speed with which she delivered justice.
Mafdet protected people from poisonous bites, especially from scorpions.
Mertseger (Meritseger)- the goddess of the ancient Egyptian religion, responsible for the protection and protection of the huge Theban necropolis located on the western bank of the Nile.
Meskhenet- goddess of childbirth. Meskhenet is present at the birth of a person, creates “ka” (aspect of the soul) and inhales into the body.
She is also present at the judgment of the soul during the onset of the afterlife as a comforter.
Min- An ancient god of fertility, a deity of the eastern deserts who watched over travelers. The Ming were also associated with the black fertile mud of the Egyptian delta.
Mnevis- bull god, embodiment of the sun, son of the sun, god of the city of Heliopolis, son of Hesat (Heavenly Cow).
Montu is a falcon god who came to prominence in the 11th Dynasty at Thebes (c. 2060-1991 BC). All three dynasties of pharaohs took his name.
He eventually became associated with Ra as a composite version of the sun god Amun-Ra.
Mut- an early mother goddess who most likely played a minor role in the period 6000-3150 BC. BC e.
During the Late Period, Mut became the prominent wife of Amun and mother of Khonsu, part of the Theban Triad.
Nate is one of the oldest deities of ancient Egypt, worshiped from the early period (approximately 6000-3150 BC) to the Ptolemaic dynasty (323-30 BC). Neith was the goddess of war, motherhood, and funeral ritual.
She was the most important goddess of Lower Egypt in early history. In early images she is holding a bow and arrows.
Nepri– controlled grain, god of the harvest. Nepri is often depicted as a man completely covered with ripe ears of cereals. The hieroglyphs that spell his name also include grain symbols.
Nephthys- goddess of burial ritual. Her name means "Mistress of the Temple" or "Mistress of the House", referring to a heavenly house or temple.
She is depicted as a woman with a house on her head.
Nehebkau is a protective god who joins the “ka” (soul aspect) to the body at birth and unites “ka” with “ba” (the winged aspect of the soul) after death.
He is depicted as the serpent that swam in the primordial waters at the dawn of creation, before Atum rose from chaos to create order.
Chickpeas- in ancient Egyptian religion, the goddess of the sky, daughter of Shu and Tefnut, wife of Geb.
Ogdoad- eight gods representing the original elements of creation: Nu, Naunet (water); Heh, Howet (infinity); Kek, Kauket (darkness); Amun and Amonet (secrecy, obscurity).
Osiris- judge of the dead. His name means "Mighty One". Was originally a fertility god who grew in popularity through the Osiris myths, in which he was killed by his brother, Set.
In the Egyptian Book of the Dead he is often mentioned as a fair judge.
Ptah (Ptah) is one of the oldest Egyptian gods, appearing in the First Dynastic Period (approximately 3150-2613 BC).
Ptah was the great god of Memphis, the creator of the world, the lord of truth. He was the patron god of sculptors and artisans, as well as monument builders.
Ra- the great sun god of Heliopolis, whose cult spread throughout Egypt, becoming most popular during the Fifth Dynasty (2498-2345 BC).
He is the supreme lord and creator god who rules over the earth. He pilots his boat of the sun across the heavens during the day, revealing another aspect of himself with each movement of the disc across the sky, and then dives into the underworld in the evening when the boat is threatened by the snake Apep (Apophis).
Renenutet- a goddess depicted as a cobra or cobra with the head of a woman. Her name means "Snake that feeds." The renetute was in charge of raising and caring for children.
It was believed to protect the clothing worn by the pharaoh in the afterlife. In this capacity, she appeared as a fire cobra that drove away the enemies of the pharaoh.
Sebek- an important deity of protection in the form of a crocodile or a man with the head of a crocodile. Sebek was the god of water, but was also associated with medicine, particularly surgery.
His name means "crocodile". Sebek was the ruler of the swamps and any other wet areas of Egypt.
Serket (Selket)- goddess of burial, first mentioned during (from 6000-3150 BC) the first dynasty of Egypt (approximately 3150-2890 BC).
She is known from a golden statue found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. Serket was a scorpion goddess, depicted as a woman with scorpions on her head.
Seth (Seth)- god of the desert, storm, disorder, violence, and foreigners in ancient Egyptian religion.
Sekhmet- one of the most significant representatives of the pantheon of ancient Egypt. Sekhmet was a lion deity, usually depicted as a woman with the head of a lion.
Her name means "Powerful" and is usually interpreted as "The Mighty Feminine." She was the goddess of destruction, healing, desert winds, cool breezes.
Seshat- was the goddess of written words and precise measurements.
Sopdu- protective lord of the eastern border of Egypt, guarding outposts, soldiers on the border. He is depicted as a falcon with a ring above his right wing or as a bearded man wearing a crown with two feathers.
Tatenen- the earthly lord, who personified the primary mound during creation, symbolized the land of Egypt.
Taurt- is the protective ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility.
Tefnut- creator of moisture, sister of Shu, daughter of Atum (Ra) at the creation of the world. Shu and Tefnut were Atum's first two daughters, created by mating with his shadow. Tefnut is the goddess of the atmosphere of the lower world, the earth.
That- Egyptian lord of writing, magic, god of wisdom and god of the moon. Patron of all scientists, officials, libraries, guardian of state and world order.
He was one of the most important deities of Ancient Egypt, who was alternately said to be self-created or born from the seed of Horus from the forehead of Set.
Wadget- is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royalty and good health.
Upout is the oldest depiction of the jackal god, predating Anubis, with whom he is often confused.
Phoenix- an avian deity, better known as the Bennu bird, the divine bird of creation. The Bennu bird was closely connected with Atum, Ra, Osiris.
Hapi- deity of fertility, patron of crops. He appears in the drawings as a man with large breasts, as well as a belly, which means fertility, success.
Hathor- one of the most famous, most popular deities of Ancient Egypt, the goddess of love.
A very ancient goddess, a celestial cow who gave birth to the sun. She was endowed with the most diverse abilities.
Hekat- patron of magic and medicine. He was present during the act of creation.
Khepri- solar god, depicted with the form of a scarab beetle.
Hershef (Herishef)- the main god of the city of Heracleopolis, where he was worshiped as the creator of the world.
Khnum- one of the earliest known Egyptian deities, originally the god of the sources of the Nile, depicted with the head of a ram.
Khonsou- god of the moon, dimensions and time. Son of Amon and Mut or Sebek and Hathor. Khonsu's task is to observe the passage of time.
Choir- the national guardian of the ancient Egyptians, the god of the sky and sun, who has the appearance of a falcon.
He was usually depicted as a man with a falcon's head, wearing a red and white crown, as a symbol of kingship over the entire kingdom of Egypt.
Chenenet (Rattaoui)- goddess-wife of the god Montu. Was associated with the cult of the sun.
Shai Shai- was the deification of the concept of fate.
Shu- one of the original Egyptian gods, the personification of dry air.
Ennead- the nine main gods in Ancient Egypt, originally arose in the city of Heliopolis. Includes the nine first gods of this city: Nephthys, Atum, Shu, Geb, Nut, Tefnut, Set, Osiris, Isis.
Thus the Egyptian pantheon was clearly divided into numerous roles. Often different deities merged and changed their meaning.
