Here are a few of the Egyptian Gods. Click the icon next to their names to see a picture of them.
Anubis: A man with the head of a jackal. A dog or a jackal.
The jackal-headed god. Anubis can foresee a mortal's destiny and is associated with magic and divination. Anubis supervises the weighing of the soul when the departed are brought to the hall of the dead.
Guardian of the Necropolis (cemetery). He was the guide of the dead as they made their way through the darkness of the underworld. As a patron of magic, it was believed he could foresee a persons destiny, in this role he was the announcer of death.
Anubis was the patron of embalming. He was also the keeper of poisons and medicines. He provided unguents and rare herbs to help Isis and Nephthys with the embalming of Osiris. Anubis then performed the funeral of Osiris, which would be the model for all funerals to come. As he received the mummy into the tomb, he performed the 'Opening of the Mouth' ceremony.
In the Hall of Maat - Anubis appears on behalf of the diseased. It was Anubis who saw that the beam of the great scale was in the proper position as he supervises the weighing of the heart of a deceased person against the feather of Maat. The god of knowledge,Thoth, records the results. It is also Anubis that protects the dead from Ammut, the 'Devourer'.
Hathor: A sky goddess, sometimes represented as a woman with cow's horns between which hangs a solar disc, sometimes portrayed as a cow. Hathor concerns herself with beauty, love and marriage, and watches over women giving birth. Mother and wife of Ra. Hathor is also a goddess of death and offers comfort to the newly dead as they pass into the after-world.
Hathor was originally worshipped in the form of a cow, sometimes as a cow with stars on her. Later she is represented as a woman with the head of a cow, and finally with a human head, the face broad and placid, sometimes she is depicted with the ears or horns of a cow. She is also shown with a head-dress resembling a pair of horns with the moon-disk between them. Sometimes she is met with in the form of a cow standing in a boat, surrounded by tall papyrus reeds. As the "Mistress of the Necropolis" she is shown as the head of a cow protruding from a mountainside. In this case she wears a menat necklace, which is a symbol of rebirth.
Horus: The name Horus comes from the Egyptian word 'Hor', which translates as 'face'.
He was worshipped as Mekhenti-irry which translates as 'He who has on his brow Two Eyes', the sun and moon representing his eyes. On nights when there is no moon. He was worshipped as Mekhenti-en-irty, 'He who on his brow has no eyes', in this form he was considered the god of the blind.
The followers of Horus invaded Egypt in pre dynastic history, at this time he was venerated as a victorious warlord. He became a part of the state religion and was associated with the sun god, Ra. Horus was so important to the state religion that Pharaohs were considered his human manifestation and even took on the name Horus.
Isis: Daughter of Nut and Geb. Wife and sister of Osiris. The ideal wife and mother. Generally a goddess of the home and person rather than of the temple and the priest. After the twenty sixth dynasty, Isis is increasingly portrayed as a nursing mother, and her cult eventually spread throughout the Roman empire. Her husband/brother was Osiris who was slain by their brother Set. She had his dismembered remains restored. Their son was Horus.
On her head is a miniature throne (the ideogram of her name) and the solar disc between the cow's horns of Hathor. In some cases vestigial cow's ears are all that remain to show her connection with that goddess. Sacred to her were the sistrum, the rattle, to ward off evil spirits, and a magic knot called Tat. She is shown in many attitudes: suckling the infant Horus, enthronged alongside Osiris, protecting her husband and the souls of the dead with her winged arms. Her magical powers were considerable; Isis was the only divinity ever to discover the secret name of Ra. She used a magic snake to torment him with its poison until he revealed his true name to her.
Maat: Goddess of truth and justice. Her symbol is the feather. Wife of Thoth.
A woman wearing a tall ostrich feather on her head - an ostrich feather.
The goddess Maat represents the ideals of law, order, and truth. The word, Maat translates "that which is straight." it implies anything that is true, ordered, or balanced. She was the female counterpart of Thoth. We know she is a very ancient goddess because we find her in the boat of Ra as it rose above the waters of the abyss of Nu on the first day. Together with Thoth, they charted the daily course of the sun god Ra. She is sometimes called the 'eye of Ra' or the 'daughter of Ra'.
Maat also plays an important part in the Book of the Dead. It is in the Hall of Maat the judgement of the dead was performed. This was done by weighing one's heart (conscience) against the feather of Maat. If a balance was struck the deceased was deemed to be worthy of meeting Osiris in the after life. If the heart of the deceased was found to be heavier then the feather of Maat it would be devoured by Ammut.
Osiris: God of underworld and judge of dead; son of Geb and Nut.
The ancient Egyptian god whose annual death and resurrection personified the self-renewing vitality and fertility of nature.
God whose domain is Duat- the Egyptian Underworld.
Legendary ruler of predynastic Egypt and god of the underworld. Osiris symbolized the creative forces of nature and the imperishability of life. Called the great benefactor of humanity, he brought to the people knowledge of agriculture and civilization. In a famous myth he was slain by his evil brother Set, but his death was avenged by his son HORUS. The worship of Osiris, one of the great cults of ancient Egypt, gradually spread throughout the Mediterranean world and, with that of ISIS and Horus, was especially vital during the Roman Empire. Originally a vegetation god closely linked to corn; later god of the dead, the supreme funerary deity. Osiris was born at Thebes of Geb and Nut and succeeded to the throne on his father's abdication. He took Isis as his queen and set about teaching the Egyptians the arts and crafts of civilizations. He showed them how to use grain for bread and grapes for wine. He started relgion, built temples, composed rituals, and carved statues.
Ra: God of the sun - sometimes identified or considered synonymous with Atum. The Supreme God. Son of Nut. Pharoahs claimed descent from him. Pharaohs claimed descent from him; represented as lion, cat, or falcon.
His mask - head - was that of a hawk crowned with a solar disk and uraeus.
Father of the first divine couple, Shu and Tefnut. Grandfather of Geb and Nut, whose children were Osiris and Isis, Seth and Nephthys.
Sun god, one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt. Called the creator and father of all things, he was chief of the cosmic deities. Early Egyptian kings alleged descent from him. Various other Egyptian gods, e.g., AMON, were identified with him. His symbol is the pyramid.
Set: Lord of upper Egypt.
Son of Geb and Nut. Brother of Isis, Nephthys, and Osiris. The husband of Nephthys or sometimes the husband of Taurt.
Man with the head of an unknown animal. Some times he takes the form of a crocodile. He is represented as a hippopotamus or a black pig in his battles with Horus. Red of hair and eyes, pale of skin, Set is the god of evil, of drought, of destruction, thunder and storm. Set tore himself from his mother's womb in his hurry to be born. Every month Set attacks and devours the moon, the sanctuary of Osiris and the gathering place of the souls of the recently dead.
Sobek: A crocodile, a mummified crocodile or as a man with a crocodile-head. Sometimes wearing horns like those of Amon-Ra, and the solar disk.
Son of Neith of Sais.
Admired and feared for his ferocity. At the command of Ra, He performed tasks such as catching with a net the four sons of Horus as they emerged from the waters in a lotus bloom. Sometimes identified with Seth when Seth took the form of a crocodile. It is said that in the Osiris legends, Horus takes the form of a crocodile in order to retrieve the parts of Osiris's body that were cast into the Nile by Seth.
Thoth: Self conceived at the beginning of time. Husband of Maat. Brother and some times husband of Seshat.
God of the moon, drawing, writing, geometry, wisdom, medicine, music, astronomy, and magic.
Scribe of the Gods.
His sacred bird was the ibis. He is represented with the head and neck of an ibis and carries a pen, tablet, and palm branch. On his head he wore the combinned lunar disc and crescent.
Thoth's name means 'He of Djehut', which was a province in Lower Egypt Thoth's priests claimed Thoth was the Demi-Urge who created everything from sound. It was said that Thoth wrote books in which he set forth a fabulous knowledge of magic and incantation, and then concealed them in a crypt.
