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Egyptian Gods

Aah

A minor Egyptian moon god. An manifestation of Thoth in the form of an ibis.

Aken

Egyptian underworld god. Keeper of the ferryboat of the Underworld.

Akephalos

A type of 'headless' demon of Hellenistic Egypt. These demons were believed to be the spirits of beheaded criminals.

Aker

Egyptian earth god who ruled over the meeting point between the eastern and western horizons in the Egyptian underworld. Guardian of the gate through which the pharaoh into the underworld. He provided safe passage for the barque of the sun during its nightbodybody passage through the underworld. Aker was represented by two pairs of lions or of human heads facing away from each other.

Akeru

Egyptian chthonic earth gods associated with the god Aker.

Amaunet

"Hidden One". Egyptian mother or fertility goddess. Amaunet merged with the god Neith at the beginning of time. She was a member of the group of Egyptian gods known as the Ogdoad. Amun was her consort among the Ogdoad. She was regarded as a tutelary deity of the Egyptian pharaohs, and had a prominent part in the pharaoh's accession ceremonies.

Amenhotep

Egyptian architect raised to status of god of building. See Imhotep.

Amentet

Egyptian goddess of the West and of the underworld of the dead.

Am-heh

Egyptian chthonic underworld god.

Ammit
Ammut

"Devouress of the Dead". Egyptian demonic goddess who attended the Judging of the Dead. She was depicted as having the head of a crocodile, the torso of a lioness and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus. She waited in the Judgement Hall of the Two Truths during the Weighing of the Heart ceremony, and devoured those deemed to be sinners.

Amon
Amun

"The Hidden One". Egyptian sky god who came to be regarded as a sun god and the head of the Egyptian pantheon. Originally a local god of Khmun, then also of Thebes. Amun's cult rose in prominence as Thebes rose to a preeminent political position within Egypt. In the New Kingdom he became syncretized with the Heliopolitan sun god Re as Amun-Re, in which form he was the "king of the gods" and the tutelary deity of the pharaohs. The pharaohs, who had been considered "sons of Re", thus came to be regarded as incarnations of Amun-Re. Amun took on the role of a primeval deity and creator in the cosmology of the New Kingdom, creating earth and sky out of his thought. He was a member of the Ogdoad, paired with the goddess Amaunet and representing hidden power. Also a member of the Theban triad, which made him the husband of Mut and adoptive father of Khons.

Amun was depicted in human form, with blue skin and either the head of a bearded man or a ram's head with curved horns. He wore a crown composed of a modius surmounted by two tall feather plumes. He was sometimes depicted in ithyphallic form with an oversized erect penis. His true appearance was considered beyond human understanding. He was said to be "hidden of aspect, mysterious of form", invisible yet omnipresent throughout the cosmos. Amun's sacred animals were the ram and the goose. His primary sanctuaries were at Karnak and Luxor near Thebes. Amun and his influential Theban priests suffered a temporary eclipse during the reign of Akhenaton, who tried to impose a monotheistic worship of Aton. The cult of Amun revived soon after Akhenaton's death. It was not until the sack of Thebes by the Assyrians in 663 BC that Amun was reduced to mere local importance. As Ammon, however, he had an oracle at the Siwa Oasis in the western desert that remained prominent at least until the time of Alexander the Great, who visited the oracle.

Amun-Re

A combination of Amon and Ra worshipped in later Egyptian history. Under this name, the Theban god Amun became the national god of Egypt.

Andjety

Egyptian underworld god. His worship originated in the ninth nome of Lower Egypt. His cult center was at Busiris. Andjety was responsible for the rebirth of the individual in the afterlife. Depicted in anthropomorphic form, he wore a high conical crown surmounted by two feather plumes, and bore the crook and flail. He was associated with Osiris, whose symbols were also the crook and flail as well as the 'atef' crown which resembled that worn by Andjety.

Anhur

Egyptian warrior and hunter god. His cult originated in the Upper Egyptian city of This (Thinis), near Abydos. His consort was the lion goddess Mekhit. He was depicted as a bearded warrior wearing a long robe and a headdress with four tall plumes, often bearing a spear. He is often shown accompanied by Mekhit. Anhur was the champion of Egypt who hunted and slew the enemies of the sun god Re. He was sometimes equated with the god Shu. The Ptolemaic Greeks equated him with Ares. His main cult center was at Sebennytos in the Nile Delta.

Anti

Egyptian guardian deity. Depicted as a falcon or with a falcon's head, often standing on a crescent-shaped boat.

Anubis

Egyptian god of the dead, represented as a black jackal or dog, or as a man with the head of a jackal. After the early period of the Old Kingdom, he was superseded by Osiris as god of the dead, being relegated to a supporting role as a god of the funeral cult and the care of the dead. His parents are usually given as Re in combination with either Nephthys or Isis. In the Book of the Dead, he is depicted as presiding over the weighing of the heart of the deceased in the Hall of the Two Truths. The Greeks later identified him with their Hermes, resulting in the composite deity Hermanubis.

Anuket

Egyptian goddess personifying the Nile as nourisher of the fields, and particularly associated with the lower cataracts near Aswan. She also appears to have been a protective deity of childbirth. Her principal sanctuary was at Elephantine. She is variously considered the daughter of Re, Khnum or Satis.

Apep

Egyptian snake god, the eternal enemy of the sun god Re and the cosmic order. Apep was the personification of darkness and evil.

As

Egyptian fertility god, called the 'Lord of Libya', worshipped at oases in the Libyan desert.

Aten
Aton

Egyptian sun god. His cult reached a peak under the pharaoh Akhenaten, who attempted to establish a monotheistic cult with Aton as the sole object of worship. Akhenaten built the city Akhetaton (modern Tel el-Amarna) to serve as Aton's cult center. However, Egypt returned to polytheism after Akhenaten's death. Aton was depicted as a winged sun disk or as a sun disk from which rays ending in hands extended.

Atum

Primeval Egyptian god, creator of heaven and earth. Evening aspect of the sun god Re, representing the setting sun. The two were later syncretized as the god Atum-Re. His principal cult center was at Heliopolis. He was represented by the black bull Mnevis, bearing the the sun disk and uraeus (snake) between its horns.

Ausaas

Egyptian wife of Herakhty (Horus).

Ba

Egyptian ram god of Mendes in Lower Egypt.
Egyptian term for a spiritual power, later for the manifested form of a god. Babi Egyptian demon of darkness mentioned in the Books of the Dead.

Banebdjedet

Egyptian ram god. Consort of the fish goddess Hatmehyt and father of Harpokrates. Depicted in anthropomorphic form with the head of a ram.

Ba-Pef

Egyptian chthonic underworld god.

Bast
Bastet

Egyptian cat goddess. Goddess of music and the dance. Daughter of the sun god Re, although sometimes regarded as the daughter of Amun. Wife of Ptah and mother of the lion-god Mihos. Her cult was centered on her sanctuary at Bubastis in the delta region, wher a necropolis has been found containing mummified cats.

Bat

Egyptian cow goddess of fertility. Primarily a deity of Upper Egypt. She was depicted as a cow or in human form with cow's ears and horns.

Behedti

Egyptian god in the form of a crouching falcon. Worshipped at Behdet (Edfu), he later was identified as a local form of the god Horus.

Benu

Egyptian bird-like sun god. Linked with Atum, the better known sun god of Heliopolis. Said to have been self-created from the primeval ocean.

Bes

Egyptian dwarf god believed to guard against evil spirits and misfortune. Bes was usually represented as ugly and grotesque in appearance, with a large head, protruding tongue, bow legs and a bushy tail. Nonetheless, he was a beneficent deity and his appearance was meant to scare off evil spirits. He was originally the protective deity of the royal house of Egypt.

Beset

Egyptian goddess, a female version of Bes.

Buchis

Egyptian holy bull of Hermonthis, the living image of the god Month. He had a white body and a black head.

Buto

Tutelary goddess of Lower Egypt.

Chensit

Egyptian goddess of the twentieth nome of Lower Egypt.

Chenti-cheti

Originally an Egyptian crocodile god, he later took on the form of a falcon.

Chenti-irti

Egyptian falcon-god of law and order, identified with Horus.

Chepre

Egyptian primeval scarab-god connected with the rising sun. He was identified first with Atum, later with Re.

Cherti

Egyptian ram-god and ferryman od the dead. His cult was centered on Letopolis.

Chnum

Egyptian ram god and protector of the source of the Nile. Depicted in human form with a ram's head. He was said to fashion children out of clay and then place them in the mother's womb.

Chons

Egyptian moon god, son of Amun and Mut. He is usually depicted as a young man in the posture of a mummy.

Chontamenti

Egyptian god of the dead and of the land of the west, represented as a crouching dog or jackal.

Dedun

Egyptian-Nubian god of wealth and incense, associated with the riches of the southern lands. Usually depicted in human form but occasionally as a lion.

Djebauti

Egyptian local god.

Dua

Egyptian god of toiletry.

Duamutef

Egyptian funerary god, son of Horus.

Esenchebis

Greek name for Isis.

Geb

Egyptian earth god. Son of Shu and Tefnut. Brother and consort of the sky god Nut. Father of Osiris, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys. Geb was generally depicted lying on his back, often wearing the crown of Lower Egypt, with the naked body of Nut arched above him. In this context, he was often shown with an erect penis pointing upward toward Nut. Sometimes, however, the air god Shu was shown standing on the body of Geb, supporting Nut and perhaps separating her from Geb. His skin was often green, indicative of his role as a god of fertility and vegetation. The goose was his sacred animal and his symbol in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Geb was also said to imprison the souls of the dead, preventing them from passing on to the afterlife. The laughter of Geb was said to cause earthquakes.

Ha

Egyptian god of the western desert.

Hapi

Egyptian son of Horus.
Egyptian god of the Nile.

Harakhti

"Horus of the horizon". Egyptian god of the morning sun.

Harendotes

"Horus the saviour of his father". Egyptian: special form of Horus.

Harmachis

"Horus in the horizon".

Harmerti

Egyptian tutelary god of Seden.

Haroeris

"Great Horus". Egyptian variant of Horus.

Harpokrates

"Horus the child". Egyptian variant of Horus.

Harpre

Egyptian god of Hermonthis.

Harsaphes

Egyptian ram-god.

Harsiesis

"Horus the son of Isis". Egyptian variant of Horus.

Harsomtus

"Horus the uniter".

Athyr
Hathor

Egyptian cow goddess. Daughter of Nut and Re. In early Egyptian mythology she was the mother of the sky god Horus, but was later replaced in this capacity by Isis. Hathor then became a protectress of Horus. She was depicted either as a cow or in human form wearing a crown consisting of a sun disk held between the horns of a cow.

Her name appears to mean "house of Horus", referring to her role as a sky goddess, the "house" denoting the heavens depicted as a great cow. Hathor was often regarded as the mother of the Egyptian pharaoh, who styled himself the "son of Hathor". Since the pharaoh was also considered to be Horus as the son of Isis, it might be surmised that this had its origin when Horus was considered to be the son of Hathor.

Hathor took on an uncharacteristically destructive aspect in the legend of the Eye of Re. According to this legend, Re sent the Eye of Re in the form of Hathor to destroy humanity, believing that they were plotting aganist him. However, Re changed his mind and flooded the fields with beer, dyed red to look like blood. Hathor stopped to drink the beer, and, having become intoxicated, never carried out her deadly mission.

Hathor was often symbolized by the papyrus reed, the snake, and the Egyptian rattle known as the sistrum. Her image could also be used to form the capitals of columns in Egyptian architecture. Her principal sanctuary was at Dandarah, where her cult had its early focus, and where it may have had its origin. At Dandarah, she was particularly worshipped in her role as a goddess of fertility, of women, and of childbirth. At Thebes she was regarded as a goddess of the dead under the title of the "Lady of the West", associated with the sun god Re on his descent below the western horizon. The Greeks identified Hathor with Aphrodite.

Hatmehyt

Egyptian goddess.

Hedetet

Egyptian scorpion-goddess.

Heket

Egyptian goddess of creation, birth and the germination of corn. She was depicted as a frog.

Hemen

Egyptian falcon-god.

Hemsut

Egyptian goddess of fate.

Heron

Egyptian deity.

Hesat

Egyptian divine white cow.

Hetepet

Egyptian cult centre/goddess.

Hez-ur

Egyptian baboon-god.

Hike

Egyptian personification of magic.

Hor-Hekenu

Egyptian variant of Horus.

Horus

Egyptian sky god. Usually depicted as a falcon or in human form with the head of a falcon. The sun and the moon are said to be his eyes. Son of Isis and the dead Osiris. He was born at Khemmis in the Nile Delta, and Isis hid him in the papyrus marshes to protect him against Seth, his father's murderer.

Horus later avenged the death of his father against Seth. Horus lost his left eye (the moon) in the contest between the two. Horus was identified with Lower Egypt and Seth with Upper Egypt in this battle, which lasted eighty years. The gods judged Horus to be the winner, and Seth was either killed or castrated. The consequence of Horus's victory was the union of Upper and Lower Egypt. The Egyptian pharaoh was believed to be an incarnation of Horus, and the name of Horus formed part of his name. The pharaoh was said to become Horus after death. Seth restored the eye he had torn from Horus, but Horus gave it instead to Osiris. The image of the "eye of Horus", a human eye combined with the cheek markings of a falcon, became a powerful amulet among the Egyptians.

Among the various manifestations of Horus are:

• Harpokrates (Heru-Pa-Khret, Harpakhrad) "Horus the child". This refers to his birth and secret rearing by Isis. In this form he is often depicted as a naked child seated on Isis's lap.
• Haroeris (Har Wer): "Horus the elder". In this form Horus battled against Seth.
• Harakhte (Harakhti, Heraktes) "Horus of the horizon". Horus at Heliopolis, linked with Ra in the sun cult. In this form he is associated with the rising sun.
• Harendotes (Har-nedj-itef, Har-End-Yotef): "Horus the saviour of his father" A reference to the avenging of his father's murder.
• Harmachis (Heru-Em-Akhet, Harmakis) "Horus in the horizon". Horus as symbol of resurrection, linked with the setting sun.
• Harsiesis (Harsiese, Har-si-Ese, Hor-Sa-Iset): "Horus, son of Isis".
• Harsomtus (Har-mau): "Horus the uniter" This is a reference to his role in uniting Upper and Lower Egypt.
• Hor Behdetite (Behedti): "Horus of Behdet". Originally a local form of Horus as Behdet in the Delta region. In this form he was symbolized by the winged solar disk.

Hu, Sia, and Heh Egyptian deities of essential forces in creation.

Ihi

Egyptian god of the sistrum.

Imhotep

Egyptian god of learning and medicine.

Imiut

Egyptian protective deity of underworld.

Imset

Egyptian son of Horus.

Inmutef

Egyptian bearer of the heavens.

Ipet

Egyptian hippopotamus goddess.

Isdes

Egyptian 'lord of the west' and judge of the dead.

Eset
Isis

"Throne". Egyptian mother goddess. Daughter of Geb and Nut according to the Heliopolitan genealogy. Sister and wife of Osiris. Mother of Horus. She was depicted in human form, crowned either by a throne or by cow horns enclosing a sun disk.

Naunet

Egyptian goddess/underworld.

Nebtuu

Egyptian local goddess.

Nechbet

Upper Egyptian tutelary goddess of the monarch.

Nechmetawaj

Egyptian goddess.

Neferhor

Egyptian god.

Nefertum

Egyptian god whose principal sanctuary was at Memphis. He was symbolized by the lotus flower. Son of Ptah and Sekhmet (or Bast). He is often depicted with a lion's head.

Nehebu-Kauebkhau

Egyptian serpent god of the Underworld.

Neheh

Egyptian personification of eternity.

Neith

Egyptian goddess of war and of domestic arts. Her symbol was a shield bearing crossed arrows. Her principal sanctuary was at Sais in the Nile delta. She was said to be a self-begotten . Some traditions also regarded her as a primeval creator goddess.

Nekhbet

Guardian goddess of Upper Egypt who looked after children and mothers. She was usually depicted as a vulture, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt.

Nenun

Egyptian falcon-god.

Neper

Egyptian god personifying grains.

Nephthys

Egyptian goddess of the dead. Sister of Isis, Osiris and Seth. Mother of Anubis by Osiris. Depicted with horns and a solar disc on her head. Her principal sanctuary was at Heliopolis. She guards the corpse of Osiris along with Isis.

Nepit

Egyptian female counterpart of corn god Neper.

Nu
Nun

Egyptian personification of the primal waters which were the source of all life.

Nut

Egyptian goddess of the sky and of the heavens. Daughter of the air god Shu and Tefnut, the goddess of moisture, in the Heliopolitan genealogy. She was typically depicted as a woman with her elongated and naked body arching above Shu and the earth god Geb to form the heavens. Sometimes she appeared in the form of a cow whose body froms the sky and heavens. Nut was the barrier separating the forces of chaos from the ordered cosmos in this world. Her fingers and toes were believed to touch the four cardinal points or directions. The sun god Re was said to enter her mouth after setting in the evening and travel through her body during the night to be reborn from her vulva each morning. Nut was also a goddess of the dead, and the pharaoh was said to enter her body after death, from which he would later be resurrected. Her principal sanctuary was at Heliopolis.

Huh
Hauhet
Ogdoad

Egyptian group of 4 pairs of gods of Hermopolis.

Onuris

Greek form of the Egyptian god Anhuret.

Osiris

Egyptian god of the underworld and of vegetation. His parents are Nut and Geb. He was the brother of Nephthys and Seth, and the brother and husband of Isis. Isis gave birth to Horus after his death, having impregnated herself with his semen. Osiris is depicted in human form wrapped up as a mummy, holding the crook and flail. He is often depicted with green skin, alluding to his role as a god of vegetation. His major cult centres were at Busiris in the Delta and Abydos in Upper Egypt.

One of the so-called "dying gods", he is the focus of a famous legend in which he was killed by the rival god Seth. At a banquet of the gods, Seth fooled Osiris into stepping into a coffin, which he promptly slammed shut and cast into the Nile. The coffin was born by the Nile to the delta town of Byblos, where it became enclosed in a tamarisk tree. Isis, the wife of Osiris, discovered the coffin and brought it back. (The story to this point is attested only by Herodotus.)

Seth took advantage of Isis' temporary absence on one occasion, cut the body to pieces, and cast them into the Nile. Isis searched the land for the body parts of Osiris, and was eventually able to piece together his body, whole save for the penis, which had been swallowed by a crocodile. It was thus that Osiris became a god of the dead and ruler of the Egyptian underworld. The scattering of the body parts was seen as an allusion to the scattering of grain in the fields, and thus to Osiris' role as a vegetation god.

Pachet

Egyptian goddess of the desert.

Petbe

Egyptian god of retaliation.

Petesuchos

Egyptian crocodile-god.

Pharaoh

Egyptian god-king(s).

Ptah

Egyptian creator god and god of artisans, designers, builders, metal workers, architects and masons. His major cult centre was at Memphis. His sacred animal was the bull, and he was particularly represented by the Apis Bull at Memphis. According to one tradition (the Memphite creation myth), Ptah was the primary motive force in creation, thinking and speaking the cosmos into existence. (Elsewhere, he was said to have created the cosmos out of mud.) In this tradition it was Ptah who was pre-eminent among the gods.

Ptah-Seker-Osiris

Egyptian composite funerary god.

Qebhsnuf

Egyptian son of Horus, Canopic guardian of the viscera after mummification. He was represented as a mummified man with the head of a falcon.

Qetesh

Originally a Syrian goddess, Qetesh came to be worshipped in Egypt as a goddess of love. She was considered to be one of the forms of Hathor.

Rat-taui

Egyptian goddess.

Ra
Re

Egyptian sun god and creator god. He is usually depicted in human form with a falcon head, crowned with the sun disc encircled by the uraeus (a stylized representation of the sacred asp). The sun itself was taken to be either his body or his eye. His principal cult centre was at Heliopolis. Re was also considered to be an underworld god, closely associated in this respect with Osiris. By the third millennium B.C. Re's prominence had already become such that the pharaohs took to styling themselves "sons of Re". According to one tradition, Re is said to have created himself out of the mound that grew from the primeval lotus blossom. He then created Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture), who in turn engendered the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut. Another tradition states that Re created mankind from his own tears.

Renenutet

Egyptian goddess of harvest and the suckling of babies.

Renpet

Egyptian goddess of youth and spingtime.

Reret

Egyptian hippopotamus goddess.

Resheph

Egyptian version of the Sumerian Aleyin/Amurru, originally a vegetation god, regarded by Egyptians as a warrior.

Ruti

Pair of lions worshipped in Egyptian Letopolis.

Saa

Egyptian personification of intelligence.

Sachmet

Egyptian goddess of war.

Sai

Egyptian personification of destiny.

Satet

Egyptian goddess of first cataract of Nile.

Satis

Egyptian wife of Chnum.

Sebek

Egyptian crocodile god of Fayum.

Sechat-Hor

Egyptian cow-goddess.

Sed

Egyptian 'saviour' god.

Seker

Egyptian god of the Memphis necropolis, funerary god. Depicted in human form with a hawk's head.

Sekhmet

Egyptian goddess of war and battle. Depicted in human form with the head of a lioness. She was the consort of Ptah and the mother of Nefertum and Imhotep.

Selket

Egyptian goddess of conjugal union. Depicted with a scorpion body and a human head.

Sentait

Egyptian cow goddess.

Sepa

Egyptian chthonic god.

Septu

Egyptian war god.

Seshat

Egyptian goddess of writing and letters and archives.

Sesmu

Egyptian god of oil and wine pressing.

Seth

Egyptian god of thunder

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