Amen (Amon, Amun, Ammon, Amoun)
Amen's name means "The Hidden
One." Amen was the patron deity of the city of Thebes from earliest times, and was viewed
(along with his consort Amenet) as a primordial creation-deity.
He is represented in five forms:
(1) a man, enthroned
(2) a frog-headed man
(as a primordial deity)
(3) a cobra-headed man
(4) an ape
(5) a lion.
His sacred animals were the goose and the ram,
though he was not depicted as them.
Up to Dynasty XII Amen was unimportant except in Thebes; but when the Thebans had established their
sovereignty in Egypt,
Amen became a prominent deity, and by Dynasty XVIII was termed the King of the
Gods. His famous temple, Karnak, is the
largest religious structure ever built by man. According to E.A.Wallis Budge's
Gods of the Egyptians, Amen by Dynasy XIX-XX was thought of as "an
invisible creative power which was the source of all life in heaven, and on the
earth, and in the great deep, and in the Underworld, and which made itself
manifest under the form of Ra."
Amen was self-created, according to later
traditions; according to the older Theban traditions, Amen was created by Thoth
as one of the eight primordial deities of creation (Amen, Amenet, Heq, Heqet,
Nun, Naunet, Kau, Kauket). During the New Kingdom,
Amen's consort was Mut, "Mother," who seems to have been the Egyptian
equivalent of the "Great Mother" archetype. The two thus formed a
pair reminiscent of the God and Goddess of other traditions such as Wicca.
SEE ALSO Amen-Ra, Mut, Thoth.
Amen-Ra
A composite deity, invented by the
priests of Amen as an attempt to link New Kingdom
(Dyn. VIII-XXI) worship of Amen with the older solar cult of the god
Ra. SEE ALSO Amen, Ra.
Amset (Imsety, Mestha, GD: Ameshet)
One of the Four Sons of Horus,
Amset was represented as a mummified man. He was the
protector of the liver of the deceased,
and was protected by the goddess Isis. SEE ALSO Four Sons of Horus, Isis.
Anubis (Anpu, GD: Ano-Oobist)
Anubis (the Greek corruption of the
Egyptian "Anpu") was the son of Nephthys: by some traditions, the
father was Set; by others, Osiris. Anubis was depicted as a jackal, or as a
jackal-headed man; in primitive times he was probably simply the jackal god.
Owing to the jackal's tendency to prowl around tombs, he became associated with
the dead, and by the Old Kingdom, Anubis was worshipped as the inventor of
embalming, who had embalmed the dead Osiris, thus helping preserve him in order
to live again. Anubis was also worshipped under the form "Wepuat"
("Opener of the Ways"), sometimes with a rabbit's head, who conducted
the souls of the dead to their judgement, and who monitored the Scales of Truth
to protect the dead from deception and eternal death. SEE ALSO Nephthys,
Osiris, Set.
Bast (Bastet)
A cat-goddess, worshiped in the Delta city
of Bubastis. A
protectress of cats and those who cared for cats. As a result, an important
deity in the home, since cats were prized pets. On an interesting note,
Bast is also important in the iconography as the serpents which attack the sun
god were usually represented in papyri as being killed by cats.
She was also worshiped as the consort of
Ptah-seker-ausar; and is joined with Sekhmet and Ra (a very unusual combination
of male and female deities) to form Sekhmet-bast-ra, also worshiped as
Ptah-seker-ausar's spouse, and viewed as a deity of the destructive, purifying
power of the sun. SEE ALSO Ptah, Ra, Sekhmet.
Bes
A deity of either African or Semitic
origin; came to Egypt
by Dynasty XII. Depicted as a bearded, savage-looking yet comical dwarf, shown
full-face in images (highly unusual by Egyptian artistic conventions). Revered
as a deity of household pleasures such as music, good food, and relaxation.
Also a protector and entertainer of children. However, many texts point to the
idea that Bes was a terrible, avenging deity, who was as swift to punish the
wicked as he was to amuse and delight the righteous.
Duamutef (GD: Thmoomathph, Tuamutef)
One of the Four Sons of Horus, Duamutef
was represented as a mummified man with the head of a jackal. He was the
protector of the stomach of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess
Neith. SEE ALSO Four Sons of Horus, Neith.
Four Sons
of Horus
The four sons of Horus were the protectors
of the parts of the body of Osiris, and from this, became the protectors of the
body of the deceased. They were: Amset, Hapi, Duamutef, and Qebhsenuef. They
were protected in turn by the goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Serket. SEE
ALSO Amset, Duamutef, Hapi, Isis, Neith, Nephthys, Qebhsenuef, and Serket.
Geb (Seb)
The god of the earth, son of Shu and
Tefnut, brother and husband of Nuit, and father of Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. In the earliest stages of Egyptian
history his name was Geb; in later forms of the language it became Seb, but the
old pronunciation has become so common in popular works on the subject that it
is used herein. His sacred animal was the goose, and he was often referred to
as the "Great Cackler". He is generally represented as a man with green
or black skin - the color of living things, and the color of the fertile Nile mud, respectively. It was said that Seb would hold
imprisoned the souls of the wicked, that they might not ascend to heaven.
Hapi (GD: Ahephi)
One of the Four Sons of Horus, Hapi was
represented as a mummified man with the head of a baboon. He was the protector
of the lungs of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Nephthys.
The name Hapi spelled identically in most, but not
all, cases is also the name of the god who was the personification of the River
Nile. Depicted as a corpulent man (fat
signifying abundance) with a crown of lilies or papyrus stems. SEE ALSO
Four Sons of Horus, Nephthys.
Hathor (Het-heru, Het-Hert)
A very old goddess of Egypt, worshiped as a cow-deity
from earliest times. The name "Hathor" is the Greek corruption of the
variants Het-Hert ("the House Above") and Het-Heru ("the House
of Horus"). Both terms refer to her as a sky goddess. The priests of Heliopolis often referred
to her as Ra's consort, the mother of Shu and Tefnut. Like Isis,
Hathor was considered by many to be the goddess "par excellence" and
held the attributes of most of the other goddesses at one time or another. Like
Isis and Mut, Hathor was a manifestation of the "Great Mother"
archetype; a sort of cosmic Yin.
She had so very many manifestations that eventually
seven important ones were selected and widely worshiped as the "Seven
Hathors": Hathor of Thebes, Heliopolis,
Aphroditopolis, Sinai, Momemphis, Herakleopolis, and Keset.
The Greeks identified her with Aphrodite, and this
is not too far off, as she represented, in the texts, everything true, good,
and beautiful in all forms of woman; mother, wife, sister, and daughter. She is
also the patron of artists of every kind, and of joyful things, festivals, and
happiness. The star Sirius (called by the Egyptians Sepdet) was sacred to
her. SEE ALSO Isis, Mut, Ra, Shu, Tefnut.
Heru-ra-ha
A composite deity in Crowley's quasi-Egyptian mythology; composed
of Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Hoor-par-kraat. Apparently without basis in historical
Egyptian mythology, but the name, translated into Egyptian, means something
approximating "Horus and Ra be Praised!" SEE ALSO
Ra-Hoor-Khuit, Hoor-pa-kraat.
Hor-akhuti (Horakhty)
"Horus of (or in) the Horizons,"
one of the most common titles of Horus, especially when in his function as a
solar deity, emphasizing his reign stretching from one horizon to the
other. SEE ALSO Horus, Ra, Ra-Hoor-Khuit.
Hor-behedet (HADIT)
A form of Horus worshipped in the city of Behdet, shown in the
well-known form of a solar disk with a great pair of wings, usually seen
hovering above important scenes in Egyptian religious art. Made popular by
Aleister Crowley under the poorly transliterated name "HADIT", the
god appears to have been a way of depicting the omnipresence of Ra and Horus.
As Crowley says
in Magick in Theory and Practice, "the infinitely small and atomic yet
omnipresent point is called HADIT." This is a good expression of the god -
seen almost everywhere, yet at the same time small and out-of-the-way.
SEE ALSO Horus.
Hor-pa-kraat (Horus the Child, GD: Hoor-par-kraat)
Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris,
distinguished from Horus the Elder, who was the old patron deity of Upper
Egypt; but the worship of the two gods became confused early in Egyptian
history and the two essentially merged. Represented as a young boy with a
child's sidelock of hair, sucking his finger. The Golden Dawn
attributed Silence to him, presumably because the sucking of the finger is suggestive
of the common "shhh" gesture. SEE ALSO Horus.
Horus (Her)
One of the most important deities of Egypt.
Horus as now conceived is a mixture of the original deities known as
"Horus the Child" and "Horus the Elder". As the Child,
Horus is the son of Osiris and Isis, who, upon reaching adulthood, becomes
known as Her-nedj-tef-ef ("Horus, Avenger of His Father") by avenging
his father's death, by defeating and casting out his evil uncle Set. He then
became the divine prototype of the Pharaoh.
As Horus the Elder, he was also the patron deity of
Upper (Southern) Egypt from the earliest times; initially, viewed as the twin
brother of Set (the patron of Lower Egypt), but he became the conqueror of Set
c. 3000 B.C.E. when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and formed the unified
kingdom of Egypt. SEE ALSO Hor-pa-kraat, Horus the Elder, Isis, Osiris,
Set.
Horus the Elder (Her-ur, Aroueris)
Horus, the patron god of Upper Egypt from
time immemorial; distinguished from Horus the Child (Hor-pa-kraat), who was the
son of Isis and Osiris; but the two gods merged early in Egyptian history and
became the one Horus, uniting the attributes of both. SEE ALSO
Hor-pa-kraat, Horus.
Isis (Auset)
Perhaps the most important goddess of all
Egyptian mythology, Isis assumed, during the
course of Egyptian history, the attributes and functions of virtually every
other important goddess in the land. Her most important functions, however,
were those of motherhood, marital devotion, healing the sick, and the working
of magical spells and charms. She was believed to be the most powerful magician
in the universe, owing to the fact that she had learned the Secret Name of Ra
from the god himself. She was the sister and wife of Osiris, sister of Set, and
twin sister of Nephthys. She was the mother of Horus the Child (Hor-pa-kraat),
and was the protective goddess of Horus's son Amset, protector of the liver of
the deceased.
Isis was responsible for protecting Horus from Set
during his infancy; for helping Osiris to return to life; and for assisting her
husband to rule in the land of the Dead. Her cult seems to have
originally centered, like her husband's, at Abydos near the Delta in the North
(Lower Egypt); she was adopted into the family of Ra early in Egyptian history
by the priests of Heliopolis, but from the New Kingdom onwards (c. 1500 BC) her
worship no longer had any particular identifiable center, and she became more
or less universally worshiped, as her husband was. SEE ALSO Amset,
Hor-pa-kraat, Horus, Nephthys, Osiris, Ra, Set.
Khephra (Keper)
The creator-god, according to early
Heliopolitan cosmology; considered a form of Ra. The Egyptian root
"kheper" signifies several things, according to context, most notably
the verb "to create" or "to transform", and also the
word for "scarab beetle". The scarab, or dung beetle, was considered
symbolic of the sun since it rolled a ball of dung in which it laid its eggs
around with it - this was considered symbolic of the sun god propelling the
sphere of the sun through the sky. In later Heliopolitan belief, which named
the sun variously according to the time of the day, Khephra was the nighttime
form of the sun. SEE ALSO Ra.
Khonsu (Chons)
The third member (with his parents Amen
and Mut) of the great triad of Thebes.
Khonsu was the god of the moon. The best-known story about him tells of him
playing the ancient game "senet" ("passage") against Thoth,
and wagered a portion of his light. Thoth won, and because of losing some of
his light, Khonsu cannot show his whole glory for the entire month, but must
wax and wane. SEE ALSO Amen, Mut, Thoth.
Ma'at (Ma)
The wife of Thoth, Ma'at's name means
"Truth", "Justice", and perhaps even "Tao". It
cannot readily be rendered into English but "truth" is perhaps a
satisfactory translation. Ma'at was represented as a tall woman with an ostrich
feather in her hair. She was present at the judgement of the dead; her feather
was balanced against the heart of the deceased to determine whether he had led
a pure and honest life. All civil laws in Egypt
were held up to the "Law of Ma'at", which essentially was a series of
old conceptions and morals dating to the earliest times in Egypt. A law contrary to the Law of
Ma'at would not have been considered valid in Egypt. SEE ALSO Thoth.
Min (Menu, Amsu)
Min
A form of Amen depicted holding a flail
(thought to represent a thunderbolt in Egyptian art) and with an erect penis;
his full name was often given as Menu-ka-mut-ef ("Min, Bull of his
Mother"). Min was worshiped as the god of virility; lettuces were offered
as sacrifice to him and then eaten in hopes of procuring manhood; and he was
worshiped as the husband of the goddess Qetesh, goddess of love and
femininity. SEE ALSO Amen, Qetesh.
Mut (GD: Auramooth)
The wife of Amen in Theban tradition; seen
as the mother, the loving, receptive, nurturing force (similar to Yin) behind
all things, even as her husband was the great energy, the creative force
(similar to Yang). The word "mut" in Ancient Egyptian means
"mother". She was also the mother of Khonsu, the moon god. SEE
ALSO Amen, Khonsu.
Neith (Net, Neit, GD: Thoum-aesh-neith)
Nephthys (Nebt-het)
The sister and wife of Set, and sister of
Isis and Osiris; also the mother (variantly by Set or by Osiris) of Anubis. She
abandoned Set when he killed Osiris, and assisted Isis
in the care of Horus and the resurrection of Osiris. She was, along with her
sister, considered the special protectress of the dead, and she was the
guardian of Hapi, the protector of the lungs of the deceased. SEE ALSO
Hapi, Horus, Isis, Osiris, Set.
Nuit (Nut)
The goddess of the sky, daughter of Shu
and Tefnut, sister and wife of Geb, mother of Osiris, Set, Isis,
and Nephthys. Described by Crowley
in his Magick in Theory and Practice thus: "Infinite space is called the
goddess NUIT." Nut was generally depicted as a woman with blue skin, and
her body covered with stars, standing on all fours, leaning over her husband,
representing the sky arched over the earth. Her relationship to HADIT is an
invention of Crowley's with no basis in Egyptology, save only that Hadit was
often depicted underneath Nuit - one finds Nuit forming the upper frame of a
scene, and the winged disk Hadit floating beneath, silently as always. This is
an artistic convention, and there was no marriage between the two in ancient
Egyptian legend. SEE ALSO Geb, Hor-behedet (Hadit), Shu.
Osiris (Ausar)
The god of the dead, and the god of the
resurrection into eternal life; ruler, protector, and judge of the deceased,
and his prototype (the deceased was in historical times usually referred to as
"the Osiris"). His cult originated in Abydos, where his actual tomb was said to be
located.
Osiris was the first child of Nut and Geb, thus the
brother of Set, Nephthys, and Isis, who was also his wife. By Isis he fathered
Horus, and according to some stories, Nephthys assumed the form of Isis, seduced him thus, and from their union was born
Anubis.
Osiris ruled the world of men in the beginning,
after Ra had abandoned the world to rule the skies, but he was murdered by his
brother Set. Through the magic of Isis, he was
made to live again. Being the first living thing to die, he subsequently became
lord of the dead. His death was avenged by his son Horus, who defeated Set and
cast him out into the desert to the West of Egypt
(the Sahara). Prayers and spells were
addressed to Osiris throughout Egyptian history, in hopes of securing his
blessing and entering the afterlife which he ruled; but his popularity steadily
increased through the Middle Kingdom. By Dynasty 18 he was probably the most
widely worshiped god in Egypt.
His popularity endured until the latest phases of Egyptian history; reliefs
still exist of Roman emperors, conquerors of Egypt, dressed in the traditional
garb of the Pharaohs, making offerings to him in the temples. SEE ALSO
Anubis, Geb, Horus, Isis, Nephthys, Ra, Set.
Pharaoh (deified kings)
From earliest times in Egypt the pharaohs were worshipped
as gods: the son of Ra, the son of Horus, the son of Amen, etc. depending upon
what period of Egyptian history and what part of the country is being
considered. It should be noted that prayers, sacrifices, etc. to the pharaohs
were extremely rare, if they occured at all - there seems to be little or no
evidence to support an actual cult of the pharaoh. The pharaoh was looked upon
as being chosen by and favored by the gods his fathers. The pharaoh was never
regarded as the son of any goddesses, but rather as the son of the Queen his
mother, fathered by the god, incarnate as his earthly father. (A few seeming
exceptions to this include a sculpture of Pharaoh Tutankhamen being embraced by
his "parents" Amen and Mut, but the intent here seems to be to
compare the king with their son Khonsu, rather than to actually claim that Mut
was his mother.) SEE ALSO Amen, Khonsu, Mut.
Ptah
Worshiped in Memphis from the earliest dynastic times
(c.3000 BC), Ptah was seen as the creator of the universe in the Memphite
cosmology. He fashioned the bodies in which dwelt the souls of men in the
afterlife. Other versions of the myths state that he worked under Thoth's
orders, creating the heavens and the earth according to Thoth's specifications.
Ptah is depicted as a bearded man wearing a
skullcap, shrouded much like a mummy, with his hands emerging from the
wrappings in front and holding the Uas (phoenix-headed) scepter, an Ankh, and a
Djed (sign of stability). He was often worshiped in conjunction with the gods
Seker and Osiris, and worshiped under the name Ptah-seker-ausar. SEE ALSO
Osiris, Seker, Thoth.
Qebhsenuef (Kabexnuf, Qebsneuef)
One of the Four Sons of Horus, Qebhsenuef
was represented as a mummified man with the head of a falcon. He was the
protector of the intestines of the deceased, and was protected by the
goddess Serket. SEE ALSO Four Sons of Horus, Serket.
Qetesh
Qetesh
Originally believed to be a Syrian deity,
Qetesh was an important form of Hathor, specifically referred to in the
latter's function as goddess of love and beauty. Qetesh was depicted as a
eautiful nude woman, standing or riding upon a lion, holding flowers, a mirror,
or serpents. She is generally shown full-face (unusual in Egyptian artistic
convention). She was also considered the consort of the god Min, the god of
virility. SEE ALSO Hathor, Min.
Ra
Ra was the god of the sun during dynastic
Egypt; the name is thought to have meant "creative power", and as a
proper name "Creator", similar to English Christian usage of the term
"Creator" to signify the "almighty God." Very early in
Egyptian history Ra was identified with Horus, who as a hawk or falon-god
represented the loftiness of the skies. Ra is represented either as a
hawk-headed man or as a hawk.
Owing to the fact that the sun was a fire, the
Egyptians realized that in order to travel through the waters of Heaven and the
Underworld, it required a boat, and so Ra was depicted as traveling in a boat.
During the day the boat was a great galley called Madjet ("becoming
strong") and during the night, a small barge called Semektet
("becoming weak").
During dynastic Egypt
Ra's cult center was Annu (Hebrew "On", Greek "Heliopolis",
modern-day "Cairo").
In Dynasty V, the first king, Userkaf, was also Ra's high priest, and he added
the term "Sa-Ra (Son of Ra)" to the titulary of the pharaohs.
Ra was father of Shu and Tefnut, grandfather of Nut
and Geb, great-grandfather of Osiris, Set, Isis,
and Nephthys, and great-great-grandfather to Horus. In later periods (about
Dynasty 18 on) Osiris and Isis superseded him in popularity, but he remained
"Ra netjer-aa neb-pet" ("Ra, the great God, Lord of
Heaven") whether worshiped in his own right or, in later times, as half of
the Lord of the Universe, Amen-Ra. SEE ALSO Amen, Amen-Ra, Geb, Horus, Isis, Nephthys, Nut, Osiris, Set, Shu, Tefnut.
Ra-Hoor-Khuit (Ra-Hor-akhuti)
"Ra, who is Horus of the
Horizons." An appelation of Ra, identifying him with Horus, showing the
two as manifestations of the singular Solar Force. The spelling
"Ra-Hoor-Khuit" was popularized by Aleister Crowley, first in the
Book of the Law (Liber AL vel Legis). SEE ALSO Hor-akhuti, Horus, Ra.
Sebek
The crocodile-god, worshipped at the city
of Arsinoe,
called Crocodilopolis by the Greeks. Sebek was worshipped to appease him and
his animals. According to some evidence, Sebek was considered a fourfold
deity who represented the four elemental gods (Ra of fire, Shu of air, Geb of
earth, and Osiris of water). In the Book of the Dead, Sebek assists in the
birth of Horus; he fetches Isis and Nephthys to protect the deceased; and he
aids in the destruction of Set.
Seker
A god of light, protector of the spirits
of the dead passing through the Underworld en route to the afterlife. Seker was
worshiped in Memphis
as a form of Ptah or as part of the compound deities Ptah-seker or
Ptah-seker-ausar. Seker was usually depicted as having the head of a hawk, and
shrouded as a mummy, similar to Ptah. SEE ALSO Ptah.
Sekhmet
A lioness-goddess, worshiped in Memphis as the wife of
Ptah; created by Ra from the fire of his eyes as a creature of vengeance to
punish mankind for his sins; later, became a peaceful protectress of the
righteous. She was worshiped with Bast and Ra as a compound deity,
Sekhmet-bast-ra, and was considered the consort of Ptah-seker-ausar. SEE
ALSO Bast, Ptah, Ra, Seker.
Serket (Serqet, Selket)
A scorpion-goddess, shown as a beautiful
woman with a scorpion poised on her head; her creature struck death to the
wicked, but she was also prayed to to save the lives of innocent people stung
by scorpions; she was also viewed as a helper of women in childbirth. She is
also depicted as binding up demons that would otherwise threaten Ra, and she
sent seven of her scorpions to rotect Isis
from Set.
She was the protectress of Qebhsenuef, the son of
Horus who guarded the intestines of the deceased. She was made famous by her
statue from Tutankhamen's tomb, which was part of the collection which toured America in the
1970's. SEE ALSO Isis, Qebhsenuef, Ra, Set.
Set
Originally, in earliest times, Set was the
patron deity of Lower (North) Egypt,
and represented the fierce storms of the desert whom the Lower Egyptians sought
to appease. However, when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and ushered in the
First Dynasty, Set became known as the evil enemy of Horus (Upper
Egypt's dynastic god). Set was the brother of
Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys, and husband of the
latter; according to some versions of the myths he is also father of Anubis.
Set is best known for murdering his brother and
attempting to kill his nephew Horus; Horus, however, managed to survive and
grew up to avenge his father's death by establishing his rule over all Egypt
and casting Set out into the lonely desert for all time.
In the 19th Dynasty there began a resurgence of
respect for Set, and he was seen as a great god once more, the god who
benevolently restrained the forces of the desert; but this was short-lived and
by around Dynasty 20 or 21 Set became once more dreaded as the god of
evil. SEE ALSO Anubis, Horus, Isis, Osiris, Nephthys.
Shu
The god of the atmosphere and of dry
winds, son of Ra, brother and husband of Tefnut, father of Geb and Nuit.
Represented in hieroglyphs by an ostrich feather (similar to Ma'at's), which
symbol he is usually shown wearing on his head. He is generally shown standing
on the recumbent Geb, holding aloft his daughter Nuit, separating the two. It
was said that if he ever ceased to interpose himself between earth and sky,
life would cease to be on our world - a very accurate assessment, it would
seem. The name "Shu" appears to be related to the root
"shu" meaning "dry, empty." Shu also seems to be a personification
of the sun's light. Shu and Tefnut were also said to be but two halves of one
soul, perhaps the earliest recorded example of "soulmates." SEE ALSO
Geb, Nuit, Ra, Tefnut.
Tefnut
The goddess of moisture and clouds,
daughter of Ra, sister and wife of Shu, mother of Geb and Nuit. Depicted as a
woman with the head of a lioness, which was her sacred animal. The name
"Tefnut" probably derives from the root "teftef",
signifying "to spit, to moisten" and the root "nu" meaning
"waters, sky." SEE ALSO Geb, Nuit, Ra, Shu.
Thoth (Tahuti)
The god of wisdom (Thoth is the Greek
corruption of the original Egyptian Tahuti), Thoth was said to be self-created
at the beginning of time, along with his consort Ma'at (truth). The two
produced eight children, of which the most important was Amen, the hidden one,
who was worshiped in Thebes
as the Lord of the Universe. Thoth was depicted as a man with the
head of an ibis bird, and carried a pen and scrolls upon which he recorded all
things. He was shown as attendant in almost all major scenes involving the
gods, but especially at the judgement of the deceased.
It was widely believed that Thoth invented the
magical and hermetic arts, and thus the Tarot deck, especially its revision by
Aleister Crowley, is often referred to as the "Book of Thoth".
SEE ALSO Amen, Ma'at.