Egyption God and Goddess's

Aken

The chief deity in Egyptian mythology, Ra, when considered as a sun god,
was thought to traverse the daily sky in a boat, and cross the underworld
at night in another, named Meseket. As the mythology developed, so did
the idea that Meseket was controlled by a separate ferryman, who
became known as Aken.
In their mythology, the underworld was composed of the general area,
named Duat, and a more pleasant area to which the morally righteous
were permitted, named Aaru. At this point in history, Anubis had become
merely the god of embalming, and Osiris, though lord of the whole
underworld, dwelt specifically in Aaru, and so Aken was identified as the
ruler of the area outside it, Duat in general, on Osiris' behalf.
Because the Egyptian word for part of the soul Ba was also used as a
word meaning ram, Aken was usually depicted as being ram-headed. As
both an underworld deity, and subservient to Osiris, Aken became known
as Cherti (also spelt Kherty), meaning (one who is) subservient. The main
center of his cult became Letopolis, and it is considered a possibility that
his cult caused the development of the myth of the ferryman in other
Mediterranean mythologies, such as that of Charon.

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Aker

In Egyptian mythology, Aker (also spelt Akar) was one of the earliest gods
worshipped, and was the deification of the horizon. There are strong
indications that Aker was worshipped before other known Egyptian gods
of the earth, such as Geb. In particular, the Pyramid texts make a sinister
statement that the Akeru (plural of Aker) will not seize the pharaoh, as if
this were something that might have happened, and was something of
which to be afraid. Aker itself translates as (one who) bends, and thus
Akeru translates as benders, though in what sense this is meant is not
fully understood.
As the horizon, Aker was also seen as symbolic of the borders between
each day, and so was originally depicted as a narrow strip of land (i.e. a
horizon), with heads on either side, facing away from one another, a
symbol of borders. Since the sun reaches its peak (its solstice) in the
zodiac of Leo, these heads were usually those of lions. Over time, the
heads became full figures of lions (still facing away from each other), one
representing the concept of yesterday (Sef in Egyptian), and the other the
concept of tomorrow (Duau in Egyptian).
Consequently, Aker often became referred to as Ruti, the Egyptian word
meaning two lions. Between them would often appear the hieroglyph for
horizon, which was the sun's disc placed between two mountains.
Sometimes the lions were depicted as being covered with leopard-like
spots, leading some to think it a depiction of the extinct Barbary lion,
which, unlike African species, had a spotted coat.
Since the horizon was where night became day, Aker was said to guard
the entrance and exit to the underworld, opening them for the sun to pass
through during the night. As the guard, it was said that the dead had to

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request Aker to open the underworld's gates, so that they might enter.
Also, as all who had died had to pass Aker, it was said that Aker annulled
the causes of death, such as extracting the poison from any snakes that
had bitten the deceased, or from any scorpions that had stung them.
As the Egyptians believed that the gates of the morning and evening were
guarded by Aker, they sometimes placed twin statues of lions at the doors
of their palaces and tombs. This was to guard the households and tombs
from evil spirits and other malevolent beings. This practice was adopted
by the Greeks and Romans, and is still unknowingly followed by some
today. Unlike most of the other Egyptian deities, the worship of Aker
remained popular well into the Greco-Roman era. Aker had no temples of
his own like the main gods in the Egyptian religion, since he was more
connected to the primeval concepts of the very old earth powers.

Ammit - Ammut

In Egyptian mythology, Ammit (also spelled Ammut, Ammet, Amam,

Amemet and Ahemait) was the personification of divine retribution for all
the wrongs one had committed in life. She dwelt in the Hall of Ma'at, who
was the personification of the concept of truth, balance, and order. In the
Ancient Egyptian underworld (known as Duat) hearts of the dead were
weighed by Anubis against a feather from Ma'at's headdress. The hearts
of those who were heavy with wrongdoing failed the test were given to
Ammit for her to devour. Those whose souls were devoured were not

3
permitted to enter Aaru, having to be restless forever·effectively dying a
second time. If the heart was lighter than a feather then the soul was
judged by the god of the underworld, Osiris. [

In myth Ammit was not worshipped, and she was never regarded as a
goddess. Instead, she embodied all that the Egyptians feared, threatening
to bind them to eternal restlessness if they did not follow the principle of
Ma'at. Thus Ammit was depicted with the head of a crocodile or dog, the
front part of her body as a lioness or leopard, and her hind quarters in the
form of a hippopotamus, a combination of those animals which were
considered as the most dangerous to the Ancient Egyptians. Although
often referred to as a demon, by destroying evil she acted as a force for
good.
Her role is reflected in her name, which means Devourer or, more
accurately, and less euphemistically, Bone Eater, and her titles such as
Devourer of the dead, Devourer of millions (Am-heh in Egyptian), Eater of
hearts, and Greatness of Death. In some traditions, Ammit was said to
stand by a lake of fire, into which the unworthy hearts were cast, rather
than eating them. In this role, Ammit was more the lake guardian than a
destroyer, which some scholars believe may be evidence of syncretism of
a fiery lake belief, from an as yet unidentified elsewhere. In still another
version, Ammut ate the condemned person, rather than only the heart. An
evil person then dissolved forever in her stomach.

4
Although Ammit is seen as a swallowing entity, its order is neutral and
strictly serves at the whim of the other deities to take souls that have
sinned against the gods and consign them into oblivion. In one rendering
Ammit a pole is depicted with seven balls on it.
Ammit, the swallower, bites the pole just between the third and the fourth
ball. It has been suggested, most notably by mythologist Joseph
Campbell, that the seven balls in that painting represent a prototype of the
chakra system. In that case the symbolic meaning would seem to be that
if one's aims in life have not surpassed the ones associated with the three
lowest chakras and into the realm of those associated with the four
highest chakras, one will be devoured by the swallower after death.
Some experts have linked Ammit with the goddess Taweret, who has a
similar physical appearance and, as a companion of Bes, also protected
others from evil. Other authors have noted that Ammit's lioness
characteristics, and the lake of fire, may be pointers to a connection with
the goddess Sekhmet.

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Amun

Amun-Re; Ammon; Amon; Amun

Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamanu , was the name of a deity in
Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the
most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt. Whilst remaining
hypostatic deities, Amun represented the essential and hidden, whilst in Ra
he represented revealed divinity. As the creator deity "par excellence", he

6
was the champion of the poor and central to personal piety. Amun was
self created, without mother and father, and during the New Kingdom he
became the greatest expression of transcendental deity in Egyptian
theology. He was not considered to be immanent within creation nor was
creation seen as as an extension of himself. Amun-Re, likewise with the
Hebrew creator deity, did not physically engender the universe. His
position as King of Gods developed to the point of virtual monotheism
were other Gods became manifestations of him. With Osiris Amun-Re is
the most widely recorded of the Egyptian Gods.
Amun is known from an early date from references in the Pyramid texts
where he is shown as a primeval deity who symbolised creative force.
Initially, a religious concept that was identified as the air in the Ancient
Egyptian myths of creation included Amunet and Amun as dual aspects.
These religious beliefs varied by region. In Thebes, Amun came to be
associated with the breath of life, one of the deities who created part of
the ba. In the areas where Amun was worshiped, by the First Intermediate
Period, this association had led to his being thought of as a creator, titled
father of the gods. These changes in beliefs preceded the Ogdoad,
although they also were part of it.
As he became more significant, he was paired with a goddess (his
counterpart, Amunet, being the female aspect of the early concept of air,
rather than a wife), and since he was becoming identified as a creator, it
was considered more appropriate to designate him as the spouse of the
divine mother from whom the cosmos emerged to enhance his status. By
the time that Amun rose to this recognition, the divine mother was Mut.
Amun became depicted in human form, seated on a throne, wearing on his
head a plain, deep circlet from which rise two straight parallel plumes. The
plumes may have been symbolic of the tail feathers of a bird, a reference
to his earlier status as a wind deity.
Having become more important than Montu, the local war deity of Thebes,
Montu's authority then diminished and he was said to be the son of Amun.
As Mut then was said to be infertile, it was believed that she, and thus
Amun, had adopted Montu instead of giving birth to him. This changed
later when Montu was replaced by Khonsu, the lunar deity as her adopted

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son.
Rise of Cult after Expulsion of Hyksos
When the army of the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty expelled the
Hyksos rulers from Egypt, the victor's city of origin, Thebes, became the
most important city in Egypt, the capital of a new dynasty. The local
patron deity of Thebes, Amun, therefore became nationally important. The
pharaohs of that new dynasty attributed all their successful enterprises to
Amun and they lavished much of their wealth and captured spoil on the
construction of temples dedicated to Amun. The cultural advances
achieved by the pharaohs of this dynasty brought Egypt into a cultural
renaissance, restoring trade and advancing architectural design to a level
that would not be achieved by any other culture for a thousand years.
As the Egyptians considered themselves oppressed during the period of
the Hyksos rule, the victory accomplished by pharaohs worshiping Amun
was seen as a champion of the less fortunate. Consequently, Amun was
viewed as upholding the rights of justice for the poor. By aiding those who
traveled in his name, he became the Protector of the road. Since he
upheld Ma'at (truth, justice and goodness) - those who prayed to Amun
were required, first, to demonstrate that they were worthy by confessing
their sins.
Much later, because of the evidence of the adoration given to Amun in
many regions during the height of his cult, Greek travelers to Egypt would
report that Amun - who they determined to be the ruler of the Egyptian
pantheon - was similar to the leader of the Classical Greek pantheon,
Zeus, and therefore they became identified by the Greeks as the same
deity. Likewise, Amun's consort Mut became associated by these Greeks
with Zeus's consort in the Classical pantheon, Hera.
In the Greek period (and somewhat earlier, in order to ascribe many
attributes to Amun-Re, he was sometimes depicted in bronze with the
bearded head of a man, the body of a beetle with the wings of a hawk, the
legs of a man and the toes and claws of a lion. He was further provided
with four hands and arms and four wings.

8
The worship surrounding Amun, and later, Amun-Re represented one of
ancient Egypt's most complex theologies. In his most mature form,
Amun-Re became a hidden, secret god. In fact, his name (Imn), or at lest
the name by which the ancient Egyptians called him, means "the hidden
one" or "the secret one" (though there has been speculation that his name
is derived from the Libyan word for water, aman. However, modern
context seems to negate this possibility). In reality, however, and
according to mythology, both his name and physical appearance were
unknown, thus indicating his unknowable essence.
Stated differently, Amun was unknown because he represented absolute
holiness, and in this regard, he was different then any other Egyptian
deity. So holy was he that he remained independent of the created
universe. He was associated with the air as an invisible force, which
facilitated his growth as a supreme deity. He was the Egyptian creator
deity par excellence, and according to Egyptian myth, was self-created. It
was believed that he could regenerate himself by becoming a snake and
shedding his skin. At the same time, he remained apart from creation,
totally different from it, and fully independent from it.

9
However, while hidden, the addition to his name of "Re" revealed the god
to humanity. Re was the common Egyptian term for the sun, thus making
him visible. Hence, Amun-Re combined within himself the two opposites of
divinity, the hidden and the revealed. As Amun, he was secret, hidden and
mysterious, but as Re, he was visible and revealed. In some respects, this
even relates to his association with Ma'at, the Egyptian concept of order
and balance, and reflects back upon the ancient Egyptian's concepts of
duality.
The secret, or hidden attribute of Amun enabled him to be easily
synchronized and associated with other deities. At Thebes, Amun was first
identified with Montu, but soon replaced him as the city's protector. His
association with Re grew in importance when Amenemhet I moved the
capital of Egypt to Itjtawy at the apex of the Nile Delta, where the
relationship was probably expedient both theologically and politically.
However, this association with Re actually grew as Thebes itself gained
importance. Soon, Amun was identified with other gods as well, taking on
the names (among others) Amun-Re-Atum, Amun-Re-Montu,

10
Amun-Re-Horakhty and Min-Amun. However, it should be noted that with all
of this synchronization, Amun was not absorbed to create a a new god.
Instead, there was a unity of divine power with these other gods.

Amun-Re was associated with the Egyptian monarchy, and theoretically,

rather than threatening the pharaoh's power, the throne was supported by
Amun-Re. The ancient theology made Amun-Re the physical father of the
king. Hence, the Pharaoh and Amun-Re enjoyed a symbiotic relationship,
with the king deriving power from Amun-Re. In return, the king supported
the temples and the worship of Amun. In theory, Amun-Re could even take
the form of the king in order to impregnate the chief royal wife with the
successor to the throne (first documented during the reign of Hatshepsut
during the New Kingdom). Furthermore, according to official state
theology during the New Kingdom, Egypt was actually ruled by Amun-Re
through the pharaohs, with the god revealing his will through oracles.
In reality, the god did in fact threaten the monarchy, for the cult of
Amun-Re became so powerful that its priesthood grew very large and
influential, and at one point, priests of the deity actually came to rule
Egypt during the 21st Dynasty. At other times, Amun-Re created
difficulties for the king, such as in the case of Akhenaten, who sought to
change the basic structure of Egyptian religion. In this instance, Amun-Re

11
eventually proved more powerful then the king, for though Akhenaten
desperately tried to change the nature of Egyptian religion, for such
efforts he himself became the scorn of later pharaohs. After Akhenaten's
reign, Egyptian religion almost immediately reverted back to its prior form
and to the worship of Amun-Re.
Fertility God

Subsequently, when Egypt conquered Kush, they identified the chief deity
of the Kushites as Amun. This Kush deity was depicted as ram-headed,
more specifically a woolly ram with curved horns so Amun became
associated with the ram. Indeed, due to the aged appearance of the Kush
ram deity, the Egyptians came to believe that this image had been the
original form of Amun and, that Kush was where he had been born.
Since rams were considered a symbol of virility due to their rutting
behavior, Amun also became thought of as a fertility deity, and so started
to absorb the identity of Min, becoming Amun-Min. This association with
virility led to Amun-Min gaining the epithet Kamutef, meaning Bull of his
mother, in which form he was found depicted on the walls of Karnak,
ithyphallic, and with a scourge, as Min was.
As the cult of Amun grew in importance, Amun became identified with the
chief deity who was worshipped in other areas during that period,
Ra-Herakhty, the merged identities of Ra, and Horus. This identification led

12
to another merger of identities, with Amun becoming Amun-Ra. In the
Hymn to Amen-Ra he is described as "Lord of truth, father of the Gods,
maker of men, creator of all animals, Lord of things that are, creator of
the staff of life." By then Ra had been described as the father of Shu,
Tefnut, and the remainder of the Ennead, so Amun-Ra likewise, became
identified as their father.
Ra-Herakhty had been a solar deity and this nature became ascribed to
Amun-Ra as well, Amun becoming considered the hidden aspect of the sun
during the night, in contrast to Ra-Herakhty as the visible aspect during the
day. Amun clearly meant the one who is hidden. This complexity over the
sun led to a gradual movement toward the support of a more pure form of
deity.
During the later part of the eighteenth dynasty, the pharaoh Akhenaten
(also known as Amenhotep IV) disliked the power of the temple of Amun
and advanced the worship of the Aten, a deity whose power was
manifested in the sun disk, both literally and symbolically. He defaced the
symbols of many of the old deities and based his religious practices upon
the deity, the Aten. He moved his capitol away from Thebes, but this
abrupt change was very unpopular with the priests of Amun, who now
found themselves without any of their former power. The religion of Egypt
was inexorably tied to the leadership of the country, the pharaoh being the
leader of both. The pharaoh was the highest priest in the temple of the
capital and the next lower level of religious leaders were important
advisers to the pharaoh, many being administrators of the bureaucracy
that ran the country.
When Akhenaten died, the priests of Amun reasserted themselves. His
name was struck from Egyptian records, all of his religious and
governmental changes were undone, and the capitol was returned to
Thebes. The return to the previous capital and its patron deity was
accomplished so swiftly that it seemed this almost monotheistic cult and
its governmental reforms had never existed. Worship of the Aten ceased
and worship of Amun-Ra was restored. The priests of Amun even
persuaded his young son, Tutankhaten, whose name meant "the living
image of Aten" - and who later would become a pharaoh - to change his

13
name to Tutankhamun, "the living image of Amun".

Amunet

In Egyptian mythology, Amunet (also spelled Amonet, Amaunet, Amentet,

Amentit, Imentet, Imentit, and Ament) was a deity having several different
characteristics during the long history of the pantheon of Ancient Egypt.

14
Initially, Amunet was the female aspect of an abstract concept for air and
invisibility and aspect of Hathor. This deity was without gender, but divided
between Amunet and Amun for female and male aspects. They were the
two aspects of the primordial concept of air and invisibility in the Ogdoad
cosmogony. This included eight deities worshipped as pairs in Hermopolis
during what is called the Old Kingdom, the third through sixth dynasties,
extending from 2,686 B.C. to 2,134 B.C.
Of the name for primordial air meaning, (one who) is hidden, the female
aspect is Amunet and the male aspect is Amun. As the deity became more
significant, eventually both aspects of the abstract concept were depicted
as independent deities and identified as a pair.
As with all goddesses in the Ogdoad, Amunet was depicted either as an
Egyptian cobra snake, or as a snake-headed woman. The male deities in
the Ogdoad generally were depicted with the head of a frog. Amaunet was
said to be the mother who is father, implying that she was a creator who
needed no male to procreate, reproducing asexually through
parthenogenesis. The Egyptians thought that animals without sexual
dimorphism, such as snakes, were all female.
As Amunet continued to be identified as the goddess of air, she
sometimes was depicted as a winged goddess, or as a woman with a
hawk, or ostrich feather, on her head.
She also is depicted with one of the hieroglyphs for the concept "West" on
her head, on which the hawk or ostrich feather rests. Her name means
"She of the West", as she is regarded as a personification of the direction
West.
Euphemisms were used frequently to name deities in Ancient Egypt, to
avoid divulging the sacred name of a deity to the uninitiated and to avoid
unauthorized uses of the name. References to the west also relate to the
place where the dead enter the underworld, relating to her role as a
funerary goddess. The alternative spelling names Amentet or Imentit
sometimes were used to refer to her role in the underworld, where the
goddess provided a welcome to the newly dead. She was associated with
an acacia tree that was said to be near Heliopolis, where bread was
provided for the surrounding population during winter when their food

15
supplies were limited.
< When Amun became regarded with greater importance and his identity
increasingly overlapped with that of Atum, Amaunet, as the female aspect,
became increasingly identified with Iusaaset. Iusaaset was seen as the
mother and grandmother of the deities.
By becoming identified as Iusaaset, Amunet was regarded as the mother
of creation and she was seen as owning the tree from which all life
emerged and returned, the tree of life, an acacia tree said to be located
on the desert's edge to the west of Egypt at Heliopolis.
Its strength, hardiness, medical properties, and edibility resulted in the
acacia tree being considered the tree of life. What was thought to be the
oldest acacia tree in existence, the one which was situated close to, and
north of, Heliopolis was said to be the tree of life. Its location was said to
be the birthplace of all of the deities. Thus, as the mother, and
grandmother, of the deities, Iusaaset was said to own this tree. When
Amunet later was displaced as Amun's consort by Mut, she retained her
own individual characteristics. Amun went through many changes and
became the patron deity of Thebes and rose to become the most
important deity in that city and, for a while, the country.
While continuing to represent the air and the invisible, Amunet was said to
have become associated with Iah, the moon, and was depicted in
association with the Moon on tombs, coffins, and sarcophaguses.

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Anat

Anat first appears in Egypt in the 16th dynasty (the Hyksos period) along
with other northwest Semitic deities. She was especially worshipped in her
aspect of a war goddess, often paired with the goddess `Ashtart. In the
Contest Between Horus and Set, these two goddesses appear as
daughters of Re and are given in marriage to the god Set, who had been
identified with the Semitic god Hadad.
During the Hyksos period Anat had temples in the Hyksos capital of Avaris
and in Beth-Shan (Palestine) as well as being worshipped in Memphis. On
inscriptions from Memphis of 15th to 12th centuries BCE, Anat is called
"Bin-Ptah", Daughter of Ptah. She is associated with Reshpu, (Canaanite:
Resheph) in some texts and sometimes identified with the native Egyptian
goddess Neith. She is sometimes called "Queen of Heaven". Her
iconography varies, but she is usually shown carrying one or more
weapons.
The name of Anat-her, a shadowy Egyptian ruler of this time, is evidently
derived from "Anat".
In the New Kingdom Ramesses II made ŒAnat his personal guardian in
battle and enlarged Anat's temple in Pi-Ramesses. Ramesses named his

17
daughter (whom he later married) Bint-Anat 'Daughter of Anat'. His dog
appears in a carving in Beit el Wali temple with the name "Anat-in-vigor" and
one of his horses was named ŒAna-herte 'Anat-is-satisfied'.
In the Ugaritic Ba'al/Hadad cycle Anat is a violent war-goddess, a virgin in
Ugarit though the sister and lover of the great Ba'al known as Hadad
elsewhere. Ba'al is usually called the son of Dagon and sometimes the son
of El. ŒAnat is addressed by El as "daughter". Either one relationship or
the other is probably figurative. Anat's titles used again and again are
"virgin Anat" and "sister-in-law of the peoples" (or "progenitress of the
peoples" or "sister-in-law, widow of the Li'mites").
In a fragmentary passage from Ras Shamra Anat appears as a wild and
furious warrior in a battle, wading knee-deep in blood, striking off heads,
cutting off hands, binding the heads to her torso and the hands in her
sash, driving out the old men and townsfolk with her arrows, her heart
filled with joy. "Her character in this passage anticipates her subsequent
warlike role against the enemies of Baal".
Anat boasts that she has put an end to Yamm the darling of El, to the
seven-headed serpent, to Arsh the darling of the gods, to Atik
'Quarrelsome' the calf of El, to Ishat 'Fire' the bitch of the gods, and to
Zabib 'flame?' the daughter of El. Later, when BaŒal is believed to be
dead, she seeks after Ba'al "like a cow for its calf" and finds his body (or
supposed body) and buries it with great sacrifices and weeping. Anat then
finds Mot, Ba'al/Hadad's supposed slayer and she seizes Mot, splits him
with a sword, winnows him with a sieve, burns him with fire, grinds him
with millstones and scatters the remnants to the birds.
Text CTA 10 tells how 'Anat seeks after Ba'al who is out hunting, finds
him, and is told she will bear a steer to him. Following the birth she brings
the new calf to Ba'al on Mount Zephon. But nowhere in these texts is Anat
explicitly Ba'al/Hadad's consort. To judge from later traditions' Athtart
(who also appears in these texts) is more likely to be Ba'al/Hadad's
consort. But of course northwest Semitic culture permitted more than one
wife and liaisons outside marriage are normal for deities in all pantheons.
In the North Canaanite story of Aqhat, the protagonist Aqhat son of the
judge Danel (Dn'il is given a wonderful bow and arrows which was created

18
for Anat by the craftsman god Kothar-wa-Khasis but which was given to
Dan[i]el for his infant son as a gift. When Aqhat grew to be a young man,
the goddess Anat tried to buy the bow from Aqhat, offering even
immortality, but Aqhat refused all offers, calling her a liar since old age
and death are the lot of all men. He then added to this insult by asking
what would a woman do with a bow?
Like Inanna in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Anat complained to El and
threatened El himself if he did not allow her to take vengeance on Aqhat.
El conceded. Anat launched her attendant Yatpan in hawk form against
Aqhat to knock the breath out of him and to steal the bow back. Her plan
succeeds, but Aqhat is killed instead of merely beaten and robbed. In her
rage against Yatpan, (text is missing here) Yatpan runs away and the bow
and arrows fall into the sea. All is lost. Anat mourned for Aqhat and for the
curse that this act would bring upon the land and for the loss of the bow.
The focus of the story then turns to Paghat, the wise younger sister of
Aqhat. She sets off to avenge her brother's death and to restore the land
which has been devastated by drought as a direct result of the murder.
The story is unfortunately incomplete. It breaks at an extremely dramatic
moment when Paghat discovers that the mercenary whom she has hired
to help her avenge the death is, in fact, Yatpan, her brother's murderer.
The parallels between the story of ŒAnat and her revenge on Mot for the
killing of her brother are obvious. In the end, the seasonal myth is played
out on the human level.
Gibson (1978) thinks Rahmay 'The Merciful', co-wife of El with Athirat, is
also the goddess ŒAnat but he fails to take into account the primary
source documents. Most Ugaritic scholars point out that the dual names
of deities in Ugaritic poetry is an essential part of the verse-form and that
two names for the same deity are traditionally mentioned in parallel lines.
In the same way Athirat, is called Elath (meaning "The Goddess") in paired
couplets. The poetic structure can also be seen in early Hebrew verse
forms.
Much of the world's religion today originated in the regions bordering the
Mediterranean Sea, including what is today Israel, together with its
neighboring countries. In ancient times, these old states often imported

19
and exported their gods as people migrated about, as these nations
fought each other in wars, a fact that certainly had no small impact on our
modern beliefs. Often, the attributes of the gods of one region were
incorporated into the gods of another region. An example of this is the
goddess, Anat, who was one of a number of deities imported into Egypt
from the Syrian region.
The name Anat occurs in several forms in Ugaritic, Hebrew, Akkadian, and
Egyptian, and as in such cases, the forms may vary widely. For example,
in the Ugarit V Deity List it is spelled da-na-tu to be pronounced 'Anatu'.
Otherwise in Phoenician it is `nt and is pronounced 'Anat', 'Anatu', 'Anath'
or 'Anata'. The name is usually translated from Hebrew as 'Anath', but it
could also be 'Anat'. The Akkadian form is usually written as 'Anta' or
'Antu'. The Egyptian forms are 'Anant', 'Anit', 'Anti', and 'Antit'. We may
also find variations of her name in reference books such as Anthat.
A major goddess of fertility, sexual love, hunting and war, the Goddess
Anat was known among the Canaanites in prehistoric times, and was
doubtless of considerable importance in that region. From the fertile
agricultural area along the eastern Mediterranean coast, her cult spread
throughout the Levant by the middle of the third millennium BC. Around the
beginning of the Phoenician period (circa 1200 BC) Anat enjoyed a
significant cult following. She was very prominent at Ugarit, a major
religious center, and appears frequently in Ugaritic literary works
incorporating mythical elements, in deity and offering lists, and in votive
inscriptions.
Her cult became established in Egypt by the end of the Middle Kingdom,
even before the Hyksos (Asiatics probably from Syria) invasion of Egypt,
so her presence certainly attests to the slow immigration (or perhaps
more often, enslavement as the spoils of war) of the Hyksos prior to their
ultimate rule of Egypt. However, she attained prominence, particularly in
the north (the Delta) during the Second Intermediate Period rule of the
Hyksos, who appear to have promoted her cult in Egypt. She was
represented at Memphis like all but the most local of deities, and
sanctuaries were dedicated to her at the Hyksos capital of Tanis (Egypt)
and Beth-Shan (Palistine).

20
Yet, while the rulers of Egypt's New Kingdom took every step to denounce
the Hyksos dynasty, her prestige reached its height in Egypt under
Ramesses II who adopted Anat as his personal guardian in battle. Even
Ramesses II's dog, shown rushing onto a vanquished Libyan in a carving in
Beit el Wali temple, has the name "Anat in vigor". He also named his
daughter (whom he later married) Bint-Anat, which means Daughter of
Anat. He rebuilt Tanis and enlarged the sanctuary of Anat there. The
Elephantine papyri dating from the late sixth century BC indicate that Anat
was one of the two goddesses worshiped at the Temple of Yahu (Yahweh)
by the Jews on the island of Elephantine in the Nile.
In Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine the worship of Anat persisted into
Christian times (c. 200 AD), and perhaps much longer in popular religion.
In Egypt traditional religion was practiced until the end of the Egyptian
period (c. 400 AD). Anat may have been worshiped in one or more of the
few Egyptian temples that remained open into the early 6th century AD. In
contemporary times the worship of Anat has been revived in neo-pagan
religion.

In Ugaritic texts she is the daughter of El, sister (though perhaps not
literally) and consort of Baal. As Ba`al's companion and help-mate, She is

21
goddess of dew and the fertility that it brings. Apparently, through the
union of Anat and Baal, an offspring was born in the form of a wild bull.
She may be Rachmay, one of the two nursemaids of the Gracious Gods
mentioned in the eponymous ritual text. She is also the twin sister of
Myrrh. At Tanis in Egypt she was regarded as the daughter of Re. In the
Egyptian myth of the Contest between Horus and Seth, Anat and Astarte
appear as daughters of Re and consorts of Seth (whom the Egyptians
themselves identified with Baal).
From cuneiform text, Anat appears much the ruthless goddess. In her
martial aspect she confines herself to slaying the enemies of Baal. She
participates in the confrontation between Baal and Yam-Nahar. In a
missing portion of the text she slays Yam and other enemies of Baal.
During a victory celebration she departs to slaughter the warriors of two
local towns. She joyfully wades in their blood, pours a peace offering and
cleans up. She intercedes with El on Baal's behalf to obtain the necessary
permission for a palace to be built for Baal. Later, when Baal is killed by
Mot (Death) in an archetypal battle, she buries him, hunts down Mot, and
takes revenge by cutting, winnowing, grinding, and burning Mot like grain.
In another myth she coveted the splendid bow belonging to a youth called
Aqhat. When he refuses to part with this bow, Ana sends an eagle to slay
him.

22
Although terrible as a war deity she was regarded as a just and benevolent
goddess of beauty, sexuality, and of the fertility of crops, animals, and
men. Her grace and beauty were considered among the acme of
perfection. Anat is a complex and somewhat paradoxical goddess as can
be seen from the epithets applied to her. Although she is regarded as the
mother of gods, the most common epithet at Ugarit is batulat, Virgin or
Maiden. She is sometimes called Wanton, in reference to her putative lust
for sexual intercourse and the bloodshed of war. Other common epithets
include: Adolescent Anat, Fairest daughter-sister of Baal, Lady, Strength of
Life, Anat the Destroyer, and Lady of the Mountain.
`Anat was considered by the Egyptians to be similar to Neith/Net, an
ancient goddess from the Nile delta, with whom they identified Her. Neith
is a skilled weaver and guardian of domestic life, as well as a goddess of
war, whose symbols include crossed arrows on an animal skin or shield
and a weaver's shuttle. `Anat is interpreted as being depicted with a
spindle as well as Her spear, and as the Canaanites/ Phoenicians were
famed for their weaving, She may well have been a patroness of that skill,
perhaps also of the famed dye, later known as Tyrian purple, which could
also be a blood red color. In some descriptions, `Anat adorns Herself with
something translated by some as murex, the snail from which the purple

23
dye comes.
Several epithets are known from Egyptian inscriptions. From Aramaic
inscriptions of the Hyksos period (c.1700 BC): "Anat-her", Anat agrees or
Agreeable Anat, and "Herit-Anta", Terror of Anat. From inscriptions at
Memphis dating to the 15th to the 12th centuries BC, we find her referred
to as "Bin-Ptah", Daughter of Ptah. And from Elephantine "Beth-El", House
of El or House of God.

In Phoenician iconography Anat is usually depicted nude with exaggerated

sexual organs and a coiffure similar to Hathor. She is sometimes depicted
with bow and arrow, and with the lion, her sacred animal. Otherwise she
may be armed with a spear and shield, or a spear and a spindle.
An Egyptian inscription from Beth-Shan shows "Antit" with a plumed crown
(very similar to the White Crown of Egypt). In her left hand is the "Scepter
of Happiness", and in her right the "Ankh of Life". Iconography at Tanis
from the time of Ramesses II shows Anat on a throne with lance, battle ax,
and shield above an inscription reading, "To Antit that she may give life,
prosperity, and health to the Ka of Hesi-Nekht".
Anat in Mesopotamia
In Akkadian the form one would expect Anat to take would be Antu earlier
Antum. This would also be the normal feminine form that would be taken
by Anu, the Akkadian form of An 'Sky', the Sumerian god of heaven. Antu
appears in Akkadian texts mostly as a rather colorless consort of Anu, the
mother of Ishtar in the Gilgamesh story, but is also identified with the
northwest Semitic goddess ŒAnat of essentially the same name. It is
unknown whether this is an equation of two originally separate goddesses

24
whose names happened to fall together or whether Anat's cult spread to
Mesopotamia where she came to be worshipped as Anu's spouse
because the Mesopotamia form of her name suggested she was a
counterpart to Anu.
It has also been suggested that the parallelism between the names of the
Sumerian goddess, Inanna, and her West Semitic counterpart, Ishtar,
continued in Canaanite tradition as Anath and Astarte, particularly in the
poetry of Ugarit. The two goddesses were invariably linked in Ugaritic
scripture and are also known to have formed a triad (known from
sculpture) with a third goddess whose was given the name/title of Qadesh
(meaning "the holy one"}.
Anat in Israel
The goddess Anat is never mentioned in Hebrew scriptures as a goddess,
though her name is apparently preserved in the city names Beth Anath and
Anathoth. Anathoth seems to be a plural form of the name. The ancient
hero Shamgar son of 'Anat is mentioned in Judges 3.31;5:6 which raises
the idea that this hero may have been imagined as a demi-god, a mortal
son of the goddess. But John Day (2000) notes that a number of
Canaanites known from non-Biblical sources bore that title and theorizes
that it was a military designation indicating a warrior under ŒAnat's
protection. Asenath "holy to Anath" was the wife of the Hebrew patriarch
Joseph.
In Elephantine (modern Aswan) in Egypt, Jewish mercenaries, c. 410 BC,
make mention of a goddess called Anat-Yahu (Anat-Yahweh) worshiped in
the temple to Yahweh originally built by Jewish refugees from the
Babylonian conquest of Judah.
Anat and Athene
In a Cyprian inscription (KAI. 42) the Greek goddess Athêna Sôteira Nikê is
equated with ŒAnat (who is described in the inscription as the strength of
life : lŒuzza hayim).
Anat is also presumably the goddess whom Sanchuniathon calls Athene, a
daughter of El, mother unnamed, who with Hermes (that is Anubis)
councelled El on the making of a sickle and a spear of iron, presumably to
use against his father Uranus. However, in the Baal cycle, that role is

25
assigned to Asherah / 'Elat and 'Anat is there called the "Virgin."

Andjety

In Egyptian mythology, Andjety (also Anezti, Anedjti) is a god who was

particularly worshipped at Andjet (known in Greek as Busiris). His name
reflects this, as it means simply (one who is) from Andjet, and Andjet
simply meaning place of djed, djed being a type of pillar.
Andjety appears to have been worshipped since pre-dynastic times, and is
thought by most Egyptologists to be the god that eventually became
Osiris, although the question is not finally settled. Andjety's attributes are
quite similar to those of the early Osiris - he was in charge of the
underworld, and was depicted holding the symbols of rulership of the
pharaoh - the crook, conical crown (of Upper Egypt), and flail. In
association with death, he has the title bull of vultures, i.e. progenitor, or

26
son, of vultures.
Because of the Egyptian beliefs about re-incarnation, Andjety, as lord of
the dead sometimes was regarded as a god of re-birth, and consequently
in those situations considered to be the husband of Meskhenet (Mesenet),
an ancient goddess of birth. In such associations, Andjety is sometimes
depicted as having the bovine uterus above his head, since it was a
depiction given to Meskhenet to symbolise her association with birth.
During the eighteenth dynasty, Hebrew workers brought with them the
worship of Anat, a war goddess, and identified Andjety as her husband,
symbolising how war and death are bound together.
God in anthropomorphic form originally worshipped in the mid-Delta in
Lower Egyptian. He was originally an old god from the semi-nomad society
before the unification, and was the patron of domesticated animals.
Andjety means 'He of Andjet'. Andjety holds the two sceptres in the shape
of a 'crook' and a 'flail', insignia which are Osiris's symbols of dominion.
Also his high conical crown decorated with two feathers is clearly related
to the 'atef' crown of Osiris. Many believe they are the same character.
The center of his cult was in province number 9 in Lower Egypt at the
town of Busuris in the delta. He was portrayed as a shepherd with a crook
as regalia and on his head was a stylistic cow's uterus. He was one of the
members of the exclusive gang of gods connected to Osiris who were
later swallowed up the family of Re from Helioplois, making the so called
Ennead of nine gods of the Egyptian pantheon. In the New Kingdom
Anedjti was associated with - and the precursor of Osiris and was often
shown wearing the white crown with feathered and carrying the regalia -
flail, crook and staff. In that roll he dwelt in the underworld and was
responsible for the rebirth of the dead individuals in their afterlife.
As early as the beginning of Dynasty IV King Seneferu, the builder of the
first true pyramid tomb, is carved wearing this crown of Andjety. The close
relationship of the god to the monarch is evident from the earliest
references in the Pyramid Texts, where the king's power as a universal
ruler is enhanced by his being equated to Andjety presiding over the
eastern districts. Perhaps Andjety is an embodiment of sovereignty and its
attendant regalia. As such he would readily be absorbed into the nature of

27
Osiris and by extension into the pharaoh himself. The most likely
explanation of his epithet, Bull of Vultures, found in the Middle Kingdom
Coffin Texts, is that it emphasises his role as a procreative consort of
major goddesses. His main female counterpart was Anit.
Andjety figures in a funerary context as well. The notion that he is
responsible for rebirth in the Afterlife is probably the reason for the
substitution for the two feathers of a bicornate uterus in early writings of
his name in the Pyramid Texts. In the underworld too there is an obvious
identification between Andjety and Osiris, as ruler. Hence in the Temple of
Sety I at Abydos, the king is depicted buring incense to the god
Osiris-Andjety who holds a 'crook' sceptre, wears two feathers in his
headband and is accompanied by Isis.

Anhur

Patron God of war, hunting, and soldiers.

In early Egyptian mythology, Anhur (also spelled Onuris, Onouris, An-Her,
Anhuret, Han-Her, Inhert) was originally a foreign god of war, who started
being worshipped in the Egyptian area of Abydos, and particularly in
Thinis, during the 11th dynasty. Myths told that he had brought his wife,

28
Menhit, who was his female counterpart, from Nubia, and his name
reflects this - it means (one who) leads back the distant one.
One of his titles was Slayer of Enemies. Anhur was depicted as a bearded
man wearing a robe and a headdress with four feathers, holding a spear
or lance, or occasionally as a lion-headed god (representing strength and
power). In some depictions, the robe was more similar to a kilt.
Due to his position as a war god, he was patron of the ancient Egyptian
army, and the personification of royal warriors. Indeed, at festivals
honoring him, mock battles were staged. During the Roman era the
Emperor Tiberius was depicted on the walls of Egyptian temples wearing
the distinctive four-plumed crown of Anhur.
Because Anhur's name also could mean Sky Bearer, and due to the
shared headdress, Anhur was later identified as Shu, becoming Anhur-Shu.
Since Anhur was the more popular and significant deity, and, indeed, Shu
was more a concept than a god, Shu was eventually absorbed completely
into Anhur.
In the New Kingdom, his popularity increased and Anhur was also titled
Saviour, becoming to the people their deliverer from human burden, due
to their view of war as their source of freedom and victory. The aspects of
war, and saviour, shared with Horus, contributed to Anhur's eventual
identification with the much greater Horus. During the Egyptian period of
dominance over Nubia, the Kushites named Horus-Anhur as Arensnuphis
(also Arsnuphis, Harensnuphis), Ari-hes-nefer in Egyptian, meaning
something along the lines of Horus of the beautiful house. Consequently
once Osiris became identified as an aspect of Horus (and vice-versa),
Arensnuphis was viewed as having Isis as his wife.

29
Anubis

God with the head of a jackal or dog

30
Anubis is the Egyptian name for a jackal-headed god associated with
mummification and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology. In the ancient
Greek language, Anubis is known as Inpu, (variously spelled Anupu, Ienpw
etc.).
The oldest known mention of Anubis is in the Old Kingdom pyramid texts,

31
where he is associated with the burial of the king. At this time, Anubis was
the most important god of the Dead but he was replaced during the
Middle Kingdom by Osiris.
He takes various names in connection with his funerary role, such as He
who is upon his mountain, which underscores his importance as a
protector of the deceased and their tombs, and the title He who is in the
place of embalming, associating him with the process of mummification.
Like many ancient Egyptian deities, Anubis assumes different roles in
various contexts, and no public procession in Egypt would be conducted
without an Anubis to march at the head.
Anubis was the god to protect the dead and bring them to the afterlife. He
was usually portrayed as a half human, half jackal, or in full jackal form
wearing a ribbon and holding a flail in the crook of its arm. The jackal was
strongly associated with cemeteries in ancient Egypt, since it was a
scavenger which threatened to uncover human bodies and eat their flesh.
The distinctive black color of Anubis "did not have to do with the jackal,
per se, but with the color of rotting flesh and with the black soil of the Nile
valley, symbolizing rebirth."
Anubis is depicted in funerary contexts where he is shown attending to the
mummies of the deceased or sitting atop a tomb protecting it. In fact,
during embalming, the "head embalmer" wore an Anubis costume.
The critical weighing of the heart scene in Book of the Dead also show
Anubis performing the measurement that determined the worthiness of the
deceased to enter the realm of the dead (the underworld). New Kingdom
tomb-seals also depict Anubis atop nine bows that symbolize his
domination over the foes of Egypt.
Originally, in the Ogdoad system, he was god of the underworld. He was
said to have a wife, Anput (who was really just his female aspect, her
name being his with an additional feminine suffix: the t), who was depicted
exactly the same, though feminine. He is also said to have taken to wife
the feminine form of Neheb Kau, Nehebka, and Kebechet, the goddess of
purification of body organs specially placed in canopic jars during
mummification.
Background and Mythology

32
Anubis was the son of Osiris, the god of the underworld, and Nephthys,
Set's sister and wife. Nephthys and Isis tricked Osiris one night. Nephthys
never liked Seth (Set), but she always had a "thing" for Osiris.Since
Nephthys and Isis were twins, they were able to trick Osiris into sleeping
with Nephthys one night instead of Isis.As a result, Anubis was born.
Nephthys was very angry since Set killed Osiris so she left him and
assisted Isis, Osiris's wife and Nephthys ran away with her son, Anubis.
Kebechet is shown as Anubis' daughter in some places.

Ennead

Ogdoad
Following the merging of the Ennead and Ogdoad belief systems, as a
result of the identification of Atum with Ra, and their compatibility, Anubis

33
became a lesser god in the underworld, giving way to the more popular
Osiris during the Middle Kingdom. However, "Anubis was given a place in
the family of gods as the...son of Osiris and Nephthys, and in this role he
helped Isis mummify his dead father."
When the Myth of Osiris and Isis emerged, it was said that when Osiris had
died, Osiris' organs were given to Anubis as a gift. With this connection,
Anubis became the patron god of embalmers: during the funerary rites of
mummification, illustrations from the Book of the Dead often show a priest
wearing the jackal mask supporting the upright mummy.

Ash

God of the desert.

A man with the head of a hawk.
Ash was the ancient Egyptian god of oases, as well as the Vineyards of
the western Nile Delta and thus was viewed as a benign deity.
Flinders-Petrie in his 1923 expedition to the Saqqara (also spelt Sakkara)
found several references to Ash in Old Kingdom wine jar seals: I am
refreshed by this Ash was a common inscription.

34
In particular, he was identified by the Ancient Egyptians as the god of the
Libu and Tinhu tribes, known as the people of the oasis. Consequently Ash
was known as the lord of Libya, the western border areas occupied by the
Libu and Tinhu tribes, corresponds roughly with the area of modern Libya.
It is also possible that he was worshiped in Ombos, as their original chief
deity.
In Egyptian Mythology, as god of the oases, Ash was associated with Set,
who was originally god of the desert, and was seen as protector of the
Sahara. The first known recorded mention of Ash dates to the
Protodynastic Period, but by the late 2nd Dynasty, his importance grew,
and he was seen as protector of the royal estates, since the related god
Set, in Lower Egypt, was regarded as the patron deity of royalty itself.
Ash's importance was such that he was mentioned even until the 26th
Dynasty.
Ash was usually depicted as a human, whose head was one of the desert
creatures, variously being shown as a lion, vulture, hawk, snake, or the
unidentified Set-animal.
Depictions of Ash are the earliest known depictions, in ancient Egyptian
art, to show a deity as a human with the head of an animal. On occasion,
Ash and Set were depicted similarly, as the currently unidentified
Set-Animal.
Some depictions of Ash show him as having multiple heads, unlike other
Egyptian deities, although some compound depictions were occasionally
shown connecting gods to Min. In an article in the journal Ancient Egypt (in
1923), and again in an appendix to her book, The Splendor that was
Egypt, Margaret Murray expands on such depictions, and draws a parallel
to a Scythian deity, who is referenced in Sebastian Münster's
Cosmographia universalis.
The idea of Ash as an import God is contested, as he was the God of
Ombos far before Set's introduction sometime in Dynasty II. One of his
titles is "Nebuty" or "He of Nebut" indicating this position.
One of Ash's titles·"Beloved of Set"·has led to interpretations that Set and
Ash were lovers.[citation needed] Many Pharaohs had similar titles
connected with one or another Gods, but very few, if any, Gods bore such

35
epithets.
Ash is sometimes seen as another name for Set-- similarly as one might
give the name Ta-Bitjet for Serket, Dunanwy for Anti, or Sefkhet-Abwy for
Sheshat.

Astarte

Astarte is the name of a goddess as known from Northwestern Semitic

regions, cognate in name, origin and functions with the goddess Ishtar in
Mesopotamian texts. Another transliteration is ŒAshtart; other names for
the goddess. According to scholar Mark S. Smith, Astarte may be the Iron
Age (after 1200 BC) incarnation of the Bronze Age (to 1200 BC) Asherah.
Astarte was connected with fertility, sexuality, and war. Her symbols were
the lion, the horse, the sphinx, the dove, and a star within a circle
indicating the planet Venus. Pictorial representations often show her
naked.
Astarte first appears in Ancient Egypt beginning in the Eighteenth dynasty

36
of Egypt along with other deities who were worshipped by northwest
Semitic people. She was worshipped especially in her aspect of a warrior
goddess, often paired with the goddess Anat.
In the Contest Between Horus and Set, these two goddesses appear as
daughters of Re and are given in marriage to the god Set, here identified
with the Semitic name Hadad. Astarte also was identified with the lioness
warrior goddess Sekhmet, but seemingly more often conflated, at least in
part, with Isis to judge from the many images found of Astarte suckling a
small child.
Indeed there is a statue of the 6th century BC in the Cairo Museum, which
normally would be taken as portraying Isis with her child Horus on her
knee and which in every detail of iconography follows normal Egyptian
conventions, but the dedicatory inscription reads: "Gersaphon, son of
Azor, son of Slrt, man of Lydda, for his Lady, for Astarte."
Plutarch, in his On Isis and Osiris, indicates that the King and Queen of
Byblos, who, unknowingly, have the body of Osiris in a pillar in their hall,
are Melcarthus and Astarte (though he notes some instead call the Queen
Saosis or Nemanus, which Plutarch interprets as corresponding to the
Greek name Athenais).
Astarte was accepted by the Greeks under the name of Aphrodite. The
island of Cyprus, one of Astarte's greatest faith centers, supplied the
name Cypris as Aphrodite's most common byname. Other major centers
of Astarte's worship were Sidon, Tyre, and Byblos. Coins from Sidon
portray a chariot in which a globe appears, presumably a stone
representing Astarte. In Sidon, she shared a temple with Eshmun. At
Beirut coins show Poseidon, Astarte, and Eshmun worshipped together.
Other faith centers were Cytherea, Malta, and Eryx in Sicily from which she
became known to the Romans as Venus Erycina. A bilingual inscription on
the Pyrgi Tablets dating to about 500 BC found near Caere in Etruria
equates Astarte with Etruscan Uni-Astre that is, Juno. At Carthage Astarte
was worshipped alongside the goddess Tanit.
Donald Harden in The Phoenicians discusses a statuette of Astarte from
Tutugi (Galera) near Granada in Spain dating to the 6th or 7th century BC
in which Astarte sits on a throne flanked by sphinxes holding a bowl

37
beneath her breasts which are pierced. A hollow in the statue would have
been filled with milk through the head and gentle heating would have
melted wax plugging the holes in her breasts, producing an apparent
miracle when the milk emerged.
The Syrian goddess Atargatis (Semitic form ŒAtarŒatah) was generally
equated with Astarte and the first element of the name appears to be
related to the name Astarte.
Astarte appears in Ugaritic texts under the name ŒAthtart', but is little
mentioned in those texts. ŒAthtart and ŒAnat together hold back BaŒal
from attacking the other deities. Astarte also asks BaŒal to "scatter"
Yamm "Sea" after BaŒal's victory. ŒAthtart is called the "Face of BaŒal".
Astarte described by Sanchuniathon
In the description of the Phoenician pantheon ascribed to Sanchuniathon
Astarte appears as a daughter of Sky and Earth and sister of the God El.
After El overthrows and banishes his father Sky, as some kind of trick Sky
sends to El his "virgin daughter" Astarte along with her sisters Asherah and
the goddess who will later be called Ba`alat Gebal, "the Lady of Byblos". It
seems that this trick does not work as all three become wives of their
brother El. Astarte bears to El children who appear under Greek names as
seven daughters called the Titanides or Artemides and two sons named
Pothos "Longing" and Eros "Desire".
Later we see, with El's consent, Astarte and Hadad reigning over the land
together. Astarte, puts the head of a bull on her own head to symbolize
Her sovereignty. Wandering through the world Astarte takes up a star that
has fallen from the sky (meteorite) and consecrates it at Tyre.
Astarte in Judea
The Masoretic pointing in the Hebrew Tanach (bible) indicate the
pronunciation as Astoret instead of the expected Asteret, probably
because the two last syllables have here been pointed with the vowels
belonging to boshet "abomination" to indicate that word should be
substituted when reading. The plural form is pointed Astoret.
For what seems to be the use of the Hebrew plural form Astoret as the
name of a demon, see also Astaroth.
Astarte, or Ashtoret in Hebrew, was the principal goddess of the

38
Phoenicians, representing the productive power of nature. She was a lunar
goddess and was adopted by the Egyptians as a daughter of Ra or Ptah.
In Jewish mythology, She is referred to as Ashtoreth, supposedly
interpreted as a female demon of lust in Hebrew monotheism. The name
Asherah may also be confused with Ashtoreth, but is probably a different
goddess.
Astarte Wikipedia

Astarte means "she of the womb" in Canaanite and Hebrew. When the
Hebrews turned from goddess-worship to a religion centered on the male
Yahweh (or Jehovah), her name Athtarath was deliberately mis-rendered as
Ashtoreth ("shameful thing") and confused with Asherah (see Monaghan).
Depicted variously as a death-dealing virgin warrior, a life-giving mother,
and a wanton of unbridled sexuality, her emblems were the moon and the
morning and evening stars (the planet Venus). Astarte was a warrior
goddess of Canaan and Syria who is a Western Semitic counterpart of the
Akkadian Ishtar worshipped in Mesopotamia.
In the Egyptian pantheon to which she was officially admitted during the
18th Dynasty, her prime association is with horses and chariots. On the
stela set up near the sphinx by Amenhotep II celebrating his prowess,
Astarte is described as delighting in the impressive equestrian skill of the
monarch when he was still only crown prince. In her iconography her
aggression can be seen in the bull horns she sometimes wears as a
symbol of domination. Similarly, in her Levantine homelands, Astarte is a
battlefield goddess. For example, when the Peleset (Philistines) killed Saul
and his three sons on Mount Gilboa, they deposited the enemy armor as
spoils in the temple of "Ashtoreth".
Like Anat, she is the daughter of Re and the wife of the god Seth, but also
has a relationship with the god of the sea.
From the fragmentary papyrus giving the legend of Astarte and the sea we
learn that Yamm, the sea god, demanded tribute from the gods,
particularly Renenutet. Her place is then taken by Astarte called, in this
aspect, "daughter of Ptah". The story is lost from that point on but one
assumes this liaison resulted in the goddess tempering the arrogance of

39
Yamm.
It should also be noted that outside of Egypt, as well as being a warlike
goddess, Astarte seems to have had sexual and motherhood attributes
and is sometimes identified with Isis.
Asherah, Athirat ("Lady Asherah of the Sea", "she who gives birth",
"wet-nurse of the gods") (Canaanite and Hebrew). Her name seems to
come from a root meaning "straight," perhaps signifying both moral
rectitude and the upright trees or pieces of wood in which her essence
was believed to dwell. In homes, she was represented by a simple,
woman-shaped clay figurine with, instead of legs, a tapered base which
was inserted in the floor of the home.
She was also depicted as a naked, curly-haired goddess standing on her
sacred lion and holding lilies and serpents in upraised hands. According to
one source, she was "the force of life, experienced as benevolent and
enduring, found in flocks of cattle and groves of trees, evoked in childbirth
and in planting time."
She was also called Elat ("Goddess"). Her dying-god consort may have
been Yahweh (see Patai). After the shift among the Hebrews to the
worship of the male Yahweh, a centuries-long campaign to stamp out her
worship began, in which she was deliberately confused with the more
wantonly sexual Astarte.

40
A later, Babylonian form of the Sumerian Inanna, but also identified with
Asherah and Astarte. Like Inanna, she loved a dying and reborn vegetation
god (Tammuz), whom she descended into the underworld in rescue of
after his death. There, she supplicates herself before the queen of the
Underworld, Erishkegal (no doubt, the death form of herself). Her
emblems were the moon and the morning and evening stars (the planet
Venus).

41
Ishtar ("light-giving queen of heaven") (Babylon)
Ishtar, also known as Htar (or Inanna in Sumerian mythology), the name of
the chief goddess of Babylonia and Assyria, the counterpart of the
Phoenician Astarte. The meaning of the name is not known, though it is
possible that the underlying stem is the same as that of Assur, which
would thus make her the "leading one" or "chief." At all events it is now
generally recognized that the name is Semitic in its origin. Where the
name originated is likewise uncertain, but the indications point to Erech
where we find the worship of a great mother goddess independent of any
association with a male counterpart flourishing in the oldest period of
Babylonian history. She appears under various names, among which are
Nana, Innanna, Nina and Anunit.
As early as the days of Khammurabi we find these various names which
represented originally different goddesses, though all manifest as the
chief trait the life-giving power united in Ishtar. Even when the older names
are employed it is always the great mother-goddess who is meant. Ishtar
is the one goddess in the pantheon who retains her independent position
despite and throughout all changes that the Babylonian-Assyrian religion
undergoes. Even when Ishtar is viewed as the consort of some chief - of
Marduk occasionally in the south, of Assur more frequently in the north -
the consciousness that she has a personality of her own apart from this
association is never lost sight of.
With Adbeel may be identified Idibi'il (-ba'il) a tribe, employed by
Tiglath-Pileser IV. (Œl33 B.c.) to watch the frontier of Musri (Sinaitic
peninsula or Northern Arabia). This is suggested by the fact that
Ashurbanipal (7th century) mentions as the name of their deity Atar-Samain
(i.e. "Ishtar of the heavens").
We may reasonably assume that the analogy drawn from the process of
reproduction among men and animals led to the conception of a female
deity presiding over the life of the universe. The extension of the scope of
this goddess to life in general - to the growth of plants and trees from the
fructifying seed - was a natural outcome of a fundamental idea; and so,
whether we turn to incantations or hymns, in myths and in epics, in votive
inscriptions and in historical annals, Ishtar is celebrated and invoked as

42
the great mother, as the mistress of lands, as clothed in splendor and
power - one might almost say as the personification of life itself.
But there are two aspects to this goddess of life. She brings forth, she
fertilizes the fields, she clothes nature in joy and gladness, but she also
withdraws her favors and when she does so the fields wither, and men and
animals cease to reproduce. In place of life, barrenness and death ensue.
She is thus also a grim goddess, at once cruel and destructive. We can,
therefore, understand that she was also invoked as a goddess of war and
battles and of the chase; and more particularly among the warlike
Assyrians she assumes this aspect.
Before the battle she appears to the army, clad in battle array and armed
with bow and arrow. In myths symbolizing the change of seasons she is
portrayed in this double character, as the life-giving and the life-depriving
power. The most noteworthy of these myths describes her as passing
through seven gates into the nether world.
At each gate some of her clothing and her ornaments are removed until at
the last gate she is entirely naked. While she remains in the nether world
as a prisoner - whether voluntary or involuntary it is hard to say - all fertility
ceases on Earth, but the time comes when she again returns to Earth, and
as she passes each gate the watchman restores to her what she had left
there until she is again clad in her full splendor, to the joy of mankind and
of all nature.
Closely allied with this myth and personifying another view of the change
of seasons is the story of Ishtar's love for her son and consort Tammuz -
symbolizing the spring time - but as midsummer approaches her husband
is slain and, according to one version, it is for the purpose of saving
Tammuz from the clutches of the goddess of the nether world that she
enters upon her journey to that region.
In all the great centres Ishtar had her temples, bearing such names as
E-anna, "heavenly house," in Erech; E-makh, "great house," in Babylon;
E-mash-mash, "house of offerings," in Nineveh. Of the details of her cult we
as yet know little, but there is no evidence that there were obscene rites
connected with it, though there may have been certain mysteries
introduced at certain centres which might easily impress the uninitiated as

43
having obscene aspects. She was served by priestesses as well as by
priests, and it would appear that the votaries of Ishtar were in all cases
virgins who, as long as they remained in the service of Ishtar, were not
permitted to marry.
In the astral-theological system, Ishtar becomes the planet Venus, and the
double aspect of the goddess is made to correspond to the strikingly
different phases of Venus in the summer and winter seasons. On
monuments and seal-cylinders she appears frequently with how and arrow,
though also simply clad in long robes with a crown on her head and an
eight-rayed star as her symbol.
Statuettes have been found in large numbers representing her as naked
with her arms folded across her breast or holding a child. The art thus
reflects the popular conceptions formed of the goddess. Together with
Sin, the Moon god, and Shamash, the Sun god, she is the third figure in a
triad personifying the three great forces of nature - Moon, Sun and Earth,
as the life-force. The doctrine involved illustrate, the tendency of the
Babylonian priests to centralize the manifestations of divine power in the
universe, just as the triad Anu, Bel and ha - the heavens, the earth and the
watery deep - form another illustration of this same tendency.
Naturally, as a member of a triad, Ishtar is dissociated from any local
limitations, and similarly as the planet Venus - a conception which is
essentially a product of theological speculation - no though of any
particular locality for her cult is present. It is because the cult, like that of
Sin and Shamash, is spread over al Babylonia and Assyria, that she
becomes available for purposes of theological speculation.

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Aten

Lord of Heaven, Lord of Earth

Aten (or Aton) was the disk of the sun in ancient Egyptian mythology, and
originally an aspect of Ra. He became the deity of the monotheistic - in
fact, monistic - religion Atenism of Amenhotep IV, who took the name
Akhenaten. The worship of Aten seemed to stop shortly after Akhenaten's
death. In his poem "Hymn to Aten," Akhenaten praises Aten as the creator,
and giver of life.
Aten was the life-giving force of light. The full title of Akhenaten's god was
The Rahorus who rejoices in the horizon, in his/her Name of the Light
which is seen in the sun disc. (This is the title of the god as it appears on
the numerous stelae which were placed to mark the boundaries of
Akhenaten's new capital at Amarna, or "Akhetaten.") This lengthy name
was often shortened to Ra-Horus-Aten or just Aten in many texts, but the
god of Akhenaten raised to supremacy is considered a synthesis of very

45
ancient gods viewed in a new and different way.
Both Ra and Horus characteristics are part of the god, but the god is also
considered to be both masculine and feminine simultaneously. All creation
was thought to emanate from the god and to exist within the god. In
particular, the god was not depicted in anthropomorphic (human) form, but
as rays of light extending from the sun's disk. Furthermore, the god's
name came to be written within a cartouche, along with the titles normally
given to a Pharaoh, another break with ancient tradition.
The Aten, the sun-disk, first appears in texts dating to the 12th dynasty, in
The Story of Sinuhe, where the deceased king is described as rising as
god to the heavens and uniting with the sun-disk, the divine body merging
with its maker.
Ra-Horus, more usually referred to as Ra-Herakhty (Ra, who is Horus of the
two horizons), is a synthesis of two other gods, both of which are attested
from very early on. During the Amarna period, this synthesis was seen as
the invisible source of energy of the sun god, of which the visible
manifestation was the Aten, the solar disk. Thus Ra-Horus-Aten was a
development of old ideas which came gradually. The real change, as
some see it, was the apparent abandonment of all other gods, above all
Amun, and the introduction of monotheism by Akhenaten.
The syncretism is readily apparent in the Great Hymn to the Aten in which
Re-Herakhty, Shu and Aten are merged into the creator god. Others see
Akhenaten as a practitioner of an Aten monolatry.
During the Amarna Period, the Aten was given a Royal Titulary (as he was
considered to be king of all), with his names drawn in a cartouche. There
were two forms of this title, the first had the names of other gods, and the
second later one which was more 'singular' and referred only to the Aten
himself. The early form has Re-Horakhti who rejoices in the Horizon, in his
name Shu which is the Aten. The later form has Re, ruler of the two
horizons who rejoices in the Horizon, in his name of light which is the Aten

46
Atum

Atum (alternatively spelled Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an important

deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the city of Heliopolis.
His name is thought to be derived from the word 'tem' which means to

47
complete or finish. Thus he has been interpreted as being the 'complete
one' and also the finisher of the world, which he returns to watery chaos at
the end of the creative cycle. As creator he was seen as the underlying
substance of the world, the deities and all things being made of his flesh
or alternatively being his ka.
Atum is one of the most important and frequently mentioned deities from
earliest times, as evidenced by his prominence in the Pyramid Texts,
where he is portrayed as both a creator and father to the king. He is
usually depicted as a man wearing either the royal head-cloth or the dual
white and red crown of Upper Egypt, and Lower Egypt, reinforcing his
connection with kingship. Sometimes he also is shown as a serpent, the
form which he returns to at the end of the creative cycle and also
occasionally as a mongoose, lion, bull, lizard, or ape.
In the Heliopolitan creation myth established in the sixth dynasty, he was
considered to be the first god, having created himself, sitting on a mound
(benben) (or identified with the mound itself), from the primordial waters
(Nu). Early myths state that Atum created the god Shu and goddess Tefnut
from spitting or from his semen by masturbation in the city of Annu (the
Egyptian name for Heliopolis), a belief strongly associated with Atum's
nature as a hermaphrodite (hence his name meaning completeness).
Iusaaset, the Grandmother of Deities
Another belief held that Shu and Tefnut were created by Atum having
sexual intercourse with a goddess, referred to as Iusaaset (also spelt
Juesaes, Ausaas, Iusas, and Jusas, and in Greek as Saosis), meaning the
great one who comes forth. She was described as his shadow or his
hand. Consequently, Iusaaset was seen as the mother and grandmother of
the gods. The strength, hardiness, medical properties, and edibility, led
the acacia tree to be considered the tree of life, and thus the oldest,
which was situated close to, and north of, Heliopolis, was said to be the
birthplace of the deities. Thus, as the mother and grandmother, of the
deities, Iusaaset was said to own this tree.
In the Old Kingdom the Egyptians believed that Atum lifted the dead king's
soul from his pyramid to the starry heavens. By the time of the New
Kingdom, the Atum mythos, merged in the Egyptian pantheon with that of

48
Ra, who was also the creator and a solar deity, their two identities were
joined into Atum-Ra. But as Ra was the whole sun, and Atum became to be
seen as the sun when it sets (depicted as an old man leaning on his staff),
while Khepera was seen as the sun when it was rising.

Auf (Efu Ra)

Auf (Efu Ra) was an aspect of the sun god Re Auf was a ram-headed god
who wore the solar disc and traveled at night through the Underworld
waterways in order to reach the east in time for the new day; however, he
still had to fight off the creatures of the Underworld. Demons and gods
towed his boat along while Auf stood in a deck-house, over which was
coiled the serpent Mehen who warded off the dangerous Apep. The boat
of night was crewed by the gods Hu, Saa and Wepwawet.

Ba

Neb Tetet (Banebdjedet, Baneb Djedet, Banaded) was a Ram god whose
name means 'ba (or 'soul') lord of Mendes', his cult centered in the
north-east Delta.
When the two gods Horus and Set were making the heavens ring with their
wranglings over precedent, it was the ram-god Ba Neb Tetet who sensibly
suggested to the gods in council that they should write a letter to the
goddess Neith and ask for her opinion.
His suggestion opened the way for discussion and arbitration which finally
settled the dispute. His character, one of peace and level-headedness, has
been sadly perverted in sensational 'occult' fiction, for Ba Neb Tetet is the

49
benign original for a travesty called the 'goat of Mendes', who is supposed
to be some sort of diabolic spirit. At Mendes was kept a sacred ram,
worshipped as the incarnation of Ra and Osiris.
Originally a local god, Ba Neb Tetet was given the solar disc and uraeus
(coiled cobra) and brought into the main-stream of religious life.

Baal

Ba'al the Storm God

The storm god, Baal, was a West Semitic import to Egypt. Late Bronze
Age texts discovered at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) on the Levantine
coast, from which his cult spread, indicate that by 1400 BC, Baal had
displaced the god El to become the most important god in the local
pantheon.

50
However, the meaning of Baal is "owner" or "lord" and in the earliest of
times it is questionable whether the word was used as a title for important
local gods in general, or as a proper name to a specific god. Particularly
at first, this name was probably given to completely different gods. Over
time, the term seems to have been applied to agricultural gods in a variety
of locations. There is a great confusion amongst scholars concerning the
these deities called "Baal", or sometimes Bel, and their natures and
origins. In fact, this god's survival through a vast period of time provides
us with a complex trail marked by considerable theological difficulties.
Of the many "Baals" we find referenced, perhaps the most important, or at
least the one most associated with Egypt, is the god who dwelt on Mount
Sapan (hence Baal-Zaphon) in Northern Syria, and it should be noted that
the following discussion relates to him more specifically then to some of
his other identities. The equivalent of the Amorite deity Adad, or Hadad, he
was a centrally important deity of the Canaanites. He was considered the
son of a less well attested god named Dagan (others have identified him
as the son of El), who was himself a god of agriculture and storms. Baal
was the source of the winter rain storms, spring mist and summer dew
which nourished the crops. However, Baal also became associated with
the deity of other sites such as Baal Hazor in Palestine, Baal-Sidon and
Baal of Tyre (Melkart) in Lebanon.
Baal was known to be a rider of clouds, most active during storms but
was also considered to be a "lord of heaven and earth", even controlling
earth's fertility. He was the god of thunderstorms, the most vigorous and
aggressive of the gods and the one on whom mortals most depended.
Some of his other common epithets include " Most High Prince/Master", "
Conqueror of Warriors", Mightiest, Most High, Supreme, Powerful,
Puissant", " Warrior", and " Prince, Master of the Earth". He is also
sometimes called Re'ammin, meanign "Thunderer", as well as Aleyin,
meaning "Most High", Mightiest", "Most Powerful", or Supreme and he has
many, many other epithets.

51
Armed with magical weapons made by the craftsman god, Kothar, Baal
manages to overcome Yam, who was the tyrannical god of the sea,
according to the surviving ancient Near Eastern myths. However, in
another story, with the assistance Anat, Ball gets El's approval to build a
house. It is Kothar who actually builds the house, and afterwards, Baal
celebrates by inviting the gods to a feast. Ball himself was eventually
overcome by Mot, a personification of death, after which he descended
into the underworld. He then returned to life with the help of his sister and
consort, Anat, in a tradition not unlike the death and resurrection of Osiris.
Baal was usually shown in anthropomorphic form depicted as a powerful
warrior with long hair and a full, slightly curved, pointed Syrian style beard.
He would wear a conical helmet much like a funnel with two horns
attached at its base. He is often represented with a straight-bladed sword
that he wore on the belt of a short kilt. At other times, he was shown
holding a cedar tree club or spear in his left hand while his raised right
hand welding a weapon or even a thunderbolt. This theme, which is
common to many Near Eastern storm gods, may have inspired the
iconography of the Greek god Zeus.
Baal's cult animal was the bull, which symbolized his power and fertility,
though at times and in different places he was also associated with goats

52
and even flies. He is sometimes shown in Near Eastern art standing on the
back of a bull, and certainly this association would have also contributed
to his acceptance by the Pharaohs of Egypt, where bull cults particularly in
the New Kingdom were an important aspect of the ancient theology.
Baal's cult animal was the bull, which symbolized his power and fertility,
though at times and in different places he was also associated with goats
and even flies. He is sometimes shown in Near Eastern art standing on the
back of a bull, and certainly this association would have also contributed
to his acceptance by the Pharaohs of Egypt, where bull cults particularly in
the New Kingdom were an important aspect of the ancient theology.

Babi

Virility God
In Egyptian mythology, Babi was the deification of the baboon, one of the
main animals present in Egypt, and it is thought that from his name we get

53
the word baboon. His name is usually translated as Bull of the baboons,
and roughly means Alpha male of all baboons, i.e. chief of the baboons.
Since Baboons exhibit many human characteristics, it was believed in
early times, at least since the Predynastic Period, that they were
deceased ancestors. In particular, the alpha males were identified as
deceased rulers, referred to as the great white one (Hez-ur in Egyptian),
since Hamadryas baboon (the species prevalent in Egypt) alpha males
have a notable light grey streak. For example, Narmer is depicted in some
images as having transformed into a baboon.
Since baboons were considered to be the dead, Babi was viewed as an
underworld deity. Baboons are extremely aggressive, and omnivorous,
and so Babi was viewed as being very bloodthirsty, and living on entrails.
Consequently, he was viewed as devouring the souls of the unrighteous
after they had been weighed against Ma'at (the concept of truth/order),
and was thus said to stand by a lake of fire, representing destruction.
Since this judging of righteousness was an important part of the
underworld, Babi was said to be the first born son of Osiris, the god of the
dead amongst the same areas as Babi was believed in.
Baboons also have noticeably high sex drives, in addition to their high level
of genital marking, and so Babi was considered the god of virility of the
dead. He was usually portrayed with an erection, and due to the
association with the judging of souls, was sometimes depicted as using it
as the mast of the ferry which conveyed the righteous to Aaru, a series of
islands. Babi was also prayed to, in order to ensure that an individual
would not suffer from impotence after death.

54
Bast

Bast, Perfumed Protector, Cat Goddess

Statue: 600 B.C.E.

55
In Egyptian mythology, Bast (also spelled Ubasti, Baset, and later Bastet)
is an ancient solar and war goddess, worshipped at least since the
Second Dynasty. In the late dynasties, the priests of Amun began to call
her Bastet, a repetitive and diminutive form after her role in the pantheon
became diminished as Sekhmet, a similar lioness war deity, became more
dominant in the unified culture of Lower and Upper Egypt. In the Middle
Kingdom, the cat appeared as Bastet's sacred animal and after the New
Kingdom she was depicted with a woman with a cat's head carrying a
sacred rattle and a box or basket.
Bast or Bastet was the cat goddess and local deity of the town of
Bubastis or Per-Bast in Egyptian, where her cult was centered. Bubastis
was named after her. Originally she was viewed as the protector goddess
of Lower Egypt, and consequently depicted as a fierce lioness. Indeed,
her name means (female) devourer. As protector, she was seen as
defender of the pharaoh, and consequently of the later chief male deity,
Ra, who was a solar deity also, gaining her the titles Lady of Flame and
Eye of Ra.
The goddess Bast was sometimes depicted holding a ceremonial sistrum

56
in one hand and an aegis in the other - the aegis usually resembling a
collar or gorget embellished with a lioness head.
Bast was a goddess of the sun throughout most of Ancient Egyptian
history, but later when she was changed into a cat goddess rather than a
lion, she was changed to a goddess of the moon by Greeks occupying
Ancient Egypt toward the end of its civilization. In Greek mythology, Bast
is also known as Aelurus.
History and Connection to Other Hods
Due to the threat to the food supply that could be caused by simple
vermin such as mice and rats, and their ability to fight and kill snakes,
especially cobras, cats in Egypt were revered highly, sometimes being
given golden jewellery to wear and were allowed to eat from the same
plates as their owners. Consequently, later as the main cat (rather than
lioness) deity, Bastet was strongly revered as the patron of cats, and thus
it was in the temple at Per-Bast that cats were buried and mummified.
When the owner died they would put the owner next to the mummified cat.
More than 300,000 mummified cats were discovered when Bast's temple
at Per-Bast was excavated. Herodotus writes that when a cat in the family
dies, Egyptians shaved their eyebrows and took the body to Bubastis to
be embalmed.
As a cat or lioness war goddess, and protector of the lands, when, during
the New Kingdom, the fierce lion god Maahes of Nubia became part of
Egyptian mythology, she was identified, in the Lower Kingdom, as his
mother. This paralleled the identification of the fierce lioness war goddess
Sekhmet, as his mother in the Upper Kingdom.

Wadjet-Bast, with a lioness head, the solar disk, and the

57
cobra
As divine mother, and more especially as protector, for Lower Egypt, she
became strongly associated with Wadjet, the patron goddess of Lower
Egypt, eventually becoming Wadjet-Bast, paralleling the similar pair of
patron (Nekhbet) and lioness protector (Sekhmet) for Upper Egypt. Bastet
was the daughter of Amun Ra.
Later Perception
Later scribes sometimes renamed her Bastet, a variation on Bast
consisting of an additional feminine suffix to the one already present,
thought to have been added to emphasize pronunciation; but perhaps it is
a diminutive name applied as she receded in the ascendancy of Sekhmet
in the Egyptian pantheon. Since Bastet literally meant, (female) of the
ointment jar, Bast gradually became regarded as the goddess of
perfumes, earning the title perfumed protector. In connection with this,
when Anubis became the god of embalming, Bast, as goddess of
ointment, came to be regarded as his wife. The association of Bastet as

58
mother of Anubis, was broken years later when Anubis became Nephthys'
son.
Egypt's loss in the wars between Upper and Lower Egypt led to a
decrease in her ferocity. Thus, by the Middle Kingdom she came to be
regarded as a domestic cat rather than a lioness. Occasionally, however,
she was depicted holding a lioness mask, hinting at potential ferocity.
Because domestic cats tend to be tender and protective of their offspring,
Bast was also regarded as a good mother, and she was sometimes
depicted with numerous kittens. Consequently, a woman who wanted
children sometimes wore an amulet showing the goddess with kittens, the
number of which indicated her own desired number of children.
Eventually, her position as patron and protector of Lower Egypt led to her
being identified with the more substantial goddess Mut, whose cult had
risen to power with that of Amun, and eventually being syncretized with
her as Mut-Wadjet-Bast. Shortly after, Mut also absorbed the identities of
the Sekhmet-Nekhbet pairing as well.
This merging of identities of similar goddesses has led to considerable
confusion, leading to some attributing to Bastet the title Mistress of the
Sistrum (more properly belonging to Hathor, who had become thought of
as an aspect of the later emerging Isis, as had Mut), and the Greek idea of
her as a lunar goddess (more properly an attribute of Mut) rather than the
solar deity she was. Indeed, much of this confusion occurred with
subsequent generations; the identities slowly merged among the Greeks
during their occupation of Egypt, who sometimes named her Ailuros
(Greek for cat), thinking of Bastet as a version of Artemis, their own moon
goddess.Thus, to fit their own cosmology, to the Greeks Bastet is thought
of as the sister of Horus, whom they identified as Apollo (Artemis'
brother), and consequently, the daughter of the later emerging deities, Isis
and Ra.
The worship of the Goddess Bast continues today through Khemetic
reconstructionalist religions, there are several 'Bast Cults' some of which
may be found online and as such, technically, predates most Religions. In
current day it is very common for Bast to be seen as a fertility goddess or
even a goddess of lesbianism, despite the fact that research on her actual

59
functions within the Egyptian pantheon is so very easy.

Bess

Bes (also spelt as Bisu) was an Egyptian deity worshipped in the later
periods of dynastic history as a protector of households and in particular
mothers and children. In time he would be regarded as the defender of
everything good and the enemy of all that is bad. While past studies
identified Bes as a Middle Kingdom import from Nubia, some more recent
research believes him to be an Egyptian native. Mentions of Bes can be
traced to the southern lands of the Old Kingdom; however his cult did not
become widespread until well into the New Kingdom.

60
His name appears to be connected to a Nubian word for "cat" (besa) which
literally means "protector", and indeed, his first appearances have the
suggestion of a cat god[citation needed]. Egyptians kept cats in order to
attack snakes, and creatures that might ruin crop stores, such as mice,
and so Bes was naturally singled out as worthy of worship in Egypt.
He is also known as a comic dwarf god that brings good luck and
happiness to homes.

Louvre Museum
Iconography
Modern scholars such as James Romano demonstrated that in its earliest
inceptions, Bes was a representation of a lion rearing up on its hind legs.
After the Third Intermediate Period, Bes is often seen as just the head or
the face, often worn as amulets. It is theorized that the god Bes came
from the Great Lakes Region of Africa, coming from the Twa people (a

61
pygmy group) in Congo or Rwanda. The ancient Twa were about the same
height as the depictions of Bes. Dawn Prince-Hughes lists Bes as fitting
with other archetypal long-haired Bigfoot-like ape-man figures from ancient
Northern Africa, "a squat, bandy-legged figure depicted with fur about his
body, a prominent brow, and short, pug nose."
Another theory born out by Bes's role in both the protection of children
and women in labor is the theory that Bes is the figure of an miscarried
fetus.
Worship
Images of the deity were kept in homes he was depicted quite differently
from the other gods. Normally Egyptian gods were shown in profile, but
instead Bes appeared in portrait, ithyphallic, and sometimes in a soldier's
tunic, so as to appear ready to launch an attack on any approaching evil.
Bes was a household protector, throughout ancient Egyptian history
becoming responsible for such varied tasks as killing snakes, fighting off
evil spirits, watching after children, and aiding (by fighting off evil spirits)
women in labour (and thus present with Taweret at births).
Since he drove off evil, Bes also came to symbolize the good things in life
- music, dance, and sexual pleasure. Later, in the Ptolemaic period of
Egyptian history, chambers were constructed, painted with images of Bes
and his wife Beset, thought by Egyptologists to have been for the purpose
of curing fertility problems or general healing rituals.
Many instances of Bes masks and costumes from the New Kingdom and
later have been uncovered. These show considerable wear, thought to be
too great for occasional use at festivals, and are therefore thought to
have been used by professional performers, or given out for rent.
In the New Kingdom, tattoos of Bes could be found on the thighs of
dancers, musicians and servant girls. Like many Egyptian gods, the
worship of Bes was exported overseas, and he, in particular, proved
popular with the Phoenicians and the ancient Cypriots.
The cult of Saint Bessus in northern Italy may represent the
Christianization of the cult associated with Bes; St. Bessus was also
invoked for fertility, and Bessus and Bes are both associated with an
ostrich feather in their iconography.

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As another form of protection, an image of the dwarf god was tattooed on
some women - different depictions of women, such as girls swimming,
female dancers, acrobats and musicians, show them with Bes painted on
their skin. The women with the image of Bes tattooed on her upper thigh
an around the pubic area might be Egyptian prostitutes, the tattoo being
used to ward off venereal disease. This was probably because of his
association with music and entertainment, as well as being a protector of
women and children. It could have also been a tattoo relating to sexuality
or fertility.
In the Ptolemaic period, 'incubation' or Bes chambers were built at
Anubieion with figures of Bes and a naked goddess - probably Beset - on
the inside walls. Pilgrims might have spent the night there to have healing -
or maybe erotic - dreams to renew their sexual power.
The Egyptians also saw Bes as one who not only protected but
entertained children - when a child smiled for no reason, it was thought
that Bes was pulling faces at the child to make him or her laugh! He was
thought to entertain through dancing and singing, and so he was also
thought to be a god of happiness and joviality.
Despite his fun-loving nature, he was also regarded as a god of war from
early times. He used his lion-like, ferocious nature to destroy or scare the
enemies of pharaoh, as well as the evil spirits that were thought to plague
the people of Egypt (including sickness, dangerous creatures and other
such troubles). He was thought to be especially protective of women and

63
children.
It was during the Greek Period that the worship of Bes became
wide-spread - the numbers of amulets and charms, as well as reliefs at the
temples show how popular the 'Great Dwarf' became. There were even
oracles of Bes, to whom the people would ask questions, on papyrus, for
Bes to give an answer to their problems. In Roman times, the god was
adopted by the Roman people, and there are some figurines of him in
legionnaire garb.

He was not a god of Egyptian origin. Bes was described as 'Coming from
the Divine Land' and 'Lord of Punt' (perhaps an area in present day
Somalia - see Hatshepsut's Expedition to Punt). He was thus linked to the
goddess Hathor who was known as the 'Lady of Punt' and also a goddess
of music. During this period, he was given a wife, known as Beset - a
female version of the dwarf god, presiding over protection, pleasure and
childbirth. The two did not appear together before the Ptolemaic era.
There is an interesting tale about Bes, still mentioned today:
After the triumph of Christianity Bes did not immediately vanish from the
memory of man; for we are told of a wicked demon named Bes whom the
holy Moses had to exorcise because he was terrorizing the neighborhood.
To this day, it would seem, the monumental southern gate of Karnak
serves as a dwelling-place for a knock-kneed dwarf whose gross head is
embellished with a formidable beard. Woe to the stranger who, coming
across him in the dusk of evening, laughs at his grotesque figure! For the
monster will leap at his throat and strangle him. He is the Bes of ancient
Egypt who, after long centuries, is not yet resigned to abandoning

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altogether the scenes of his earlier greatness.
-- Egyptian Mythology, Paul Hamlyn
Bes had no temples and no priesthood other than his oracle, but statues
or depictions of the god was found in most homes throughout the land of
Egypt. Although not originally one of the more famous of the gods, Bes
came to be loved by the people of Egypt. It was the dwarf god-demon Bes
that they came to call on for protection in their daily lives.

Duamutef

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In Egyptian mythology, Duamutef (also known as Tuamutef) was one of the
Four sons of Horus and a funerary god who protected the stomach and
small intestines of mummified corpses, kept in a canopic jar. He was
associated with the jackal and was protected by the goddess
Neith.Duamutef is represented as a mummified man with the head of a
jackal. His name is generally transcribed as Duamutef, and means
'Adoring His Mother'.
By all other animals he was feared because of his vengeful spirit and the
tendency to hunt. The goddess Neith disowned him and bound him in
chains where a great lion was called to kill him. After he died he was given
the duty to protect one of the canopic jars.

66
Ra the sun god later gave him the power to betray Neith, for some
unknown reason, and Duamutef killed Neith with the jaws of The Great Lion
that killed him.
Neith descended into the underworld and sweared revenge against
Duamutef. Neith plotted to leave the underworld by resurrecting souls and
making Anubis angry however Neith was forced to make a deal with
Anubis, but she would later betray him. After seven years of forging Neith
forged a sword that could kill any mortal or immortal. Duamutef caught
word of this and challenged Neith.
Duamutef knew the power of the sword and was given a weapon by
Anubis called the Bow of Fatality . In a valley the battle ensued between
the Sword of Eternity and the Bow of Fatality. Neith won the battle but was
bound by blood to keep Duamutef alive, completely ignoring the
agreement she stabbed Duamutef but when the blade struck him it
shattered into hundreds of pieces.
Realizing that she herself could not kill him because of the agreement with
Anubis, she knocked him unconscious and tossed him into a nearby
swamp. As much as he struggled Duamutef could not escape. Drowning
killed Duamutef and sent him back to the underworld. Stripped of his

67
power by Ra, (who realized his treachery and not Neith's) he was
condemned to protect the stomach inside a canopic jar.
Neith, astonished by Ra's decision, was shunned by the other gods
because of her treachery.
Duamutef made a pact with Anubis that as long as he lived he could use
the Bow of Fatality which was forged by three different gods, in return for
the death of Neith the goddess who saved many a soul from Anubis. Neith
found out about the pact and killed Duamutef first. Duamutef thought that
he would be able to fight the goddess Neith alone, but once he died he
called upon the Bow of Fatality. When he died again the pact was broken
and the Bow of Fatality was hidden from him.

Geb

Son of Shu and Tefnut, twin brother of Nut, husband of Nut, father of
Osiris and Isis, Seth, Nephthys.
Geb was the Egyptian god of the Earth and a member of the Ennead of
Heliopolis.
As a vegetation-god he was shown with green patches or plants on his

68
body. As the Earth, he is often seen lying beneath the sky goddess Nut,
leaning on one elbow, with a knee bent toward the sky, this is
representative of the mountains and valleys of the Earth.

Geb is usually represented in the form of a man who wears either the
white crown to which is added the Atef crown, or a goose. The Goose was
his sacred animal and symbol. As the God of Earth, the Earth formed his
body and was called the "House of Geb," just as the air was called the
"House of Shu," and the heaven the "house of Ra," Hence, he was also
often portrayed laying on his side on the Earth, and was sometimes even
painted green, with plants springing from his body. Earthquakes were
believed to be the laughter of Geb.
In hymns and other compositions he is often portrayed as the erpat, i.e.,
the hereditary, tribal chief of the gods, and he plays a very important part
in the Book of the Dead. Therefore he is one of the gods who watch the
weighing of the heart of the deceased in the Judgement Hall of Osiris. The
righteous who were provided with the necessary words of power were
able to make their escape from the earth but the wicked were held fast by
Geb.
Religious texts show that there was no special city or district set apart for
the god Geb, but a portion of the temple estates in Apollinopolis Magna
were called the "Aat of Geb," and a name of Dendera was "the home of the
children of Geb,". The chief seat of the god appears to have been at
Heliopolis, where he and his female counterpart Nut produced the great
Egg from which sprang the Sun-god under the from of a phoenix. In

69
ancient Egypt, the egg is a symbol of renewal, and even today, this
symbolism appears in our traditions surrounding Easter.
It was claimed that Heliopolis was the birthplace of the company of the
gods, and that in fact the work of creation began there. In several papyri
we find pictures of the first act of creation which took place as soon as
the Sun-god, by whatsoever name he may be called, appeared in the sky,
and sent forth his rays upon the earth. In these papyri, Geb always
occupies a very prominent position. He is seen lying upon the ground with
one hand stretched out upon it, and the other extended towards heaven
Shu stands by his side, and supports on his upraised hands the heavens
which are depicted in the form of a women whose body is covered with
stars. She is the goddess Nut.
The oldest representation in a fragmentary relief of the god was as an
anthropomorphic being accompanied by his name, dating from king
Djoser's reign, IIIth Dynasty, and was found in Heliopolis. In later times he
could also be depicted as a ram, a bull or a crocodile. Frequently
described mythologically as 'father' of snakes and depicted sometimes
(partly) as such. In mythology he also often occurs as a primeval
ruler/king of Egypt. Geb could be seen as earth containing the dead, or
imprisoning those not worthy to go to the North-Eastern heavenly Field of
Reeds.
In the Heliopolitan Ennead (a group of nine gods created in the beginning
by the one god Atum, Geb is the husband of Nut, the sky or visible
firmament, the son of the earlier primordial elements Tefnut ('orphaness',
later also conceived of as moisture [e.g.: 'tef']) and Shu ('emptiness' or
perhaps 'raiser'[namely of the firmament as air]), and the father to the four
lesser gods of the system - Osiris, Set, Isis and Nephthys. In this context,
Geb was said to have originally been engaged in eternal sex with Nut, and
had to be separated from her by Shu, god of the air.

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Consequently, in mythological depictions Geb was shown as a 'man'
reclining, sometimes with his phallus still pointed towards the sky goddess
Nut.
As time progressed, the deity became more associated with the habitable
land of Egypt and also as one of its early godly rulers. As a chtonic deity
he (like e.g. Osiris and Min) became naturally associated with the
underworld and with vegetation, with barley being said to grow upon his
ribs, and was depicted with plants and other green patches on his body.
His association with vegetation, and sometimes with the underworld, and
also with royalty brought Geb the occasional interpretation that he was the
husband of Renenutet, primarily a minor goddess of the harvest and also
mythological caretaker of the young king in the shape of a cobra, who
herself was the mother of Nehebkau, a primeval snake god associated
with the underworld, who was on the same occasions said to be his son
by her. He is also equated by classical authors as the Greek Titan Cronus.

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Hapi

God of the Nile River, Fertility, the North and South

Hapi (Hep, Hap, Hapy) was a bearded man often seen in the color blue or
green, with female breasts, indicating his powers of nourishment. Hapi
was one of the Four sons of Horus depicted in funerary literature as
protecting the throne of Osiris in the Underworld.

Hapi is sometimes depicted as a baboon-headed mummified human on

funerary furniture and especially the canopic jars that held the organs of
the deceased. Hapi's jar held the lungs. Hapi was also the protector of the

72
North. Hapi was assigned to a tutelary protective goddess Nephthys.
Hapi was the personification of the Nile. He was believed to dwell in a
great cave near the cataracts. There he was aided by a retinue of
crocodile gods and frog goddesses, who ensured that the Nile ran cool
and clear. Each year he would increase the Nile so that it flooded,
depositing rich soil on the farmlands. He was worshipped throughout
Egypt.

Hathor

Hathor symbolizes rebirth.

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In Egyptian mythology, Hathor (Egyptian for House of Horus) was originally
a personification of the Milky Way, which was seen as the milk that flowed
from the udders of a heavenly cow.
Hathor was an ancient goddess, worshipped as a cow-deity from at least
2700 BC, during the 2nd dynasty, and possibly even by the Scorpion King.
The name Hathor refers to the encirclement by her, in the form of the
Milky Way, of the night sky and consequently of the god of the sky, Horus.
She was originally seen as the daughter of Ra, the creator whose own
cosmic birth was formalised as the Ogdoad cosmogeny.An alternate name
for her, which persisted for 3,000 years, was Mehturt (also spelt Mehurt,
Mehet-Weret, and Mehet-uret), meaning great flood, a direct reference to
her being the milky way.
The Milky Way was seen as a waterway in the heavens, sailed upon by
both the sun god and the king, leading the Egyptians to describe it as The
Nile in the Sky.
Due to this, and the name mehturt, she was identified as responsible for
the yearly inundation of the Nile.
Another consequence of this name is that she was seen as a herald of
imminent birth, as when the amniotic sac breaks and floods its waters, it
is a medical indicator that the child is due to be born extremely soon.
Hathor was also favored as a protector in desert regions.

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Some Egyptologists associate Hathor with artificial light as evidenced by
what has been purported to be a representation of an electric lamp in a
temple dedicated to her worship. Though other scholars believe the
representation to be that of a lotus flower, spawning a snake within.
Goddess of Motherhood
As a provider of milk, and due to cows careful tending of their calves, the
cow was a universal symbol of motherhood, and so Hathor became
goddess of motherhood, gaining titles such as 'The Great Cow Who
Protects Her Child' and 'Mistress of the Sanctuary of Women.'
Because of the aspect of motherhood, her priests were oracles,
predicting the fate of the newborn, and midwives delivering them.
As a mother, since she enclosed the sky, she was seen as the mother of
Horus.
Symbolically she became the divine mother of the pharaoh, who was
identified as Horus.
Since Horus's wife was Isis, Hathor was sometimes said to be her mother,
although it was more accurate to say she was her mother in law.
As Horus was also said to be the son of Ra, Hathor was identified as Ra's
wife (Ra created her in a non-sexual manner), gaining the title Mistress of
Heaven. Having been identified as Ra's wife, it was said she arose from
Ra's tears, and thus was identified as the Eye of Ra.
In art, Hathor was often depicted as a golden cow (sometimes covered in
stars), with the titles Cow of Gold, and The one who shines like gold, or as
a woman with the ears of a cow and a headdress of horns holding the
sun-disc, which represented Ra.
Also, Hathor was sometimes identified as a hippopotamus, which the
Egyptians also considered quite motherly creatures, and sometimes as an
aquatic form of the cow.
In her position as divine mother to the pharaoh, Hathor was sometimes
depicted as a cow standing in a boat (representing the boat of Ra with
which he, as the sun, crosses through the sky), surrounded by tall papyrus
reeds (as were common in the Nile delta), with the pharaoh often pictured
as a calf standing next to her.
As divine mother, she was also represented with, or as, an uraeus, a

75
stylised cobra, which symbolised royal power.
Sometimes, the local depictions of Hathor, with their slight variations on
emphasising certain features, were treated separately, and seven of them,
any seven, which was perceived as a mystical number (it divides the lunar
month into 4 equal parts, and was the number of known planets at the
time), named by their different titles, were considered special if gathered
together.
These Seven Hathors, in Hathor's context as a mother, were said to dress
in disguise as young women, and attend the birth of a child, and then one
by one announce aspects of his fate. In later centuries, this 7-fold aspect
of Hathor was identified as the Pleiades.
Fertility Goddess
The cow's large eyes with long lashes and generally quiet demeanor were
often considered to suggest a gentle aspect of feminine beauty. There are
still cultures in the world where to say that a girl is as pretty as a heifer is
a great compliment, rather than taking you cow as an insult. And so
Hathor rapidly became a goddess of beauty, and fertility, thus also a
patron goddess for lovers.
A tale grew up around this in which Ra is described as having been upset
over Horus' victory over Set (representing the conquest in 3000BC of
Lower Egypt by Upper Egypt), and went off to be alone, and so Hathor
went to him and started to dance and stripped naked, showing him her
genitals, which cheered him up, so he returned.
(This has made certain readers believe that the sun god was extremley
perverted, which may be true). The tale is thought also to describe a solar
eclipse, as it depicts Ra, the sun, going away to sulk, and then returning
when cheered up.
In her position as a female fertility goddess, who readily strips naked, she
was often depicted in red, the color of passion, though her sacred color is
turquoise, and so gained the titles Lady of the scarlet-colored garment,
and Lady of [sexual] offerings (Nebet Hetepet in Egyptian).
Sometimes her fertility aspect was depicted symbolically as a field of
reeds. Her position as one of beauty lead to her being depicted in portrait,
which was highly unusual by Egyptian artistic conventions, indeed, only

76
she and Bes were ever depicted in this manner.
Her beauty also lead to her being symbolically depicted by mirrors.
Hathor's image was also often used to form the capitals of columns in
Egyptian architecture.
Musician
Eventually, Hathor's identity as a cow-goddess of fertility, meant that her
Hathor became identified with another ancient cow-goddess of fertility,
Bata. It still remains an unanswered question amongst Egyptologists as to
why Bata survived as an independent goddess for so long. Bata was, in
some respects, connected to the Ba, an aspect of the soul, and so Hathor
gained an association with the afterlife. It was said that, with her motherly
character, she greeted the souls of the dead in the underworld, and
proffered them with refreshments of food, and of drink. She was also
sometimes described as mistress of the acropolis.
The assimilation of Bata, who was associated with the sistrum, a musical
instrument, brought with it an association with music. In this form,
Hathor's cult became centred in Dendera and was led by priests who were
also dancers, singers, and other entertainers. Hathor's temple at Dendera
contains an image, that has come to be known as the Dendera Light,
which some have controversially claimed may be a depiction of an electric
lamp. Hathor also became associated with the menat, the turquoise
musical necklace often worn by women.
The protector and sponsor of dancers, Hathor was associated with
percussive music, in particular the sistrum. Her traditional votive offering
was two mirrors, the better with which to see both her beauty and your
own.
Hathor's image, specifically her head, was traditionally used to decorate
sistrums and mirrors. Thus when gazing at one's own reflection in the
mirror, you would see Hathor looking back, from underneath one's own
face, serving as foundation and support, perhaps as role model and goal.
This imagery was standard and ubiquitous, it also commonly decorates
architectural columns, however one is forced to ask, how would one know
it was Hathor? Usually by the cow ears but even more consistently by the
hair-do.

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Hathor's hair is dressed in so characteristic a fashion that the style now
bears her name: archaeologists have dubbed it the "Hathor hair-do." This
style is utterly distinctive and perhaps surprisingly modern to our eyes. It
is not the heavily bejeweled, elaborately braided hair so commonly
depicted in other ancient Egyptian imagery. Rather it is simplicity in the
extreme: a simple flip, often parted down the middle.
The 'do wouldn't have looked at all out of place on a French or English
mod girl pop singer of the early to mid '60's- a Marianne Faithfull perhaps
or Francoise Hardy. It is a simple hairstyle, a hairstyle one can conceivably
maintain by oneself, without extensive wigs, servants or leisure time. It is
very much an equalizing hairstyle. Ironically, then, it is a hairstyle most
commonly seen in the depiction of deities, especially beautiful love
goddesses, perhaps demonstrating the intensity of their self-confidence.
While other ancient Egyptian hairstyles are instantly recognizable even
today as solely Egyptian, the Hathor hair-do seems to have set an
international style, in particular traveling all over the Middle East. Other
goddesses are depicted wearing this style, in fact it seems to have
become the goddess hairstyle, favored by all the most fashionable deities.

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Spiral Hair at bottom - Sacred Geometry - Golden Ratio
A hymn to Hathor says:
Thou art the Mistress of Jubilation, the Queen of the Dance, the
Mistress of Music, the Queen of the Harp Playing, the Lady of the
Choral Dance, the Queen of Wreath Weaving, the Mistress of
Inebriety Without End.
Essentially, Hathor had become a goddess of Joy, and so she was deeply
loved by the general population, and truly revered by women, who aspired
to embody her multifaceted role as wife, mother, and lover.
In this capacity, she gained the titles of Lady of the House of Jubilation,
and The One Who Fills the Sanctuary with Joy. The worship of Hathor was
so popular that more festivals were dedicated to her honour that any other
Egyptian deity, and more children were named after this goddess than any
other. Even Hathor's priesthood was unusual, in that both men, and
women, became her priests.
Bloodthirsty Warrior
The Middle Kingdom was founded when Upper Egypt's Pharaoh,

79
Mentuhotep II, took control over Lower Egypt, which had become
independent during the First Intermediate Period by force. This unification
had been achieved by a brutal war that was to last some 28 years, but
when it ceased, calm returned, and the reign of the next Pharaoh,
Mentuhotep III, was peaceful, and Egypt once again became prosperous.
A tale, from the perspective of Lower Egypt, developed around this.In the
tale, Ra (representing the Pharaoh of Upper Egypt) was no longer
respected by the people (of Lower Egypt) and they ceased to obey his
authority, which made him so angry that he sent out Sekhmet (war
goddess of Upper Egypt) to destroy them, but Sekhmet was so
bloodthirsty that she could not be stopped. Ra pours blood-coloured beer
on the ground, tricking Sekhmet, who thinks it to be blood, into drinking it,
which makes her stop the slaughter, and become loving, and kind.
The form that Sekhmet had become by the end of the tale was identical in
character to Hathor, and so a cult arose, at the start of the Middle
Kingdom, which dualistically identified Sekhmet with Hathor, making them
one goddess, Sekhmet-Hathor, with two sides.
Consequently, Hathor, as Sekhmet-Hathor, was sometimes depicted as a
lioness.
Sometimes this joint name was corrupted to Sekhathor (also spelt
Sechat-Hor, Sekhat-Heru), meaning (one who) remembers Horus (the
uncorrupted form would mean (the) powerful house of Horus.
However, the two goddesses were so different, indeed almost
diametrically opposed, that the identification did not last.
Wife of Thoth

Thoth and Hathor depicted as primal

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deities
When Horus was identified as Ra, under the name Ra-Herakhty, Hathor's
position became unclear, since she had been the wife of Ra, but mother of
Horus, whose wife was Isis. Many attempts to solve this gave Ra-Herakhty
a new wife, Ausaas, to solve this issue around who Ra-Herakhty's wife
was. However, this left open the question of how Hathor could be his
mother, since this would imply that Ra-Herakhty was a child of Hathor,
rather than a creator.
In areas where the cult of Thoth was strong, Thoth was identified as the
creator, leading to it being said that Thoth was the father of Ra-Herakhty,
thus Hathor, as the mother of Ra-Herakhty, was in this version referred to
as Thoth's wife. Since Ra-Herakhty was, in this version of the Ogdoad
cosmogeny, depicted as a young child, often referred to as Neferhor,
when considered the wife of Thoth, Hathor was often depicted as a female
nursing a child.
Since Thoth's wife had earlier been considered to be Seshat, Hathor
began to be attributed with many of Seshat's features. Since Seshat was
associated with records, and with acting as witness at the judgement of
souls, these aspects became attributed to Hathor, which, together with
her position as goddess of all that was good, lead to her being described
as the (one who) expels evil, which in Egyptian is Nechmetawaj also spelt
Nehmet-awai, and Nehmetawy). Nechmetawaj can also be understood to
mean (one who) recovers stolen goods, and so, in this form, she became
goddess of stolen goods.
Outside the Thoth cult, it was considered important to retain the position
of Ra-Herakhty (i.e. Ra) as self-created (via only the primal forces of the
Ogdoad). Consequently, Hathor could not be identified as Ra-Herakhty's

81
mother.
Hathor's role in the process of death, that of welcoming the newly dead
with food and drink, lead, in such circumstances, to her being identified as
a jolly wife for Nehebkau, the guardian of the entrance to the underworld,
and binder of the Ka. Nethertheless, in this form, she retained the name of
Nechmetawaj, since her aspect as a returner of stolen goods was
important to society, and so considered worth noting.
Later Years
When the Ennead and the Ogdoad were combined, when Ra and Atum
were identified as one another, Hathor, as the daughter of the combined
Atum-Ra, was sometimes confused with Tefnut. Consequently, the tale, a
metaphor for an historic drought, in which Tefnut had fled Egypt after an
argument with her husband (Shu), but is persuaded to return, became
occasionally transformed into one in which Hathor had an argument with
Ra, and fled, later returning.
The aspect of the story in which Tefnut turned into a cat and attacked
those who went near, neatly fitted with the tale in which Hathor was said to
have been Sekhmet, contributing to the frequency with which the tale
occurred featuring Hathor rather than Tefnut.
Beliefs about Ra himself had been hovering around the identification of
him, a sun god, with Horus, who by this time was also a sun god, in the
combined form Ra-Herakhty, and so for some time, Isis had intermittently
been considered the wife of Ra, since she was the wife of Horus.
Consequently, Hathor became identified with Isis, and since this
identification was much simpler than that of Horus and Ra, it was more
strongly, and more permanantly made.
In this form, which, technically, is really Isis, Hathor's mother was
consequently Nuit, and she was sometimes even described as being the
wife of Horus, leading to a level of confusion, in which Horus, as Hathor's
son, was also his own father.
This form of Horus was known as Horus-Bedhety, referring to Bedhet,
where the view was most commonly held, or as Ihy, referring to his aspect
as a sistrum player, since he was the son of Hathor, who was by now
associated with the sistrum. When Horus assimilated with Anhur, to

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become Arsnuphis, so Hathor was occasionally Anhur's mother as well.
Nethertheless, when Ra subsequently assimilated Amun, into Amun-Ra, it
was sometimes said that Hathor, as a cow, was married to Sobek, or
rather to a generic crocodile-god, since Sobek had become thought of as
merely a manifestation of Amun.
Shortly afterwards, Hathor became fully merged into Isis, whose cult was
much stronger.
Hathor Outside the Nile
Hathor was worshipped in Canaan in the 11th century BC, which at that
time was ruled by Egypt, at her holy city of Hazor, which the Old
Testament claims was destroyed by Joshua (Joshua 11:13, 21).
The Sinai Tablets show that the Hebrew workers in the mines of Sinai
about 1500 BC worshipped Hathor, whom they identified with the goddess
Astarte.
Some theories state that the golden calf mentioned in the bible was meant
to be a statue of the goddess Hathor (Exodus 32:4-32:6.), although it is
more likely to be a representation of the 2 golden calves set up by
Rehoboam, an enemy of the levite priesthood, which marked the borders
of his kingdom.
The Greeks also loved Hathor and equated her with their own goddess of
love and beauty, Aphrodite.
Some ancient texts refer to a serpent of light residing in the heavens. This
is believed to have been inspired by the Milky Way (a similar allusion to the
ouroboros).

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In general, the Egyptian gods and Egyptian religion did not travel. The
ancient Egyptians were insular, not overly interested in importing or
exporting deities. Eventually Isis would become the great exception, with
temples in Rome, and throughout Europe, Africa and Asia, as far away as
the British Isles. Hathor was her trailblazing predecessor. Beyond the
traditional borders of Egypt and Nubia, Hathor was worshipped throughout
Semitic West Asia, beloved particularly in the city of Byblos.
She was also adored as far afield as what is modern Ethiopia, Somalia and
Libya. The seed of what would be universally beloved within Isis also
existed within Hathor. Their appeal transcends national or ethnic
boundaries: Hathor perhaps embodies the wishes of those who long for
life to be generously benevolent and abundant, while Isis embodies the
hopes of those who wish for mercy and kindness.
Hathor was associated with turquoise, malachite and the metals gold and
copper. [alchemy of consciousness]
Her demeanor glows with consistent confidence and sunny, good health.
Hers is a warm, sensual beauty not aloof or remote. Although she ruled

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the perfumer's trade in general, Hathor was especially connected with the
fragrance of myrrh, which was exceedingly precious to the ancient
Egyptians and which on a spiritual level embodied the finest qualities of
the feminine.
In Mesopotamia, the beautiful and stylish, ever youthful if fierce, Ishtar
dresses her hair this way. So do the beautiful Western Semitic love and
war goddesses, Anat and Astarte, who would eventually achieve great
popularity in ancient Egypt, perhaps the only foreign deities to do so. They
would become incorporated into Egyptian mythology, serving as the
designated consolation prize brides for Seth, in the face-saving
compromise that concludes his loss to Horus. Anat and Astarte, the
ancient equivalent of hot foreign babes, of course wear only the most
stylish of hairdos.
Technically, we have no way of actually knowing where this hair-do
originated or with whom. However, Hathor's influence remains so
consistent that no matter where an ancient goddess plaque is dug up, if
she's wearing that flip, she is automatically described as wearing the
Hathor hair do. What the goddesses who wear this style have in common
with Hathor beyond celestial beauty is a willingness to boldly battle on
behalf of justice, their families and followers.
Ishtar, Anat and Hathor: these images of beauty are not passive or vain
but action-oriented brave women, perhaps so confident of their inherent
beauty that elaborate adornment becomes only necessary for their own
pleasure, not as a needed demonstration.
Hathor took on an uncharacteristically destructive aspect in the legend of
the Eye of Ra. According to this legend, Ra sent the Eye of Ra 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. Therefore as a
fertility goddess and a goddess of moisture, Hathor was associated with
the inundation of the Nile. In this aspect she was associated with the
Dog-star Sothis - Sirius - whose rising above the horizon heralded the
annual flooding of the Nile.

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In the legend of Ra and Hathor she is called the Eye of Ra.
The sun disc reresents the creational light - the word Re - Ra - meaning ray
of light.
Her image could also be used to form the capitals of columns in Egyptian
architecture. Her principal sanctuary was at Dendera, where her cult had
its early focus, and where it may have had its origin. At Dendera, 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 who was Venus (as in Hathors from Venus).

Hathor Wikipedia

My friend Irene at the Temple of Hathor at Dendera

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Heqet

Frog headed Goddess of creation and childbirth

To the Egyptians, the frog was a symbol of life and fertility, since millions
of them were born after the annual inundation of the Nile, which brought
fertility to the otherwise barren lands. Consequently, in Egyptian
mythology, there began to be a frog-goddess, who represented fertility,
named Heqet (also Heqat, Hekit, Heket etc, more rarely Hegit, Heget etc.),
written with the determinative frog.
Heqet was usually depicted as a frog, or a woman with a frog's head, or
more rarely as a frog on the end of a phallus to explicitly indicate her
association with fertility. She was often referred to as the wife of Khnum.
The beginning of her cult dates to the early dynastic period at least. Her
name was part of the names of some high-born Second Dynasty
individuals buried at Helwan and was mentioned on a stela of
Wepemnofret and in the Pyramid Texts. Early frog statuettes are often

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thought to be depictions of her.
She was worshipped in the areas where the Ogdoad cosmogony had
gained favour, and so, like most deities belonging to this world view,
except for the eight members of the Ogdoad themselves, she was
considered a child of Ra. After Ra became Atum-Ra, it was sometimes
said that as the bringer of life to the newborn, she had to be the wife of
Shu, who had fathered Nut and Geb, and his first wife was Tefnut.
Later, as a fertility goddess, associated explicitly with the last stages of
the flooding of the Nile, and so with the germination of corn, she became
associated with the final stages of childbirth. This association, which
appears to have arisen during the Middle Kingdom, gained her the title
She who hastens the birth.
Some claim that - even though no ancient Egyptian term for "midwife" is
known for certain - midwives often called themselves the Servants of
Heqet, and that her priestesses were trained in midwifery.
Women often wore amulets of her during childbirth, which depicted Heqet
as a frog, sitting in a lotus. As goddess of the last stages of birth, she
was considered the wife of Khnum, who formed the bodies of new children
on his potter's wheel.
When the Legend of Osiris and Isis developed, it was said that it was
Heqet who breathed life into the new body of Horus at birth, as she was
the goddess of the last moments of birth. As the birth of Horus became
more intimately associated with the resurrection of Osiris, so Heqet's role
became one more closely associated with resurrection.
Eventually, this association lead to her amulets gaining the phrase I am the
resurrection, and consequently the amulets were used by early Christians.
Finally, as the legend of Osiris' resurrection grew increasingly stronger,
she became ever more aligned with Isis, and eventually becoming an
aspect of her.

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Horus - He Who is Above

The falcon-headed Sky God

Horus is the god of the sky, and the son of Osiris, the creator (whose own
birth was thought due to the Ogdoad). Horus became depicted as a
falcon, or as a falcon-headed man, leading to Horus' name, (in Egyptian,
Heru), which meant The distant one.

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Horus was also sometimes known as Nekheny (meaning falcon), although
it has been proposed that Nekheny may have been another falcon-god,
worshipped at Nekhen (city of the hawk), that became identified as Horus
very early on. In this form, he was sometimes given the title Kemwer,
meaning (the) great black (one), referring to the bird's color.
Identities
- Mekhenti-irry (He who has on his brow Two Eyes) - the sun and moon
representing his eyes, on nights when there is no moon. In this form he
was considered the god of the blind.
- Haroeris (Horus the Elder) An early form of Horus - God of light. His eyes
represented the sun and moon. He was the brother of Osiris and Seth.
Sometimes he was the son, or the husband of Hathor.
- Horus Behudety In the form of Horus of Edfu, he represented the midday
sun. This Horus was worshipped in the western Delta and later, as his cult
spread south into Upper Egypt, a cult center was established in Edfu.
Horus of Edfu fights a great battle against Seth and an army of
conspirators. He is pictured as a winged sun-disk or as a hawk headed
lion.

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- Ra-Harakhte (Horus of the two horizons) - He was identified with Ra and
the daily voyage of the sun from horizon to horizon. The two deities
combined to become Ra-Harakhte. He was represented as a falcon or a
falcon-headed man wearing the solar disk and double crown or the uraeus
and the atef crown.
- Harmakhet (Horus in the Horizon) In this form he represented the rising
sun and was associated with Khepri. He was also considered to be the
keeper of wisdom. He was sometimes pictured as a man with a falcon's
head, or a falcon headed lion. But his most recognizable form is that of a
sphinx, or as a ram-headed sphinx.
- Harsiesis (Horus son of Isis) This Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris. He
was conceived magically after the death of Osiris and brought up by Isis
on a floating island in the marshes of Buto. The child was weak and in
constant danger from the scheming of his wicked uncle Seth, who sent
serpents andmonsters to attack him. But his mother, Isis was great in
themagical arts and she warded off this evil by using a spellagainst
creatures biting with their mouths and stinging withtheir tails, and the
young Horus survived and grew.
- Harendotes (Horus the avenger of his father)
- Har-pa-Neb-Taui (Horus Lord of the Two Lands)
- Harpokrates (The infant Horus) As a child he represented the new born
sun and was often pictured being suckled by Isis. he was usually
represented as a seated child, sucking his thumb, his head was shaved
except for the sidelock of youth. Even as a child, he wore the royal crown
and uraeus
As Horus was the son of Osiris, and god of the sky, he became closely
associated with the Pharaoh of Upper Egypt (where Horus was
worshipped), and became their patron. The association with the Pharaoh
brought with it the idea that he was the son of Isis, in her original form,
who was regarded as a deification of the Queen.
It was said that after the world was created, Horus landed on a perch,
known as the djeba, which literally translates as finger, in order to rest,
which consequently became considered sacred. On some occasions,
Horus was referred to as lord of the djeba (i.e. lord of the perch or lord of

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the finger), a form in which he was especially worshipped at Buto, known
as Djebauti, meaning (ones) of the djeba (the reason for the plural is not
understood, and may just have been a result of Epenthesis, or Paragoge).
The form of Djebauti eventually became depicted as an heron,
nevertheless continuing to rest on the sacred perch.
Just as a precaution: a great deal of the following information is incorrect.
For example, Isis has always been Horus' mother and never his wife.
Osiris has always been Horus' father and Horus is not both Horus and
Osiris. The relation between the story of Jesus and the story of Horus is
the fact that Horus' story is the story of the REAL first immaculate
conception.
The story goes as follows: Seth (brother of Osiris) was jealous of Osiris
and fought him to the death. After he killed Osiris he cut his body up into
14 pieces and spread the pieces throughout Egypt. Isis (Osiris' wife) found
out that her husband was killed and she searched egypt looking for his
body parts. She found all but one (his penis) and using her magic she put
his body together and buried him, during the process of putting him back
together she became impregnated with her son Horus. She gave birth to
Horus who became the god of the sky and later avenged his fathers death
by killing his uncle Seth.

Sun God
Since Horus was said to be the sky, it was natural that he was rapidly
considered to also contain the sun and moon. It became said that the sun
was one of his eyes and the moon the other, and that they traversed the
sky when he, a falcon, flew across it. Thus he became known as Harmerty
- Horus of two eyes.
Later, the reason that the moon was not as bright as the sun was
explained by a tale, known as the contestings of Horus and Set,
originating as a metaphor for the conquest of Lower Egypt by Upper
Egypt in about 3000BC. In this tale, it was said that Set, the patron of
Lower Egypt, and Horus, the patron of Upper Egypt, had battled for Egypt
brutally, with neither side victorious, until eventually the gods sided with

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Horus.
As Horus was the ultimate victor he became known as Harsiesis (Heru-ur,
and Har-Wer, in Egyptian), meaning Horus the Great, but more usually
translated as Horus the Elder. Meanwhile, in the struggle, Set had lost a
testicle, explaining why the desert, which Set represented is infertile.
Horus' right eye had also been gouged out, which explained why the
moon, which it represented, was so weak compared to the sun. It was
also said that during a new-moon, Horus had become blinded and was
titled Mekhenty-er-irty (he who has no eyes), while when the moon became
visible again, he was re-titled Khenty-irty (he who has eyes).
While blind, it was considered that Horus was quite dangerous, sometimes
attacking his friends after mistaking them for enemies.
Ultimately, as another sun god, Horus became identified with Ra as
Ra-Herakhty, literally Ra, who is Horus of the two horizons. However, this
identification proved to be awkward, for it made Ra the son of Hathor, and
therefore a created being rather than the creator.
And, even worse, it made Ra into Horus, who was the son of Ra, i.e. it
made Ra his own son and father, in a standard sexually-reproductive
manner, an idea that would not be considered comprehensible until the
hellenic era. Consequently Ra and Horus never completely merged into a
single falcon-headed sun god.
Nevertheless the idea of making the identification persisted, and Ra
continued to be depicted as falcon-headed. Likewise, as Ra-Herakhty, in an
allusion to the Ogdoad creation myth, Horus was occasionally shown in art
as a naked boy, with a finger in his mouth, sitting on a lotus with his
mother.
In the form of a youth, Horus was referred to as Neferhor (also spelt Nefer
Hor, Nephoros, and Nopheros), which, in the Egyptian language, means
beautiful Horus (i.e. youthful Horus).In an attempt to resolve the conflict,
Ra-Herakhty was occasionally said to be married to Iusaaset, which was
technically his own shadow, having previously been Atum's shadow, before
Atum was identified as Ra, in the form Atum-Ra, and thus of Ra-Herakhty
when Ra was also identified as a form of Horus.
In the version of the Ogdoad creation myth used by the Thoth cult, Thoth

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created Ra-Herakhty, via an egg, and so was said to be the father of
Neferhor.

Conqueror of Set
During the overthrow of the hated Hyksos, foreign rulers over Egypt, Set
became demonised by the nationalistic fervour, as he had been chosen by
the Hyksos as their favourite god. The previous brief enmity between Set
and Horus, in which Horus had ripped off one of Set's testicles, was
revitalised as a tale representing the conquest over the Hyksos. Since by
this time, Set was considered to have been gay, Set is depicted as trying
to prove his dominance, by seducing Horus (with the line how lovely your
backside is) and then having intercrural intercourse with him, in which Set
takes the top role. However, Horus places his hand between his thighs
and catches Set's semen, then subsequently cut the hand off, throwing it
in the river, so that he may not be said to have been inseminated by Set.
Subsequently, Horus secretly masturbates, and deliberately spreads his
own semen on some lettuce, which was Set's favourite food (the
Egyptians thought that lettuce was phallic, since Egyptian lettuce was
hard, long, and released a milk substance when rubbed). After Set has
eaten the lettuce, they go to the gods to try to settle the argument over
the rule of Egypt. The gods first listen to Set's claim of dominance over
Horus, and call his semen forth, but it answers from the river, invalidating
his claim. Then, the gods listen to Horus' claim of having dominated Set,
and call his semen forth, and it answers from inside Set. In consequence,
Horus is declared the ruler of Egypt.

Brother of Isis
When Ra assimilated Atum into Atum-Ra, Horus became considered part of
what had been the Ennead. Since Atum had had no wife, having produced
his children by masturbating, Hathor was easily inserted as the mother of
the previously motherless subsequent generation of children.
However, Horus did not fit in so easily, since if he was identified as the

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son of Hathor and Atum-Ra, in the Ennead, he would then be the brother of
the primordial air and moisture, and the uncle of the sky and earth,
between which there was initially nothing, which was not very consistent
with him being the sun.
Instead, he was made the brother of Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys, as
this was the only plausible level at which he could meaningfully rule over
the sun, and over the Pharaoh's kingdom. It was in this form that he was
worshipped at Behdet as Har-Behedti (also abbreviated Bebti).
Since Horus had become more and more identified with the sun, since his
identification as Ra, his identification as also the moon suffered, so it was
possible for the rise of other moon gods, without complicating the system
of belief too much. Consequently, Chons became the moon god.
Thoth, who had also been the moon god, became much more associated
with secondary mythological aspects of the moon, such as wisdom,
healing, and peace making. When the cult of Thoth arose in power, Thoth
was retroactively inserted into the earlier myths, making Thoth the one
whose magic caused Set and Horus' semen to respond, in the tale of the
contestings of Set and Horus, for example.
Thoth's priests went on to explain how it was that there were 5 children of
Geb and Nuit. They said that Thoth had prophecied the birth of a great
king of the gods, and so Ra, afraid of being usurped, had cursed Nuit with
not being able to give birth at any point in the year.
In order to remove this curse, Thoth proceeded to gamble with Chons,
winning 1/72nd of moonlight from him. Prior to this time in Egyptian
history, the calendar had had 360 days, and so 1/72 of moonlight each
day corresponded to 5 extra days, and so the tale states that Nuit was
able to give birth on each of these extra days, having 5 children.
The Egyptian calendar was reformed around this time, and gained the 5
extra days, which, by coincidence, meant that this could be used to
explain the 5 children of Nuit.

Son of Osiris
When Isis became identified as Hathor (i.e. Isis-Hathor), Isis became the

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mother of Horus, rather than his wife, and so, in his place, as Isis had
become regarded as one of the Ennead, she was seen as the wife of
Osiris. However, it had to be explained how Osiris, who as god of the
dead, was dead, could be considered a father to Horus who was very
much not considered dead. This led to the evolution of the idea that Osiris
needed to be resurrected, and so to the Legend of Osiris and Isis, a myth
so significant that everything else paled in comparison.
As the son of Isis, Horus was referred to as Har-sa-Iset (Harsiesis in
Greek), literally meaning Horus, son of Isis. There were also titles that
differentiated between this form of Horus as an adult, and him as a child,
specifically, Harpocrates (Har-Pa-Khered in Egyptian), meaning Horus the
child, and Har-nedj-itef, meaning Horus, saviour of his father, i.e. a
reference to Horus' actions against Set once Horus had become an adult.
Since he had been the son of Hathor, a fertility goddess, the idea that a
major event about Horus was when he was a child, Horus sometimes
depicted as a fertility god, holding a cornucopia, although it was much
more common for him to be shown as being nursed by Isis (more
accurately Isis-Hathor, who was depicted as Isis, but with Hathor's horns).
In the New Kingdom, Anhur, a war god, gained the title Saviour, due to the
feelings of the benefits of going to war to assert your own freedom, and
so he became conflated with Horus, who shared both these
characteristics, as the warrior against Set, with the title Saviour of his
father.
The identification of Anhur as Horus, referred to as Horus-Anhur, was
given a new name during the Egyptian period of dominance over Nubia,
when the kushites named him as Arensnuphis (also Arsnuphis,
Harensnuphis), Ari-hes-nefer in Egyptian, meaning something along the
lines of Horus of the beautiful house.In a certain few areas, Horus was
identified as the son of Banebdjed, who was an obscure version of Osiris,
technically his Ba, worshipped in Mendes, and consequently also the son
of Hatmehit, the local chief goddess of Mendes who had become
considered Osiris' wife.
Horus became very popular during the time of the Roman Empire, in his
form as a child, where he was depicted riding a goose or ram (symbols of

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Thoth and Banebdjed respectively).Since Horus was sometimes identified
as Ra, Isis assimilated the mythos of Neith, Ra's mother.
Consequently, Horus sometimes took on the aspects of the tale that Ra
exhibited, to have been the son of Neith, who remained a virgin, as a
result of Kneph's creative act of breathing Horus' life into her via an ankh.
Kneph was connected to the Ba, and became identified with Banebdjed,
both being depicted as ram-headed, and consequently this tale became
viewed as Osiris, the most important god (at this time), causing Isis to
become pregnant, while she still remained a virgin, by breathing Horus'
soul into her.

Mystery Religion
Since Horus, as the son of Osiris, was only in existence after Osiris's
death, and because Horus, in his earlier guise, was the husband of Isis,
the difference between Horus and Osiris blurred, and so, after a few
centuries, it came to be said that Horus was the resurrected form of
Osiris. Likewise, as the form of Horus before his death and resurrection,
Osiris, who had already become considered a form of creator when belief
about Osiris assimilated that about Ptah-Seker, also became considered
to be the only creator, since Horus had gained these aspects of Ra.
Eventually, in the Hellenic period, Horus was, in some locations, identified
completely as Osiris, and became his own father, since this concept was
not so disturbing to Greek philosophy as it had been to that of ancient
Egypt.
In this form, Horus was sometimes known as Heru-sema-tawy, meaning
Horus, uniter of two lands, since Horus ruled over the land of the dead,
and that of the living. Since the tale became one of Horus' own death and
rebirth, which happened partly due to his own actions, he became a
life-death-rebirth deity.
In the time of Christ the term "son of god" had come to mean the bearer
of this title was the father god himself as well as his own son incarnated
on earth. Horus was Osiris the father who incarnated as Horus the son.By
assimilating Hathor, who had herself assimilated Bata, who was

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associated with music, and in particular the sistrum, Isis was likewise
thought of in some areas in the same manner.
This particularly happened amongst the groups who thought of Horus as
his own father, and so Horus, in the form of the son, amongst these
groups often became known as Ihy (alternately: Ihi, Ehi, Ahi, Ihu), meaning
sistrum player, which allowed the confusion between the father and son to
be side-stepped.
The combination of this, now rather esoteric mythology, with the
philosophy of Plato, which was becoming popular on the mediterranean
shores, lead to the tale becoming the basis of a mystery religion.
Many Greeks, and those of other nations, who encountered the faith,
thought it so profound that they sought to create their own, modelled upon
it, but using their own gods. This lead to the creation of what was
effectively one religion, which was, in many places, adjusted to
superficially reflect the local mythology although it substantially adjusted
them.
The religion is known to modern scholars as that of Osiris-Dionysus.

Horus and Jesus

A connection between Jesus and Horus-Osiris is frequently raised by
critics of the historicity of Jesus, who argue that he was a mythical figure.
Superficially, the death and resurrection of Horus-Osiris, and Horus' nature
as both the son of Osiris and Osiris himself, appear to be a template for
the idea that this occurred in Jesus.
Deeper similarities between Horus and Jesus, which are not at all obvious
to those who are not completely familiar with ancient Egyptian mythology
and linguistics, have been said by some to mean that certain elements of
the story of Jesus were embellishments, which were copied from the
Horus as syncretism. Indeed, according to a few more radical scholars,
Jesus was copied from Horus wholesale, and made into a Jewish teacher.
In particular, it is said that Horus is the basis for the elements assigned to
the M Gospel (the bits in Matthew which are not in the Q Gospel or Mark)
and the L Gospel (the bits in Luke which are not in the Q gospel or Mark),

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especially the infancy narratives.

Neith's nativity
The nativity sequence itself stands out for comparison with the nativity of
Ra, whose mother became thought of as Neith, who had become the
personification of the primal waters of the Ogdoad. As the primal waters,
from which Ra arose due to the interaction of the ogdoad, Neith was
considered to have given birth whilst remaining a virgin. As the various
religious groups gained and lost power in Egypt, the legend altered, and,
when the cult of Thoth sought to involve themselves in the story, it was
said that Thoth's wisdom (which he personified) meant that he foretold the
birth of Ra to Neith. Since the later legends had other gods in existence at
Ra's birth, it was said that they acknowledged Ra's authority by praising
him at his birth.
Later, the tale evolved so that the god Kneph was present, who
represented the breath of life, which brought new life to things. This was
partly to do with the assertion, of the small cult of Kneph, that Kneph was
the creator, although it was more accurate to say that Kneph was the
personification of the concept of creation of life itself. As a creator, Kneph
became identified as the more dominant creator deity Amun, and when
Amun became Amun-Ra, so Kneph gained Hathor as a wife.
Many of the features look similar to the nativity of Jesus at first glance,
such as the continued virginity, lack of father, annunciation, birth of god,
and so forth, but others do not. There is much that is more subtle.
Although many deities, and indeed people, were referred to as beloved, it
was a title which was most frequently applied to Neith, indeed it became
something of an alternative name. The word used, in this context, for
beloved, is Mery in Egyptian.
Meanwhile, Kneph was said by Plutarch to have been understood by the
Egyptians in the same way as the Greeks understood pneuma, meaning
spirit, and so it was that Neith became pregnant by the actions of the holy
spirit, like Mary does in the Christian story.
Thoth himself was identified by the Greeks, due to his association with

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healing, as Hermes, and consequently, in the hellenic era, Thoth was
considered the messenger of the gods. This role was taken by the
Archangel Michael in Jewish thought, and so if the Christians copied the
tale, it would have been Michael, not Gabriel, who made the annunciation
to Mary.
Much criticism of this similarity is leveled at the fact that Neith is a
goddess, and not a human mother. However, Pharaohs often attributed
tales of divinity to themselves, and their families, and so divine birth
stories for themselves were common. Nethertheless, the tale was
essentially about Neith rather than the queens of pharaohs, until that is,
Amenhotep III applied it to his wife and the birth of his son, whom was
consequently identified as Horus, as after the amalgamation of the gods
Ra and Horus, the tale became one of Horus too. The significance of
Amenhotep making the identification is both that it became a tale of the
birth of Akhenaten, who left such an impression that, as the gods evolved
further, the tale became remembered as being one of the birth from a
human mother of a human son, who was nevertheless divine.
References and Links

Abydos: Complete cemetery to the falcon-shaped god Horus

February 4, 2002

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Archaeologists unearthed an important cemetery of god Horus, one of the
ancient Egyptian trinity that comprises Osiris and Isis, and dates back to
the Ptolemaic era. This is the first time a complete cemetery of the falcon
shaped god Horus was unearthed. The find includes tombs in which big
oval earthenware sarcophagi were found with linen-wrapped embalmed
falcons inside them, some of which had gold-plated dark green and black
masks covering the heads. A number of intact falcon eggs were also
found, in addition to a treasure trove outside the tombs representing a
scarab pushing one of these eggs forward as told by the ancient Egyptian
legend of creation.
Traces of gold were found on the remains of human skeletons gathered
haphazardly and also on the skulls, teeth, fingers and toes as well as an
incomplete bronze statuette of god Horus in the sitting position, a group
of amulets, bronze vessels and a god hat-hor-shaped pestle previously
restored with lead, he noted.

Mythology and Metaphysics

The Eye of Horus

The Wedjat was later called The Eye of Horus

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An ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and royal power from the Gods.

Seven different hieroglyphs are used to represent the "eye" (human body
parts). One is the common usage of the verb: to do, make, or perform.
The other frequently used hieroglyph is the Wedjat, a sacred eye symbol
that gives a mummy the ability "to see again", called the Eye of Horus after
his cult rose to prominence as the son of Hathor.
Hathor, mother of Horus and later wife of Ra,

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showing her sacred eye inherited from Wedjat

depicted in the Papyrus of Ani

When you study the mythologies of ancient civilizations, you realize they
are all designed by the same geometric blueprint that follows into
humanity's current timeline. In the physical we find duality on all levels,
especially in the pantheons of creational forces linked to one another. We
further find the pattern of creation and destruction ... repeating in the
cycles of time ... embracing the human experience. Designing the gods
and goddesses falls into the same categories of duality - good and bad -
light and dark - forever seeking balance and the return to full
consciousness.
Always we find Gods who came from the sky (higher frequency) and those
that came from the sea of creation (collective unconsciousness). Their
creation myths speak to us about a beginning and an end for Earth, giving
rise to something greater. We are reaching the end of the current
programmed experience. Reality is a holographic projection seen through

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the eye of consciousness in time. The eye is a metaphor for the place of
creation through which all things emerge as consciousness and are
experienced and archived as it moves to the next.
The Egyptian Pantheons of major and minor gods and goddesses follow
the pattern along with animal representations that link to destruction and
rebirth - birds, cats, aquatic beings who create or destroy. In truth, one
soul played the roles of all the gods. That souls also played the god roles
in all of the ancient civilizations as told in their creation myths.
Who they are and what they symbolize are all part of the myth, math,
metaphor and magic of realities.
Horus is linked with the eye of time (Hours). He is also part of the ancient
mystery school teachings - sometimes referred to as the Right Eye of
Horus Mystery Schools which hold the truth about reality. These teachings
were allegedly encoded by Isis and Osiris - left behind with their priests in
Egypt to be passed down through the millennia until the time was right for
consciousness to awaken. Many believe these are the same souls who
were the priests in Atlantis. The Eye of Horus and the Eye of Ra or God
are one and the same.

Golden Alchemy - Evolution of Consciousness in the Illusion of

Time

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36 around 1

Horus - Hours
Time and Synchronicity
Pyramids Above and Below create the hourglass

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Thoth Thought Consciousness

Emerald Tablets of Thoth

Sacred Geometry
Thoth and Horus are the same soul - bird headed gods - metaphors for
'flight'
spiraling evolution of consciousness through the alchemy of time.

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More Bird Headed Beings

IMHOTEP

God of learning and medicine.

His name means 'The One Who Comes in Peace'.

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Imhotep was a vizier, wizard, and the first architect and physician known
by name to written history. As the story goes, he was the son of Ptah, his
mother was sometimes said to be Sekhmet, who was often said to be
married to Ptah, since she was the patron of Upper Egypt.
Very little has survived about the details of his life, though numerous
statues and statuettes of him have been found. Some show him as an
ordinary man who is dressed in plain attire.

Others show him as a sage who is seated on a chair

with a roll of papyrus on his knees or under his arm.

Later, his statuettes show him with a god like beard,

standing, and carrying the ankh and a scepter.

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Inscription with the names of Netjerikhet (Djoser) and

Imhotep
Imhotep also served as chancellor to the pharaoh and high priest of the
sun god Ra at Heliopolis. He was said to be a son of Ptah, his mother
being a mortal named Khredu-ankh. He was revered as a genius and
showered with titles.
The full list of titles is:
• Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt,
• First after the King of Upper Egypt,
• Administrator of the Great Palace,
• Hereditary nobleman,
• High Priest of Heliopolis, Builder,
• Sculptor and Maker of Vases in Chief
Master Architect
As the Pharaoh Djoser's Vizier, he designed the Step Pyramid at Saqqara
in Egypt around 2630-2611 BC, during the Third Dynasty. The Step
Pyramid Complex remains today one of the most brilliant architecture
wonders of the ancient world and is recognized as the first monumental
stone structure.

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As a builder, Imhotep is the first master architects who we know by name.
He may have had a hand in the building of Sekhemkhet's unfinished
pyramid, and also possibly with the establishment of the Edfu Temple, but
that is not certain.
James Henry Breasted says of Imhotep:
"In priestly wisdom, in magic, in the formulation of wise proverbs; in
medicine and architecture; this remarkable figure of Zoser's reign left so
notable a reputation that his name was never forgotten. He was the patron
spirit of the later scribes, to whom they regularly poured out a libation
from the water-jug of their writing outfit before beginning their work."
Medicine - Healing
Imhotep is credited as the founder of Egyptian medicine, and as author of
the Edwin Smith papyrus, in which more than 90 anatomical terms and 48
injuries are described. The Edwin Smith Papyrus was probably written
around 1700 BC but may perhaps go back to texts written around 1000
years earlier.
He may have also founded a school of medicine in Memphis, a part of his
cult center possibly known as "Asklepion, which remained famous for two
thousand years. All of this occurred some 2,200 years before the
'Western Father of Medicine Hippocrates' was born.
Two thousand years after his death, his status was raised to that of a god.
He was linked to Asclepius by the Greeks.
As he was thought of as the inventor of healing, he was also sometimes

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said to be the one who held Nuit (deification of the sky) up, as the
separation of Nuit and Geb (deification of the earth) was said to be what
held chaos back.
Due to the position this would have placed him in, he was also sometimes
said to be Nuit's son. In artwork he is also linked with Hathor, who was the
wife of Ra, -- Maat, which was the concept of truth and justice, and
Amenhotep son of Hapu, who was another deified architect.

Imhotep is one example of the "personality cult" of Kemet, whereby a

learned sage or otherwise especially venerated person could be deified
after death and become a special intercessor for the living, much as the
saints of Roman Catholicism.
About 100 years after his death, he was elevated as a medical demigod.
In about 525, around 2,000 years after his death, he was elevated to a
full god, and replaced Nefertum in the great triad at Memphis.
In the Turin Canon, he was known as the "son of Ptah".
Imhotep was, together with Amenhotep, the only mortal Egyptians that
ever reached the position of full gods.
He was also associated with Thoth, the god of wisdom, writing and
learning, and with the Ibises, which was also associated with Thoth.

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We are told that his main centers of worship were in the Ptolemaic temple
to Hathor atf Dier el-Medina and at Karnak in Thebes, where he was
worshipped in conjunction with Amenhotep-Son-of-Hapu, a sanctuary on
the upper terrace of the temple at Deir el-Bahari, at Philae where a chapel
of Imhotep stands immediately in front of the eastern pylon of the temple
of Isis and of course, at Memphis in Lower (northern) Egypt, where a
temple was erected to him near the Serapeum.
At Saqqara, we are told that people bought offerings to his cult center,
including mummified Ibises and sometimes, clay models of diseased limbs
and organs in the hope of being healed.
He was later even worshipped by the early Christians as one with Christ.
The early Christians, it will be recalled, adapted to their use those pagan
forms and persons whose influence through the ages had woven itself so
powerfully into tradition that they could not omit them.
He was worshiped even in Greece where he was identified with their god
of medicine, Aslepius.
He was honored by the Romans and the emperors Claudius and Tiberius
had inscriptions praising Imhotep placed on the walls of their Egyptian
temples.

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He even managed to find a place in Arab traditions, especially at Saqqara
where his tomb is thought to be located.
Imhotep lived to a great age, apparently dying in the reign of King Huni,
the last of the dynasty.
His burial place has not been found but it has been speculated that it may
indeed be at Saqqara, possibly in an unattested mastaba 3518.

Isis is the feminine archetype for creation - the goddess of fertility and
motherhood. She has gone by many names and played many roles in
history and mythology - as goddess and female creator.
Her name literally means female of throne, i.e. Queen of the throne. Her
original headdress was an empty throne chair belonging to her murdered
husband, Osiris. As the personification of the throne, she was an

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important source of the Pharaoh's power. Her cult was popular throughout
Egypt, but the most important sanctuaries were at Giza and at Behbeit
El-Hagar in the Nile delta.
The hieroglyph for her name originally used meant (female) of flesh, i.e.
mortal, and she may simply have represented deified, real, queens. The
most commonly used name for this deity, Isis, is a Greek corruption of the
Egyptian name; and its pronunciation as eye-sis is a further corruption by
English speakers.
The true Egyptian pronunciation is unknown, as Egyptian hieroglyphs only
recorded consonants, and left out most of the vowels. The Egyptian
hieroglyphics for her name are commonly transliterated as jst; as a
convenience, Egyptlogists pronounce that as ee-set.
Other symbols linked with her include the tat,

knot or buckle, and the sustrum (rattle)

Titles
In the Book of the Dead, Isis was described as She who gives birth to
heaven and earth, knows the orphan, knows the widow, seeks justice for
the poor, and shelter for the weak. Some of Isis' many other titles were:
• Queen of Heaven,
• Mother of the Gods,

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 • The One Who is All,
• Lady of Green Crops,
• The Brilliant One in the Sky,
• Her Latin name was Stella Maris, or Star of the Sea,
• Great Lady of Magic,
• goddess of magic, fertility, nature, motherhood,
• underworld Mistress of the House of Life,
• She Who Knows How To Make Right Use of the Heart,
• Light-Giver of Heaven,
• Lady of the Words of Power,
• Moon Shining Over the Sea.
Isis later had an important cult in the Greco-Roman world, with sanctuaries
at Delos and Pompeii. To the Greeks she was known as Demeter - to the
Romans as Ceres - though she played other goddess roles in all ancient
civilizations.
The symbol of Isis in the heavens was the star Sept (Sirius), which was
greatly beloved because its appearance marked not only the beginning of
a new year, but also announced the advance of the Inundation of the Nile,
which betokened renewed wealth and prosperity of the country.
Isis was regarded as the companion of Osiris,
whose soul dwelt in the star Sah - Orion.

She was the light-giver at this season of the year and was called Khut.

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As the mighty earth-goddess her name was Usert.
As the Great Goddess of the Underworld she was Thenenet.
As the power which shot forth the Nile flood, she was Sati, and Sept.
As the embracer of the land and producer of fertility by her waters she
was Anqet.
As the producer and giver of life she was Ankhet.
As the goddess of cultivated lands and fields she was Sekhet.
As the goddess of the harvest she was Renenet.
As the goddess of food which was offered to the gods, she was Tcheft,
and lived in the Temple of Tchefau.
As the great lady of the Underworld, who assisted in transforming the
bodies of the blessed dead into those wherein they were to live in the
realm of Osiris, she was Ament - the "hidden" goddess. As Ament she was
declared to be the mother of Ra.
In this last capacity she shared with Osiris the attribute of 'giver of life,'
and she provided food for the dead as well as for the living.
At a comparatively early period in Egyptian history Isis had absorbed the
attributes of all the great primitive goddesses, and of all the local
goddesses such as Nekhebet, Uatchet, Net, Bast, Hathor, etc., and she
was even identified as the female counterpart of the primeval abyss of
water from which sprang all life.
It is manifestly impossible to limit the attributes of Isis, for we have seen
that she possesses the powers of a water goddess, an earth goddess, a
corn goddess, a star goddess, a queen of the Underworld, and a woman,
and that she united in herself one or more of the attributes of all the
goddesses of Egypt known to us.
Origins
Her origins are uncertain but are believed to come from the Nile Delta;
however unlike other Egyptian deities she did not have a centralised cult at
any point throughout her worship. First mentions of Isis date back to the
5th dynasty, but her cult became prominent late in Egyptian history, when
it began to absorb the cults of many other goddesses. It eventually spread
outside Egypt throughout the Middle East and Europe, with temples to her
built as far away as the British Isles. Pockets of her worship remained in

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Christian Europe as late as the 6th century.
Priesthood
Little information on Egyptian priests of Isis survives; however it is clear
there were both male and female priests of her cult throughout her early
history. By the Graeco-Roman era, all priestesses of Isis are female. Many
of them were healers and midwives, and were said to have many special
powers, including dream interpretation and the ability to control the
weather by braiding or combing their hair, the latter of which was because
the ancient Egyptians considered knots to have magical power.
Worship - Temples
Most Egyptian deities started off as strictly local, and throughout their
history retained local centers of worship, with most major cities and towns
widely known as the hometowns to their deities. However, no traces of
local Isis cults are found; throughout her early history there are also no
known temples dedicated to her.
Individual worship of Isis does not begin until as late as the 30th dynasty;
until that time Isis was depicted and apparently worshipped in temples of
other deities. However, even then Isis is not worshipped individually, but
rather together with Horus and Osiris. Temples dedicated specifically to
Isis become wide-spread only in the Roman times.
By this period, temples to Isis begin to spread outside of Egypt. In many
locations, particularly Byblos, her cult takes over that of worship to the
Semitic goddess Astarte, apparently due to the similarity of names and
associations.
During the Hellenic era, due to her attributes as a protector, and mother,
and the lusty aspect originally from Hathor, she was also made the patron
goddess of sailors. Throughout the Graeco-Roman world, Isis becomes
one of the most significant of the mystery religions, and many classical
writers refer to her temples, cults and rites. The cult of Isis rose to
prominence in the Hellenistic world, beginning in the last centuries BC,
until it was eventually banned by the Christians in the 6th century.
Despite the Isis mystery cult's growing popularity, there is evidence to
suggest that the Isis mysteries were not altogether welcomed by the
ruling classes in Rome. Her rites were considered by the princeps

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Augustus to be "pornographic" and capable of destroying the Roman
moral fibre.
Tacitus writes that after Julius Caesar's assassination, a temple in honour
of Isis had been decreed; Augustus suspended this, and tried to turn
Romans back to the Roman gods who were closely associated with the
state. Eventually the Roman emperor Caligula abandoned the Augustan
wariness towards Oriental cults, and it was in his reign that the Isiac
festival was established in Rome. According to Josephus, Caligula himself
donned female garb and took part in the mysteries he instituted, and Isis
acquired in the Hellenistic age a "new rank as a leading goddess of the
Mediterranean world."
Roman perspectives on cult were syncretic, seeing in a new deity merely
local aspects of a familiar one. For many Romans, Egyptian Isis was an
aspect of Phrygian Cybele, whose orgiastic rites were long naturalized at
Rome, indeed she was known as Isis of Ten Thousand Names.
In the Golden Ass (1st century), Apuleius' goddess Isis is identified with
Cybele.
Temples to Isis were also built in Iraq, Greece, Rome, even as far north as
England where the remains of a temple were discovered at Hadrian's Wall.
At Philae her worship persisted until the 6th century, long after the wide
acceptance of Christianity.

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The Isis Temple on Philae was built in the 30th Dynasty on an island in the
Nile - originally faced a neighboring island, Biga, which was reserved for
the priesthood of Osiris and was believed to be the first land to have
emerged from the primordial chaos as well as supposedly being one of
the burial places of Osiris.

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Looking out from the temple sanctuary, or Holy of Holies, where the
goddess resides. The sanctuary was thought to be the source of the
waters of life and was once separated from the rest of the temple by a
curtain.

Looking out from the temple sanctuary, or Holy of Holies, where the
goddess resides. The sanctuary was thought to be the source of the
waters of life and was once separated from the rest of the temple by a
curtain.

The first pylon (the wall surrounding the entrance) is 18 metres high and

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45 metres wide. The base stones represent the stones which appear as
the waters of life recede.The small door in the west section of the pylon
leads to the Birth House. At right angles to the pylon is the Gate of
Ptolemy. The main portal in the center dates from Nectanebo II.

The second pylon shows pharoah (Neos Dionysos) offering sacrifice to

Horus and Hathor; in the smaller scenes (above) he offers a wreath to
Horus and Nephthys and incense before Osiris, Isis and Horus.
Associations
Because of the association between knots and magical power, a symbol
of Isis was the tiet/tyet (meaning welfare/life), also called the Knot of Isis,
Buckle of Isis, or the Blood of Isis.
The tiet in many respects resembles an ankh, except that its arms curve
down, and in all these cases seems to represent the idea of eternal
life/resurrection.
The meaning of Blood of Isis is more obscured, but the tyet was often
used as a funerary amulet made of red wood, stone, or glass, so this may
have simply been a description of its appearance.
The star Spica (sometimes called Lute Bearer), and the constellation which
roughly corresponded to the modern Virgo, appeared at a time of year
associated with the harvest of wheat and grain, and thus with fertility gods
and goddesses. Consequently they were associated with Hathor, and
hence with Isis through her later conflation with Hathor. Isis also
assimilated Sopdet, the personification of Sirius, since Sopdet, rising just
before the flooding of the Nile, was seen as a bringer of fertility, and so
had been identified with Hathor. Sopdet still retained an element of distinct
identity, however, as Sirius was quite visibly a star and not living in the

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underworld - Isis being the wife of Osiris, king of the underworld.
In the duality of our reality - Isis represents our feminine aspects - creation
- rebirth - ascension - intuition - psychic abilties - higher chakras - higher
frequency virbations - love and compassion. She is the Yin energies - the
mother nurturer - the High Priestess - the Goddess of all mythological tales
- to other female icons in the mythologies of creation. She is the essence
of the feminine energy which is part of us all.
Isis - the iris of the eye - the eye of Horus Isis linked with Sirius - eye of Ra -
and the source of creation. Osiris - 'O'=completion of the work of Isis of
this level.

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The Osiris Legend

This myth is filled with metaphors based on the creational patterns of

Sacred Geometry. You must read beyond what is given to understand the
true meaning.
The Legend of Osiris is one of the most ancient myths in Egypt, and it was
central to the ancient Egyptian state religion. The myth establishes Osiris'
position as god of the dead and lord of the underworld, and Horus' (and
thus all the pharaohs) right to kingship. It also demonstrates the powers
and duties of the other major gods as well as setting up the Great
Adversary, Set also known as Seth. Yet oddly enough, we have yet to find

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a complete version of the story. What we have has been cobbled together
over many years from many different documents and sources.
According to Niel Gaiman the legend is one of the Great Stories. The
Great Stories are part of the core human experience and never change
except in the most superficial ways. They defy any attempts to rewrite
them with drastic changes, always returning to their original forms. The
setting might be modified depending on who's telling it, the characters
have different names, but fundamentally, it's still the same story. A version
of the Osiris myth exists in every culture: the just king murdered by his
cruel brother, only to be avenged by the prince who follows in his father's
footsteps. Sometimes the dead king is rewarded for his upright ways and
gains great reward in the next life. We find its echoes in nearby
civilizations such as the Greeks and Romans, in far-off Japan and China, in
Christianity, even in Shakespeare, where the avenging prince is named
Hamlet.
In the beginning, there was the mighty god Ra and his wife Nut. Nut was in
love with the god Geb. When Ra found out about this union he was furious.
In his rage, he forbid Nut to have children on any of the 360 days that
currently made up the year. Nut was very sad.
She called on her friend, Thoth, to help her. He knew that Ra's curse must
be fulfilled, but he had an idea. Thoth engaged the moon goddess, Silene,
in a wager. At the time, Silene's light (the moon) rivaled the light of Ra (the
sun). Thoth was victorious, he was rewarded with one seventh of Silene's
light. This is why the moon now wanes each month. Thoth took this light
and added five days to the calender, bringing the year from 360 days to
365. This gave Nut 5 days on which she could have children, while at the
same time obeying Ra's commandment. On the first of these days, Nut
gave birth to Osiris. On the second day Horus was born, Seth on the third,
Isis the fourth, and Nephthys on the fifth day. At the time of Osiris' birth, a
loud voice was heard all over the world, saying, "The lord of all the Earth is
born."
Osiris grew and became a mighty king. He went about the job of civilizing
his people. He taught them agriculture and animal husbandry. He gave
them a code of laws to live by and showed them the proper ways in which

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to worship the gods. Egypt became a mighty land under his kind and
gentle rule. His subjects gladly worshiped the ground on which he walked.
When Egypt was civilized, Osiris left to bring his teachings to other lands.
While Osiris was away, he left his wife, Isis, in charge. She ruled the
country in the same fashion. But Osiris had an enemy, his bitter and
jealous brother, Seth.
Seth began scheming against the great king. He aligned himself with Aso,
the queen of Ethiopia, and 72 other conspirators. But nothing could be
done while Isis ruled the country, her authority was unquestionable.
Upon Osiris' return, an evil plot was put into motion. Seth secretly
acquired the measurements of Osiris and began having a wonderfully
decorated box built to fit those measurements. When the box was
finished, Seth had a great feast to which he invited Osiris and the 72
conspirators. Having absolutely no evil in him, Osiris suspected nothing.

When the feasting was done, Seth had the box brought out. He offered it
as a gift to anyone whom the box fit. One at a time they tried to fit into the
box until it was Osiris' turn. He layed in the box suspecting nothing. The

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conspirators slammed the lid, nailed it closed, and poured molten lead in
the seam to seal his fate. They threw the great chest into the Nile river.
Osiris was never seen again, walking in the land of the living.
Isis was not afraid of Seth. She searched all of the Nile for the box
containing her beloved husband. Finally she found it, lodged in a tamarisk
bush that had turned into a mighty tree, for the power of Osiris still was in
him, though he lay dead. She tore open the box and wept over the lifeless
body of Osiris.
She carried the box back to Egypt and placed it in the house of the gods.
She changed herself into a bird and flew about his body, singing a song of
mourning. Then she perched upon him and cast a spell. The spirit of dead
Osiris entered her and she did conceive and bear a son whose destiny it
would be to avenge his father. She called the child Horus, and hid him on
an island far away from the gaze of his uncle Seth.
She then went to Thoth who knows all secrets, and implored his help. She
asked him for magic that could bring Osiris back to life. Thoth, lord of
knowledge, who brought himself into being by speaking his name,
searched through his magic. He knew that Osiris' spirit had departed his
body and was lost. To restore Osiris, Thoth had to remake him so that his
spirit would recognize him and rejoin. Thoth and Isis together created the
Ritual of Life, that which allows us to live forever when we die. But before
Thoth could work the magic, cruel Seth discovered them. He stole the
body of Osiris and tore it into 14 pieces, scattering them throughout
Egypt. He was sure that Osiris would never be reborn.
Yet Isis would not despair. She implored the help of her sister Nephthys,
kind Nephthys, to guide her and help her find the pieces of Osiris. Long
did they search, bringing each piece to Thoth that he might work magic
upon it. When all the pieces were together, Thoth went to Anubis, lord of
the dead. Anubis sewed the pieces back together, washed the entrails of
Osiris, embalmed him wrapped him in linen, and cast the Ritual of Life.
When Osiris' mouth was opened, his spirit reentered him and he lived
again.

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Yet nothing that has died, not even a god, may dwell in the land of the
living. Osiris went to Duat, the abode of the dead. Anubis yielded the
throne to him and he became the lord of the dead. There he stands in
judgment over the souls of the dead. He commends the just to the
Blessed Land, but the wicked he condemns to be devoured by Ammit.
When Seth heard that Osiris lived again he was wroth, but his anger
waned, for he knew that Osiris could never return to the land of the living.
Without Osiris, Set believed he would sit on the throne of the gods for all
time. Yet on his island, Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, grew to manhood
and strength.
The depiction of the seated holding or suckling the child Horus

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is reminiscent of the iconography of Mary and Jesus.
Many believe Mary, mother of Jesus, was an incarnation of Isis.
Set sent many serpents and demons to kill Horus, but he defeated them.
When he was ready, his mother Isis gave him great magic to use against
Seth, and Thoth gave him a magic knife.
Horus sought out Seth and challenged him for the throne. Seth and Horus
fought for many days, but in the end Horus defeated Seth and castrated
him. But Horus, merciful Horus, would not kill Seth, for to spill the blood of
his uncle would make him no better than he. Seth maintained his claim to
the throne, and Horus lay claim himself as the son of Osiris. The gods
began to fight amongst another, those who supported Horus and those
who supported Set. Banebdjetet leaped into the middle and demanded
that the gods end this struggle peacefully or Maat would be imbalanced
further. He told the gods to seek the council of Neith. Neith, warlike
though wise in council, told them that Horus was the rightful heir to the
throne. Horus cast Seth into the darkness where he lives to this day.
And so it is that Horus watches over us while we live, and gives guidance
to the Pharaoh while he lives, and his father Osiris watches over us in the
next life. So it is that the gods are at peace. So it is that Set, wicked Seth,

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eternally strives for revenge, battling Horus at every turn.
When Horus wins, Maat is upheld and the world is at peace.
When Seth wins, the world is in turmoil. But we know that dark times do
not last forever, and the bright rays of Horus will shine over us again.
In the last days, Horus and Seth will fight one last time for the world.
Horus will defeat Seth forever, and Osiris will be able to return to this
world.
On that day, the Day of Awakening, all the tombs shall open and the just
dead shall live again as we do, and all sorrow shall pass away forever.
It is said that this battle of good verses evil still rages, but some day,
Horus will be victorious and on that day, Osiris will return to rule the world.
The Osiris Legend and Precession
The Osiris Legend and the Tree of Life
Magic
Isis was a magician, possibly the archetype for the high priestess of the
tarot. She learned her magic from Thoth, although according to some
legends she obtained her powers from Ra himself by tricking him into
revealing his name to her, thus acquiring his full magical knowledge.
In order to resurrect Osiris for the purpose of having the child Horus, it
was necessary for Isis to learn magic, and so it was that Isis tricked Ra
(i.e. Amun-Ra/Atum-Ra) into telling her his "secret name", by getting a
snake to bite and poison him, so that he would use his "secret name" to
survive. This aspect becomes central in magic spells, and Isis is often
implored to use the true name of Re while performing rituals. By the late
Egyptian history, Isis becomes the most important, and most powerful
magical deity of the Egyptian pantheon.
Magic is central to the entire mythology of Isis; arguably more so than any
other Egyptian deity.In consequence of her deeply magical nature, Isis
also became a goddess of magic. The prior goddess to hold the
quadrupole roles of healer, protector of the canopic jars, protector of
marriage, and goddess of magic, Serket, became considered an aspect
of her. Thus it is not surprising that Isis had a central role in Egyptian
magic spells and ritual, especially those of protection and healing. In many
spells, she is also completely even merged with Horus, where invocations

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of Isis are supposed to automatically involve Horus' powers as well.
Depictions
In art, originally Isis was pictured as a woman wearing a long sheath dress
and crowned with the hieroglyphic sign for a seat, sometimes holding a
lotus, as a sycamore tree.
After her assimilation of Hathor, Isis' headdress is replaced with that of
Hathor: the horns of a cow on her head, and the solar disc between them.
She was also sometimes symbolised by a cow, or a cow's head.
Usually, she was depicted with her son, the great god Horus, with a crown
and a vulture, and sometimes as a kite bird flying above Osiris's body.
Isis is most often seen holding only the generic ankh sign and a simple
staff, but is sometimes seen with Hathor's attributes, the sistrum rattle
and the crescent moon shaped menat necklace.
Isis is often depicted with a throne on her head and with wings, meaning
ascension, linked with the Phoenix the female bird of resurrection.

Isis Wikipedia
Isis Egypt Tour

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BLACK ISIS

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Kek (Masculine) and Kauket (Feminine)

The Egyptians believed that before the world was formed, there was a
watery mass of dark, directionless chaos. In this chaos lived the Ogdoad
of Khmunu (Hermopolis), four frog gods and four snake goddesses of
chaos.
These deities were Nun and Naunet (water), Amun and Amaunet
(invisibility), Heh and Hauhet (infinity) and Kek and Kauket (darkness). The
chaos existed without the light, and thus Kek and Kauket came to
represent this darkness. They also symbolized obscurity, the kind of
obscurity that went with darkness, and night.
The Ogdoad were the original great gods of Iunu (On, Heliopolis) where
they were thought to have helped with creation, then died and retired to
the land of the dead where they continued to make the Nile flow and the
sun rise every day. Because of this aspect of the eight, Budge believe that
Kek and Kauket were once deities linked to Khnum and Satet, to Hapi -
Nile gods of Abu (Elephantine). He also believed that Kek may have also
been linked to Sobek.
Kek

Kek (Kuk, Keku) means darkness. He was the god of the darkness of

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chaos, the darkness before time began. He was the god of obscurity,
hidden in the darkness. The Egyptians saw the night time, the time without
the light of the sun, as a reflection of this chaotic darkness.
The characteristics of the third paid of gods, Keku and Kauket, are
easier to determine, and it is tolerable certain that these deities
represent the male and female powers of the darkness which was
supposed to cover over the primeval abyss of water; they have been
compared by Dr. Brugsch with the Erebos of the Greeks.
- The Gods of the Egyptians, E. A. Wallis Budge
As a god of the night, Kek was also related to the day - he was called the
"bringer-in of the light". This seems to mean that he was responsible for
the time of night that came just before sunrise. The god of the hours
before day dawned over the land of Egypt. This was the twilight which
gave birth to the sun.
Kauket
The feminine of the god Kek, Kauket (Keket) was a much more obscure
goddess than her husband. She was a snake-headed woman who ruled
over the darkness with her husband. Her name also meant darkness, as
did her husband's name, but with a feminine ending.
O you eight chaos gods, keepers of the chambers of the sky...The
bnbn [phoenix] of Ra was that from which Atum came to be as ...
Kek, darkness... I am the one who begot the chaos gods again, as
Heh, Nun, Amun, Kek. I am Shu who begot the gods.
- Coffin Text, Spell 76
Kauket was the feminine to Kek's masculine, more of a
representation of duality than an actual goddess, so she was even
less of a deity than Kek, and much more of an abstract.
She was, though, also related to the day - she was the "bringer-in of
the night". This seems to show her to be the goddess of the night,
just after sunset. The goddess of the the hours of the evening, as
night covered Egypt, and the sun had disappeared. This was the
twilight which turned into the darkness of night.

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Khepri

Sun-god creator in the form of a scarab beetle.

The word kheper (or hprr) means scarab, and as the animal was
associated with life and rebirth. Literally the word means "he who is
coming into being". Like Atum, Khephir was a self-created god. The
scarab lays its eggs in a ball of dung and rolls it to hide in a safe
place. From this unlikely substance the Egyptians observed new life
emerging, seemingly from the Earth. Hence he was a god of
creation.
Early in Egyptian history the beetle also came to represent the soul
rising from death - resurrected, transcendent, fully formed and ready

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to make its journey and face its judgment in order to live in the
Afterlife. By the New Kingdom (1539-1070 BC), the funerary texts
from the papyri portray a scaraboid form as the most powerful
symbol of life's victory over death.
Similarly, they believed that Khephri, in the form of a gigantic
scarab, rolled the sun like a huge ball through the sky, then rolled it
through the underworld to the eastern horizon. Each morning
Khephri would renew the sun so that it could give life to all the world.
As a deity closely associated with resurrection, Khephir was believed
to be swallowed by his mother, Nut each evening and passed
through her body to be reborn each morning. Therefore he is also
closely associated with Ra and Atum. Later funerary texts combine
Khephra (scarab) with Atum (ram) into a ram-headed beetle, a
portrayal of the supreme god overseeing the cycle of life and death
(and Afterlife).
Egyptologists believe that there was probably a colossal stone
scarab on a plinth at most if not all Egyptian temples. In this
configuration Phephir represented the temple as the Primeval Mound
from which the sun-god emerged to begin the process of
cosmogony. The word Khepri was also often used in the titulary of
the king.
One of the many images of the sun god Ra was the scarab beetle.
The Egyptians saw in its tireless mocing of a ball of dung a parallel
to the movement of the sun across the sky. They also noticed that
small beetles emerged from similar balls and assumed that, like the
sun the scarab was a self-created entity. Heliopolis was the cult
centre of Khepra worship; the name Khepra means 'scarab' or 'he
who becomes', with the added idea of continuinnng and eternal life.
The god was shown as a scarab bettle, or as a man with a complete
beetle instead of his human head.
Inscriptional evidence for Khepri occurs in the pyramids of the Old
Kingdom: a wish is expressed for the sun to come into being in its
name of Khepri. The priesthood of the sun-god combined his
different forms to assert that Atum-Khepri arises on the primeval

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mound in the mansion of the Benu in Heliopolis. Referring to the
myth of the sun-god's journey through the hours of night. Khepri is
said to raise his beauty into the body of Nut the sky-goddess. From
noticing the somewhat slimy sonsistency of the scarab beetle's
dirt-ball, the earth is made from the spittle coming from Khepri.
From about the Middle Kingdom representations of Khepri as the
ovoid scarab regularly occur in three-dimensional form carved as the
amuletic backing of seals. These scarabs, by implication, connect
the wearer with the sun-god. The underside could be incised, not just
with the titles and name of an official, but also with good luck
designs, deities and the names of royalty used for their protective
power. Kings would use the undersides of large scarabs to
commemorate specific events- Amenhotep III has left a number of
these news bulletins which inter alia give information on his prowess
at lion hunting and celebrate the arrival of a Syrian princess into his
harem.
The scarab could form the bezel of a ring or be part of a necklace
or bracelet- the tomb of Tutankhamun has provided us with splendid
examples of scarabs made of semi-precious stones like lapis lazuli
set in gold. One of the young king's pectorals in particular stresses
the dominance of Khepri the sun-god as well as being a masterpiece
of the jeweler's craft: in the centre of the design is a scarab carved
from chalcedony combined with the wings and talons of the solar
hawk, representing Khepri whom as controller of celestial motion, is
shown here pushing the boat of the moon-eye.
As an amulet, the scarab representation of Khephir was by far the
most important. It might be viewed as being similar to a cross for a
Christian. There were ornamental scarabs, heart scarabs, winged
scarabs, marriage scarabs, lion hunt scarabs and many other such
amulets.

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Paintings in funerary papyri show Khepri on a boat being lifted up by
the god Nun, the primeval watery chaos. In some depictions Khepri
coalesces with other conceptions of the sun-god to present the
appearance of a ram-headed beetle. On a wall of the interior
chamber in the tomb of Petosiris (fourth century BC) at Tuna
el-Gebel, Khepri was carved quite naturalistically in low relief, painted
lapis lazuli blue, wearing the 'atef' crown of Osiris.
Less frequently Khepri could be shown as an anthropomorphic god
to the shoulders with a full scarab beetle for a head. Bizarre as it
might seem, the Egyptian artist has left some magnificent depictions
of Khepri in this form- e.g. in the tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of
the Queens. Although relatively few examples are extant in museums
or in Situ, it seems likely that the major temples each possessed a
colossal hard-stone statue of Khepri. Raised on a plinth, the scarab
symbolized architecturally the concept that the temple was the site
where the sun-god first emerged to begin the creation of the
cosmos.

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SCARABS

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Khnum

Potter God of the Inundation Silt and Creation

Ram headed God - Lord of the Cataract
God of fecundity and creation from the Cataract area.

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Khnum (Khenmew, Khnemu, Khenmu, Chnum), from the Egyptian 'unite',
'join' or 'build', was an ancient deity of fertility, water and the great potter
who created children and their ka at their conception. He was mentioned
in the pyramid texts and the pyramid builder Khufu's name was actually
'Khnum-Khufu' meaning 'Khnum is his Protector'. His cult was popular
before the cult of Ra eclipsed it. The next pyramid builders were his son
and grandson who added 'Ra' to their names - Khafra and Menkaura.
Khnum was possibly even a predynastic god. The Egyptians believed that
he was the guardian of the source of the Nile who was originally a Nile
god, but who became a helper of Hapi.
His role changed from river god to the one who made sure that the right
amount of silt was released into the water during the inundation. In
working with the silt, the very soil that the ancient Egyptian potters used,
he became the great potter who not only molded men and women, but
who molded the gods themselves and the world.
He was depicted as a ram, ram-headed man or as a full male with the
horns of a ram who wears a plumed white crown of Upper Egypt. In early
times he was shown as the first domesticated ram, the Ovis longipes
palaeoaegyptiacus, with long corkscrew horns growing horizontally
outwards from his head. This species died out, though even so he was still
depicted as that breed of sheep until much later in Egyptian history.

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Eventually he was shown as the Ovis platyra (the type of ram associated
with Amen) with horns curving inward towards his face. Sometimes he was
shown with four ram heads, aligning him with the sun god Ra, the air god
Shu, the earth god Geb and Osiris, lord of the dead. In his four headed
form, he was known as Sheft-hat. The Egyptians believed that the ram was
a very potent animal, and thus Khnum was linked to fertility.

Considered to be the ba of Ra - this might be an Egyptian pun on the fact

that the ram was also called ba - he helped Ra travel through the
underworld each night on the Solar Barque. In the pyramid texts
(Utterance 300), the barque was referred to as the "Ikhet Barque which
Khnum made", so not only did he defend the barque, but Khnum was
thought to have created it as well. In this form he was often called
Khnum-Ra and wears the sun disk of Ra.
Originally a water god, Khnum was often pictured by the Egyptians as the
source of the Nile. On temple walls, he was sometimes shown as holding
a jar, with the precious water flowing out of it. He was also believed to be
a guardian of the waters in the underworld. He is mentioned as a
protective deity of the dead. Many heart scarabs have a similar versions
of one of the spells from The Book of the Dead to protect the deceased
against a negative judgement in the Halls of Ma'at.

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O my heart ...
Do not stand up against me as a witness!
Do not create opposition against me among the assessors!
Do not tip the scales against me in the presence of the Keeper of the
Balance!
You are my soul which is in my body,
The god Khnum who makes my limbs sound.
When you go forth to the Hereafter,
My name shall not stink to the courtiers who create people on his behalf.
Do not tell lies about me in the presence of the Great God!
- Heart scarab spell, translation by Thomas J. Logan
The ram-headed god was 'Lord of the Cataract' a god of the yearly
inundation and the fertile black soil that came with the flood. Khnum was
also seen as a fertility god because of his association with the fertile silt.
Pottery was created out of the soil of the Nile, and it was believed that he
created the first humans - and the gods - on his potter's wheel with this
silt. In Iunyt (Esna) it was believed that it was he who molded the First Egg
from which the sun hatched, and thus was a creator god who was 'Father
of the Fathers of the Gods and Goddesses, Lord of Created Things from
Himself, Maker of Heaven and Earth and the Duat and Water and the
Mountains'.
The vast majority of the pottery was manufactured from either Nile silts or
marl clays, the two primary raw materials used in Egyptian pottery making
... Marl clays and Nile silts were usually not used for the same pot types.
For example, cooking pots, cups, platter bowls, ring stands, Tell
el-Yehudiyah ware juglets, black and red polished juglets, beakers, and
certain groups of jars were produced mostly from Nile silts ... platter
bowls formed of marl clay were usually slipped red to provide the desired
exterior look of a Nile silt; a carinated bowl manufactured from silt might
be slipped white to resemble a marl clay.
- Ethnicity, Pottery, and the Hyksos at Tell El-Maskhuta in the Egyptian
Delta, Carol A. Redmount

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The Famine Stele at Sehel island tells of a dream that Djoser supposedly
had. Egypt had been going through a seven year drought and a temple
had been built to Khnum in the hopes that the famine would end:
When I was asleep, my heart was in life and happiness. I found the god
standing. I caused him pleasure by worshiping and adoring him. He made
himself known to me and said: "I am Khnum, your creator, my arms are
around you, to steady your body, to safeguard your limbs. I bestow on you
ores with precious stones existing since antiquity that were not worked
before to build temples, rebuild ruins, sculpt chapels for his master. I am
master of creation. I have created myself, the great ocean which came
into being in past times, according to whose pleasure the Nile rises. For I
am the master who makes, I am he who makes himself exalted in Nun,
who first came forth, Hapi who hurries at will; fashioner of everybody,
guide of each man to their hour.
I am Tatenen, father of Gods, the great Shu living on the shore. The two
caves are in a trench below me. It is up to me to let loose the well. I know
the Nile, urge him to the field, I urge him, life appears in every nose. As
one urges to the field .......... I will make the Nile swell for you, without
there being a year of lack and exhaustion in the whole land, so the plants
will flourish, bending under their fruit. Renenutet is in all things everything
will be brought forth by the million and everybody ...... in whose granary
there had been dearth. The land of Egypt is beginning to stir again, the
shores are shining wonderfully, and wealth and well-being dwell with them,
as it had been before.

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Then I awoke happy, my heart was decided and at ease. I decreed this
order to the temple of my father Khnum. Royal sacrifice for Khnum-Re,
lord of the cataract, first of Nubia, as reward for what you favour me with.
I make you a gift of your western shore by the mountain of the dusk and
your eastern shore by the mountain of dawn, from Elephantine to ...... with
twelve auroras on the eastern and western shores, with the plants, with
the harbours with the river and with every settlement on these auroras.
- Famine Stele at Sehel

As potter, he was thought to mould the body of a child, and it's ka before
birth. He was called the 'Father of Fathers and the Mother of Mothers'. He
was also the one who gave health to the child after it was born. In the
story of Raddjedet's triplets, the birth related goddesses Isis, Nephthys,
Meskhenet and Heqet disguised themselves as female musicians with
Khnum as their porter. After each child was "rushed forth", the umbilical
cord had been cut and the destiny had been pronounced, Khnum was the
one who "gave health" to each child. So not only did Khnum create the
child and its double, but he was thought to also give it health at birth.
Hatshepsut was one pharaoh who encouraged the belief that Khnum, at
Amen's request, created her and her ka:
Amen-Ra called for Khnum, the creator, the fashioner of the bodies of

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men.
"Fashion for me the body of my daughter and the body of her ka," said
Amen-Ra, "A great queen shall I make of her, and honour and power shall
be worthy of her dignity and glory."
"O Amen-Ra," answered Khnum, "It shall be done as you have said. The
beauty of your daughter shall surpass that of the gods and shall be worthy
of her dignity and glory."
So Khnum fashioned the body of Amen-Ra's daughter and the body of her
ka, the two forms exactly alike and more beautiful than the daughters of
men. He fashioned them of clay with the air of his potter's wheel and
Heqet, goddess of birth, knelt by his side holding the sign of life towards
the clay that the bodies of Hatshepsut and her ka might be filled with the
breath of life.
- Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple

His cult was centered on the island of Abu (Elephantine) at Swentet

(Aswan) where he had been worshiped since the Early Dynastic period. In
the New Kingdom he was worshiped there as head of a triad with his wife
Satet (a fertility goddess of the Nile and purifier of the dead) and daughter
Anuket (a huntress goddess of the first cataract near Swentet, 'The
Embracer').
There is a Greco-Roman temple for him at Iunyt (Esna) where he was given
two consorts, Menhit (a lion headed war goddess, 'She Who Slaughters')
and Nebtu (a local goddess of the oasis, 'The Guilded One') - one goddess
became a form of the other - and a son called Hike (god of magic, 'He
Who Activates the Ka').
He was also linked to the war-like creator goddess Neith at Iunyt (Esna). In
Her-wer (Antinoe) he was thought to be the husband of Heqet, the frog

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goddess who gave the newly created being the breath of life before the
child was placed to grow in the mother's womb.
Khnum was a ram god of the Nile, a god of silt, fertility and a potter god
of creation. He was a god of the sun, a protector of the dead and
protector of Re on the solar barque. This god was an ancient god, popular
from early times through to the Greco-Roman period who was thought to
have created the pharaoh's form and soul on his potters wheel. From a
local god of the Nile to a deity connected with childbirth, Khnum was the
'Father of Fathers and the Mother of Mothers' of the pharaoh.

Maahes

Maahes (also spelled Mihos, Miysis, Mios, Maihes, and Mahes) was an
ancient Egyptian lion-headed god of war,whose name means "he who is
true beside her". He was seen as a lion prince, the son of the goddess

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Bast in Lower Egypt and of Sekhmet in Upper Egypt and shared her
natures. His father was told to be a human unnaware of
Bastet's/Sekhemet's intentions to conceive. Maahes was a deity
associated with war and weather, and was considered the protector of
matrilineality and of the high priests of Ammon, as well as that of knives,
lotuses, and devouring captives. His cult was centred in Taremu and
Per-Bast.
He is first mentioned in the New Kingdom, and some Egyptologists have
suggested that Maahes was of foreign origin; indeed there is some
evidence that he may have been identical with the lion-god Apedemak
worshipped in Nubia and Egypt's Western Desert.
As a lion-god and patron, he was also considered the son of Re and of
Bast, the feline war goddess and patron of Lower Egypt as well as
Sekhmet, the lioness war goddess and patron of Upper Egypt. Since his
cult was centred in Per-Bast (Bubastis in Greek) or in Taremu (Leontopolis
in Greek), he was more known as the son of Bast. As he became a
tutelary deity of Egypt, his father was said to be the chief male deity at the
time - either Ptah, or Ra who had by this time already merged with Atum
into Atum-Ra. In his role of son of Ra, Maahes fought the serpent Apep
during Ra's daily night voyage.
Considered to have powerful attributes, feline deities were associated with
the pharaohs, and became patrons of Egypt. The male lion hieroglyphic
was used in words such as "prince", "mashead", "strength", and "power".
He was also known as "the lion Egyptian headed god of war".

He was pictured as a man with the head of a male lion, occasionally

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holding a knife and wearing the double crown of Egypt, or the atef crown.
Sometimes Maahes was identified with Nefertem and was shown with a
bouquet of lotuses near him, but he also was depicted as a lion devouring
a captive.
His name begins with the hieroglyphs for the male lion, although in
isolation it also means (one who can) see in front. However, the first glyph
also is part of the glyph for Ma'at, meaning truth and order and so it came
to be that Maahes was considered to be the devourer of the guilty and
protector of the innocent. Some of the titles of Maahes were Lord of
Slaughter, Wielder of the Knife, and The Scarlet Lord.
Maahes was rarely called by his name and came to be referred to,
somewhat misleadingly, as "Lord of Slaughter." The "Lord of Slaughter"
terminology was adopted during the Persian and later Roman periods
when foreign conquerors met with fierce resistance from Maahes chiefs
and their supporters.
Cambyses ill-fated army which intended to destroy the Maahes Caste and
their High Priest of Amen, the Oracle at Siwa, vanished in the desert
during a sudden sand storm. The Maahes were known as Lord of the
Storm and Lord of the Powerful KA in reference to legends giving them
powers to control the weather.

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Maat

Maat is depicted as a tall woman wearing a crown surmounted by a huge

ostrich feather. Her totem symbol is a stone platform or foundation,
representing the stable base on which order is built.
Maat or Mayet, thought to have been pronounced as was the Ancient
Egyptian concept of truth, balance, order, law, morality, and justice who is
sometimes personified as a goddess regulating the stars, seasons, and
the actions of both mortals and the deities, who set the order of the

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universe from chaos at the moment of creation. Later, as a goddess in
other traditions of the Egyptian pantheon, where most goddesses were
paired with a male aspect, her masculine counterpart was Thoth and their
attributes are the same.
Like Thoth, she was seen to represent the Logos of Plato. After the rise of
Ra they were depicted as guiding his Solar Barque, one on either side.
After her role in creation and continuously preventing the universe from
returning to chaos, her primary role in Egyptian mythology dealt with the
weighing of souls that took place in the underworld, Duat.
Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls
(considered to reside in the heart) of the departed would reach the
paradise of afterlife successfully.
Ma'at as a Principle
Ma'at as a principle was at least partially codified into a set of laws, and
expressed a ubiquitous concept of correct from wrong characterized by
concepts of truth and a respect for, and adherence to, this divine order
believed to be set forth by her at the time of the world's creation. This
divine order was primarily conceived of as being modeled in various
environmental, agricultural, and social relationships.
In addition to the importance of the Ma'at, several other principles within
Ancient Egyptian law were essential, including an adherence to tradition as
opposed to change, the importance of rhetorical skill, and the significance
of achieving impartiality, and social equality. Thus, to the Egyptian mind,
Ma'at bound all things together in an indestructible unity: the universe, the
natural world, the state, and the individual were all seen as parts of the
wider order generated by Ma'at!
During the Greek period in Egyptian history, Greek law existed alongside
that of the Egyptian law, but usually these laws favored the Greeks. When
the Romans took control of Egypt, the Roman legal system which existed
throughout the Roman empire was imposed in Egypt.
The underlying concepts of Taoism and Confucianism resemble Ma'at at
times. Many of these concepts were codified into laws, and many of the
concepts often were discussed by ancient Egyptian philosophers and
officials who referred to the spiritual text known as the Book of the Dead.

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Later scholars and philosophers also would embody concepts from the
wisdom literature, or seboyet. These spiritual texts dealt with common
social or professional situations and how each was best to be resolved or
addressed in the spirit of Ma'at- it was very practical advice, and highly
case-based, so that few specific and general rules could be derived from
them.
Ma'at as a Goddess
The goddess Ma'at was the goddess of harmony, order, and truth
represented as a young woman, sitting or standing, holding a scepter in
one hand and an ankh in the other. Sometimes she is depicted with wings
on each arm or as a woman with an ostrich feather on her head.
Because it also was the pharaoh's duty to ensure truth and justice, many
of them were referred to as Meri-Ma'at (Beloved of Ma'at). Since she was
considered as merely the concept of order and truth, it was thought that
she came into existence at the moment of creation, having no creator and
made the order of the entire universe from the pandemonium.
When beliefs about Thoth arose in the Egyptian pantheon and started to
consume the earlier beliefs at Hermopolis about the Ogdoad, it was said
that she was the mother of the Ogdoad and Thoth the father.
In Duat, the Egyptian underworld, the hearts of the dead were said to be
weighed against her single Shu feather, symbolically representing the
concept of Ma'at, in the Hall of Two Truths. A heart which was unworthy
was devoured by the goddess Ammit and its owner condemned to remain
in Duat.
The heart was considered the location of the soul by ancient Egyptians.
Those people with good, (and pure), hearts were sent on to Aaru. Osiris
came to be seen as the guardian of the gates of Aaru after he became
part of the Egyptian pantheon and displaced Anubis in the Ogdoad
tradition.

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The weighing of the heart, pictured on papyrus, (in the Book of the Dead,
typically, or in tomb scenes, etc.), shows Anubis overseeing the weighing,
the lioness Ammit seated awaiting the results so she could consume those
who failed. The image would be the vertical heart on one flat surface of
the balance scale, and the vertical Shu-feather standing on the other
balance scale surface. Other traditions hold that Anubis brought the soul
before the posthumous Osiris who performed the weighing.
Ma'at was commonly depicted in ancient Egyptian art as a woman with
outstretched wings and a "curved" ostrich feather on her head or,
sometimes, just as a feather. These images are on some sarcophagi as a
symbol of protection for the souls of the dead. Egyptians believed that
without Ma'at there would be only the primal chaos, ending the world. It
was seen as the Pharaoh's necessity to apply just law, following Ma'at.
Ma'at themes found in Book of the Dead and Tomb Inscriptions
One aspect of ancient Egyptian funerary literature which often is mistaken
for a codified ethic of Ma'at is Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead, often
called the 42 Declarations of Purity or the Negative Confession. These
declarations varied somewhat from tomb to tomb, and so can not be
considered a canonical definition of Ma'at.
A section of the Egyptian Book of the Dead written on papyrus

Weighing of the Heart in Duat using the feather of Ma'at as the measure in
balance

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Rather, they appear to express each tomb owner's individual conception
of Ma'at, as well as working as a magical absolution (misdeeds or
mistakes made by the tomb owner in life could be declared as not having
been done, and through the power of the written word, wipe that particular
misdeed from the afterlife record of the deceased). Many of the lines are
similar, however, and they can help to give the student a "flavor" for the
sorts of things which Ma'at governed·essentially everything from the most
formal to the most mundane aspect of life.
Many versions are given on-line, unfortunately seldom do they note the
tomb from which they came or, whether they are a collection from various
different tombs. Generally, they are each addressed to a specific deity,
described in his or her most fearsome aspect.

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Mafdet

In early Egyptian mythology, Mafdet (also spelled Maftet) is depicted as a

woman with the head of a cheetah. Her name means (she who) runs
swiftly. She is present in the Egyptian pantheon as early as the First
Dynasty.
Mafdet was the deification of legal justice, or rather, of execution. Thus
she was also associated with the protection of the king's chambers and
other sacred places, and with protection against venomous animals, which
were seen as transgressors against Ma'at.
Since venomous animals such as scorpions and snakes are killed by
felines, Mafdet was seen as a feline goddess, although it is uncertain
whether alternately, she also was meant to be a cat, a mongoose, or a
leopard. In reflection of the manner in which these animals kill snakes and
she was given titles such as, slayer of serpents.
In art, Mafdet was shown as a feline, a woman with a feline head, or a
feline with the head of a woman, sometimes with braided hair which ended
in the tails of scorpions. At times she was shown with a headdress of
snakes.
She also was depicted as a feline running up the side of an executioner's
staff. It was said that Mafdet ripped out the hearts of wrong-doers,
delivering them to the pharaoh's feet, in a similar manner as domestic

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cats who present people with rodents or birds that they have killed or
maimed.
During the New Kingdom, Mafdet was seen as ruling over the judgment
hall in Duat where the enemies of the pharaoh were decapitated with
Mafdet's claw.
Her cult was eventually replaced by that of Bast, another cat-goddess, a
lioness warrior who was seen as the pharaoh's protector, but her cheetah
imagery continued in association with the pharaohs including personal
items and the bed upon which their mummies were placed.
Mafdet as the bed upon which a mummy of

a pharaoh is being attended to by

Anubis

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Mandulis

Manulis was a sun god of Lower (northern) Nubia. He is usually depicted

wearing a crown of ram horns surmounted by high plumes, sun disks and
cobras. His name in Egyptian inscriptions is "Merwel" but the Greek
version, as found in the text known as the "Vision of Mandulis" is used
almost universally.
Mandulis was often depicted wearing an elaborate headdress of ram's
horns, cobras and plumes surmounted by sun discs. He was sometimes
shown in the form of a hawk, but wearing a human head.

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A chapel to Mandulis existed on the island of Philae off the eastern
colonnade approaching the temple of Isis, a goddess who seems to be
regarded at least as his close companion. But it is in the temple of
Kalabsha (now moved to a location just above the High Dam at Aswan),
the most impressive monument in Lower Nubia from the Graeco-Roman
period, that the best evidence of the cult of Mandulis can be found.
Constructed on the site of an earlier New Kingdom sanctuary, Kalabsha
(ancient Talmis) took its present form during the reign of the Roman
emperor Augustus. Mandulis, as represented on its walls, does not seem
at all out of place among the other members of the Egyptain pantheon
placed in his company. From the "Vision of Mandulis" we find the unforced
equation of this Nubian solar deity to Egyptian Horus and to the Greek
Apollo.

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Mehen

In Ancient Egypt, Mehen is both what appears to be a mythological

character snake-god and a game. Texts, which do not currently appear to
be descriptions of a game, indicate that Mehen was considered to be a
snake-god who either coils around Apep to protect Ra from him, during his
journey through the night, or instead coils protectively around Ra and his
boat, a form in which he is often depicted. Mehen was consequently
sometimes merged, in depictions, with Set, who also, originally, was

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considered to protect Ra, and thus was shown as a serpent-headed man
with a spear, standing in Ra's boat.

Mehen Snake Board

Queen Nefertari playing Senet

The precise relationship between character and Mehen game is unknown.
It is not known whether the game derives from the mythological character,
or the character derives from the game, nor is it known whether the
character was considered to be anything other than the game.

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It is known that the board depicts a game rather than acts as a religious
fetish due to studies of paintings in tombs and game boards and
equipment found. Currently, the rules and methods for playing are
completely unknown, although a program available here contains a guess
at how it may have been played. Also none of the associated objects fit
neatly within the segments of the snake.

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Menhit

In Egyptian mythology, Menhit (also spelt Menchit) was originally a foreign

war goddess. Her name depicts a warrior status, as it means (she who)
massacres.
When included among the Egyptian deities, she became the female
counterpart of Anhur. It was said that she had come from Nubia with Anhur
who had been her counterpart and husband there.
Due to the aggressive attributes possessed by and hunting methods used
by lionesses, most things connected to warfare in Egypt were depicted as
leonine, and Menhit was no exception, being depicted as a
lioness-goddess.
She also was believed to advance ahead of the Egyptian armies and cut

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down their enemies with fiery arrows, similar to other war deities.
In the 3rd Nome of Upper Egypt, particularly at Esna, Menhit was said to
be the wife of Khnum and the mother of Heka.
As the centre of her cult was toward the southern border of Egypt, in
Upper Egypt, she became strongly identified with Sekhmet, who was
originally the lion-goddess of war for Upper Egypt, after unification of the
two Egyptian kingdoms, this goddess began to be considered simply
another aspect of Sekhmet.

Meretseger

n Egyptian mythology, Meretseger (also spelt Mertseger), meaning 'she

who loves silence', was a cobra-goddess, who was originally a

166
personification of the dangers of the desert.
Since the first syllable of her name is the same as that in the word
pyramid, it became thought that she lived on top of (or was) the
pyramid-shaped mountain which overlooked the Valley of the Kings, where
the pharaohs' tombs were located.
This localisation ultimately prevented her becoming anything more than a
local deity, and when the valley ceased being in use, so she also, ceased
being worshipped.
As a cobra, she spat poison at anyone who tried to vandalise or rob the
royal tombs. She was also the patron deity of the many workers who built
these tombs, and punished those workers who committed crimes, but
healed those who repented. In art she was portrayed as either a coiled
cobra, or as a woman-headed cobra, or rarely as a triple headed cobra,
where one head was that of a cobra, one of a woman, and one of a
vulture.

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Meskhenet

In Ancient Egyptian mythology, Meskhenet, (also spelt Mesenet, Meskhent,

and Meshkent) was the goddess of childbirth, and the creator of each
child's Ka, a part of their soul, which she breathed into them at the
moment of birth. She was worshipped from the earliest of times by
Egyptians.
In ancient Egypt, women delivered babies while squatting on a pair of
bricks, known as birth bricks, and Meskhenet was the goddess associated
with this form of delivery. Consequently, in art, she sometimes was
depicted as a brick with a woman's head, wearing a cow's uterus upon it.
At other times she was depicted as a woman with a symbolic cow's uterus
on her headdress. Since she was responsible for creating the Ka, she was
associated with fate. Thus later she sometimes was said to be paired with
Shai, who became a god of destiny after the deity evolved out of an
abstract concept.
It was said that Meskhenet was present at the birth of triplets, and foretold
in their fates, that they would each be pharaohs - the triplets in question
were Sahure, Userkaf, and Neferirkare Kakai, who were the first pharaohs
in the fifth dynasty (although Userkaf was not the sibling of the other two,
but their father).

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Meskhenet also was believed to be the earliest wife of Andjety the god of
rebirth in the underworld. Andjety appears to have been worshipped since
pre-dynastic times at Andjet, and is thought by most Egyptologists to be
the god who eventually became Osiris.

Meskhenet was a goddess who presided at child birth. In her form of a tile
terminating in a female head (called in the Book of the Dead
"cubit-with-head") she represents one of the bricks upon which women in
ancient Egypt took a squatting position to give birth. Her presence near
the scales in the hall of the Two Truths, where the dead person's heart is
examined and weighed to ascertain suitability for the Egyptian paradise, is
there to assist at a symbolic rebirth in the Afterlife. Her symbol of two
loops at the top of a vertical stroke has been shown to be the bocornuate
uterus of a heifer.
In addition to ensuring the safe delivery of a child from the womb,
Meskhenet takes a decision on its destiny at the time of birth. In the
Papyrus Westcar the goddess helps at the birth of the future first three
kings of the 5th Dynasty. On the arrival of Userkaf, Sahure and Neferirkare
into the arms of Isis, she approaches each child and assures it of
kingship. Similarly she is the force of destiny that assigns to a scribe
promotion among the administrators of Egypt.
A hymn in the temple of Esna refers to four "Meskhenets" at the side of the
creator god Khnum, whose purpose is to repel evil by their incantations.

169
Meskhenet as a birth brick

In ancient Egypt, where child mortality was high, Egyptians called upon the
help of their gods through magical objects, like birth bricks, and special
ritual practices during childbirth. The Egyptian birth brick was associated
with a specific goddess, Meskhenet, sometimes depicted in the form of a
brick with a human head. On the newly discovered birth brick, the main
scene shows a mother with her newborn boy, attended on either side by
women and by Hathor, a cow goddess closely associated with birth and
motherhood.

170
Min

Ithyphallic God of Fertility

171
Min is an Ancient Egyptian god whose cult originated in predynastic times
(4th millennium BC). He was represented in many different forms, but was
often represented in male human form, shown with an erect penis which
he holds in his left hand and an upheld right arm holding a flail. As Khem
or Min, he was the god of reproduction; as Khnum, he was the creator of
all things, "the maker of gods and men".

As a god of fertility, he was shown as having black skin to reflect the

fertile black mud of the Nile's inundation. His cult was strongest in Coptos
and Akhmim (Panopolis), where in his honour great festivals were held
celebrating his ³coming forth² with a public procession and presentation of
offerings.
His other associations include the eastern desert and links to the god
Horus.
Flinders Petrie excavated two large statues of Min at Qift which are now in
the Ashmolean Museum and it is thought by some that they are
pre-dynastic.

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Although not mentioned by name a reference to 'he whose arm is raised in
the East' in the Pyramid Texts is thought to refer to Min. His importance
grew in the Middle Kingdom when he became even more closely linked
with Horus as the deity Min-Horus. By the New Kingdom he was also fused
with Amen in the deity Min-Amen-kamutef (Min-Amen - bull of his mother).
Min's shrine was crowned with a pair of bull horns.
As the central deity of fertility and possibly orgiastic rites Min became
identified by the Greeks with the god Pan. One feature of Min worship was
the wild prickly lettuce Lactuca virosa and Lactuca serriola of which is the
domestic version Lactuca sativa which has aphrodisiac and opiate
qualities.
He also had connections with Nubia. However, his main centers of worship
were Qift (Coptos) and Akhmim (Khemmis). As a god of male sexual

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potency, he was honoured during the coronation rites of the New
Kingdom, when the Pharaoh was expected to sow his seed - generally
thought to have been plant seeds, although there have been controversial
suggestions that the Pharaoh was expected to demonstrate that he could
ejaculate - and thus ensure the annual flooding of the Nile.
At the beginning of the harvest season, his image was taken out of the
temple and brought to the fields in the festival of the departure of Min,
when they blessed the harvest, and played games naked in his honour, the
most important of these being the climbing of a huge (tent) pole.
In Egyptian art, Min was depicted as wearing a crown with feathers, and
often holding his penis erect in his left hand and a flail (referring to his
authority, or rather that of the Pharaohs) in his upward facing right hand.
Around his forehead, Min wears a red ribbon that trails to the ground,
claimed by some to represent sexual energy. The symbols of Min were the
white bull, a barbed arrow, and a bed of lettuce, that the Egyptians
believed to be an aphrodisiac, as Egyptian lettuce was tall, straight, and
released a milk-like substance when rubbed, characteristics superficially
similar to the penis.
Even some war goddesses were depicted with the body of Min (including
the phallus), and this also led to depictions, ostensibly of Min, with the
head of a lioness. Min usually was depicted in an ithyphallic (with an erect
and uncovered phallus) style.
Christians routinely defaced his monuments in temples they co-opted and
Victorian Egyptologists would take only waist-up photographs of Min, or
otherwise find ways to cover his protruding penis. However, to the ancient
Egyptians, Min was not a matter of scandal - they had very relaxed
standards of nudity: in their warm climate, farmers, servants, and
entertainers often worked partially or completely naked, and children did
not wear any clothes until they came of age.
In the 19th century, there was an alleged erroneous transcription of the
Egyptian for Min as ("khem"). Since Khem was worshipped most
significantly in Akhmim, the separate identity of Khem was reinforced,
Akhmim being understood as simply a corruption of Khem.

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Monthu

In Ancient Egyptian religion, Monthu was a falcon-god, of war. Monthu's

name, shown in Egyptian hieroglyphs to the right, is technically
transcribed as mntw. Because of the difficulty in transcribing Egyptian, it
is often realized as Menthu, Montju, Ment, Month, Montu, Monto, Mentu,
Mont or Minu'thi.
Monthu was an ancient god, his name meaning nomad, originally a
manifestation of the scorching effect of the sun, Ra, and as such often
appeared under the epithet Monthu-Ra. The destructiveness of this
characteristic lead to him gaining characteristics of a warrior, and
eventually becoming a war-god. When Thebes gained prominence, and
thus its patron god Amun became more significant, changing his wife to
Mut, Monthu was chosen as the necessary child to satisfy Mut's strong
maternal desire to adopt, since he represented strength, virility, and
victory.
Because of the association of raging bulls with strength and war, Monthu

175
was also said to manifest himself in a white bull with a black face, which
was referred to as the Bakha. Egypt's greatest general-kings called
themselves Mighty Bulls, the sons of Monthu. In the famous narrative of
the Battle of Kadesh, Ramesses II was said to have seen the enemy and
"raged at them like Monthu, Lord of Thebes".
In Ancient Egyptian art, he was pictured as a falcon-headed or bull-headed
man who wore the sun-disc, with two plumes on his head, the falcon
representing the sky, and the bull representing strength and war. He
would hold various weaponry, including scimitars, bows and arrows, and
knives in his hands.
During the New Kingdom, large and impressive temples to Monthu were
constructed in Armant. In fact, the Greek name of the city of Armant was
Hermonthis, meaning the land of Monthu.
Earlier temples to Monthu include one located adjacent to the Middle
Kingdom fortress of Uronarti below the Second Cataract of the Nile,
dating to the nineteenth century BCE.
Mentuhotep, a name given to several pharaohs in the Middle Kingdom,
means "Menthu is satisfied".
Throughout the world in ancient times, man worshipped the sun. We find
monuments to the sun gods all over the world, but in Egypt we really
begin to get a feel for just how the sun dominated early theology. In Egypt,
at various locations and apparently somewhat independently, the worship
of the sun developed with gods of various names. So many of Egypt's
deities were associated with the sun in some way that it is difficult to
identify them, and their various forms became very complex. Montu, who
we generally identify as an ancient war god in Egypt, actually originated in
the form of a local solar god in Upper (southern) Egypt, apparently at
Hermonthis (City of the Sun). His worship seems to have been exported to
Thebes during the 11th Dynasty.
Because of this god's association with the successful King Nebhepetre
Montuhotep I (or II, same king), who ruled during Egypt's 11th Dynasty,
Montu (Mentu) achieved the rank of state god. Montuhotep I reunited
Upper and Lower Egypt after the chaos of the First Intermediate Period.
His association with Montu is obvious from his name, which means,

176
"Montu is satisfied".
However, by the 12th Dynasty, Montu became subordinated to Amun,
another deity who probably originated in Upper Egypt, and would later be
known as the "King of Gods". It was during this period that Montu's role in
Egyptian religion took on the true attributes of a war god.
Montu's veneration as a war god can be traced originally to the Story of
Sinuhe, where Montu was praised by the tale's hero after he defeated the
"strong man" of Retjenu. By the New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty pharaohs,
some of whom followed a very military tradition, sought specifically to
emulate Montu. For example, the Gebel Barkal Stele of Tuthmosis III, often
referred to as the Napoleon of Egypt, describes the king as "a valiant
Montu on the battlefield".
Later in the New Kingdom, he became so personally identified with the
Ramesses II that a cult statue bearing the king's throne name, Usermaare
Setepenre, with the epithet, "Montu in the Two Lands", was venerated in
Ramesses II's honor during his lifetime. When kings such as Ramesses II
are referenced as "mighty bulls", they are claiming the association with
Montu as his son.
On the flip side, Montu had a connection with Egyptian households and
was probably considered a protector of the happy home. He was often
cited in marriage The Temple of Karnak, Sanctuary of Montu documents.
One document from Deir el-Medina invokes the rage of a husband to his
unfaithful wife with, "It is the abomination of Monthu."
Montu was honored with cult centers in a number of locations.
Specifically, he was worshipped at four sites within the Theban region. The
cult centers included Armant (ancient Greek Hermonthis), southwest of
modern Luxor (ancient Thebes) on the west bank of the Nile, Medamud
(ancient Madu) northeast of Luxor, Tod (ancient Greek Tuphium),
southwest of Luxor on the eastern bank, and at Karnak which is just
northeast of modern Luxor. Most of these cult centers appear to have
been established during the Middle Kingdom, with the exception of Karnak.
There, the earliest monument dates from the New Kingdom, and
specifically to the reign of Amenhotep III.
A hymn from an Armant Stele says of him, "the raging one who prevails

177
over the serpent-demon Nik," and the one "who causes Re to sail in his
park and who overthrows his serpent enemy". Therefore, it is perhaps not
surprising that the ancient Egyptian warships were The Remains of the
Temple of Montu at Medamud equipped with figures of a striding Montu
holding maces or spears. Each of these statues were styled as a god of
one of his four primary cult centers.
Montu is commonly depicted as a man with the head of a falcon
surmounted by a solar disk. He wears the double uraeus behind which two
tall plumes extend vertically. Later, he became associated with the Bull
Cults such as Buchis at Armant, and so he is depicted with the head of a
bull and a plumed, solar headdress. Another bull sacred to Montu was also
worshipped at Medamud.
Like a number of other deities, Montu also became associated with Re in
the form of Montu-Re. He was also paired with the solar Atum of Lower
Egypt, and in this guise, was often depicted escorting the king into the
presence of Amun. Other documentary evidence Columns of different
types at the Ptolemy VII temple of Montu at Medamud suggests that he
was also sometimes paired with Set (Seth), perhaps acting as a controlled
divine aggressor to balance Set's chaotic attributes.
Montu is also sometimes accompanied by one of his consorts in ancient
scenes. Three are known, consisting of Tjenenet, Iunyt and Rettawy ( or
Raettawy). Rettawy is the female counterpart of Re, and is depicted like
Hathor as a cow with a sun disk surmounting her head. Through Rettawy,
Montu is connected with Horus and thus the king, for their son was
Harpocrates (Horus the child).
Montu's worship survived for many years, and he was eventually
considered by the Greeks to be a form of their war god, Ares.

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Mut

Mut depicted as a woman wearing the double crown plus

a royal vulture headdress, associated with Nekhbet

Mother Goddess of the New Kingdom

Wife of Amen, Vulture Goddess

The word Mut means "mother" and Mut was the great mother goddess of

179
Egypt, even outranking Isis. Often Mut was believed to be a sort of
grandmother figure, as Isis was the mother figure for the world. She was
said to be the consort of Amun, and their son was the moon-god Khonsu.

The three formed a sort of heavenly family for their people. Each year a
festival would be held celebrating the marriage of Amun and Mut. The high
priest of Amun would lead a procession from Karnak to the temple at
Luxor.
Mut (Maut) was the queen of the gods at Waset (Thebes), arising in power
with the god Amen. She came to represent the Eye of Ra, the ferocious
goddess of retribution and daughter of the sun god Ra. Originally a local
goddess, probably from the delta area, she became a national goddess
during the New Kingdom and was adored at one of the most popular
festivals at the time - the Festival of Mut.

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She was either depicted as a woman, sometimes with wings, or a vulture,
usually wearing the crowns of royalty - she was often shown wearing the
double crown of Egypt or the vulture headdress of the New Kingdom
queens. Later she was shown as woman with the head of a lioness, as a
cow or as a cobra as she took on the attributes of the other Egyptian
goddesses. The ancient Egyptian link between vultures and motherhood
lead to her name being the ancient Egyptian word for mother - mwt
In Southern Africa, the name for an Egyptian vulture is synonymous with
the term applied to lovers, for vultures like pigeons are always seen in
pairs. Thus mother and child remain closely bonded together. Pairing,

181
bonding, protecting, loving are essential attributes associated with a
vulture. Because of its immense size and power and its ability to sore high
up in the sky, the vulture is considered to be nearer to God who is
believed to reside above the sky. Thus the qualities of a vulture are
associated with Godliness. On the other hand the wide wingspan of a
vulture may be seen as all encompassing and providing a protective cover
to its infants. The vulture when carrying out its role as a mother and giving
protection to its infants may exhibit a forceful nature whilst defending her
young. All these qualities inspired the imagination of the Ancient Egyptians.
They adopted what seemed to them at the time to be motherly qualities,
the qualities of protecting and nurturing their young.
- Ma-Wetu, The Kiswahili-Bantu Research Unit for the Advancement of the
Ancient Egyptian Language

Mut took over the position of the original wife of Amen - Amaunet, the
invisible goddess - during the Middle Kingdom and rose to power when the
New Kingdom rulers took up the worship of Amen. The pharaohs moved to
Waset, making it their capital, and so the worship of the local Waset gods
spread throughout the land. As Amen became the god of the pharaohs,
Mut became their symbolic mother and was identified with the queens.
Their adopted son was Khonsu, the moon god, and the three were
worshiped as a triad at Waset and at the Temple of Amen at Ipet-Resyt

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(Luxor). Originally their adopted son was Montu, the god of war, but he
was dropped in favor of the moon god, possibly because the shape of
Mut's sacred lake was in the shape of a crescent moon.
During the Festival of Mut in Waset, a statue of the goddess was placed
on a boat and sailed around the small crescent shaped sacred lake at her
temple at Ipet-Isut (Karnak). In a yearly matrimonial ceremony during the
New Year festival, Amen traveled from his temple at Ipet-Resyt down to
Ipet-Isut to visit her. Originally this was for the fertility goddess Ipet
(Taweret), as a way of ensuring fertility for the coming year.
Unas hath had union with the goddess Mut, Unas hath drawn unto himself
the flame of Isis, Unas hath united himself to the blue water lily...
- Pyramid Text of Unas
There was also a composite deity called "Mut-Isis-Nekhbet, the Great
Mother and Lady" who was shown as a winged goddess with leonine feet,
an erect penis and three heads - a lion head wearing Min's headdress, a
woman's head wearing the double crown of Egypt and a vulture's head
wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt.
In The Book of the Dead, a spell was spoken over a statue of her. The
statue had her with three heads - one of the heads was that of a lioness
wearing a headdress of two tall plumes, a human head wearing the double
crown, and the third being the head of a vulture, again wearing the
headdress of two plumes - as well as wings, an erect penis and the paws
of a lion. This spell was to protect the dead from being disturbed, and it
linked her to Bast, Sekhmet and the sun. In this form she was called both
Mut, but addressed as Sekhmet-Bast-Ra.
When she started to take over the positions of other goddesses, her name
was linked to the older goddess' - such as Mut-Temt, Mut-Wadjet-Bast and
Mut-Sekhmet-Bast-Menhit. She also started to take on the aspects and
attributes of Isis, such as Mut's form of Mut-Isis-Nekhbet. She seems to
have also taken the attributes of even the sky goddess Nut, mother of the
five deities - Osiris, Horus the Elder, Set, Isis and Nephthys.
I have given unto thee the sovereignty of the father Geb, and the goddess
Mut, thy mother, who gave birth to the gods, brought thee forth as the
first-born of five gods, and created thy beauties and fashioned thy

183
members.
- The Book of the Dead
When Amen was assimilated with Ra, becoming Amen-Ra, Mut took on the
title the Eye of Ra, a form associated with Hathor and Sekhmet, among
others. The Eye was usually shown as a lioness, representing the fierce
heat of the sun, and so Mut was given the form of a lion headed woman.
She was then thought to be the daughter of Ra, yet she was also "Mother
of the Sun in Whom He Rises" - she was thought to be the mother of
mothers, and thus could be both the mother and daughter of the sun god.
The 'Mistress of Isheru' (the sacred lake around her temple) had a large
temple mostly built by Amenhotep III. The earliest parts of the temple,
though, were built by pharaohs Hatshepsut and Thothmose III. Later rulers
such as Rameses II, Rameses III and King Taharqa of the Kushite 25th
Dynasty added to the Mut Precinct, expanding the precinct and rebuilding
the temple. (Rameses II's wife, Nefertari, was called Nefertari Merytnmut -
'Nefertari, Beloved of Mut'.) The temple of Mut continued to prosper during
the Ptolemaic period, right through to the conquest of Egypt by Rome in
about 30 BC. By the late Roman period, the temple of Mut was no longer
in use, and started to fall into disrepair.

The temple, Hut-Mut hwt-mwt ,was situated to the south of the great
temple of Amen-Ra, with an avenue of sphinxes approaching her temple.
She was worshiped there as "Mut, the Great Lady of Isheru, the Lady of
Heaven, the Queen of the Gods". Mut was believed to have existed since
primeval times, existing along side Nun, the primeval waters. This was
probably due to her replacement of Amaunet, one of the primeval Ogdoad
- the great eight - who lived in the waters. In her temple she was depicted

184
in the form black basalt statues, showing Mut as the Eye of Ra, Sekhmet.
The precinct of Mut lies about 100 yards south of the precinct of Amen to
which it is oriented, and covers an area of about twenty acres. The focal
point of the complex is the temple of Mut itself, surrounded on three sides
by a lake called the Isheru, a term used to describe sacred lakes specific
to precincts of goddesses who can be leonine in form. The Mut Precinct's
Isheru, fed probably by an underground spring, is the largest in Egypt that
is preserved.
The Mut expedition also uncovered a gate in an early western enclosure
wall that bares traces of a possible graffito of Senmut, an important
official under Hatshepsut, and the cartouches of Thothmose III (perhaps
replacing Hatshepsut's cartouche), an Amarna period effacement of the
name of Amen, and an inscription by Seti I recording the restoration of the
gate.
Despite the evidence of early 18th Dynasty activity at the site, many
publications continue to identify the Mut temple as a work of Amenhotep
III, primarily because of the many statues of the goddess Sekhmet found
at the site that bear his name. However, it is now thought that the
Sekhmet statues bearing the king's name were originally erected in his
funerary temple on the west bank of the Nile. They were probably brought
to the Mut Precinct during 19th Dynasty when Mut and Sekhmet became
more closely associated and rituals involving both with the Isheru first
appear to have gained prominence.
- The Precinct of The Goddess Mut

185
She was also worshiped in Djannet (Tanis), Zau (Sau, Sai, Sais), the Oases
of Kharga and Dakhla. Her followers believed her as the great mother, the
one who created and brought forth everything that existed. This was
probably why she was sometimes depicted with male parts - she was not
just one who gave birth to life, she was one who conceived life itself. She
was "Mut, Who Giveth Birth, But Was Herself Not Born of Any". Another
reason why Mut may have been seen as being able to have conceived by
herself was the ancient Egyptian believe that there were no male griffon
vultures (the vulture of the Egyptian goddesses and royalty). (This vulture
(Gyps fulvus) has no significant markings between the female and the male
of the species.) They believed that this bird conceived with the wind.
The great mother goddess of the New Kingdom, Mut replaced or
assimilated many of the Egyptian goddesses. She became a great,
all-in-one goddess of the capital city, and her popularity spread. Although
possibly a local goddess from the delta, she was married to Amen,
replacing his original wife. She came to represent the mother of the
pharaoh, the royal crown being her symbol, and firmly established her
place with the rulers of Thebes. From there, she became one of Egypt's
great goddesses, worshiped through the land from the New Kingdom well
into Roman times. Both male and female, her followers believed her to be
the one who created and gave birth to all.

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Nefertem

Lord of the Sunrise

In Egyptian mythology, Nefertem (also Nefertum, Nefer-Tem, Nefer-Temu)
was originally just the young Atum (his name means beautiful Atum, i.e.
youthful Atum), at the creation of the world, who had arisen from the
primal waters, in the Ennead cosmogeny.
Since Atum was a solar deity, Nefertum represented sunrise, and since
Atum had arisen from the primal waters in the bud of an Egyptian blue
water-lily, Nymphaea caerulea, Nefertum was associated with this flower.
(This flower is widely used in Egyptian art, religion and literature. In much
of the literature about ancient Egypt, it is called the "(blue) lotus".
However, the true lotus, Nelumbo nucifera, is not found in Egypt until the
time of the Persian invasion, when it was introduced as a food crop.)
Later, as time wore on, Atum became assimilated into Ra (as Atum-Ra),
and so it came to be that people regarded Nefertum as a separate deity.

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Some of the titles of Nefertem were "He Who is Beautiful" and "Water-Lily
of the Sun", and a version of the Book of the Dead says, "Rise like
Nefertem from the blue water lily, to the nostrils of Ra, and come forth
upon the horizon each day."
As the power of Memphis grew, their chief god, Ptah, was said to be the
original creator, and thus of all the other gods, including any lesser
creators, who create the remaining gods having first being created by
Ptah. Consequently, the creator aspect of Atum-Ra, namely Nefertum,
came to be merely the son of Ptah, rather than the creator proper.
As son of Ptah, it was said that either Sekhmet, or Bast (whichever was
considered wife of Ptah), was his mother. As a god now only associated
with the highly aromatic blue water-lily rather than creation, he became a
god of perfume and luck.

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In art, Nefertum is usually depicted as a beautiful young man having blue
water-lily flowers around his head. As the son of Bast, he also sometimes
has the head of a lion or is a lion or cat reclining.
Nefertem was associated both with the scent of the blue water-lily flower
and its supposed narcotic effect (widely presumed, but yet untested
scientifically). The ancient Egyptians often carried small statuettes of him
as good-luck charms.

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Nehebkau

In Egyptian mythology, Nehebkau (also spelt Nehebu-Kau, and Neheb Ka)

was originally the explanation of the cause of binding of Ka and Ba after
death. Thus his name, which means (one who) brings together Ka. Since
these aspects of the soul were said to bind after death, Nehebkau was
said to have guarded the entrance to Duat, the underworld.
was one of the more important glyphs in his name, and although it was
technically a variation on the glyph for two arms raised in prayer, it also
resembles a two-headed snake, and so Nehebkau became depicted in art

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as a snake with two heads (occasionally with only one). As a two-headed
snake, he was viewed as fierce, being able to attack from two directions,
and not having to fear as much confrontations.
Consequently sometimes it was said that Atum, the chief god in these
areas, had to keep his finger on him to prevent Nehebkau from getting out
of control. Alternately, in areas where Ra was the chief god, it was said
that Nehebkau was one of the warriors who protected Ra whilst he was in
the underworld, during Ra's nightly travel, as a sun god, under the earth.

When he was seen as a snake, he was also thought to have some power
over snake-bites, and by extension, other poisonous bites, such as those
of scorpions, thus sometimes being identified as the son of Serket, the
scorpion-goddess of protection against these things. Alternatively, as a
snake, since he was connected to an aspect of the soul, he was
sometimes seen as the son of Renenutet, a snake-goddess, who
distributed the Ren, another aspect of the soul, and of the earth (Geb), on
which snakes crawl.
Ka is also the Egyptian word for phallus, and so as the somewhat difficult
to interpret (one who) harnesses together phalluses, he was often
depicted in an Ithyphallic manner (still as a snake).

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Neith

Nit (Net, Neit, Neith) was the predynastic goddess of war and weaving, the
goddess of the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and the patron goddess of Zau
(Sau, Sai, Sais) in the Delta. In later times she was also thought to have
been an androgynous demiurge - a creation deity - who had both male and
female attributes. The Egyptians believed her to be an ancient and wise
goddess, to whom the other gods came if they could not resolve their own
disputes.
It is thought that Neith may correspond to the goddess Tanit, worshipped
in north Africa by the early Berber culture (existing from the beginnings of
written records) and through the first Punic culture originating from the
founding of Carthage by Dido. Ta-nit, meaning in Egyptian the land of Nit,
also was a sky-dwelling goddess of war, a virginal mother goddess and
nurse, and, less specifically, a symbol of fertility.
Her symbol is remarkably similar to the Egyptian ankh and her shrine,

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excavated at Sarepta in southern Phoenicia, revealed an inscription that
related her securely to the Phoenician goddess Astarte (Ishtar). Several of
the major Greek goddesses also were identified with Tanit by the
syncretic, interpretatio graeca, which recognized as Greek deities in
foreign guise the deities of most of the surrounding non-Hellene cultures.
A Hellenistic royal family ruled over Egypt for three centuries, a period
called the Ptolemaic dynasty until the Roman conquest in 30 A.D.
Neith was a goddess of war and of hunting and had as her symbol, two
crossed arrows over a shield. Her symbol also identified the city of Sais.
This symbol was displayed on top of her head in Egyptian art. In her form
as a goddess of war, she was said to make the weapons of warriors and
to guard their bodies when they died.
Her name also may be interpreted as meaning, water. In time, this
meaning led to her being considered as the personification of the
primordial waters of creation. She is identified as a great mother goddess
in this role as a creator.
Neith's symbol and part of her hieroglyph also bore a resemblance to a
loom, and so later in the history of Egyptian myths, she also became
goddess of weaving, and gained this version of her name, Neith, which
means weaver. At this time her role as a creator changed from being
water-based to that of the deity who wove all of the world and existence
into being on her loom.
As a goddess of weaving and the domestic arts she was a protector of
women and a guardian of marriage, so royal woman often named
themselves after Neith, in her honour. Since she also was goddess of war,
and thus had an additional association with death, it was said that she
wove the bandages and shrouds worn by the mummified dead as a gift to
them, and thus she began to be viewed as a protector of one of the Four
sons of Horus, specifically, of Duamutef, the deification of the canopic jar
storing the stomach, since the abdomen (often mistakenly associated as
the stomach) was the most vulnerable portion of the body and a prime
target during battle. It was said that she shot arrows at any evil spirits who
attacked the canopic jar she protected.
In the late pantheon of the Ogdoad myths, she became identified as the

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mother of Ra and Apep. When she was identified as a water goddess, she
was also viewed as the mother of Sobek, the crocodile. It was this
association with water, i.e. the Nile, that led to her sometimes being
considered the wife of Khnum, and associated with the source of the River
Nile. She was associated with the Nile Perch as well as the goddess of the
triad in that cult center.
As the goddess of creation and weaving, she was said to reweave the
world on her loom daily.
The Greek historian, Herodotus (c. 484-425 BC), noted that the Egyptian
citizens of Sais in Egypt worshipped Neith and that they identified her with
Athena. The Timaeus, a Socratic dialogue written by Plato, mirrors that
identification with Athena.
Plutarch (46 - 120 A.D.), said the temple of Neith (of which nothing now
remains) bore the inscription:
I am All That Has Been, That Is, and That Will Be. 1

No mortal has yet been able to lift the veil that covers Me.
In much later times, her association with war and death, led to her being
identified with Nephthys (and Anouke or Ankt). Nephthys became part of
the Ennead pantheon, and thus considered a wife of Set. Despite this, it
was said that she interceded in the kingly war between Horus and Set,
over the Egyptian throne, recommending that Horus rule.
Anouke, a goddess from Asia Minor was worshiped by immigrants to
ancient Egypt. This war goddess was shown wearing a curved and
feathered crown and carrying a spear, or bow and arrows. Within Egypt,
she was later assimilated and identified as Neith, who by that time had
developed her aspects as a war goddess.
In art, Neith sometimes appears as a woman with a weavers¹ shuttle atop
her head, holding a bow and arrows in her hands. At other times she is
depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness, as a snake, or as a cow.
Sometimes Neith was pictured as a woman nursing a baby crocodile, and
she was titled "Nurse of Crocodiles". As the personification of the concept
of the primordial waters of creation in the Ogdoad theology, she had no
gender. As mother of Ra, she was sometimes described as the "Great
Cow who gave birth to Ra".

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A great festival, called the Feast of Lamps, was held annually in her honor
and, according to Herodotus, her devotees burned a multitude of lights in
the open air all night during the celebration.
There also is evidence of an resurrection cult involving a woman dying and
being brought back to life that was connected with Neith.

Generally depicted as a woman, Nit was shown either wearing her emblem
- either a shield crossed with two arrows, or a weaving shuttle - or the Red
Crown of Lower Egypt. Nit was probably linked with the crown of Lower
Egypt due to the similarities between her name, and the name of the
crown - nt . Similarly, her name was linked to the root of the word for
'weave' - ntt (which is also the root for the word 'being'). She was also
often shown carrying a bow and arrows, linking her to hunting and
warfare, or a sceptre and sceptre and the ankh sign of life. She was also
shown in the form of a cow, though this was very rare.

In late dynastic times there is no doubt that Nit was regarded as nothing
but a form of Hathor, but at an earlier period she was certainly a

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personification of a form of the great, inert, primeval watery mass out of
which sprang the sun god Ra...
- The Gods of the Egyptians, E. A. Wallis Budge

As the mother of Ra, the Egyptians believed her to be connected with the
god of the watery primeval void, Nun. (Her name might have also been
linked to a word for water - nt - thus providing the connection between the
goddess and the primeval waters.) Because the sun god arose from the
primeval waters, and with Nit being these waters, she was thought to be
the mother of the sun, and mother of the gods. She was called 'Nit, the
Cow Who Gave Birth to Ra' as one of her titles. The evil serpent Apep,
enemy of Ra, was believed to have been created when Nit spat into the
waters of Nun, her spittle turning into the giant snake. As a creatrix,
though, her name was written using the hieroglyph of an ejaculating
phallus - - a strong link to the male creative force a hint as to her part in
the creation of the universe.
According to the Iunyt (Esna) cosmology the goddess emerged from the
primeval waters to create the world. She then followed the flow of the Nile
northward to found Zau in company with the subsequently venerated
lates-fish. There are much earlier references to Nit's association with the
primordial flood-waters and to her demiurge: Amenhotep II (DynastyXVIII) in

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one inscription is the pharaoh 'whose being Nit moulded'; the papyrus
(Dynasty XX) giving the account of the struggle between Horus and Set
mentions Nit 'who illuminated the first face' and in the sixth century BC the
goddess is said to have invented birth.
- A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, George Hart
There is confusion as to the Emblem of Nit - originally it was of a shield
and two crossed arrows. This was her symbol from the earliest times, and
she was no doubt a goddess of hunting and war since predynastic times.
The symbol of her town, Zau, used this emblem from early times, and was
used in the name of the nome of which her city was the capital. The
earliest use of this Emblem was used in the name of queen Nithotep, 'Nit
is Pleased', who seems to have been the wife of Aha "Fighter" Menes of
the 1st Dynasty. Another early dynastic queen, Mernit, 'Beloved of Nit',
served as regent around the time of king Den.
Her most ancient symbol is the shield with crossed arrows, which occurs
in the early dynastic period... This warlike emblem is reflected in her titles
'Mistress of the Bow... Ruler of Arrows'.
- A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, George Hart

The later form of the Emblem is what some people believe to be a

weaving shuttle. It is possible that the symbols were confused by the
Egyptians themselves, and so she became a goddess of weaving and
other domestic arts. It was claimed, in one version of her tale, that she
created the world by weaving it with her shuttle.

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She was linked to with a number of goddesses including Isis, Bast, Wadjet,
Nekhbet, Mut and Sekhmet. As a cow, she was linked to both Nut and
Hathor. She was also linked to Tatet, the goddess who dressed the dead,
and was thus linked to preservation of the dead. This was probably due to
being a weaver goddess - she was believed to make the bandages for the
deceased.
She might have also been linked to Anubis and Wepwawet (Upuaut),
because one of her earliest titles was also 'Opener of the Ways'. She was
also one of the four goddesses - herself, Isis, Nephthys and Serqet - who
watched over the deceased as well as each goddess protecting one of the
four sons of Horus. Nit watched over the east side of the sarcophagus
and looked after the jackal-headed Duamutef who guarded the stomach of
the dead. Also, during the earliest times, weapons were placed around the
grave to protect the dead, and so her nature of a warrior-goddess might
have been a direct link to her becoming a mortuary goddess.
Her son, other than the sun god Ra, was believed to be Sobek, the
crocodile god. She was regarded as his mother from early times - the two
were mentioned as mother and son in the pyramid of Unas - and one of
her titles was 'Nurse of Crocodiles'. She was also regarded, during the
Old Kingdom, as the wife of Set, though by later times this relationship
was dropped and she became the wife of Sobek instead. In Upper Egypt
she was married to the inundation god, Khnum, instead.

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"Give the office of Osiris to his son Horus! Do not go on committing these
great wrongs, which are not in place, or I will get angry and the sky will
topple to the ground. But also tell the Lord of All, the Bull who lives in Iunu
(On, Heliopolis), to double Set's property. Give him Anat and Astarte, your
two daughters, and put Horus in the place of his father."

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Nekhebet

A woman with the head of a vulture

The goddess Nekhbet is usualy represented as a vulture, as a woman with

the head of a vulture or as a woman wearing the Atef-crown. The
Atef-crown resembles the White Crown of Upper Egypt, but it is flanked by
two feathers and sometimes stands on two flat ram's horns. She can only
be represented simply wearing the White Crown.
Her primary cult centres are located in the ancient cities of Nekheb (Elkab)
and Nekhen (Hierakonpolis), situated across each other on both banks of
the Nile in the South of Upper-Egypt.
Her name means "the one of Nekheb". Her most important epithet "the
White One of Nekhen" relates her to Hierakonpolis.
She is the personification of the White Crown of Upper Egypt, and as
such, she is associated with her Lower-Egyptian counterpart, Uto. Both
goddesses are often represented together, crowning the king.
By extension, she is not only the goddess of the White Crown, but also the
patron goddess of Upper-Egypt. It is thus not surprising to find Nekhbet,

200
along with Uto, in the Two Ladies name of the royal titulary.
As a vulture-goddess, Nekhbet is the goddess of heaven, sometimes
related to the sun when she is called "the Eye of Re" and other times to
the moon. She is also the protectress of the king and of the non-royal
deceased. As such, she is represented as a vulture extending one wing to
the front, the other to the ground, flying above the person she is
protecting.
In Egyptian mythology, Nekhbet (also spelt Nechbet, and Nekhebit) was an
early predynastic local goddess who was the patron of the city of Nekheb,
her name meaning of Nekheb. Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper
Egypt and one of the two patron deities for all of Ancient Egypt when it
was unified.
She was seen as a goddess who had chosen to adopt the city, and
consequently depicted as the Egyptian white vulture, a creature that the
Egyptians thought only existed as females (not knowing that, lacking
sexual dimorphism, the males are identical). They were presumed to be
reproducing via parthenogenesis.
Egypt¹s oldest oracle was the shrine of Nekhbet at Nekheb, the original
necropolis or city of the dead. It was the companion city to Nekhen, the
religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of the Predynastic
period (c. 3200·3100 BC) and probably, also during the Early Dynastic
Period (c. 3100-2686 BC). The original settlement on the Nekhen site
dates from Naqada I or the late Badarian cultures. At its height, from
about 3400 BC, Nekhen had at least 5,000 and possibly as many as
10,000 inhabitants.
The priestesses of Nekhbet were called muu (mothers) and wore robes of
vulture feathers.
Later, as with Wadjet, she became patron of the pharaohs, in her case
becoming the personification of Upper Egypt. The images of these two
primal goddesses became the protecting deities for all of Egypt.
In art, Nekhbet was depicted as the white vulture (representing
purification), always seen on the front of pharaoh¹s double crown along
with Wadjet.
Nekhbet usually was depicted hovering, with her wings spread above the

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royal image, clutching a shem symbol (representing infinity, all, or
everything), frequently in both of her claws. As patron of the pharaoh, she
was sometimes seen to be the mother of the divine aspect of the
pharaoh, and it was in this capacity that she was Mother of Mothers, and
the Great White Cow of Nekheb (depicted as having very large breasts).
The vulture hieroglyph was the uniliteral sign used for the glottal sound
including words such as mother, prosperous, grandmother, and ruler. In
some late texts of the Book of the Dead, Nekhbet is referred to as Father
of Fathers, Mother of Mothers, who hath existed from the Beginning, and
is Creatrix of this World.
When pairing began to occur in the Egyptian pantheon, giving most of the
goddesses a husband, Nekhbet was said to become the wife of Hapy, a
deity of the inundation of the Nile. Despite the early and constant
association with being a good mother, in late myths she even was stated
to have to adopt children.

Goddess Nekhbet, staff, with Shen ring

Nekhbet grew to become patron of Upper Egypt, a guardian of mothers
and children, and one of the nebty (the 'two ladies') of the pharaoh. "She of
Nekhb", named after the town Nekhb (El Kab) , was a local goddess who,
with the rise of the pharaohs, became the great goddess of all of Upper
Egypt, while the other 'lady', Uatchet (Uatch-Ura, Wadjet), became

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goddess of Lower Egypt. These two goddesses were linked closely
together due to the Egyptian idea of duality - there must be a goddess for
both of the Two Lands. Nekhbet became Upper Egypt (the south)
personified.

She was depicted as a woman wearing the crown of Upper Egypt or the
vulture headdress, a woman with the head of a vulture, as a full snake or
as a full vulture with the White Crown on her head, her wings spread in
protection while holding the shen (shn) symbol of eternity in her talons.
She was often shown with Uatchet, who was shown as an identical
goddess - either as a woman or a snake - wearing the crown of Lower
Egypt.

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Nekhbet crown of Upper Egypt
Nekhbet was given the title the 'White Crown', and depicted with this
crown, because of her link with the rulership of Upper Egypt. By dynastic
times, she was more a personification than an actual goddess and so
Nekhbet was often used (with Uatchet) as a heraldic device around the sun
disk or the royal name and were part of the royal insignia. The earliest
found representation of the nebty title was in the reign of Anedjib, a
pharaoh of the 1st Dynasty. From the 18th Dynasty onwards, she began
to be represented as protecting the royal women in the form of one of the
twin uraei on the headdresses of the queens.
Nekhbet (right) and Uto (left) crown the King.

204
Temple of Horus at Edfu.
Linked to the pharaoh and the crown, she often appears in war and
offertory scenes, in vulture form hovering over the head of the pharaoh,
holding the shen symbol and the royal flail. Yet she also is shown
sometimes as a divine mother of the pharaoh, suckling him herself. It was
in her mothering role that she was known as the 'Great White Cow of
Nekhb', where she was described as having pendulous breasts. She was
seen as the pharaoh's own protective goddess, right from his birth until
his death.
It was mostly during the later times that she was venerated as a goddess
of birth, specialising in the protection and suckling of both the gods and
the pharaohs. Unlike Heqet and Taweret, she was never a popular
goddess of the people due to her very close association with rulership. It
was only during the New Kingdom that the people started worshiping her
as a protector of mothers and children as well as being the goddess of
childbirth. Until then, she had strictly been a protector of the pharaoh.
Nekhbet was thought to be the wife of Hapi, in his Upper Egyptian aspect.
She was also linked to Horus in his role of god of Upper Egypt. Due to her
vulture form, she was linked to the goddess Mut, the mother goddess and
wife of Amen. Both Mut and Nekhbet were a particular type of vulture - the

205
griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus). It was the griffon vulture that was usually
related to the goddesses and to royalty.

Yet she also had a fierce side, as most Egyptian protective deities did.
She was linked to war and combat. In many war scenes, it is she who
hovered above the pharaoh, protecting him from his enemies. In the story
of Horus and Set, when Horus is trying to find and rout the followers of
Set, Horus pursued them in the form of a burning, winged disk, attended
by both Nekhbet and Uatchet as crowned snakes, one on each side of
him.
In this form, she was given the title 'Eye of Ra', and was thus linked to the
other goddesses who took this title - Bast, Tefnut, Sekhmet, Hathor, Isis,
and her 'twin' in duality, Uatchet.
A temple of Nekhbet was built at Nekhb, along with the temple's birth
house, smaller temples, the temple's sacred lake and some early
cemeteries. It is possible that it was first built during the Early Period, but
major building projects were started during the 18th Dynasty. The remains
of the temple, though, belong to the works of the pharaohs of the 29th
and 30th Dynasties. Nekhbet was venerated at this temple, inside the
town of Nekhb itself, throughout most of Egypt's long history.
From local goddess of a predynastic town to the goddess of Upper Egypt,
Nekhbet became one of Egypt's symbols. From the personal protector of
the pharaoh and she who bestowed the white crown to the pharaoh, she
became the symbol of rulership in ancient Egypt. And from the wet nurse
of pharaoh to the guardian of mothers and infants, she took on the role of
protector, she moved from the pharaoh's own goddess to one who looked
after mothers and children through the whole land. She was worshiped as
a goddess as well as being the personification of the south, the vulture
goddess who was one half of a manifestation of the idea of duality that
was a basis of ma'at for as long as the pharaohs ruled Egypt. She was

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more than just a goddess - she was half of the land of Egypt itself.

Nephthys

Daughter of Nut and Geb.

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Sister of Osiris, Isis, and Seth.
Wife of Seth, mother of Anubis.
In Egyptian mythology, Nephthys is the Greek form of an epithet (correctly
spelled Nebet-het, and Nebt-het, in transliteration from Egyptian
hieroglyphs). Nephthys, therefore, is a member of the Great Ennead of
Heliopolis, a daughter of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was the divine
corresponding "power" (or completion) of her sister, Isis and, in a
somewhat lesser fashion, the sister-wife of Set. Nephthys is occasionally
regarded as the mother of the funerary-deity Anubis.
Nephthys apparently was known in a wide spectrum of ancient Egyptian
temple theologies and cosmologies as the "Useful Goddess" or the
"Excellent Goddess". In this sense, late ancient Egyptian temple texts
prove to be pointedly accurate depictions of a far more nuanced goddess,
one who represented divine assistance and protective guardianship on a
multitude of levels.
A more certain understanding in regard to this divinity has been hampered
necessarily due to the fragmented aspect of ongoing efforts to document
and publish specific temple (and other inscriptional) discoveries,
excavations, and theologies, along with relatively few concerted attempts
to draw various and disparate strands of evidence into some form of
cohesive whole. In this regard, the work of E. Hornung has proved to be
revelatory, along with the work of several noted scholars.
Perhaps most interestingly for our current consideration, Nephthys was
not at all restricted to the purely passive or formless status so often
accorded to her by various commentators.
On the contrary, Nephthys quite often is featured as a rather ferocious
and dangerous divinity, capable of incinerating the enemies of the Pharaoh
with her fiery breath. As the primary "nursing mother" of the incarnate
Pharaonic-god, Horus, Nephthys also was considered to be, de facto, the
mightiest nurse of the reigning Pharaoh himself.
Though many goddesses could arbitrarily assume this role, depending
upon the local setting, Nephthys was ostensibly and nationally,
irreplaceable in this function. It is important, within this framework, to
appreciate the potency of the Osirian Royal-Mortuary-Deity cults (and their

208
primacy) in understanding exactly how the chief Osirian deities exercised
enormous influence in widespread, fundamentally crucial temple rituals
and practices from Dynasty V and beyond.
Certainly with the coming of the New Kingdom Ramesside Pharaohs, in
particular, one witnesses a royal lineage enamored of Mother Nephthys,
as is attested in various stelae and a wealth of inscriptions at Karnak and
Luxor. Nephthys was a member of that great city's Ennead - just as she
was in Heliopolis - and her altars were present in the massive complex.
An inherited reverence for protective qualities made Nephthys a goddess
of notable flexibility who did not, as is often stated, live constantly in the
shadow of her great sister, Isis. Moreover, Nephthys was one of the few
national goddesses to serve as tutelary divinity of her own district, or
nome, in Ancient Egyptian history. Indeed, Upper Egyptian Nome VII and
its city, Hwt-Sekhem, were considered (at least by Greco-Roman times) to
be the unique fiefdom of Nephthys.

Etymology
Nephthys is a goddess of undetermined origin, but contrary to many
erroneous claims, her ancient Egyptian name did not mean "Lady of the

209
House," as if referring to an ordinary human home. She was not in any way
to be identified with some notion of a "housewife," nor as the primary lady
who ruled the common domestic household. This is a pervasive and
egregious error, oft-repeated, in very many commentaries concerning this
deity. Rather, her name means quite specifically, Lady of the [Temple]
Enclosure.
This title (which seems to be more of an epithet, rather than a
goddess-name) likely indicates the association of Nephthys with one
particular temple or some specific aspect of the Egyptian temple that is
now partially lost to modern understanding. We do know, from a wealth of
sources (cf. P. Wilson, above), that (along with her sister Isis) Nephthys
represented the temple pylon or the great flagstaff heralding the Divine
Dwelling.
Due to her very streamlined role as a protective entity, we may even
consider the simplest explanation in which Nephthys truly lives-up to her
unique epithet and is to be identified with the fundamentally protective
temple enclosure-wall itself. All other efforts to determine the exact origin
of this goddess remain speculative. To reiterate, her name seems to be
an epithet masking the original, sacred name of this divinity (whatever it
was). Sacred names were kept secret. She may well have been artificially
created by Heliopolitan theologians to serve as a counterpart or
doppelganger of Isis, but the specific nature of her epithet "Mistress of the
[Temple] Enclosure" mitigates against this, and the idea remains
speculative.
Function
By the time of the Fifth Dynasty Pyramid Texts, Nephthys appears as a
goddess of the Heliopolis cosmic family. She is the counterpart, or twin,
of Isis and, in more surprisingly cursory fashion, features as an almost
nominal companion of the war-like deity, Set.
As sister of Isis and especially Osiris, Nephthys is a blatantly protective
goddess who symbolized the transitional death experience, just as Isis
represented the transitional birth experience. In the funerary role,
Nephthys often was depicted as a kite or falcon, or as a woman with
falcon wings, usually outstretched as a symbol of her protective

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proclivities. She was, almost without fail, depicted as crowned by the
hieroglyphics signifying her name, which were a combination of signs for
the sacred temple enclosure (hwt), along with the sign for neb, or mistress
(Lady), atop the enclosure.
In the Pyramid Texts Nephthys is unquestionably a great, ubiquitous, and
yet enigmatic presence. Normally she appears in potent congress with her
sister, Isis, as a fortifying entity. She is one of the Nine Great Ones of
Heliopolis. Nevertheless, she also turns up as the companion of Set in a
few key passages. Because Set represented the stark aridity of the desert
in ancient Egypt, he was generally viewed as a sterile deity in myth and in
temple cult. Therefore, Nephthys was, in most districts, seen as a
childless entity as well. Myths that portray Nephthys as the mother of
Anubis are either latecomers to the body of ancient Egyptian lore or vague
allusions. Nephthys's early association with the kite or the Egyptian hawk
(and its piercing, mournful cries) evidently reminded the ancients of the
lamentations usually offered for the dead by wailing women. In this
capacity, it is easy to see how Nephthys could be associated with death
and putrefaction in the Pyramid Texts.
Even so, in the Pyramid Texts, Nephthys possesses attributes of an
ominous nature that make of her personality something occasionally
unique, in comparison to Isis. Indeed, the hair of Nephthys is compared, in
one curious passage, to the strips of linen that enshroud the deceased
Pharaoh's mummy. These "tresses," however, are not considered to be
bonds. On the contrary, they appear as life-giving and temporary
impediments from which the Pharaoh is encouraged to "break free" and
ascend to the afterlife.
It is no great leap (in terms of symbolism) to see that the "tresses of
Nephthys" here assume a role very much akin to the chrysalis-shell that
simultaneously immobilizes and yet protectively transforms the caterpillar
before it bursts forth into new life. To be certain, there is absolutely no
overt comparison, in the Pyramid Texts, between this function of Nephthys
and the chrysalis, but the symbolism is one that may merit further
exploration of Nephthys's unique domain, since the aforementioned
passage is one of only eight (in the Pyramid Texts) wherein this goddess

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appears independent of her complementary power, Isis.
Whatever the scenario, Nephthys was clearly viewed (in the above-noted
example) as a morbid-but-crucial force of heavenly transition, ie., the
Pharaoh becomes strong for his journey to the afterlife by breaking free
from Nephthys. The same divine power could be applied later to all of the
dead, who were advised to consider Nephthys a necessary companion.
According to the Pyramid Texts, Nephthys, along with Isis, was a force
before whom demons trembled in fear, and whose magical spells were
necessary for navigating the various levels of Duat, as the region of the
afterlife was termed.
It should here be noted that Nephthys was not necessarily viewed as the
polar opposite of Isis, but rather as a different reflection of the same
reality: eternal life in transition. Thus, Nephthys was also seen in the
Pyramid Texts as a supportive cosmic force occupying the night-bark on
the journey of Ra, the majestic sun god, particularly when he entered Duat
at the transitional time of dusk, or twilight. Isis was Ra's companion at the
coming of dawn. The union between the Two Sisters cannot be
overemphasized. At the same time, their distinct polarities cannot be
dismissed.
Nephthys and Set
Though it commonly has been assumed that Nepthys was married to Set,
recent Egyptological research has called this into question. Levai notes
that while Plutarch¹s De Iside et Osiride mentions the deity's marriage,
there is very little specifically linking Nephthys and Set in the original early
Egyption sources. She argues that the later evidence suggests that:
while Nephthys¹s marriage to Seth was a part of Egyptian
mythology, it was not a part of the myth of the murder and
resurrection of Osiris. She was not paired with Seth the villain, but
with Seth¹s other aspect, the benevolent figure who was the killer of
Apophis. This was the aspect of Seth worshiped in the western
oases during the Roman period, where he is depicted with Nephthys
as co-ruler.
The Saving Sister of Osiris
Nephthys plays an important role in the rudimentary Osirian myth-cycle (as

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delineated in the Pyramid Texts) and even more so in the temple cults that
steadily arose across the length and breadth of ancient Egypt from this
particular body of myth.
It is Nephthys who appears as the force of dual completion, assisting Isis
in gathering and mourning the dismembered portions of the body of
Osiris, after his murder by the envious Set. These acts of "gathering" and
"mourning" were not mere pedantic motifs, much in the same way that
Osiris's role as a scattered corpse cannot be seen as an entirely passive
or meaningless divine emblem.
On the contrary, these acts on the part of Nephthys and Isis were
inordinately powerful and effectual: the "gathering" and "mourning" were
efforts that genuinely altered the chasm between Life and Death - these
acts energized and empowered "The God" (Osiris), and hence the
complete life-cycle of the Nile, for the preservation of the very balance
between Order and Chaos.
Why Nephthys was so firmly entrenched in Osirian loyalties (when she also
is clearly associated with Set) is a conundrum. Her original prerogatives
may indeed, have been sequestered within the framework of a sort of
power-dyad with Isis for the ritual gathering, unification, and magical
resurrection of Osiris, but the ancient Egyptian lore masters apparently
were not afraid of contrast. Nephthys is the companion of Set, yet she
also is the interested, reliable, and devoted "Saving Sister of the God
[Osiris]", who completes the resurrectional equation with Isis. (In a most
basic fashion, the abundant information regarding the Osirian myth-cycle,
whether from the Pyramid Texts, the Metternich Stela, or the musings of
Plutarch, and such, should be considered as pertinent sources for the first
three portions of this article).
Thereafter, Nephthys also serves as the primary nursemaid and watchful
guardian of the infant Horus, often in the absence of (or in apposition to)
Isis herself. It is no small matter that the above-mentioned sources
(including the Pyramid texts) refer to Isis as the "birth-mother" and to
Nephthys as the "nursing-mother" of the totemic Pharaonic deity (Horus).
Above all else, the magical power of Nephthys was viewed as the
necessary fulfillment of the power of Isis, and vice versa. Interestingly,

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though Nephthys was attested as one of the four "Great Chiefs" ruling in
the Osirian cult-center of Busiris, in the Delta (cf. The Book of the Dead,
Theban Recension), she appears to have occupied only an honorary
position at the holy city of Abydos.
No cult is attested for her there, though she certainly figured as a
goddess of great importance in the annual rites conducted, wherein two
chosen females or priestesses played the roles of Isis and Nephthys and
performed the elaborate Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys - an almost
liturgical collection of songs that formed a crucial part of a sort of Passion
Play in honor of the God. There, at Abydos, Nephthys joined Isis as a
mourner in the hallowed cenotaph shrine known as the Osireion (cf.Byron
Esely Shafer, Dieter Arnold, Temples in Ancient Egypt, p.112, 2005).
Moreover, these "Festival Songs of Isis and Nephthys" were ritual elements
of many such Osirian rites in major ancient Egyptian cult-centers.
Without doubt, in fundamental ancient Egyptian myth and temple cult, it is
only as a duo that the "Two Sisters" (Isis and Nephthys) are equipped to
reunite, reconstitute, and resurrect the body of Osiris. Thereafter, both
goddesses (or one in place of the other) are called upon to protect fiercely
and nurture the Osirian mummy (along with the child Horus) in various
temples and ostensibly in the life-cycle of the Pharaoh. Within such cultic
framework, the magical powers of Isis and Nephthys were seen as a
primary, united force keeping chaos at bay. As part of this indispensable
protective dyad, Nephthys was essential to the maintenance of ma'at, or
"balance," for the good of temple, town, kingdom, and royal household.
As a chief mortuary goddess (along with Isis, Neith, and Serqet), Nephthys
was one of the protectresses of the sacred Canopic jars and of the genii
Hapi, in particular. Hapi (one of the Sons of Horus) guarded the embalmed
lungs and, as his Mistress, Nephthys was a goddess capable of delivering
the "breath of life" to the deceased via her wings. Thus, we find Nephthys
endowed with the epithet, "Nephthys of the Bed of Life," ( cf. tomb of
Tuthmosis III, Dynasty XVIII) in direct reference to her regenerative
priorities on the embalming table. In the city of Memphis, Nephthys was
duly honored with the title "Queen of the Embalmer's Shop," and there
associated with the dog-headed god Anubis as patron.

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Nephthys' greatest role was clearly as the stalwart companion and
reflection of her sister Isis. Because of the power shared between the two
sisters, Egyptologist Claude Traunecker reminds us that "...it is indeed not
astonishing that the ancient Egyptians had recourse to Nephthys".
In an abundance of temple texts and inscriptions, Nephthys quite often
was described as a youthful, nubile, and exceedingly beautiful goddess -
attributes which would facilitate her later identification with Hathor (or
perhaps proceed from that identification). While intrinsically related to Isis
in almost every aspect, Nephthys yet retained certain qualities that
differentiated her from her sister: she was, seemingly deliberately, the
more intangible, unpredictable half of the dyad.
At the same time, Nephthys was considered a festive deity whose rites (in
various locales) could mandate the liberal consumption of beer. In various
reliefs at Edfu, Dendera, and Behbeit, Nephthys is depicted receiving
lavish beer-offerings from the Pharaoh, which she would "return", using her
power as a beer-goddess "that [the pharaoh] may have joy with no
hangover." Elsewhere at Edfu, for example, Nephthys is a goddess who
gives the Pharaoh power to see "that which is hidden by moonlight." This
fits well with more general textual themes that consider Nephthys to be a
goddess whose unique domain was darkness, or the perilous edges of the
desert.
Rarely, Nephthys could appear as one of the goddesses who assists at
childbirth. One ancient Egyptian myth (preserved in the beloved Papyrus
Westcar) recounts the story of Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet, and Heqet as
traveling dancers in disguise, assisting the wife of a priest of Amun-Re as
she prepares to bring forth sons who are destined for fame and fortune.
This "fairy godmother" role would not, however, prove to be a prominent
motif in the general perception of Nephthys; she remained a deity far
more associated with the final stages of life than with its beginnings.
Even so, Nephthys's healing skills and status as direct counterpart of Isis,
steeped, as her sister in "words of power," are evidenced by the
abundance of faience amulets carved in her likeness, and by her presence
in a variety of magical papyri that sought to summon her famously
altruistic qualities to the aid of mortals.

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Cults of Nephthys
Contrary to the majority of commentators, Nephthys was not a neglected
goddess in ancient Egypt who possessed no temple, nor worship of her
own. As Chief Counterpart of Isis, member of the Great Ennead, and
mighty guardian of Osiris and Horus, Nephthys was considered to be a
rather formidable member of the wider pantheon.
Within the realm of myth and temple cult, ancient Egyptian deities
ultimately were defined by the company they kept and, in this case,
Nephthys was undeniably a very major divinity. She was one of the few
deities known and revered by all Egyptians, in virtually all territories.
Relatively recent archaeological excavations corroborate ancient papyri
and temple texts, shedding new light upon this heretofore underrated
goddess.
For example, the Ramesside Pharaohs were particularly devoted to Set's
prerogatives and, in the 19th Dynasty , a temple of Nephthys called the
"House of Nephthys of Ramesses-Meriamun" was built or refurbished in the
town of Sepermeru, midway between Oxyrhynchos and Herakleopolis, on
the outskirts of the Fayyum and quite near to the modern site of
Deshasheh. Here, as Papyrus Wilbour notes in its wealth of taxation
records and land assessments, the temple of Nephthys was a specific
foundation by Ramesses II, located in close proximity to (or within) the
precinct of the enclosure of Set.
To be certain, the House of Nephthys was one of fifty individual,
land-owning temples delineated for this portion of the Middle Egyptian
district in Papyrus Wilbour. The fields and other holdings belonging to
Nephthys's temple were under the authority of two Nephthys-prophets
(named Penpmer and Merybarse) and one (mentioned) wa'ab priest of the
goddess.
While certainly affiliated with the "House of Set," the Nephthys temple at
Sepermeru and its apportioned lands (several acres) clearly were under
administration distinct from the Set institution. The Nephthys temple was a
unique establishment in its own right, an independent entity. According to
Papyrus Wilbour, another "House of Nephthys of Ramesses-Meriamun"
seems to have existed to the north, in the town of Su, closer to the

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Fayyum region.
Interestingly, yet another (probably contemporaneous) temple of Nephthys
seems to have existed in the town of Punodjem. The Papyrus Bologna
records a complaint lodged by a prophet of the temple of Set in that town
regarding undue taxation in his regard. After making an introductory
appeal to "Re-Horakhte, Set, and Nephthys" for the ultimate resolution of
this issue by the royal Vizier, the prophet (named Pra'emhab) laments his
workload. He notes his obvious administration of the "House of Set" and
adds: "I am also responsible for the ship, and I am responsible likewise for
the House of Nephthys, along with a heap of other temples."
While the House-of-Nephthys in (ostensibly) Punodjem is not explicitly said
to be a foundation of Ramesses II, it may be that Ramesses II founded a
series of "temples of Nephthys" (as consort of Set) in order to
complement the larger establishments dedicated to her spouse, much in
the same way that the smaller temple of Nefertari at Abu Simbel was
complementary to (and a dependency of) the "Great Temple" at Abu
Simbel. In the roster provided by Papyrus Wilbour, no other divine-consort
boasted a land-owning temple of their own within any particular town
dominated by a male god. Apparently, Nephthys was deemed quite
important enough to merit her own independent sanctuaries.
In any event, as "Nephthys of Ramesses-Meriamun," the goddess and her
shrine(s) were under the particular endorsement of Ramesses II. The
foundations of the Set and Nephthys temples at Sepermeru finally were
discovered and identified in the 1980s, and the Nephthys temple was no
mere chapel - rather, it was a notable, self-sustaining temple complex
within the Set enclosure.
Likewise, there can be little doubt that a cult of Nephthys existed in the
temple and great town of Herakleopolis, north of Sepermeru. A near
life-sized statue of Nephthys (currently housed in the Louvre) boasts a
curiously altered inscription. The basalt image originally was stationed at
Medinet-Habu, as part of the cultic celebration of the Pharaonic
"Sed-Festival," but obviously was transferred at some point to
Herakleopolis and the temple of Herishef therein. The cult-image's
inscription originally pertained to "Nephthys, Foremost of the Sed [Festival]

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in the Booth of Annals" (at Medinet-Habu), but was re-inscribed or
re-dedicated to "Nephthys, Foremost of the [Booths of] Herakleopolis."
This sort of opportunistic transfer of various cult images from one locale
to another was not uncommon in ancient Egypt, and the installation of a
cult statue of Nephthys at the temple of Harishef in Herakleopolis would
have been fitting, since Nephthys already was a goddess with her own
shrines in the immediate vicinity (i.e Sepermeru, Su, Punodjem). Moreover,
a "prophet of Nephthys" is indeed attested for the town of Herakleopolis in
the 30th Dynasty.
Chief Goddess of Nome VII
Nephthys also was, in Egyptian mythology and temple rites, oft-considered
the unique protectress of the Sacred Phoenix, or the Bennu Bird. This role
may have stemmed from a specialized and early association in her native
Heliopolis, which was renowned for its "House of the Bennu" temple. In this
role, Nephthys was given the name "Nephthys-Kheresket," and a wealth of
temple texts from Edfu, Dendara, Philae, Kom Ombo, El Qa'la, Esna, and
others corroborate the late identification of Nephthys as the supreme
goddess of UE Nome VII, where another shrine existed in honor of the
Bennu. Nephthys also was the goddess of the "Mansion of the Sistrum" in
Hwt-Sekhem (Gr. Diospolis Parva), the chief city of Nome VII. There,
Nephthys was the primary protectress of the resident Osirian relic, of the
Bennu Bird, and of the local Horus/Osiris manifestation, the god
Neferhotep.
Indeed, a priest of "Nephthys of Hwt", Diospolis Parva, is mentioned in the
Book of the Dead preserved at the Louvre in Paris. This Book of the Dead
belonged to the mummy of a Theban-based priest named, Nes-Min.
Another member of cult personnel, a male "Dancer of Nephthys", also is
recorded for a Nome VII temple in Papyrus Moscou. Even more
interesting, perhaps, we find that a female cult staff-member called the
"hairdresser of Nephthys" (i.e. of her sacred image in the temple naos) is
noted in the 30th Dynasty. This indicates that the overall cult of Nephthys
must have been relatively elaborate in Diospolis Parva, particularly after
the Late Period. As patron goddess of her own nome, this should not
surprise the contemporary observer.

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Though Nephthys was unquestionably the chief totemic goddess of Nome
VII's district, city, and temple, it should be noted that she reigned there in
a "first among equals" capacity connected with the usual Osirian college,
and likewise through a close identification of her personality with that of
Hathor, who reigned in nearby Dendera. In Hout-Sekhem and its nome,
Nephthys (particularly in her guise as Kheresket) appears to have served
as preeminent "Mistress" of the various Osirian ceremonies, much in the
way that Isis served in such singular capacity at Behbeit, in the Delta.
Moreover, the presence of Nephthys is not at all attested in association
with Diospolis Parva until the Late Period and Greco-Roman times, leading
us to believe that her particular prominence (though indisputable) was
something of an innovation. It is important to mention that the goddess
Anukis appears to have served as a cultic "bridge" to the eminence of
Nephthys in her later incarnation as main tutelary and "protective" goddess
of the region.
Related to this last aspect, there is at least one surviving temple of
Nephthys at Komir in Upper Egypt, between Esna and El Kab. In this town,
Nephthys was associated with the goddess Anukis. At Komir, Nephthys
was honored especially for her role as the chief protectress of the
standard Osirian relic residing at nearby Esna.
The ruined sanctuary at Komir preserves two niches - one for Nephthys
and one for Anukis, while the rear exterior wall of the temple preserves an
elaborate "Hymn to Nephthys" from the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius. In
this hymn, the Emperor notes that Nephthys is the "Mistress of many
festivals...who loves the day of festival, the goddess for whom men and
women play the tambourine." There, too, Nephthys is called, "The very
great Nephthys...Queen of human beings...Mistress of Drunkenness."
She is identified closely with her alter-ego, Seshat, particularly as the
entity who "establishes order for all the gods." This idea of Nephthys as
the goddess who "organizes," or "makes whole" the entire divine pantheon
is an ancient epithet stemming from the Pyramid Texts themselves. This
epithet reinforces and elaborates upon the particularly unique (and
enigmatic) role of Nephthys as a decidedly "Useful" cosmic force, one who
apparently, acts for the organizational benefit of all deities. During the

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great Osirian festivals at Esna, associated with the temple of Khnum, it
was specifically the cult-image of Nephthys that made the "journey" as
official ambassador of Komir.
Most astonishing of all, the extant inscriptions of the Nephthys temple (and
particularly her "hymn") at Komir make absolutely no mention of Isis
whatsoever, despite references to a multitude of associated deities,
including Osiris and Horus. This occurrence leads the observer to ponder
the possibility that Nephthys was indeed a theologically specialized "alter
ego" of Isis from the very beginning, or whether, in specific locales where
the Two Sisters were not working in congress (as usual), the need to exalt
Nephthys led to a determined effort to "oust" her greater sister from the
scene entirely.
As cited above (Traunecker), Nephthys was a goddess of much more clout
than previously understood; in certain districts (Nome VII) she potentially
could supersede her sister, though this was, by far, the exception rather
than the proverbial "rule."
Nevertheless, the association of Nephthys with Anukis extends beyond
Komir to the First Cataract region near Aswan and Philae, where the
resident divine triad composed of Khnum, Satis, and Anukis was identified
with (and superseded by) Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys around the Late
Period.
There was also a cult of Nephthys at Qaw El Kebir or Antaeopolis, where
the goddess was worshipped in the rather large temple as the companion
of the warrior deity Antiwey, a fusion of Horus and Set. A "prophet of
Nephthys" is attested for this town by the Chicago Stela and though the
massive Greco-Roman sanctuary was washed away by a flood in the 19th
century, a noteworthy painted relief of Nephthys and "Antaeus" can still be
found etched into the cliffside quarries near the site.
At Mo'Alla, Nephthys was worshipped as the consort of another war-like
god, Hemen. In contrast to her general perception as a childless divinity,
Nephthys gave birth to Hemen's daughter in this cult locale. There exist
other toponyms in various papyri and temple inscriptions that allude to
possibly unique cult-towns of Nephthys (e.g. "Nephthys of Ihy,"
"Pr-Nephthys"), but such examples cannot at this time be considered

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verifications of cult.
It merits note, however, that Nephthys was one of the chief deities at
Edfu, where she was the object of her own festival day called, "The Heart
of Nephthys Rejoices". The national Festival of Nephthys was held on her
birthday - the last of the five "epagomenal" days at the end of the Egyptian
calendar. Nephthys, meanwhile, was a particularly dangerous goddess at
Edfu, and, in her form of "Merkhetes," was associated with the
lioness-goddesses Mehyt and Sekhmet.
Nephthys' fiery breath is one of the forces that serves to protect the
sanctuary of this great complex. There exists a chapel at Edfu dedicated
to the triad of Mehyt, Nephthys, and Nekhbet. Nephthys also is associated
at Edfu with the goddess Seshat, Mistress of the Temple Library and
Keeper of Royal Annals. Based upon this evidence (and testimony dating
from as early as the Pyramid Texts), we may entertain the likelihood that
Seshat was indeed a derivative "form" of Nephthys (or vice-versa).
Elsewhere, we discover from inscriptions at Behbeit that Queen Berenike
considered herself the "priestess of Isis and of Nephthys" (cf. Forgeau,
above). Again, the union of the Two Sisters as powerful and almost
inseparable complementary forces is underscored, both in the realm of
myth and in the more crucial, daily domain of temple cult.
Basically, Nephthys was everywhere. Even considering the late aspect of
her prominence in places such as Hwt-Sekhem, she was a goddess who
could, within the history of ancient Egyptian religion, merit New Kingdom
temples and shrines of her own, and patronize her own district (Nome VII),
which is all the more intriguing, given the clear superiority of her sister,
Isis. The relationship between the Two Sisters is thus worthy of further,
deeper inspection and study.
Unique instances of cult being noted, it must nevertheless be remembered
that Nephthys was most widely and usually worshipped in ancient Egypt as
part of a consortium of temple deities. Therefore, it should not surprise us
that her cult images could likely be found as part of the divine entourage in
temples at Kharga, Kellis, Deir el-Hagar, Koptos, Dendereh, Philae,
Sebennytos, Busiris, Shenhur, El Qa'la, Letopolis, Heliopolis, Abydos,
Thebes, Dakleh Oasis, and indeed throughout Egypt.

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In most cases, Nephthys found her typical place as part of a triad
alongside Osiris and Isis, or Isis and Horus, or Isis and Min, or as part of a
quartet of deities. It is perhaps, in this way that Nephthys best fulfilled her
role as an important national deity whose ideal function was to provide
powerful assistance to her associates in a great variety of temple cults - a
truly "Useful" and "Excellent" goddess, as her primary epithets reflect.

Nun, Nu, Naunet

In Egyptian mythology, Nu is the deification of the primordial watery abyss.

In the Ogdoad cosmogony, the name nu means "abyss".
Nu, being a concept, was viewed as not having a gender, but also had
aspects that could be represented as female or male as with most
Egyptian deities. Naunet (Nunet) is the female aspect, which is the name
Nu with a female gender ending.
The male aspect, Nun, is displayed with a male gender ending. As with the
other three four primordial concepts of the Ogdoad, Nu's male aspect was
depicted as a frog, or a frog-headed man. In Ancient Egyptian art, Nun
also appears as a bearded man, with blue-green skin, representing water.

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Naunet is represented as a snake or snake-headed woman.
As with the other Ogdoad concepts, Nu did not have temples or any
center of worship. Even so, Nu was sometimes represented by a sacred
lake, or, as at Abydos, by an underground stream.

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Nu is depicted with upraised arms holding a "solar bark" (or barque, a
boat). The boat is occupied by eight deities, with the scarab deity Khepri
standing in the middle surrounded by the seven other deities. Other
groupings include Naunet and Nun, Amaunet and Amun, Hauhet and Heh,
and Kauket with Kuk.
Nu Wikipedia

The Egyptians believed that before the world was formed, there was a
watery mass of dark, directionless chaos. In this chaos lived the Ogdoad
of Khmunu (Hermopolis), four frog gods [metaphors: biogenetic
experiment] and four snake [DNA] goddesses of chaos.
These deities were Nun (Nu) and Naunet (water), Amun and Amaunet
(invisibility), Heh and Hauhet (infinity) and Kek and Kauket (darkness).
It was from Nun that Ra (or Amun, another of the Ogdoad who became
prominent Middle Kingdom onward, and joined with the sun god as
Amen-Ra) created himself, rising up on the first piece of land - the primeval

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mound (Benben) out of the lotus blossom, born from the world egg, or as
a bnw-bird who then found and landed on the mound.
In another story, it was Thoth who awoke from Nun and sang the unnamed
four frog gods and snake goddesses who then continued Thoth's song to
keep the sun travelling through the sky.
The First Time then began and Ra was thought to have created the
universe, including his children - other gods. He brought Ma'at - order - to
chaos. Nun was thought to be the father of Ra, who was known as the
father of the gods.
Your offering-cake belongs to you, Nun and Naunet,
Who protects the gods, who guards the gods with your shadows.
- Pyramid Text 301
One story says that Ra's children, Shu and Tefenet, went to explore the
waters of Nun. After some time, Ra believed that they were lost, and sent
the his Eye out into the chaos to find them.
When his children were returned to him, Ra wept, and his tears were
believed to have turned into the first humans. Nun then became the
protector of the twin deities, protecting them from the demons in his
waters.
Later on, it was Nun who suggested that Ra sent out his Eye to destroy
the humans who were in contempt of the sun god. Finally, it was on Nun's
orders that Nut turned into a solar cow, and carried Ra up into the sky
after the sun god had grown old and wearied of life on earth.
Nun was thought to exist both outside the universe and as part of every
body of water from the Nile to temple pools.
The Nile itself was thought to flow from Nun's primordial waters. He was
thought to play a part in the rituals involved in laying out the foundation for
new temples.
Nun was also thought to continue to exist as subsoil water beneath the
earth and as the source of the annual flooding of the Nile River.
The god was shown as either a frog-headed man, or as a bearded blue or
green man, similar in appearance to Hapi, but wearing the palm frond
(symbolising long life) on his head, and holding another in his hand. He
was also shown rising up out of a body of water, carrying the solar barque

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in his up stretched hands.
Though Nun was a being of chaos, he was thought to have a beneficial
side rather than the serpent of chaos, Apep, Ra's enemy. The Egyptians
believed that Apep had been created when the goddess Neith spat into
Nun - her spittle turned into the serpent-demon.
The god of chaos didn't have a priesthood, nor any temples that have
been found, and was never worshiped as a personified god. Instead, he
was represented at various temples by the sacred lakes symbolising the
chaotic waters before the First Time. At Abydos, he is represented by an
underground water channel at the Osireion.
The Ogdoad were the original great gods of Iunu (Heliopolis) where they
were thought to have helped with creation, then died and retired to the
land of the dead where they continued to make the Nile flow and the sun
rise every day.
Iunu was thought to have been the site of the primeval mound by the
priests of the city, and they had a sacred lake known as 'The Sea of Two
Knives' and an island known as 'The Isle of Flames'. The lake, attached to
a temple, represented Nun's waters, and the island was believed to be the
primeval mound itself. Ra was thought to have come into the world out of
the giant lotus which grew on the mound:
Out of the lotus, created by the Eight, came forth Ra, who created all
things, divine and human.
In Hikuptah (Men-nefer, Memphis), Nun was linked to the creator god,
Ptah, and known as Ptah-Nun. Thus both Ptah and Nun were thought to be
the father of the sun god Atem, and also thought to be more powerful than
the god. He was the 'Heart and the Tongue of the Ennead' (the one of
intelligence who had the power to command), and thus the one who was in
control, with the sun god being placed a step below the creator god of
Hikuptah.
The priests of Waset (Thebes, Modern Luxor), on the other hand, declared
that Waset was the site of the Nun's water, and the rising of the primeval
mound. Amun, the creator god of Waset, was originally one of the Ogdoad
and became the most powerful god of the area. They believed that Amen
changed from the invisible chaos deity into the primeval mound.

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In this form, he created the other gods. He created the lotus, which
opened to reveal the child form of Amun-Ra, who then finished the creation
of the world. Nun, although he was a powerful force, was thought to have
been inert until Amen awoke him from torpor, and used his chaotic waters
to create the universe.
Naunet
Naunet (Nunet), on the other hand, is more obscure than her husband. She
was thought to be a snake-headed woman who presided over the watery
chaos with Nun. Her name was exactly the same as Nun's, in hieroglyphs,
but with the feminine ending for a goddess.
In Hikuptah, she was imagined to be the mother of the sun god, as Nun
was the father, combined with Ptah, creator god of the city.
The Egyptians of Khmunu believed that the world was surrounded by
mountains that helped support the sky, but at their feet was Naunet. They
imagined that Ra appeared from these mountains, being reborn daily from
the watery abyss.
Naunet was the feminine to Nun's masculine, more of a representation of
duality than an actual goddess, so she was even less of a deity than Nun,
and more of an abstract.
One day, it was believed that the waters of Nun would eventually inundate
the whole world, and once again the universe would become the
primordial waste of Nun's chaotic waters.

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Nut - Nuit

In Egyptian mythology, Nuit or Nut was the sky goddess. She is the
daughter of Shu and Tefnut and was one of the Ennead.
The sun god Re entered her mouth after the sun set in the evening and
was reborn from her vulva the next morning. She also swallowed and
rebirthed the stars.
She was a goddess of death, and her image is on the inside of most
sarcophagi. The pharaoh entered her body after death and was later
resurrected.
In art, Nuit is depicted as a woman wearing no clothes, covered with stars
and supported by Shu; opposite her (the sky), is her husband, Geb (the
Earth). With Geb, she was the mother of Osiris, Horus, Isis, Set, and
Nephthys.

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During the day, Nut and Geb are separated, but each evening Nut comes
down to meet Geb and this causes darkness. If storms came during the
day, it was believed that Nut had some how slipped closer to the Earth.
Nut is 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. She was shown in Egyptian artwork as a dark, star-covered
naked woman, holding her body up in an arch, facing downwards. Her
arms and legs were imagined to be the pillars of the sky, and hands and
feet were thought to touch the four cardinal points at the horizon. Far
underneath her lay the earth god, Geb, sometimes ithphallyic, looking up
at his sister-wife. She was also described as a cow goddess, taking on
some of the attributes of Hathor. Geb was described as the "Bull of Nut" in
the Pyramid Texts. As a great, solar cow, she was thought to have carried
Ra up into the heavens on her back, after he retired from his rule on the
Earth. At other times, she was just portrait as a woman wearing her sign -
the particular design of an Egyptian pot on her head.
She gives birth to the sun in the east and swallows the sun in the west.
In one myth Nut gives birth to the Sun-god daily and he passes over her
body until he reaches her mouth at sunset. He then passed into her mouth
and through her body and is reborn the next morning. Another myth

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described the sun as sailing up her legs and back in the Atet (Matet) boat
until noon, when he entered the Sektet boat and continued his travels until
sunset. As a goddess who gave birth to the son each day, she became
connected with the underworld, resurrection and the tomb. She was seen
as a friend to the dead, as a mother-like protector to those who journeyed
through the land of the dead. She was often painted on the inside lid of the
sarcophagus, protecting the dead until he or she, like Ra, could be reborn
in their new life.
In the Book of the Dead, Nut was seen as a mother-figure to the sun god
Ra, who at sunrise was known as Khepera and took the form of a scarab
beetle (at noon he was Ra at his full strength, and at sunset he was known
as Tem (Temu, Atem) who was old and weakening):
Homage to thee, O thou who hast come as Khepera, Khepera the
creator of the gods, Thou art seated on thy throne, thou risest up in
the sky, illumining thy mother [Nut], thou art seated on thy throne as
the king of the gods. [Thy] mother Nut stretcheth out her hands, and
performeth an act of homage to thee....
The Company of the Gods rejoice at thy rising, the earth is glad
when it beholdeth thy rays; the people who have been long dead
come forth with cries of joy to behold thy beauties every day. Thou
goest forth each day over heaven and earth, and thou art made
strong each day by thy mother Nut....
Homage to thee, O thou who art Ra when thou risest, and who art
Tem when thou settest in beauty. Thou risest and thou shinest on
the back of thy mother [Nut], O thou who art crowned the king of the
gods! Nut welcometh thee, and payeth homage unto thee, and Maat,
the everlasting and never-changing goddess, embraceth thee at
noon and at eve....
The gods rejoice greatly when they see my beautiful appearances
from the body of the goddess Nut, and when the goddess Nut
bringeth me forth.

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She was also called on to help the deceased in one of the spells of the
Book of the Dead:
The Chapter of snuffing the air, and of having power over the water
in Khert-Neter. The Osiris Ani saith:- Hail, thou Sycamore tree of the
goddess Nut! Give me of the [water and of the] air which is in thee. I
embrace that throne which is in Unu, and I keep guard over the Egg
of Nekek-ur. It flourisheth, and I flourish; it liveth, and I live; it snuffeth
the air, and I snuff the air, I the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, in
[peace].
There were many festivals to Nut through the year, including the 'Festival
of Nut and Ra' and the 'Feast of Nut'. But, despite being a protector of the
dead, she was a personification of the sky - a cosmic deity - and no
temples or specific cult centers are linked to her.
She was thought to be the mother of five children on the five extra days of
the Egyptian calendar, won by Thoth - Osiris who was born on the first
day, Horus the Elder on the second, Set on the third, Isis on the fourth,
and Nephthys the last born on the fifth day. The days on which these
deities were born were known as the 'five epagomenal days of the year',
and they were celebrated all over Egypt:
1. Osiris - an unlucky day
2. Horus the Elder - neither lucky nor unlucky
3. Seth - an unlucky day
4. Isis - a lucky day, "A Beautiful Festival of Heaven and Earth."
5. Nephthys - an unlucky day

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Sometimes NUT appears in the form of a cow whose body forms the sky
and heavens. Nut in this form represents the Great Kau (Cow), the Great
Lady who created all that exists - the Cow whose udder gave forth the
Milky Way. In the form of a great cow her eyes represent the sun and the
moon. She is pictured as a giant sow, suckling many piglets. These piglets
represented the stars, which she swallowed each morning before dawn.
Other cows goddesses include Seshat and Hathor.

Nut - Egyptian Solar Disc

On the Southern section of this image - Nut has ten solar disks running
along her body, as well as one at her mouth and another one at the birth
canal between her legs painted with the image of Khepri (the god of
coming into being). No disks are depicted on the northern facing Nut
because the sun is always seen to traverse the southern part of the sky in
Egypt.

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Osiris

God of Resurrection, The Underworld and The Judge of Dead

Patron of: the Underworld, the dead, past Pharaohs, agriculture (old form),
fertility (old form)
First child of of Geb and Nut
Brother of Seth, Nephthys, and Isis who was also his wife.
Father of Horus by Isis
Father of Anubis by Nephthys
Osiris (Asar, Aser, Ausar, Ausir, Wesir, or Ausare) was an Egyptian god,

233
usually called the god of the Afterlife.
Osiris is one of the oldest gods for whom records have been found; one of
the oldest known attestations of his name is on the Palermo Stone of
around 2500 BC. He was widely worshiped until the suppression of the
Egyptian religion during the Christian era. The information we have on the
myths of Osiris is derived from allusions contained in the Pyramid Texts
(ca. 2400 BC), later New Kingdom source documents such as the
Shabaka Stone and the Contending of Horus and Seth, and much later, in
narrative style from the writings of Greek authors including Plutarch and
Diodorus Siculus.

Osiris was not only a merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife, but also
the underworld agency that granted all life, including sprouting vegetation
and the fertile flooding of the Nile River. The Kings of Egypt were
associated with Osiris in death - as Osiris rose from the dead they would,
in union with him, inherit eternal life through a process of imitative magic.

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By the New Kingdom all people, not just pharaohs, were believed to be
associated with Osiris at death if they incurred the costs of the
assimilation rituals.
Osiris was at times considered the oldest son of the Earth god, Geb, and
the sky goddess, Nut as well as being brother and husband of Isis, with
Horus being considered his posthumously begotten son. He was later
associated with the name Khenti-Amentiu, which means 'Foremost of the
Westerners' a reference to his kingship in the land of the dead.

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Osiris was usually depicted as a green-skinned (green was the color of
rebirth) pharaoh wearing the Atef crown, a form of the white crown of
upper Egypt with a plume of feathers to either side. Typically he was also
depicted holding the crook and flail which signified divine authority in
Egyptian pharaohs, but which were originally unique to Osiris and his own
origin-gods, and his feet and lower body were wrapped, as though already
partly mummified. The wrapped depiction takes us to Amphibious Gods.

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Anubis, Thoth, Osiris and Ma'at - Funerary Scene

Weighing of the
Feather

237
Eye Symbology

The All Seeing Eye

It's all about death and

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resurrection.

Early Mythology
When the Ennead and Ogdoad cosmogenies became merged, with the
identification of Ra as Atum (Atum-Ra), gradually Anubis (Ogdoad system)
was replaced by Osiris, whose cult had become more significant. Anubis
was said to have given way to Osiris out of respect, and, as an underworld
deity. Anubis was Set's son in some versions, but because Set became
god of evil, he was subsequently identified as being Osiris' son. Abydos,
which had been a strong centre of the cult of Anubis, became a centre of
the cult of Osiris. Because Isis, Osiris' wife and sister, represented life in
the Ennead, it was considered somewhat inappropriate for her to be the
mother of a god associated with death such as Anubis, and so instead, it
was usually said that Nephthys, the other of the two female children of
Geb and Nut, was his mother.
Father of Horus

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Later, when Hathor's identity (from the Ogdoad) was assimilated into that
of Isis, Horus, who had been Isis' husband (in the Ogdoad), became
considered her son, and thus, since Osiris was Isis' husband (in the
Ennead), Osiris also became considered Horus' father. Attempts to explain
how Osiris, a god of the dead, could give rise to Horus, who was thought
to be living, led to the development of the Myth of Osiris and Isis, which
became a central myth in Egyptian mythology.
The myth described Osiris as having been killed by his brother Set who
wanted Osiris' throne. Isis briefly brought Osiris back to life by use of a
spell that she learned from her father. This spell gave her time to become
pregnant by Osiris before he again died. Isis later gave birth to Horus. As
such, since Horus was born after Osiris' resurrection, Horus became
thought of as representing new beginnings, and vanquished Set. This
combination, Osiris-Horus, was therefore a life-death-rebirth deity, and thus

240
associated with the new harvest each year. Afterward, Osiris became
known as the Egyptian god of the dead, Isis became known as the
Egyptian goddess of the children, and Horus became known as the
Egyptian god of the sky.
Ptah-Seker (who resulted from the identification of Ptah as Seker), who
was god of re-incarnation, thus gradually became identified with Osiris, the
two becoming Ptah-Seker-Osiris (rarely known as Ptah-Seker-Atum,
although this was just the name, and involved Osiris rather than Atum). As
the sun was thought to spend the night in the underworld, and
subsequently be re-incarnated, as both king of the underworld, and god of
reincarnation, Ptah-Seker-Osiris was identified.
Ram God

241
Since Osiris was considered dead, as god of the dead, Osiris' soul, or
rather his Ba, was occasionally worshipped in its own right, almost as if it
were a distinct god, especially so in the Delta city of Mendes. This aspect
of Osiris was referred to as Banebdjed which literally means The ba of the
lord of the djed, which roughly means The soul of the lord of the pillar of
stability.

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One of his symbols is the djed pillar.

The djed, a type of pillar, was usually understood as the backbone of

Osiris, and, at the same time, as the Nile, the backbone of Egypt. The
Nile, supplying water, and Osiris (strongly connected to the vegetation)
who died only to be resurrected represented continuity and therefore
stability.

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The Great Pyramid

Osiris was linked to the constellation Orion (Sahu in Egyptian).

Osiris, Pyramids of the Giza Plateau, Belt Stars of

Orion
As Banebdjed, Osiris was given epithets such as Lord of the Sky and Life

244
of the (sun god) Ra, since Ra, when he had become identified with Atum,
was considered Osiris' ancestor, from whom his regal authority was
inherited. Ba does not, however, quite mean soul in the western sense,
and also has to do with power, reputation, force of character, especially in
the case of a god.
Since the ba was associated with power, and also happened to be a word
for ram in Egyptian, Banebdjed was depicted as a ram, or as Ram-headed.
A living, sacred ram, was even kept at Mendes and worshipped as the
incarnation of the god, and upon death, the rams were mummified and
buried in a ram-specific necropolis.
As regards the association of Osiris with the ram, the god's traditional
crook and flail are of course the instruments of the shepherd, which has
suggested to some scholars also an origin for Osiris in herding tribes of
the upper Nile. The crook and flail were originally symbols of the minor
agricultural deity Anedijti, and passed to Osiris later. From Osiris, they
eventually passed to Egyptian kings in general as symbols of divine
authority.
In Mendes, they had considered Hatmehit, a local fish-goddess, as the
most important deity, and so when the cult of Osiris became more
significant, Banebdjed was identified in Mendes as deriving his authority
from being married to Hatmehit. Later, when Horus became identified as
the child of Osiris (in this form Horus is known as Harpocrates in Greek
and Har-pa-khered in Egyptian), Banebdjed was consequently said to be
Horus' father, as Banebdjed is an aspect of Osiris.
In occult writings, Banebdjed is often called the goat of Mendes, and
identified with Baphomet; the fact that Banebdjed was a ram (sheep), not a
goat, apparently overlooked.
Mythology

245
The cult of Osiris (who was a god chiefly of regeneration and re-birth) had
a particularly strong interest toward the concept of immortality. Plutarch
recounts one version of the myth surrounding the cult in which Set (Osiris'
brother) fooled Osiris into getting into a box, which he then shut, had
sealed with lead, and threw into the Nile (sarcophagi were based on the
box in this myth).
Osiris' wife, Isis, searched for his remains until she finally found him
embedded in a tree trunk, which was holding up the roof of a palace in
Byblos on the Phoenician coast. She managed to remove the coffin and
open it, but Osiris was already dead. She used a spell she had learned
from her father and brought him back to life so he could impregnate her.
After they finished, he died again, so she hid his body in the desert.
Months later, she gave birth to Horus. While she was off raising him, Set
had been out hunting one night, and he came across the body of Osiris.
Enraged, he tore the body into fourteen pieces and scattered them
throughout the land. Isis gathered up all the parts of the body, less the
phallus which was eaten by a fish thereafter considered taboo by the
Egyptians, and bandaged them together for a proper burial. The gods
were impressed by the devotion of Isis and thus resurrected Osiris as the
god of the underworld. Because of his death and resurrection, Osiris is
associated with the flooding and retreating of the Nile and thus with the

246
crops along the Nile valley. [Spine of Egypt]
Diodorus Siculus gives another version of the myth in which Osiris is
described as an ancient king who taught the Egyptians the arts of
civilization, including agriculture. Osiris is murdered by his evil brother Set,
whom Diodorus associates with the evil Typhon ("Typhonian Beast") of
Greek mythology. Typhon divides the body into twenty six pieces which he
distributes amongst his fellow conspirators in order to implicate them in
the murder. Isis and Horus avenge the death of Osiris and slay Typhon.
Isis recovers all the parts of Osiris body, less the phallus, and secretly
buries them. She made replicas of them and distributed them to several
locations which then became centres of Osiris worship.
The tale of Osiris becoming fish-like is cognate with the story the Greek
shepherd god Pan becoming fish like from the waist down in the same
river Nile after being attacked by Typhon . This attack was part of a
generational feud in which both Zeus and Dionysus were dismembered by
Typhon, in a similar manner as Osiris was by Set in Egypt.
Osiris was viewed as the one who died to save the many, who rose from
the dead, the first of a long line that has significantly affected man's view
of the world and expections of an afterlife.
Passion and Resurrection
Scholars such as E.A. Wallis Budge have suggested possible connections
or parallels of Osiris' resurrection story with those found in Christianity:
"The Egyptians of every period in which they are known to us believed that
Osiris was of divine origin, that he suffered death and mutilation at the
hands of the powers of evil, that after a great struggle with these powers
he rose again, that he became henceforth the king of the underworld and
judge of the dead, and that because he had conquered death the
righteous also might conquer death. In Osiris the Christian Egyptians found
the prototype of Christ, and in the pictures and statues of Isis suckling her
son Horus, they perceived the prototypes of the Virgin Mary and her child."

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Plutarch and others have noted that the sacrifices to Osiris were gloomy,
solemn, and mournful... and that the great mystery festival, celebrated in
two phases, began at Abydos on the 17th of Athyr (November 13)
commemorating the death of the god, which is also the same day that
grain was planted in the ground. ³The death of the grain and the death of
the god were one and the same: the cereal was identified with the god
who came from heaven; he was the bread by which man lives. The
resurrection of the God symbolized the rebirth of the grain.' The annual
festival involved the construction of 'Osiris Beds' formed in shape of
Osiris, filled with soil and sown with seed.
The germinating seed symbolized Osiris rising from the dead. An almost
pristine example was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard
Carter.
The first phase of the festival was a public drama depicting the murder
and dismemberment of Osiris, the search of his body by Isis, his triumphal
return as the resurrected god, and the battle in which Horus defeated Set.
This was all presented by skilled actors as a literary history, and was the
main method of recruiting cult membership. According to Julius Firmicus
Maternus of the fourth century, this play was re-enacted each year by
worshippers who ³beat their breasts and gashed their shoulders.... When
they pretend that the mutilated remains of the god have been found and
rejoined...they turn from mourning to rejoicing.² (De Errore Profanorum).
Worship of Osiris

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Osiris was worshipped widely throughout all of Egypt, and his cult center
was Abydos. The cult of Osiris continued up until the 6th century AD on
the island of Philae in Upper Nile. The Theodosian decree (in about 380
AD) to destroy all pagan temples and force worshipers to accept
Christianity was not enforced there.The worship of Isis and Osiris was
allowed to continue at Philae until the time of Justinian. This toleration was
due to an old treaty made between the Blemyes-Nobadae and Diocletian.
Every year they visited Elaphantine and at certain intervals took the image
of Isis up river to the land of the Blemyes for oracular purposes before
returning it. Justinian would not tolerate this and sent Narses to destroy
the sanctuaries, with the priests being arrested and the divine images
taken to Constantinople.
References:
Wikipedia

Gods in the Flesh - Part One Thunderbolts - March 17, 2008

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Statues depicting the Egyptian god Osiris from 664 - 332 BCE.

Gods in the Flesh - Part Two

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Thunderbolts - March 19, 2008

251
Pakhet

In Egyptian mythology, Pakhet, meaning "She who Tears" (also spelt

Pachet, Pehkhet, Phastet, and Pasht) is considered a synthesis of Bast
and Sekhmet, ancient deities in the two Egypts who were similar lioness
war deities, one for Upper Egypt and the other for Lower Egypt. The range
of the two cults met at the border between north and south, near al Minya
(now known as Beni Hasan), and here the similarity of the goddesses led
to a new form arising in the merged cultures.
Origin and Mythology
She is likely to be a more ancient regional lioness deity, Goddess of the
Mouth of the Wadi, related to those which hunted in the wadi, near water
at the boundary of the desert. Another title is She Who Opens the Ways of
the Stormy Rains, which probably relates to the flash floods in the narrow
valley, that occur from storms in the area. By the time Pakhet appeared in
the Egyptian pantheon, during the Middle Kingdom, Bast came to be
considered less as a fierce lioness, becoming more gentle, as a
domesticated cat could be. Consequently, Pakhet's character lay
somewhere between the later gentleness of Bast and the ferocity of
Sekhmet. Her strength was considered an inner, rather than outer, quality,
while retaining all the potential capabilities of the war goddess, if needed.
As with Bast and Sekhmet, she also is associated with Hathor and

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thereby, is a sun deity as well, wearing the solar disk as part of her crown.
It became said that rather than a simple domestic protector against
vermin and venomous creatures, or a fierce warrior, she was a huntress,
perhaps as a wildcat, who wandered the desert alone at night looking for
prey, gaining the title, Night huntress with sharp eye and pointed claw.
While this desert aspect led to her being associated with desert storms,
as was Sekhmet. She also was said to be a protector of motherhood, as
was Bast. In art, she was depicted as a feline-headed woman, or as a
feline, often depicted killing snakes with her sharp claws. The exact nature
of the feline varied between a desert wildcat, which was more similar to
Bast, or a lioness, resembling Sekhmet.
Temples near al Minya
Her most famous temple was an underground, cavernous shrine that was
built by Hatshepsut near al Minya, among thirty-nine ancient tombs of
Middle Kingdom nomarchs of the Oryx nome, who governed from Hebenu,
in an area where many quarries exist. This is in the middle of Egypt, on the
east bank of the Nile. A location on the east bank is not traditional for
tombs, the west was, but the terrain to the west was most difficult. A
more ancient temple to this goddess at the location is known, but has not
survived. Hatshepsut is known to have restored temples in this region that
had been damaged by the Hyksos invaders.
Its remarkable catacombs have been excavated. Great numbers of
mummified cats have been found buried there. Many are thought to have
been brought great distances to be buried ceremonially during rituals at
the cult center. Some references associate this goddess as,
Pakhet-Weret-Hekau, (Weret Hekau meaning "she who has great magic"),
implying the association with a goddess such as Hathor or Isis. Another
title found is, Horus Pakht, the presence of many mumified hawks at the
site would further the association with Hathor who was the mother of
Horus, the hawk, the pharaoh, and the sun.
Her hunting nature led to the Greeks, who later occupied Egypt for three
hundred years, identifying Pakhet with Artemis. Consequently, this
underground temple became known to them as, Speos Artemidos, the
Cave of Artemis, a name that persists even though the goddess is not

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Egyptian. The Greeks attempted to align the Egyptian deities with their
own, while retaining the traditions of the Egyptian religion. Next, Egypt was
conquered by the Romans, just after 30 AD, and they retained many of the
Greek names. Christians and other religious sects occupied some parts of
the site during the Roman Empire period. Arab place names were
established after the 600s.
Hatshepsut and her daughter Neferure have been identified as the builders
of a smaller temple dedicated to Pakhet nearby, which was defaced by
subsequent pharaohs. It was completed during the reign of Alexander II
and now is called, Speos Batn el-Bakarah.

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Ptah

Creation through Consciousness

255
Amphibious Gods
Ptah fashioned the universe through harmonics and thought. He helped the
dead on their travels through the afterlife allowing them to transform into
his divine figure. He allowed the dead to be like the living after death with
the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. The Apis bull was his sacred animal,
more of a representation of his soul on earth who gave fertility and rebirth

256
to the people.

The bull's main sanctuary was near the temple of Ptah in Mennefer, near
the bull's embalming house where he became linked to Osiris after death.
Herodotus wrote that the Apis bull was conceived from a bolt of lightning,
it was black with a while diamond on his forehead, the image of a vulture
on his back, double hairs on his tail and a scarab mark under his tongue.
The lightning was thought by the Egyptians to be Ptah in the form of a
celestial fire, who mated with a heifer. With a creation god as his father,
the bull was believed to be a fertility symbol. The heifer that produced the
bull was venerated as a form of the goddess Isis. There was only one Apis
bull at a time, and the cult of the Apis bull started at the beginning of
Egyptian history. While alive, the bull was known as the 'Spokesman' of
Ptah and his 'Glorious Soul'.
Ptah was worshipped throughout all of Egypt, his cult centers were
Memphis and Heliopolis.
In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (also spelt Peteh) was the deification of the

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primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony, which was more literally
referred to as Ta-tenen (also spelled Tathenen), meaning risen land, or as
Tanen, meaning submerged land.
It was said in the Shabaka Stone, that it was Ptah who called the world
into being, having dreamt creation in his heart, and speaking it, his name
meaning opener, in the sense of opener of the mouth. Indeed the opening
of the mouth ceremony, performed by priests at funerals to release souls
from their corpses, was said to have been created by Ptah. Atum was said
to have been created by Ptah to rule over the creation, sitting upon the
primordial mound.
In Memphis, Ptah was worshipped in his own right, and was seen as
Atum's father, or rather, the father of Nefertum, the younger form of
Atum. When the beliefs about the Ennead and Ogdoad were later merged,
and Atum was identified as Ra (Atum-Ra), himself seen as Horus
(Ra-Herakhty), this led to Ptah being said to be married to Sekhmet, at the
time considered the earlier form of Hathor, Horus', thus Atum's, mother.
Since Ptah had called creation into being, he was considered the god of
craftsmen, and in particular stone-based crafts. Eventually, due to the
connection of these things to tombs, and that at Thebes, the craftsmen
regarded him so highly as to say that he controlled their destiny.
Consequently, first amongst the craftsmen, then the population as a
whole, Ptah also became a god of reincarnation. Since Seker was also
god of craftsmen, and of reincarnation, Seker was later assimilated with
Ptah becoming Ptah-Seker.

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Ptah-Seker gradually became seen as the personification of the sun during
the night, since the sun appears to be reincarnated at this time, and Ptah
was the primordial mound, which lay beneath the earth. Consequently,
Ptah-Seker became considered an underworld deity, and eventually, by the
Middle Kingdom, become assimilated by Osiris, the lord of the underworld,
occasionally being known as Ptah-Seker-Osiris.
The origin of Ptah's name is unclear, though some believe it to mean
'opener' or 'sculptor'. As a god of craftsmen, the later is probably correct.
He was a patron of the arts, protector of stonecutters, sculptors,
blacksmiths, architects, boat builders, artists and craftsmen. His high
priest was given the title 'Great Leader of Craftsmen', and his priests were
probably linked to the different crafts.
Ptah's importance may be discerned when one learns that "Egypt" is a
Greek corruption of the phrase "Het-Ka-Ptah," or "House of the Spirit of
Ptah."

In art, he is portrayed as a bearded mummified man, often wearing a skull

cap, with his hands holding an ankh, was, and djed,, the symbols of life,
power and stability, respectively. It was also considered that Ptah
manifested himself in the Apis bull.
In the Memphite theology, Ptah is the primal creator, the first of all the
gods, creator of the world and all that is in it. He is the artificer, the
creator god, according to the priests of Memphis, the ancient capitol of
Egypt. Ptah is not created, but simply is.
The Egyptians believed that Ptah was a god who created everything from

259
artifacts to the world egg to the other deities themselves. The Opening of
the Mouth ceremony was believed to have been devised by him.
Opening of the Mouth Ceremony

When an ancient Egyptian died, he was not buried into the ground,
mourned and then forgotten. Nor was his grave simply visited at certain
times and some token words spoken over it, so that once again he is
forgotten until next visit. The ancient Egyptians believed that ritual existed
which would bring sensory life back to the deceased¹s form, enabling it to
see, smell, breathe, hear, and eat, and thus partake of the offering foods
and drinks brought to the tomb each day.
Priests would recite hymns such as this one, for Pa-nefer:
"Awake!..May you be alert as a living one, rejuvenated every day,
healthy in millions of occasions of god sleep, while the gods protect
you, protection being around you every day."
Once the deceased was rejuvenated back with all his senses, he could
also interact and watch over the family members, affecting their lives.
Letters have been found attesting to the continued contact, or at least,
belief in the continued contact, between deceased and living. Letters such
as this one, from the scribe Butehamun to his deceased wife Ikhtay, where
he asks her to intercede with the Lords of Eternity on his behalf. "If you
can hear me in the place where you are ... it is you who will speak with a
good speech in the necropolis. Indeed I did not commit an abomination
against you while you were on earth, and I hold to my behavior."

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The Opening of the Mouth ceremony was an important ritual in both
funerary and temple practice. It originated as a ritual to endow statues
with the capacity to support the living ka, and to receive offerings. It was
performed on cult statues of gods, kings, and private individuals, as well
as on the mummies of both humans and Apis bulls. It was even performed
on the individual rooms of temples and on the entire temple structure.
The effect of the ritual was to animate the recipient (or, in the case of a
deceased individual, to re-animate it). The ritual allowed the mummy,
statue, or temple, to eat, breathe, see, hear and enjoy the offerings and
provisions performed by the priests and officiants, thus to sustain the ka
or soul spark - spirit.
The earliest Old Kingdom textual references to the ceremony date to the
early 4th dynasty, to the Palermo Stone and the decoration of the tomb of
the royal official Metjen. At this time, the ritual seems to have been
performed solely to animate statues, rather than to re-animate the
deceased.
Marriages and Children
Ptah was married to either Bast, Sekhmet or Wadjet. His union with Bast
was thought to have produced a lion-headed god called Mihos, while
Nefertem was his son by either Sekhmet or Wadjet. Different towns
believed that Ptah was married to their goddess, and thus the confusion
with his family ties. Mennefer had a triad consisting of Ptah, Sekhmet and
Nefertem.
The architect of the Saqqara Step Pyramid, Imhotep, after he became
deified, came to be regarded as the son of Ptah. As father and creator of
the gods, the deities he created first were Nun and Naunet and the nine
gods of the Ennead. The nine were Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris,
Isis, Set, and Nephthys who were considered to be both the teeth and lips
of the mouth of Ptah and the semen and the hands of Tem.
He was linked to two other Mennefer gods - Ta-tenen and Sokar. Ta-tenen
(known as Ptah-Ta-tenen when the two were combined) was an earth god
connected with the primeval mound as it rose from the waters of Nun
while Sokar was a god of the necropolis. This reinforced Ptah's aspects of
a god of creation and a god of the dead. Ptah-Sokar was also connected

261
with Osiris, and known as Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Statues of the three-in-one
god showed a mummiform man wearing the sun disk, corkscrew ram
horns and long plumes or the atef crown. These statues often contained a
copy of spells from The Book of the Dead.

Ra

In one of his many forms, Ra has the head of a falcon and the sun-disk of
Wadjet resting on his head.

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Ra (pronounced as Rah, and sometimes as Ray) is an ancient Egyptian sun
god. By the fifth dynasty he became a major deity in ancient Egyptian
religion, identified primarily with the mid-day sun, with other deities
representing other positions of the sun. Ra changed greatly over time and
in one form or another, much later he was said to represent the sun at all
times of the day.
The chief cult centre of Ra first was based in Heliopolis (ancient Inunu)
meaning "City of the Sun." In later Egyptian dynastic times, Ra was merged
with the god Horus, as Re-Horakhty (and many variant spellings). When his
worship reached this position of importance in the Egyptian pantheon, he
was believed to command the sky, the earth, and the underworld.
He was associated with the falcon, the symbol of other sun deities who
protected the pharaohs in later myths. After the deities were paired with
pharaohs, the children of Hathor were considered to be fathered by Ra.
Although not the contemporary view, E. A. Wallis Budge (1857-1934)
claims that Ra was the one god of Egyptian monotheism, of which all
other deities were aspects, manifestations, phases, or forms.
Ra should be pronounced as 'rei'; hence the alternative spelling Re rather
than Ra. The meaning of Ra's name is uncertain, but it is thought if not a
word for 'sun' it may be a variant of or linked to 'creative'. As his cult
arose in the Egyptian pantheon, Ra often replaced Atum as the father,
grandfather, and great-grandfather of the deities of the Ennead, and
became a creator of the world.
Up until the mid-twentieth century, theories of Egyptologists postulated
that the Heliopolis priesthood established this pesedjet at Heliopolis in
order to place their local sun-god Ra above all other deities such as Osiris.
Many Egyptologists now question this.
It appears almost certain, rather, that the Great Ennead - the nine deities
of Atum, Geb, Isis, Nut, Osiris, Nephthys, Seth, Shu, and Tefnut - first
appeared during the decline of Ra's cult in the sixth dynasty, and that after
introduction of the new pesedjet the cult of Ra soon saw a great
resurgence until the worship of Horus gained prominence.
Afterward worship focused on the syncretistic solar deity Ra-harakhty (Ra,
who is Horus of the Two Horizons). During the Amarna Period of the

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eighteenth dynasty, Akhenaten introduced worship of another solar deity
Aten. The deified solar disc represented his preferred regional deity as he
attempted to lessen the influence of the temple of Atum. He built the
Wetjes Aten (Elevating the Sun-disca) temple in Annu. Blocks from this
temple later were used to build walls to the medieval city of Cairo and are
included in some of the city gates. The cult of the Mnevis bull, an
embodiment of Ra, had its centre here and established a formal burial
ground for the sacrificed bulls north of the city.
In the later myths Ra was seen to have created Sekhmet, the early lioness
war goddess who becomes Hathor, the cow goddess after she has
sufficiently punished mankind as an avenging Eye of Ra.

This changes the themes of much earlier myths into aspects of his and he
is often said to be the father of both, and brother, to the god Osiris.
Afterward nearly all forms of life supposedly were created only by Ra, who
called each of them into existence by speaking their secret names and
eventually humans were created from Ra's tears and sweat, hence the
Egyptians call themselves the "Cattle of Ra."
Symbolism
Ra shared many of his symbols with other solar deities, in particular
Horus, usually depicted as a falcon. In artwork Ra primarily is depicted as
a man wearing a pharaoh's crown (a sign of his leadership of the deities)
and the wadjet sun disk above his head. Often he had a falcon's head, as
does Horus. In later myths about Ra, the sun is portrayed differently
according to the position of the sun in the sky.
This was an early theme in Egyptian myths, with different names assigned

264
to the sun depending upon its position in the sky. At sunrise he was the
young boy Khepri, at noon the falcon-headed man Harakhty, and at sunset
the elder Atum. This constant aging was suggested by some later
Egyptians as the reason Ra stayed separate from the world and let Osiris
or Horus rule in his place. This idea often is coupled with the myth in which
Isis is able to trick an elderly Ra, having ruled on earth as a human
pharaoh, into revealing his secret name, and thus the secret of his power.
Ra subsequently lost his power, resulting in the cult of Isis and Osiris to
rise in importance.
The Bennu bird (Phoenix) is Ra's ba and a symbol of fire and rebirth. The
wadjet sun disk, also shown as the hieroglyphic Ankh, symbolizes the life
given by the sun.
Obelisk represents the rays of the sun and was worshiped as a home of a
solar god. Pyramids, aligned east to west, Falcon; Bull; a cobra commonly
seen wrapped around the sun disk, the form of the goddess Wadjet, who
often was depicted as an Egyptian cobra, an animal thought only to be
female and reproducing through parthenogenesis.
Some traditions relate that the first wadjet was created by the goddess
Isis who formed it from the dust of the earth and the spittle of Atum. The
uraeus was the instrument with which Isis gained the throne of Egypt for
her husband Osiris. As the sun, Ra was thought to see everything.
Together with Atum, Ra was believed to have fathered Shu and Tefnut who
in turn bore Geb and Nut. These in turn were the parents of Osiris, Isis,
Set (also known as Seth), and Nephthys. All nine made up the Heliopolitan
Ennead.
Mythology
For the Egyptians, the sun represented light, warmth, and growth. This
made sun deities very important to Egyptians, and it is no coincidence that
the sun came to be the ruler of all. In his myths, the sun was either seen
as the body or Eye of Ra.
Journey of Re traveling through the Underworld

in his solar barque,

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a journey he undertakes every night

266
Primordial Serpent and Sun

Boat
Ra was thought to travel in a sun boat (The Boat of the Millions) to protect
its fires from the primordial waters of the underworld it passed through
during the night. Ra traveled in the sun boat with various other deities
including Set and Mehen who defended against the monsters of the
underworld, and Ma'at who guided the boat's course. The monsters
included Apep, an enormous serpent who tried to stop the sun boat's
journey every night by consuming it. The Ra myth saw the sunrise as the

267
rebirth of the sun by the goddess Nut and the sky, thus attributing the
concept of rebirth and renewal to Ra and strengthening his role as a
creator god.

In the Pyramid Text, Re is perpetually resurrected in the mornings in the

form of a scarab beetle, Khepri, which means the Emerging One. He rides
on the primordial waters, called Nun, in his sacred bark (boat) along with a
number of other deities across the sky, where at sunset he becomes
Atum, the "All Lord". At sunset, he is swallowed by the goddess Nut, who
gives birth to him each morning again as Khepri. Therefore, the cycle
continued with birth, life and death.

Marriages
Early in his myths Ra was said to be married to Hathor and they were the
parents of Horus. Later his myths changed Hathor into Ra's daughter. This
featured prominently in the myth often called The Story of Sekhmet, in
which Ra sent Hathor down to punish humanity as Sekhmet.
Ra had 4 children:
Nut (sky) - Shu - Tefnut - Geb (Earth)
Nut and Geb created 4 children:
Set- Osiris - Isis - Nephthys
Isis and Osiris created - Horus

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Composites
As with most widely worshiped Egyptian deities, Ra's identity was often
confused with others as different regional religions were merged in an
attempt to unite the country.
Amun Re
Amun was a member of the Ogdoad, representing creation energies
with Amaunet, a very early patron of Thebes. He was believed to
create via breath, and thus was identified with the wind rather than
the sun. As the cults of Amun and Ra became increasingly popular in
Upper and Lower Egypt respectively they were combined to create
Amun-Ra, a solar creator god. The name Amun-Ra is reconstructed).
It is hard to distinguish exactly when this combination happened, but
references to Amun-Ra appeared in pyramid texts as early as the
fifth dynasty. The most common belief is that Amun-Ra was invented
as a new state deity by the (Theban) rulers of the New Kingdom to
unite worshipers of Amun with the older cult of Ra around the
eighteenth dynasty.
Atum-Ra
Atum-Ra (or Ra-Atum) was another composite deity formed from two
completely separate deities, however Ra shared more similarities
with Atum than with Amun. Atum was more closely linked with the
sun, and was also a creator god of the Ennead. Both Ra and Atum
were regarded as the father of the deities and pharaohs, and were
widely worshiped. In older myths, Atum was the creator of Tefnut
and Shu, and he was born from ocean Nun.

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 Atum Ra
Ra-Horakhty
In later Egyptian mythology, Ra-Horakhty was more of a title or
manifestation than a composite deity. It translates as "Ra (who is)
Horus of the Horizons". It was intended to link Horakhty (as a
sunrise-oriented aspect of Horus) to Ra. It has been suggested that
Ra-Horakhty simply refers to the sun's journey from horizon to
horizon as Ra, or that it means to show Ra as a symbolic deity of
hope and rebirth.

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 Osiris and Re-Horakhty
Khepri and Khnum
Khepri was a scarab beetle who rolled up the sun in the mornings,
and was sometimes seen as the morning manifestation of Ra.
Similarly, the ram-headed god Khnum was also seen as the evening
manifestation of Ra. The idea of different deities (or different aspects
of Ra) ruling over different times of the day was fairly common, but
variable. With Khepri and Khnum taking precedence over sunrise and
sunset, Ra often was the representation of midday when the sun
reached its peak at noon. Sometimes different aspects of Horus
were used instead of Ra's aspects. In Thelema's Liber Resh vel
Helios, Ra represents the rising sun, with Hathor as the midday sun
and Tum as the setting sun.[citation needed]
Ptah
Ra rarely was combined with Ptah; the sun "crosses" over Ptah in the
underworld before Ptah is reborn, thus there would be no sun-ray
when this happens. Other combinations can and do exist: The rising
sun with sun ray, the noon sun with sun ray, and sitting sun with
sunray. But as per the Memphite creation myth he was often said to

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 be Ptah's first creation, through his divine will, especially when
associated with Atum or Amun.
Worship
His local cult began to grow from roughly the second dynasty, establishing
Ra as a sun deity. By the fourth dynasty the pharaohs were seen to be
Ra's manifestations on earth, referred to as "Sons of Ra". His worship
increased massively in the fifth dynasty, when he became a state deity
and pharaohs had specially aligned pyramids, obelisks, and solar temples
built in his honor.
The first Pyramid Texts began to arise, giving Ra more and more
significance in the journey of the pharaoh through the underworld.
The Middle Kingdom saw Ra being increasingly combined and affiliated
with other deities, especially Amun and Osiris.
During the New Kingdom, the worship of Ra became more complicated
and grand. The walls of tombs were dedicated to extremely detailed texts
that told of Ra's journey through the underworld. Ra was said to carry the
prayers and blessings of the living with the souls of the dead on the sun
boat.
The idea that Ra aged with the sun became more popular with the rise of
The New Kingdom. Eventually, during the reign of Akhenaten (mid
1350s-1330s), the worship reached the level of "uncompromising
monotheism"
Many acts of worship included hymns, prayers, and spells to help Ra and
the sun boat overcome Apep. Though worship of Ra was widespread, his
cult center was in Heliopolis in Lower Egypt. Oddly enough, this was the
home of the Ennead that was believed to be headed by Atum, with whom
he was merged. The Holiday of 'The Receiving of Ra' was celebrated on
May 26 in the Gregorian calendar.
Though Re lived on in various forms into the Greco-Roman period, his
worship gradually deteriorated during the fist millennium. This decline was
probably due to the weakening of the kingship under various foreign
rulers. Though he continued to be a part of Egyptian theology, he was no
longer a part of the peoples living faith. Devotion to Re became more and
more limited to priests of the temple.

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The rise of Christianity in the Roman empire caused an end to worship of
Ra by the citizens of Egypt, and as Ra's the popularity suddenly died out,
the study of Ra became purely for academic knowledge even among the
Egyptian priests.

In the News ...

A Case for Mistaken Identity Thunderbolts - December 26, 2007

Ra was often lauded as "Lord of the Circles" and as "he who entereth [or
liveth] in the circle." He was described as "the sender forth of light into his
circle" and as the "Governor of [his] circle."

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Sekhmet

Goddess of divine retribution, vengeance, conquest and war.

In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet (also spelled Sachmet, Sakhet, Sekmet,
Sakhmet and Sekhet; and given the Greek name, Sacmis), was originally
the warrior goddess of Upper Egypt. She is depicted as a lioness, the
fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath created
the desert. She was seen as the protector of the pharaohs and led them in
warfare.
Her cult was so dominant in the culture that when the first pharaoh of the
twelfth dynasty, Amenemhat I, moved the capital of Egypt to Itjtawy, the

274
centre for her cult was moved as well. Religion, the royal lineage, and the
authority to govern were intrinsically interwoven in Ancient Egypt during its
approximately three thousand years of existence. Sekhmet also is a solar
deity, often considered an aspect of the Goddesses Hathor and cats Bast.
She bears the solar disk, and the Uraeus which associates her with Wadjet
and royalty. With these associations she can be construed as being a
divine arbiter of Ma'at (Justice, or Order), The Eye of Horus and
connecting her with Tefnut as well.
Upper Egypt is in the south and Lower Egypt is in the delta region in the
north. As Lower Egypt had been conquered by Upper Egypt, Sekhmet was
seen as the more powerful of the two warrior goddesses, the other, Bast,
being the similar warrior goddess of Lower Egypt. Consequently, it was
Sekhmet who was seen as the Avenger of Wrongs, and the Scarlet Lady,
a reference to blood, as the one with bloodlust. She also was seen as a
special goddess for women, ruling over menstruation. Unable to be
eliminated completely however, Bast became a lesser deity and even was
marginalized as Bastet by the priests of Amun who added a second
female ending to her name that may have implied a diminutive status,
becoming seen as a domestic cat at times.
Sekhmet became identified in some later cults as a daughter of the new
sun god, Ra, when his cult merged with and supplanted the worship of
Horus (the son of Osiris and Isis, who was one of the oldest of Egyptian
deities and gave birth daily to the sun). At that time many roles of deities
were changed in the Egyptian myths. Some were changed further when
the Greeks established a royal line of rulers that lasted for three hundred
years and some of their historians tried to create parallels between deities
in the two pantheons.
Her name suits her function and means, the (one who is) powerful. She
also was given titles such as the (One) Before Whom Evil Trembles, the
Mistress of Dread, and the Lady of Slaughter.
Sekhmet was believed to protect the pharaoh in battle, stalking the land,
and destroying the pharaoh's enemies with arrows of fire. An early
Egyptian sun deity also, her body was said to take on the bright glare of
the midday sun, gaining her the title Lady of Flame. It was said that death

275
and destruction were balm for her warrior's heart and that the hot desert
winds were believed to be her breath.
n order to placate Sekhmet's wrath, her priestesses performed a ritual
before a different statue of the goddess on each day of the year. This
practice resulted in many images of the goddess being preserved. It is
estimated that more than seven hundred statues of Sekhmet once stood
in one funerary temple alone, that of Amenhotep III, on the west bank of
the Nile.
Sekhmet also was seen as a bringer of disease as well as the provider of
cures to such ills. The name "Sekhmet" literally became synonymous with
physicians and surgeons during the Middle Kingdom. In antiquity, many
members of Sekhmet's priesthood often were considered to be on the
same level as physicians.
She was envisioned as a fierce lioness, and in art, was depicted as such,
or as a woman with the head of a lioness, who was dressed in red, the
colour of blood. Sometimes the dress she wears exhibits a rosetta pattern
over each nipple, an ancient leonine motif, which can be traced to
observation of the shoulder-knot hairs on lions. Tame lions were kept in
temples dedicated to Sekhmet at Leontopolis.
To pacify Sekhmet, festivals were celebrated at the end of battle, so that
the destruction would come to an end. During an annual festival held at
the beginning of the year, a festival of intoxication, the Egyptians danced
and played music to soothe the wildness of the goddess and drank great
quantities of beer ritually to imitate the extreme drunkenness that stopped
the wrath of the goddess - when she almost destroyed humankind. This
may relate to averting excessive flooding during the inundation at the
beginning of each year as well, when the Nile ran blood-red with the silt
from upstream and Sekhmet had to swallow the overflow to save
humankind.
In 2006, Betsy Bryan, an archaeologist with Johns Hopkins University
excavating at the temple of Mut presented her findings about the festival
that included illustrations of the priestesses being served to excess and
its adverse effects being ministered to by temple attendants.
Participation in the festival was great, including the priestesses and the

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population. Historical records of tens of thousands attending the festival
exist. These findings were made in the temple of Mut because when
Thebes rose to greater prominence, Mut absorbed the warrior goddesses
as some of her aspects. First, Mut became Mut-Wadjet-Bast, then
Mut-Sekhmet-Bast (Wadjet having merged into Bast), then Mut also
assimilated Menhit, another lioness goddess, and her adopted son's wife,
becoming Mut-Sekhmet-Bast-Menhit, and finally becoming Mut-Nekhbet.
These temple excavations at Luxor discovered a "porch of drunkenness"
built onto the temple by the queen Hatshepsut, during the height of her
twenty year reign.
In a later myth developed around an annual drunken Sekhmet festival, Ra,
by then the sun god of Upper Egypt, created her from a fiery eye gained
from his mother, to destroy mortals who conspired against him (Lower
Egypt). In the myth, Sekhmet's blood-lust was not quelled at the end of
battle and led to her destroying almost all of humanity, so Ra tricked her
by turning the Nile red like blood (the Nile turns red every year when filled
with silt during inundation) so that Sekhmet would drink it. However, the
red liquid was not blood, but beer mixed with pomegranate juice so that it
resembled blood, making her so drunk that she gave up slaughter and
became an aspect of the gentle Hathor.
After Sekhmet's worship moved to Memphis, as Horus and Ra had been
identified as one another under the name Ra-Herakhty - when the two
religious systems were merged and Ra became seen as a form of Atum,
known as Atum-Ra - so Sekhmet, as a form of Hathor, was seen as Atum's
mother as Hathor had been the mother of the sun, giving birth anew to it
every day. She then was seen as the mother of Nefertum, the youthful
form of Atum who emerged in later myths, and so was said to have Ptah,
Nefertum's father, as a husband when most of the goddesses acquired
counterparts as paired deities.
Although Sekhmet again became identified as an aspect of Hathor, over
time both evolved back into separate deities because the characters of
the two goddesses were so vastly different. Later, as noted above, the
creation goddess Mut, the great mother, gradually became absorbed into
the identities of the patron goddesses, merging with Sekhmet, and also

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sometimes with Bast.
Sekhmet later was considered to be the mother of Maahes, a deity who
appeared during the New Kingdom period. He was seen as a lion prince,
the son of the goddess. The late origin of Maahes in the Egyptian
pantheon may be the incorporation of a Nubian deity of ancient origin in
that culture, arriving during trade and warfare or even during a period of
domination by Nubia. During the Greek occupation of Egypt, note was
made of a temple for Maahes that was an auxiliary facility to a large
temple to Sekhmet at Taremu in the delta region (likely a temple for Bast
originally), a city which the Greeks called Leontopolis, where by that time,
an enclosure was provided to house lions.

Other Countries

In Tibet Sekhmet is known as Senge Dong-ma, lion-headed dakini,

"Guardian of the Secret Tantric Teachings". She is called Simhavaktra, in
India where she also has a male reflection in the lion-headed incarnation of
Vishnu, Narasimha. Pure shakti, she is doubtless a close relative to
lion-mounted Durga, "Keeper of the Flame". Another Egyptian name for
Sekhmet is Nesert, the flame. In the ancient Near East she was called
Anat, Ashtoreth and Astarte.

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Various Depictions

Sekhmet from the temple of Mut at Luxor, granite, 1403-1365 BC

The warrior goddess Sekhmet, shown with her sun disk and cobra crown

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280
Limestone fragment from the valley of Sneferu (Dynasty IV) at Dahshur

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Golden Royalty and Alchemy

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As with the Goddess Isis, Sekhmet seems to have been reinvented in the
twentieth century. Although she is still regarded as a powerful force, to be
approached with respect and caution, we can perceive a 'watering down'
of her aspects. In Ancient Egypt she was dangerous and ferocious, the
bringer of plagues and retribution, the fire of the sun God's eye. This was
no benign figure, who could be adored and worshipped as a gentle
mother.
Today many women view Sekhmet as a source of strength, independence
and assertiveness, and commune with her frequency when these
attributes need to be augmented or instilled. To some Sekhmet has
become the symbol of the modern woman. She is approached as a
healer, bringer of justice and as a guardian or protector, but the emphasis
has shifted. It seems a natural progression that Sekhmet has transformed
from what was almost a force of chaos into an icon of immanent female

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power.

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285
Seshat, The Scribe

Seshat is the feminine consort/counterpart/wife/child of Thoth the Scribe,

he who wrote the story/program of humanity's journey through time. She
is a Magician, as is Isis, Thoth, Hermes, etc. Seshat bore the title
'Egyptian Fairy Godmother'. Her magic wand, with its seven pointed star,
was the symbol which represented the source of all creative ideas,
consciousness. Her powers of cause and effect for any affectation were
legendary before the founding of Egypt.

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Seshat was the essence of cosmic intuition, creating the geometry of the
heavens alongside Thoth. In Egyptian mythology, Seshat was originally the
deification of the concept of wisdom, and so became a goddess of
writing, astronomy, astrology, architecture, and mathematics.

As reality is based on duality, one could consider Seshat the feminine

aspect of Thoth. The Egyptians believed that she invented writing, while
Thoth taught writing to mankind. She was known as 'Mistress of the House
of Books', indicating that she also took care of Thoth's library of spells

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and scrolls. She is the patron of libraries and all forms of writing, including
census and accounting work. Seshat was the only female that has been
found (so far) actually writing. Other women have been found holding a
scribe's writing brush and palette - showing that they could read and write,
but these women were never shown in the act of writing itself. As goddess
of writing, she was seen as a scribe, and record keeper, and her name
itself means (she who) scrivens (i.e. she who is a scribe).
The name Sashet, Seshet or Sesheta means

'The Female Scribe', 'Sesh" meaning scribe.

She was an architect building by the
measurements of sacred geometry.

She wears a leopard skin dress.

The symbol over her head is a seven-pointed star or a rosette above
which is a pair of inverted cow's horns suggesting a crescent moon.
Her headdress was also her hieroglyph which may represent either a
stylized flower or seven pointed star on a standing goddess that is

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beneath a set of down-turned horns. The horns may have originally been a
crescent, linking Seshat to the moon and hence to her spouse, the moon
god of writing and knowledge, Thoth. Safekh-Aubi (Sefekh-Aubi) is a title
that came from Seshat's headdress, that may have become an aspect of
Seshat or an actual goddess. Safekh-Aubi means 'She Who Wears the Two
Horns' and relates to the horns that appear above Seshat's head.

In art, she was depicted as a woman, with a stylized papyrus plant above
her head, symbolizing writing, since the Egyptians wrote on a material
derived from papyrus. The plant, her symbol, was shown having 6 spurs
from the tip of the central stem, making it resemble a 7 pointed star. After
the association with Thoth, who had originally been a moon god, the
stylized papyrus was shown surmounted by a crescent moon, which, over
time, degenerated into being shown as two horns arranged to form a
crescent shape between them. When the crescent symbol had
degenerated into the horns, she was sometimes known as Safekh-Aubi,
meaning (she who) wears the two horns.
Usually, she is also shown holding a palm stem, carrying notches to
denote the recording of the passage of time. She is frequently dressed in
a leopard-skin, a symbol of funerary priests, because the pattern of the

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skin represents the stars, both a symbol of eternity, and associated with
the moon.
From the Second Dynasty onwards, she helped ritualized laying of the
foundations of temples and the ceremony known as the stretching of the
cord (referring to the mason's line used to measure out the limits of the
building). She was known as Mistress of the House of Architects. She was
personal god of the king, aiding and assisting him. She was said to record
all of his preceedings and his accomplishments.
As the divine measurer and scribe, she was believed to appear to assist
the pharaoh in both these practices. It was she who recorded, by notching
her palm, the time allotted to him by the gods for his stay on earth, and
during the New Kingdom, she was involved in the pharaoh's jubilee festival
- the Sed festival. She also assisted the pharaoh in the stretching the cord
ritual, as well as recording the speeches the pharaoh made during
crowning, and the inventory of foreign captives and goods gained in
military campaigns.

The Pyramid Texts reference Seshat as 'The Female Scribe' and 'The Lady
of the House'. Nephthys is also referred to in the Pyramid Texts as
'Seshat, Foremost of Builders'. Some call Seshat the Egyptian goddess of
the dead, daughter of Geb and Nut, sister of Isis, Osiris and Seth.
According to one tradition, she was also the mother of Anubis by Osiris.
Her principal sanctuary was at Heliopolis. Along with Isis, she was one of

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the guardians of the corpse of Osiris. Depicted in human form wearing a
crown in the form of the hieroglyph for house. Sometimes depicted as a
kite guarding funeral bier of Osiris. No temple has ever been found in her
name. But in a temple constructed during Hatshepsut's reign, queen
Hatshepsut is shown directing Thoth to speak to Seshat to get the
answers to his questions. On the Slab Stela of Prince Wep-em-nefret, from
the Fourth Dynasty, he is mentioned as the 'Overseer of the Royal
Scribes', 'Priest of Seshat'. Supposedly at a later time, the priesthood of
Thoth took over the priesthood of Seshat.

"Seshat, Great Lady of the House of Books, also known as Sefkhet-abwy,

the Silicon Goddess, the Glass Cat and Our Lady of Mathematics. Among
the Inner Sphere superintelligences there exist an archetypal attractor,
Seshat, providing a shared interface to trans-singularity mathematical and
notational understanding."

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Set

In Ancient Egyptian mythology, Set (also spelled Seth, Sutekh or Seteh) is

an ancient god, who was originally the god of the desert, Storms,
Darkness, and Chaos. Because of the developments in the Egyptian
language over the 3,000 years that Set was worshipped, by the Greek
period, the 't' in Seth was pronounced so indistinguishably from th that the
Greeks spelled it as (Seth). The exact translation of Set is unknown for
certain, but is usually considered to be either (one who) dazzles or pillar of
stability, one connected to the desert, and the other more to the institution
of monarchy.
Seth was the god of the desert, and necessary chaos. Set also was
viewed as immensely powerful and carried the epithet, "His Majesty",

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shared only with Ra. Another common epithet was, of great of strength,
and in one of the Pyramid Texts it states that the king's strength is that of
Set. As chief god, he was patron of Upper Egypt (in the South- upstream),
where he was worshiped, most notably at Ombos. The alternate form of
his name, spelled Setesh, and later Sutekh, designates this supremacy,
the extra sh and kh signifying majesty.
In art, Set was mostly depicted as a mysterious and unknown creature,
referred to by Egyptologists as the Set animal or Typhonic beast, with a
curved snout, square ears, forked tail, and canine body, or sometimes as
a human with only the head of the Set animal. It has no complete
resemblance to any known creature, although it does resemble a
composite of an aardvark, a donkey, and a jackal, all of which are desert
creatures.
The main species of aardvark present in ancient Egypt additionally had a
reddish appearance due to thin fur, which shows the skin beneath it). In
some descriptions he has the head of a greyhound. The earliest known
representation of Set comes from a tomb dating to the Naqada I phase of
the Predynastic Period (circa 4000 BC·3500 BC), and the Set-animal is
even found on a mace-head of the Scorpion King, a Protodynastic ruler.
The Was ("power") scepters represent the Set-animal. Was scepters were
carried by gods, pharaohs, and priests, as a symbol of power, and in later
use, control over the force of chaos (Set). The head and forked tail of the
Set-animal are clearly present. Was scepters are often depicted in
paintings, drawings, and carvings of gods, and remnants of real Was
scepters have been found constructed of faience or wood.
Conflict between Horus and Set
The myth of Set's conflict with Horus, Osiris, and Isis appears in many
Egyptian sources, including the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts, the
Shabaka Stone, inscriptions on the walls of the temple of Horus at Edfu,
and various papyrus sources. The Chester Beatty Papyrus No. 1 contains
the legend known as The Contention of Horus and Set. Classical authors
also recorded the story, notably Plutarch's De Iside et Osiride.
These myths generally portray Osiris as a wise king and bringer of
civilization, happily married to his sister, Isis. Set was envious of his

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younger brother, and he killed and dismembered Osiris. Isis reassembled
Osiris' corpse and another god (in some myths Thoth and in others
Anubis) embalmed him. As the archetypal mummy, Osiris reigned over the
Afterworld as judge of the dead.
Osiris' son Horus was conceived by Isis with Osiris' corpse, or in some
versions, only with pieces of his corpse. Horus naturally became the
enemy of Set, and many myths describe their conflicts. In some of these
myths Set is portrayed as Horus' older brother rather than uncle.
The myth incorporated moral lessons for relationships between fathers
and sons, older and younger brothers, and husbands and wives.
It has also been suggested that the myth may reflect historical events.
According to the Shabaka Stone, Geb divided Egypt into two halves, giving
Upper Egypt (the desert south) to Set and Lower Egypt (the region of the
delta in the north) to Horus, in order to end their feud. However, according
to the stone, in a later judgment Geb gave all Egypt to Horus.
Interpreting this myth as a historical record would lead one to believe that
Lower Egypt (Horus' land) conquered Upper Egypt (Set's land); but, in fact
Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt. So the myth cannot be simply
interpreted. Several theories exist to explain the discrepancy. For
instance, since both Horus and Set were worshiped in Upper Egypt prior
to unification, perhaps the myth reflects a struggle within Upper Egypt
prior to unification, in which a Horus-worshiping group subjected a
Set-worshiping group.
What is known is that during the Second Dynasty, there was a period in
which the King Peribsen's name or Serekh - which had been surmounted
by a Horus falcon in the First Dynasty - was for a time surmounted by a
Set animal, suggesting some kind of religious struggle. It was ended at
the end of the Dynasty by Khasekhemwy, who surmounted his Serekh with
both a falcon of Horus and a Set animal, indicating some kind of
compromise had been reached.
Regardless, once the two lands were united, Seth and Horus were often
shown together crowning the new pharaohs, as a symbol of their power
over both Lower and Upper Egypt. Queens of the 1st Dynasty bore the
title "She Who Sees Horus and Set." The Pyramid Texts present the

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pharaoh as a fusion of the two deities. Evidently, pharaohs believed that
they balanced and reconciled competing cosmic principles. Eventually the
dual-god Horus-Set appeared, combining features of both deities (as was
common in Egyptian theology, the most familiar example being Amun-Re).
Later Egyptians interpreted the myth of the conflict between Set and
Osiris/Horus as an analogy for the struggle between the desert
(represented by Set) and the fertilizing floods of the Nile (Osiris/Horus).
Savior of Ra
As the Ogdoad system became more assimilated with the Ennead one, as
a result of creeping increase of the identification of Atum as Ra, itself a
result of the joining of Upper and Lower Egypt, Set's position in this
became considered. With Horus as Ra's heir on Earth, Set, previously the
chief god, for Lower Egypt, required an appropriate role as well, and so
was identified as Ra's main hero, who fought Apep each night, during Ra's
journey (as sun god) across the underworld.
He was thus often depicted standing on the prow of Ra's night barque
spearing Apep in the form of a serpent, turtle, or other dangerous water
animals. Surprisingly, in some Late Period representations, such as in the
Persian Period temple at Hibis in the Khargah Oasis, Set was represented
in this role with a falcon's head, taking on the guise of Horus, despite the
fact that Set was usually considered in quite a different position with
regard to heroism.
This assimilation also led to Anubis being displaced, in areas where he
was worshiped, as ruler of the underworld, with his situation being
explained by his being the son of Osiris. As Isis represented life, Anubis'
mother was identified instead as Nephthys. This led to an explanation in
which Nephthys, frustrated by Set's lack of sexual interest in her,
disguised herself as the more attractive Isis, but failed to gain Set's
attention because he was infertile. Osiris mistook Nephthys for Isis and
they had conceived Anubis resulting in Anubis' birth. In some later texts,
after Set lost the connection to the desert, and thus infertility, Anubis was
identified as Set's son, as Set is Nephthys' husband.
In the mythology, Set has a great many wives, including some foreign
Goddesses, and several children. Some of the most notable wives

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(beyond Nephthys/Nebet Het) are Neith (with whom he is said to have
fathered Sobek), Amtcheret (by whom he is said to have fathered Upuat -
though Upuat is also said to be a son of Anubis or Osiris), Tawaret,
Hetepsabet (one of the Hours, a feminine was-beast headed goddess who
is variously described as wife or daughter of Set), and the two Canaanite
deities Anat and Astarte, both of whom are equally skilled in love and war -
two things which Set himself was famous for.
Set in the Second Intermediate and Ramesside Periods
During the Second Intermediate Period, a group of Asiatic foreign chiefs
known as the Hyksos (literally, "rulers of foreigns lands") gained the
rulership of Egypt, and ruled the Nile Delta, from Avaris. They chose Set,
originally Lower Egypt's chief god, the god of foreigners and the god they
found most similar to their own chief god, as their patron, and so Set
became worshiped as the chief god once again. When Ahmose I overthrew
the Hyksos and expelled them from Egypt, Egyptian attitudes towards
Asiatic foreigners became xenophobic, and royal propaganda discredited
the period of Hyksos rule. Nonetheless, the Set cult at Avaris flourished,
and the Egyptian garrison of Ahmose stationed there because part of the
priesthood of Set at Avaris.
The founder of the nineteenth dynasty, Ramesses I came from a military
family from Avaris with strong ties to the priesthood of Set. Several of the
Ramesside kings were named for Set, most notably Seti I (literally, "man of
Set") and Setnakht (literally, "Set is strong"). In addition, one of the
garrisons of Ramesses II held Set as its patron deity, and Ramesses II
erected the so-called Four Hundred Years' Stele at Pi-Ramesses,
commemorating the 400 year anniversary of the Set cult in the Delta.
Set also became associated with foreign gods during the New Kingdom,
particularly in the Delta. Set was also identified by the Egyptians with the
Hittite deity Teshub, who was a storm god like Set.
Demonization of Set
Set was one of the earliest deities, with a strong following in Upper Egypt.
Originally highly regarded throughout Kemet as the god of the desert, a
political faction inspired an initial disparaging of Set's name and
reputation. Kemet was originally split into two kingdoms: Upper ruled by

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Horus (and later Ra), Lower by Set.
Set's followers resisted a unification of the Upper and Lower kingdoms of
Egypt by the followers of Horus/Ra (with the followers of Osiris and Isis).
This political split was echoed in the Osiris & Isis myth, and subsequent
battle with Horus. The followers of Horus thus denigrated Set as chaotic
and evil. By the 22nd Dynasty, Set was equated with his old enemy, Apep,
and his images on temples were replaced with those of Sobek or Thoth.
Most modern popular misconceptions of Set come from Plutarch's
secondary source interpretations of Set (via the writings of Herodotus et
al.), long after Set's demonization (circa 100 A.D., Roman Period in
Egypt).
Set was further demonized immediately after the Hyksos Period, the
evidence from the Nineteenth Dynasty proves that this is a more complex
picture.
Some scholars date the demonization of Set to after Egypt's conquest by
the Persian ruler Cambyses II. Set, who had traditionally been the god of
foreigners, thus also became associated with foreign oppressors,
including the Achaemenid Persians, Ptolemaic dynasty, and Romans.
Indeed, it was during the time that Set was particularly vilified, and his
defeat by Horus widely celebrated.
Set's negative aspects were emphasized during this period. Set was the
killer of Osiris in the Myth of Osiris and Isis, having hacked Osiris' body
into pieces and dispersed it so that he could not be resurrected. If Set'
ears are fins, as some have interpreted, the head of the Set-animal
resembles the Oxyrhynchus fish, and so it was said that as a final
precaution, an Oxyrhynchus fish ate Osiris' penis. In addition, Set was
often depicted as one of the creatures that the Egyptians most feared,
crocodiles, and hippopotami.
The Greeks later linked Set with Typhon because both were evil forces,
storm deities, and sons of the Earth that attacked the main gods.
Nevertheless, throughout this period, in some outlying regions of Egypt
Set was still regarded as the heroic chief deity; for example, there was a
temple dedicated to Set in the village of Mut al-Kharab, in the Dakhlah
Oasis.

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Temples
Set was worshipped at the temples of Ombos (Nubt near Naqada) and
Ombos (Nubt near Kom Ombo), at Oxyrhynchus in upper Egypt, and also
in part of the Fayyum area.
More specifically, Set was worshipped in the relatively large metropolitan
(yet provincial) locale of Sepermeru, especially during the Rammeside
Period. There, Seth was honored with an important temple called the
"House of Seth, Lord of Sepermeru." One of the epithets of this town was
"gateway to the desert," which fits well with Seth's role as a deity of the
frontier regions of ancient Egypt. At Sepermeru, Set's temple-enclosure
included a small secondary shrine called "The House of Seth,
Powerful-Is-His-Mighty-Arm," and Ramesses II himself built (or modified) a
second land-owning temple for Nephthys, called "The House of Nephthys
of Ramesses-Meriamun.".
There is no question, however, that the two temples of Seth and Nephthys
in Sepermeru were under separate administration, each with its own
holdings and prophets. Moreover, another moderately sized temple of
Seth is noted for the nearby town of Pi-Wayna. The close association of
Seth temples with temples of Nephthys in key outskirt-towns of this milieu
is also reflected in the likelihood that there existed another "House of Seth"
and another "House of Nephthys" in the town of Su, at the entrance to the
Fayyum.
Perhaps most intriguing in terms of the pre-Dynasty XX connections
between temples of Set and nearby temples of his consort Nephthys is
the evidence of Papyrus Bologna, which preserves a most irritable
complaint lodged by one Pra'em-hab, Prophet of the "House of Seth" in the
now-lost town of Punodjem ("The Sweet Place"). In the text of Papyrus
Bolgona, the harried Pra'em-hab laments undue taxation for his own
temple (The House of Seth) and goes on to lament that he is also saddled
with responsibility for: "the ship, and I am likewise also responsible for the
House of Nephthys, along with the remaining heap of district temples".
It is unfortunate, perhaps, that we have means of knowing the particular
theologies of the closely connected Set and Nephthys temples in these
districts·it would be interesting to learn, for example, the religious tone of

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temples of Nephthys located in such proximity to those of Seth, especially
given the seemingly contrary Osirian loyalties of Seth's consort-goddess.
When, by Dynasty XX, the "demonization" of Seth was ostensibly
inaugurated, Seth was either eradicated or increasingly pushed to the
outskirts, Nephthys flourished as part of the usual Osirian pantheon
throughout Egypt, even obtaining a Late Period status as tutelary goddess
of her own Nome (UU Nome VII, "Hwt-Sekhem"/Diospolis Parva) and as the
chief goddess of the Mansion of the Sistrum in that district.
Yet, it is perhaps most telling that Seth's cultus persisted with astonishing
potency even into the latter days of ancient Egyptian religion, in outlying
(but important) places like Kharga, Dakhlah, Deir el-Hagar, Mut, Kellis, etc.
Indeed, in these places, Seth was considered "Lord of the Oasis/Town"
and Nephthys was likewise venerated as "Mistress of the Oasis" at Seth's
side, in his temples esp. the dedication of a Nephthys-cult statue).
Meanwhile, Nephthys was also venerated as "Mistress" in the Osirian
temples of these districts, as part of the specifically Osirian college.
It would appear that the ancient Egyptians in these locales had little
problem with the paradoxical dualities inherent in venerating Seth and
Nephthys as juxtaposed against Osiris, Isis & Nephthys. Further study of
the enormously important role of Seth in ancient Egyptian religion
(particularly after Dynasty XX) is imperative.
The power of Seth's cult in the mighty (yet outlying) city of Avaris from the
Second Intermediate Period through the Ramesside Period cannot be
denied. There he reigned supreme as a deity both at odds and in league
with threatening foreign powers, and in this case, his chief
consort-goddesses were the Phoenicians Anat and Astarte, with Nephthys
merely one of the harem.

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Shezmu

Shezmu, alts. Shesmu, Schezemu, Schesmu, Shesemu, Shezmou,

Shesmou, Sezmu, Sesmu, is the ancient Egyptian demonic God of
execution, slaughter, blood, and wine. Like many of the gods of Ancient
Egypt, Shezmu was of a complex nature. He had qualities of both light and
darkness, but this was not the reason that he was known as a 'demon'. To
the Egyptians, demons were not necessarily evil in nature. Often they were
quite helpful. Instead, the term Œdemon¹ was given to Shezmu because
he was one of the lesser deities, and due to his relation to The
Underworld. Though he wasn¹t as popular as many of the others, he was
quite important.
Shezmu was the demonic god of red wine, slaughter, and sometimes
perfumes or oils. The link between blood and the crimson color of wine is
clear. Shezmu was known to destroy wrongdoers, gruesomely putting
their heads in winepresses to remove the blood. He was known as the
'Executioner of Osiris'. Shezmu followed the commands of The God of The
Dead, and therefore was sometimes given the title ŒSlaughterer of
Souls¹. He initially seems to be a fierce underworld deity, but Shezmu was
quite helpful to the dead. Although he was a harsh executioner of the
wicked, he was also a great protector of the virtuous. Shezmu offered red

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wine to those who had passed on. Other than wine, he was in charge of
earthly objects such as embalming oils, and perfumes.
Among the gods, his job was to use the bodies and blood of the dead to
create sustenance for Unas. Osiris was the one who ordered the use of
the wicked one¹s blood to be turned to wine. He was sometimes given the
title ŒDemon of the Wine Press¹. On a darker note, Shezmu¹s affinity with
the color red linked him to evil. Crimson was a feared and hated color
among the Egyptians. Not only is it the universal color of blood, and
therefore death, but it was the color of the god of chaos, Seth. Since it
was also the color of the setting sun, red was associated with the coming
darkness and the reign of Apophis the serpent demon.
Like many other Egyptian deities, Shezmu was sometimes depicted as a
man or a man with the head of a falcon. To link him further with blood and
destruction, he took the form of a man with a leonine head. This perhaps
was a bridge between him and Sekhmet, the goddess of vengeance.
Furthermore, he is associated with Nefertem through both his appearance
and the connection with perfumes.
Shezmu seemed to be both represented as a great evil and an entity of
good. In many places he is held in high regards by the god Osiris, and is
worshipped as a protector god. However, he was also feared as the
unyielding punisher of the damned. His greatest cult was centered in
Faiyum, but his worshippers were also widely distributed in Dendera and
Edfu.
Due to its color, red wine became strongly identified with blood, and thus
Shezmu was identified as lord of blood. Since wine was seen as a good
thing, his association with blood was considered one of righteousness,
making him considered an executioner of the unrighteous, being the
slaughterer of souls. When the main form of execution was by beheading,
it was said that Shezmu ripped off the heads of those who were wicked,
and threw them into a wine press, to be crushed into red wine, which was
given to the righteous dead.
Beheading was commonly carried out by the victim resting their head on a
wooden block, and so Shezmu was referred to as Overthrower of the
Wicked at the Block. This violent aspect lead to depiction, in art, as a

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lion-headed man, thus being known as fierce of face. In later times,
Egyptians used the wine press for producing oils instead of wine, which
was produced by crushing under foot instead. Consequently, Shezmu
became associated with unguents and embalming oils, and thus the
preservation of the body, and of beauty.

Shu

Shu (Su) was the god of dry air, wind and the atmosphere. He was also
related to the sun, possibly as an aspect of sunlight. He was the son of
the creator god, father of the twin sky and the earth deities and the one
who held the sky off of the earth. He was one of the gods who protected

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Ra on his journey through the underworld, using magic spells to ward off
Ra's enemy, the snake-demon Apep. As with other protector gods, he had
a darker side - he was also a god of punishment in the land of the dead,
leading executioners and torturers to kill off the corrupt souls. His name
might be derived from the word for dryness - shu, the root of words such
as 'dry', 'parched', 'withered', 'sunlight' and 'empty'. His name could also
mean 'He who Rises Up'.

He was generally depicted as a man wearing an ostrich feather

headdress, holding a sceptre and the ankh sign of life. Sometimes he is
shown wearing the sun disk on his head, linking him to the sun.
Occasionally, when shown with his sister-wife Tefnut, he is shown in lion
form and the two were known as the "twin lion gods". At other times, he
was shown with the hind part of a lion as his headdress, linking him to his
leonine form. Mostly, he was shown with his arms raised, holding up the
goddess Nut as the sky, standing on the body of Geb. One story says that
Shu and Tefnut went to explore the waters of Nun. After some time, Ra
believed that they were lost, and sent the his Eye out into the chaos to find
them. When his children were returned to him, Ra wept, and his tears were
believed to have turned into the first humans. Shu was created by
asexually or by spitting, the first born of the sun god. He seems to be
more of a personification of the atmosphere rather than an actual god.

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 That is my daughter, the living female one, Tefnut,
who shall be with her brother Shu.
Life is his name, Order is her name.
[At first] I lived with my two children, my little ones,
the one before me, the other behind me.
Life reposed with my daughter Order,
the one within me, the other without me.
I rose over them, but their arms were around me.
- Spell 80, Coffin Texts
As a god of the wind, the people invoked him to give good wind to the
sails of the boats. It was he who was the personification of the cold
northern winds; he was the breath of life - the vital principle of all living
things. His bones were thought to be clouds. He was also called to 'lift up'
the spirits of the dead so that they might rise up to the heavens, known as
the 'light land', reached by means of a giant 'ladder' that Shu was thought
to hold up.
...Shu, the 'space', the light cavity in the midst of the primordial
darkness. Shu is both light and air, and as the offspring of god he is
manifest life. As light he separates the earth from the sky and as air
he upholds the sky vault.
-Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt, R. T. Rundle Clark

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Despite being a god of sunlight, Shu was not considered to be a solar
deity. He was, though, connected to the sun god as one who was thought
to bring Ra (and the pharaoh) to life each morning, raising the sun into the
sky. During his travels through the underworld, he protected Ra from the
snake-demon Apep, with spells to counteract the serpent and his
followers. He participated in the judgement of the deceased in the Halls of
Ma'ati as the leader of aggressive, punishing beings who were to eliminate
the ones not worthy of the afterlife.
The chapter of not perishing and of being alive in Khert-neter: Saith
Osiris Ani: "Hail, children of: Shu! Hail, children of Shu, [children of]
the place of the dawn, who as the children of light have gained
possession of his crown. May I rise up and may I fare forth like
Osiris."
The chapter of not going into the block: Saith Osiris Ani: "The four
bones of my neck and of my back are joined together for me in
heaven by Ra, the guardian of the earth. This was granted on the
day when my rising up out of weakness upon my two feet was
ordered, on the day when the hair was cut off. The bones of my
neck and of my back have been joined together by Set and by the
company of the gods, even as they were in the time that is past;
may nothing happen to break them apart. Make ye [me] strong
against my father's murderer. I have gotten power over the two
earths. Nut hath joined together my bones, and [I] behold [them] as
they were in the time that is past [and I] see [them] even in the same
order as they were [when] the gods had not come into being in

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 visible forms. I am Penti, I, Osiris the scribe Ani, triumphant, am the
heir of the great gods."
The Book of the Dead, Chapters XLVI and XL
He also was believed to hold up Nut, the sky goddess and his daughter,
above his son the earth god Geb. Without Shu holding the two apart, the
Egyptians believed that there would be no area in which to create the life
they saw all around them. The Egyptians believed that there were also
pillars to help Shu lift up the sky - these pillars were on the four cardinal
points, and were known as the 'Pillars of Shu'.
Shu hath raised thee up, O Beautiful Face, thou governor of eternity.
Thou hast thine eye, O scribe Nebseni, lord of fealty, and it is
beautiful. Thy right eye is like the Sektet Boat, thy left eye is like the
Atet Boat. Thine eyebrows are fair to see in the presence of the
Company of the Gods.
The Speech of Anubis (from the Papyrus of Nebseni)
The Egyptians believed that Shu was the second divine pharaoh, ruling
after Ra. Apep's followers, though, plotted against him and attacked the
god at his palace in At Nub. Despite defeating them, Shu became
diseased due to their corruption, and soon even Shu's own followers
revolted against him. Shu then abdicated the throne, allowing his son Geb
to rule, and Shu himself returned to the skies.
I am Shu. I draw air from the presence of the Light-god, from the
uttermost limits of heaven, from the uttermost limits of earth, from
the uttermost limits of the pinion of Nebeh bird. May air be given
unto this young divine Babe. [My mouth is open, I see with my eyes.]
-The Chapter of Giving Air in Khert-Neter (From The Book of the
Dead)
There are no known temples to Shu, but despite Akenaten's distaste for
the gods of Egypt, he and Nefertiti used Tefnut and Shu for political
purposes. They depicted themselves as the twin gods in an apparent
attempt to elevate their status to that of being a living god and goddess,
the son and daughter of the creator, on earth. Akenaten, not the
monotheist that most believe him to be, put out the belief that Shu lived in

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the sun disk. At Iunet (Dendera), though, there was a part of the city
known as "The House of Shu" and at Djeba (Utes-Hor, Behde, Edfu) there
was a place known as "The Seat of Shu". He was worshiped in connection
with the Ennead at Iunu, and in his lion form at Nay-ta-hut (Leontopolis).

Shu was the husband of his twin, the goddess Tefnut, son of the sun god
Atem-Ra and father to the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut. As
such, he was one of the gods of the Ennead. Shu was identified with the
Meroitic god Arensnuphis, known as Shu-Arensnuphis. He was also
identified with the war god Onuris, known as Onuris-Shu.
His links with Onuris are probably because the two gods had wives who
took the form of a lioness (Mehit was the wife of Onuris), and both gods
were thought to have brought their consorts back from Nubia. In Shu's
case, when Tefnut went off in anger to Nubia, Ra sent both him and Thoth
to get her, and they found her in Begum. Thoth began at once to try and
persuade her to return to Egypt. In the end Tefnut (with Shu and Thoth
leading her) made a triumphant entry back into Egypt, accompanied by a
host of Nubian musicians, dancers and baboons.
Egypt's second divine ruler, Shu was one of the great Ennead. A god of
the wind, the atmosphere, the space between the sky and the earth, Shu
was the division between day and night, the underworld and the living
world. He was a god related to living, allowing life to flourish in Egypt with
his breath of life. He was the bridge between life and death, both a
protector and a punisher in the afterlife. To the Egyptians, if there was no
Shu, there would be no life - Egypt existed thanks to Shu.

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Sobek

Sobek (also called Sebek, Sochet, Sobk, Sobki, Soknopais, and in Greek,
Suchos) was the deification of crocodiles, as crocodiles were deeply
feared in the nation so dependent on the Nile River. Egyptians who worked
or travelled on the Nile hoped that if they prayed to Sobek, the crocodile
god, he would protect them from being attacked by crocodiles.[1] The
god Sobek, which was depicted as a crocodile or a man with the head of
a crocodile was a powerful and frightening deity; in some Egyptian

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creation myths, it was Sobek who first came out of the waters of chaos to
create the world.[1] As a creator god, he was occasionally linked with the
sun god Ra.
Most of Sobek's temples were located "in parts of Egypt where crocodiles
were common." Sobek's cult originally flourished around Al Fayyum where
some temples still remain; the area was so associated with Sobek that
one town, Arsinoe, was known to the Greeks as Crocodilopolis or
'Crocodile Town.' Another major cult centre was at Kom Ombo, "close to
the sandbanks of the Nile where crocodiles liked to bask." Some temples
of Sobek kept pools where sacred crocodiles were kept: these crocodiles
were fed the best cuts of meat and became quite tame. When they died,
they were mummified and buried in special animal cemeteries. In other
areas of Egypt, however, crocodiles were dealt with by simply hunting and
killing them.
Gradually, Sobek also came to symbolize the produce of the Nile and the
fertility that it brought to the land; its status thus became more
ambiguous. Sometimes the ferocity of a crocodile was seen in a positive
light, Sobek in these circumstances was considered the army's patron, as
a representation of strength and power.
Sobek's ambiguous nature led some Egyptian to believe that he was a
repairer of evil that had been done, rather than a force for good in itself,
for example, going to Duat to restore damage done to the dead as a
result of their form of death. He was also said to call on suitable gods and
goddesses required for protecting people in situation, effectively having a
more distant role, nudging things along, rather than taking an active part.
In this way, he was seen as a more primal god, eventually becoming
regarded as an avatar of the primal god Amun, who at that time was
considered the chief god. When his identity finally merged, Amun had
become merged himself with Ra to become Amun-Ra, so Sobek, as an
avatar of Amun-Ra, was known as Sobek-Ra.
In Egyptian Art, Sobek was depicted as an ordinary crocodile, or as a man
with the head of a crocodile. When considered a patron of the pharaoh's
army, he was shown with the symbol of royal authority - the uraeus. He
was also shown with an ankh, representing his ability to undo evil and so

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cure ills. Once he had become Sobek-Ra, he was also shown with a
sun-disc over his head, as Ra was a sun god.
In myths that appear extremely late in Egyptian history, Sobek is credited
with catching the four sons of Horus in a net, as they emerged from the
waters of the Nile in a lotus blossom. This motif derives from the birth of
Ra in the Ogdoad cosmogony, and the fact that as a crocodile, Sobek is
the best suited to collecting items upon the Nile.

Tatenen

The Egyptian god Tatenen, sometimes written as Tatjenen, symbolizes the

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emergence of silt from the fertile Nile after the waters of the inundation
recede. The meaning of his name is uncertain but may possibly mean "the
rising earth" or "exalted earth".
He is usually depicted as entirely human (though with the beard of a god)
in appearance, though he may be shown wearing a twisted ram's horn
with two tall plumes (ostrich feathers), sometimes surmounted with sun
disks, on his head. However, his face and limbs are often painted green in
order to represent his connection as a god of vegetation. Furthermore, he
could also be a she. One papyrus in the Berlin Museum calls Tatenen
"fashioner and mother who gave birth to all the gods".
While we are not entirely certain of his origin, he may likely have been an
originally independent deity at Memphis. He also seems to have had some
close associations in Middle Egypt near modern Asyut. However, at
Memphis he seems to have been a deity of the depths of the earth,
presiding over its mineral and vegetable resources, though even as early
as the Old Kingdom he had become entwined with Ptah as "Ptah of the
primeval mound", viewed as a manifestation of that well known deity of
Egypt's capital. Hence, we find him in an important role associated with
the creation of the world as formulated on the 25th Dynasty (Nubian)
Shabaka Stone of Memphite theology.
How he became associated with the Egyptian concept of creation is
unsure, but several theories have been put forward. One theory holds that
he was the counterpart at Memphis of the idea of the "high sand" or
primeval mound (benben) of the Heliopolis theology. Other theories hold
that:
- Tatenen was the arable land that was reclaimed at Memphis from
papyrus swamps through irrigation projects.
- He was a very specific piece of land at Memphis, submerged by the
annual flood that, after it receded, reappeared.
- Tatenen was a personification of Egypt and an aspect of Geb, the earth
god.
Regardless, as a creator god (Ptah Tatenen) he held the title, "father of the
gods" and was thus both the source and ruler of all gods. Ptah as Tatenen
is the one who begat the gods and from whom all things proceeded. Thus,

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we find in the "Hymn to Ptah":
"Hail to thee, thou who art great and old, Ta-tenen, father of the
gods, the great god from the first primordial time who fashioned
mankind and made the gods, who began evolution in primordial
times, first one after whom everything that appeared developed, he
who made the sky as something that his heart has created, who
raised it by the fact that Shu supported it, who founded the earth
through that which he himself had made, who surrounded it with Nun
[and] the sea, who made the nether world [and] gratified the dead,
who causes Re to travel [thither] in order to resuscitate them as lord
of eternity (nhh) and lord of boundlessness (td), lord of life, he who
lets the throat breathe and gives air to every nose, who with his food
keeps all Mankind alive, to whom lifetime, [to be more precise]
limitation of time and evolution are subordinate, through whose
utterance one lives, he who creates the offerings for all the gods in
his guise the great Nun (Nile, in this case), lord of eternity, to whom
boundlessness is subordinate, breath of life for everyone who
conducts the king to his great seat in his name, 'king of the Two
Lands'."
Of course, it must be noted that this hymn is specifically directed to Ptah
as Tatenen. But in this guise he seems to have created everyone. Even
Imhotep, after his deification, was also associated with Tatenen through
Ptah. In a small temple dedicated to this great thinker of ancient Egypt, we
find Imhotep described as "threat one, son of Ptah, the creative god,
made by Tatenen, begotten by him and beloved by him..."

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Though Tatenen is most closely associated with Ptha, we do find
assimilation with other gods, including Osiris, Sokar in their function as
earth deities, and later with Khnum. Also, in the Books of the Netherworld
he is closely associated with Re.
During the New Kingdom he became particularly important, taking on a
protective role towards the royal dead, guarding the kings and their family
in their path through the Underworld. For example, in the tomb of
Amunhirkhopshef in the Valley of the Queens, on the West Bank of Thebes
(modern Luxor), Ramesses III, the father of Amunhirkhopshef is depicted in
a scene where he asks Tatenen to look after his young son. In fact, in the
Book of Gates, Tatenen personifies the entire area of the netherworld,
protecting the deceased in the Beyond. He is able to rejuvenate the sun on
its nocturnal journey. In the Litany of Re, however, another Underworld
book, he is listed as the personification of the phallus of the dead king.

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Taweret

In Egyptian mythology, Taweret (also spelt Taurt, Tuat, Taueret, Tuart,

Ta-weret, Tawaret, and Taueret, and in Greek, "Thoeris" and Toeris). Her
name means One Who is Great. When paired with another deity, she
became the demon-wife of Apep, the original god of evil. Since Apep was
viewed as residing below the horizon, and only present at night, evil during
the day then was envisaged as being a result of Taweret's maleficence.
As the counterpart of Apep, who was always below the horizon, Taweret
was seen as being the northern sky, the constellation roughly covering the
area of present-day Draco, which always lies above the horizon. Thus
Taweret was known as mistress of the horizon, and was depicted as such
on the ceiling of the tomb of Seti I in the Valley of the Kings.
In their art, Taweret was depicted as a composite of all the things the
Egyptians feared, the major part of her being hippopotamus, since this is
what the constellation most resembled, with the arms and legs of a

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lioness, and with the back of a crocodile. On occasion, later, rather than
having a crocodile back, she was seen as having a separate, small
crocodile resting on her back, which was thus interpreted as Sobek, the
crocodile-god, and said to be her consort.
Early during the Old Kingdom, the Egyptians came to see female
hippopotamuses as less aggressive than the males, and began to view
their aggression only as one of protecting their young and being good
mothers, particularly since it is the males that are territorially aggressive.
Consequently, Taweret became seen, very early in Egyptian history, as a
deity of protection in pregnancy and childbirth. Pregnant women wore
amulets with her name or likeness to protect their pregnancies. Her image
could also be found on knives made from hippopotamus ivory, which
would be used as wands in rituals to drive evil spirits away from mothers
and children.

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In most subsequent depictions, Taweret was depicted with features of a
pregnant woman. In a composite addition to the animal-compound she
was also seen with pendulous breasts, a full pregnant abdomen, and long,
straight human hair on her head.
As a protector, she often was shown with one arm resting on the sa
symbol, which symbolized protection, and on occasion she carried an
ankh, the symbol of life, or a knife, which would be used to threaten evil
spirits.
As such a protector, Taweret also was given titles reflecting a more
positive nature, including Opet (also spelt Ipet, Apet, and Ipy), meaning
harem, and Reret (also spelt Rert, Reret, seen as the offspring of Nut).
As the hippopotamus was associated with the Nile, these more positive
ideas of Taweret allowed her to be seen as a goddess of the annual
flooding of the Nile and the bountiful harvest that it brought. Ultimately,
although only a household deity, since she was still considered the
consort of Apep, Taweret was seen as one who protected against evil by
restraining it.
When Set fell from grace in the Egyptian pantheon, as a result of being
favoured by the (xenophobically) hated Hyksos rulers, he gradually took
over the position of Apep, as the god of evil. With this change away from
Apep, Taweret became seen only as the concubine of Set. She was seen
as concubine rather than wife, as Set already was married to the
extremely different goddess, Nephthys, to whom no parallels could be
drawn. It then was said that Taweret had been an evil goddess, but
changed her ways and held Set back on a chain.
As the goddess of motherhood, Taweret was eventually assimilated into
the identity of Mut, the great-mother goddess.
In Egyptian astronomy, Taweret was linked to the northern sky. In this role
she was known as Nebetakhet, the Mistress of the Horizon - the ceiling
painting of the constellations in the tomb of Seti I showed her in this
capacity. She was thought to keep the northern sky - a place of darkness,
cold, mist, and rain to the Egyptians - free of evil. She was shown to
represent the never-setting circumpolar stars of Ursa Minor and Draco.
The seven stars lined down her back are the stars of the Little Dipper. She

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was believed to be a guardian of the north, stopping all who were
unworthy before they could pass her by.
In all of the ancient Egyptian astronomical diagrams there is one figure
which is always larger than all the rest, and most frequently found at the
center of what appears to be a horizontal parade of figures. This figure is
Taweret "The Great One", a goddess depicted as a pregnant
hippopotamus standing upright. It is no mystery that this figure represents
a northern constellation associated, at least in part, with our modern
constellation of Draco the dragon.
In the Book of the Dead Taweret, the 'Lady of Magical Protection', was
seen as a goddess who guided the dead into the afterlife. As with her
double nature of protector and guardian, she was also a guard to the
mountains of the west where the deceased entered the land of the dead.
Many of the deities relating to birth also appear in the underworld to help
with the rebirth of the souls into their life after death.
She was thought to be the wife of a few gods, mostly because of her
physical characteristics. She was linked to the god Sobek, because of his
crocodile form. Occasionally Taweret was depicted with a crocodile on her
back, and this was seen as Taweret with her consort Sobek. Bes, because
the Egyptians thought they worked together when birthing of a child, was
thought to be her husband in earlier times.
At Thebes, she was also thought to be the mother of Osiris, and so linked
to the sky goddess Nut. Another part of this theology was that it was
Amen, who became the supreme god rather than Ra, who was the father
of Osiris. It was believed that Amen came to Taweret (called Ipet at this
particular time) and joined with her to ensure the renewal of the cycle of
life. Ipet herself had become linked with the original wife of Amen,
Amaunet (invisibility). It was at Karnak that she was believed to have given
birth to Osiris. In later times, Ipet was assimilated by Mut who took her
place as the wife of Amen and mother goddess.
Plutarch described Taweret as a concubine of Set who had changed her
ways to become a follower of Horus. In this form, she was linked to the
goddess Isis. It was thought that the goddess kept Set's powers of evil
fettered by a chain. This is probably because she was a hippo goddess

317
while Set was sometimes seen as a male hippo. The male hippopotamus
was seen by the Egyptians as a very destructive creature, yet the female
hippopotamus came to symbolise protection. This is probably why Set
was, in later times, regarded as evil while Taweret was thought to be a
helpful goddess, deity of motherhood and protector of women and
children.

TEFNUT

Tefnut (Tefenet, Tefnet) was the lunar goddess of moisture, humidity and water who was also a
solar goddess connected with the sun and dryness (more specifically, the absence of moisture).
She was the daughter of the creator god, mother of the twin sky and the earth deities and the 'Eye

318
of Ra' as well as a creative force as the 'Tongue of Ptah'. Her name itself is related to water - tf is
the root of the words for 'spit' and 'moist'. Her name translates to something like 'She of
Moisture'.
Tefnut was generally shown as a woman with a lion's head, or as a full lioness. She was
occasionally shown as a woman, but this is rare. She was shown with the solar disk and uraeus,
linking her with the sun. She was often shown holding a sceptre and the ankh sign of life.
Related to moisture, she was also linked to the moon, as were other deities of moisture and
wetness. She was originally thought to be the Lunar Eye of Ra and thus linked to the night sky as
well as to dew, rain and mist.
As with other water deities, she took on some form of a goddess of creation. As the 'Tongue of
Ptah', she was one of the gods in Mennefer (Hikuptah, Memphis) who helped Ptah - that city's
main god - with creation by carrying out his will. Yet in the cities of Iunu (On, Heliopolis) and
Waset (Thebes) she was more of a female form of her husband-brother Shu, whose main task was
to start the sexual, creative cycle and give birth to Shu's children.
Atem is he who masturbated in Iunu. He took his phallus in his grasp that he might create
orgasm by means of it, and so were born the twins Shu and Tefnut.
- Pyramid Text 1248-49
Tefnut and Shu - god of dry air - were the children of Atem (a form of the sun god Ra), who in
turn created the twins Nut and Geb. Originally, though, rather than being paired with Shu, she
had been paired with a god called Tefen. Other than his name, little is known about this Tefen. It
seems, though, that he and Tefnut were linked together in connection with the goddess Ma'at:
"Tefen and Tefnut have weighed Unas and Ma'at has listened, and Shu has born witness."
- Pyramid Text of Unas
During the Middle Kingdom Tefnut became connected to Ma'at, and as such this goddess is
sometimes seen assisting Shu in his task of holding Nut above Geb. More often he is alone in the
task.
"O Amen-Ra, the gods have gone forth from thee. What flowed forth from thee became Shu, and
that which was emitted by thee became Tefnut ... thou was the lion god of the twin lion gods (Shu
and Tefnut)."
- The Gods of the Egyptians, E. A. Wallis Budge
One story says that Shu and Tefnut went to explore the waters of Nun. After some time, Ra
believed that they were lost, and sent the his Eye out into the chaos to find them. When his
children were returned to him, Ra wept, and his tears were believed to have turned into the first
humans.
Not only was the sun god her father, but she also took on the aspect of the sun - no longer the
moon - as the 'Eye of Ra', the 'Lady of the Flame' and the 'Uraeus on the Head of all the Gods':

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Tefnut was thought to have been the upset goddess who fled into Nubia, taking all of her water
and moisture with her. Egypt soon dried, and the land was in chaos while in Nubia, Tefnut
turned herself into a lioness and went on a killing spree in her anger at her father, from whom she
had fled. Eventually Ra decided that he missed her, and wanted her back. Ra sent Thoth and Shu
to get her, and they found her in Begum. Thoth began at once to try and persuade her to return to
Egypt. In the end Tefnut (with Shu and Thoth leading her) made a triumphant entry back into
Egypt, accompanied by a host of Nubian musicians, dancers and baboons. She went from city to
city, bringing back moisture and water (the inundation), amid great rejoicing, until finally she
was reunited with her father, and restored to her rightful position as his Eye.
This story also explains how the goddess of moisture could also be the goddess of dryness, heat
and the negative aspects of the sun. The people believed that without her water, Egypt could dry
and burn in the sun. So she took on the form of a lion - as did the other goddesses with the 'Eye of
Ra' title - and was also strongly linked to the sun.
As the 'Eye of Ra' she was also linked to Bast, Sekhmet, Hathor, Isis, Wadjet and Nekhbet. This
story is very similar to another tale of the 'Eye of Ra', where Sekhmet slaughters mankind before
getting drunk, returning to heaven and turning into the sweet goddess Hathor.
At Iunet (Dendera) there was a portion of the city named after her - "The House of Tefnut" . She
was worshiped in connection with the Ennead at Iunu, and in her lion form at Nay-ta-hut
(Leontopolis).
Despite Akenaten's distaste for the gods of Egypt, he and Nefertiti used Tefnut and Shu for
political purposes. They depicted themselves as the twin gods in an apparent attempt to elevate
their status to that of being a living god and goddess, the son and daughter of the creator, on
earth. Akenaten was not a monotheist - despite raising the Aten above all other gods, and
attempting to quash the worship of some other deities, Akenaten did not drop all links with other
deities. Ra, Shu, Tefnut, Thoth, Ptah and Hathor were still prominent gods in Akenaten's religion.
Tefnut was both the Left (moon) and the Right (sun) Eyes of Ra, representing both heavenly
sources of light that the ancient Egyptians saw, and thus she was a goddess of both the sun and
dryness, and the moon and moisture. She was one of the original deities - one of the Ennead - in
the various versions of creation, and she was the first mother, according to these stories. Even
though she was not as popular as her daughter Nut, or her granddaughters Nephthys or Isis, the
Egyptians knew that without her, Egypt would descend into chaos. It is no wonder that they
equated her with the goddess Ma'at.

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TEFNUT

Tefnut (Tefenet, Tefnet) was the lunar goddess of moisture, humidity and
water who was also a solar goddess connected with the sun and dryness
(more specifically, the absence of moisture). She was the daughter of the
creator god, mother of the twin sky and the earth deities and the 'Eye of
Ra' as well as a creative force as the 'Tongue of Ptah'. Her name itself is
related to water - tf is the root of the words for 'spit' and 'moist'. Her
name translates to something like 'She of Moisture'.
Tefnut was generally shown as a woman with a lion's head, or as a full
lioness. She was occasionally shown as a woman, but this is rare. She
was shown with the solar disk and uraeus, linking her with the sun. She
was often shown holding a sceptre and the ankh sign of life.
Related to moisture, she was also linked to the moon, as were other
deities of moisture and wetness. She was originally thought to be the
Lunar Eye of Ra and thus linked to the night sky as well as to dew, rain

321
and mist.
As with other water deities, she took on some form of a goddess of
creation. As the 'Tongue of Ptah', she was one of the gods in Mennefer
(Hikuptah, Memphis) who helped Ptah - that city's main god - with creation
by carrying out his will. Yet in the cities of Iunu (On, Heliopolis) and Waset
(Thebes) she was more of a female form of her husband-brother Shu,
whose main task was to start the sexual, creative cycle and give birth to
Shu's children.
Atem is he who masturbated in Iunu. He took his phallus in his grasp that
he might create orgasm by means of it, and so were born the twins Shu
and Tefnut.
- Pyramid Text 1248-49
Tefnut and Shu - god of dry air - were the children of Atem (a form of the
sun god Ra), who in turn created the twins Nut and Geb. Originally, though,
rather than being paired with Shu, she had been paired with a god called
Tefen. Other than his name, little is known about this Tefen. It seems,
though, that he and Tefnut were linked together in connection with the
goddess Ma'at:
"Tefen and Tefnut have weighed Unas and Ma'at has listened, and Shu has
born witness."
- Pyramid Text of Unas
During the Middle Kingdom Tefnut became connected to Ma'at, and as
such this goddess is sometimes seen assisting Shu in his task of holding
Nut above Geb. More often he is alone in the task.
"O Amen-Ra, the gods have gone forth from thee. What flowed forth from
thee became Shu, and that which was emitted by thee became Tefnut ...
thou was the lion god of the twin lion gods (Shu and Tefnut)."
- The Gods of the Egyptians, E. A. Wallis Budge
One story says that Shu and Tefnut went to explore the waters of Nun.
After some time, Ra believed that they were lost, and sent the his Eye out
into the chaos to find them. When his children were returned to him, Ra
wept, and his tears were believed to have turned into the first humans.
Not only was the sun god her father, but she also took on the aspect of
the sun - no longer the moon - as the 'Eye of Ra', the 'Lady of the Flame'

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and the 'Uraeus on the Head of all the Gods':

Tefnut was thought to have been the upset goddess who fled into Nubia,
taking all of her water and moisture with her. Egypt soon dried, and the
land was in chaos while in Nubia, Tefnut turned herself into a lioness and
went on a killing spree in her anger at her father, from whom she had fled.
Eventually Ra decided that he missed her, and wanted her back. Ra sent
Thoth and Shu to get her, and they found her in Begum. Thoth began at
once to try and persuade her to return to Egypt. In the end Tefnut (with
Shu and Thoth leading her) made a triumphant entry back into Egypt,
accompanied by a host of Nubian musicians, dancers and baboons. She
went from city to city, bringing back moisture and water (the inundation),
amid great rejoicing, until finally she was reunited with her father, and
restored to her rightful position as his Eye.
This story also explains how the goddess of moisture could also be the
goddess of dryness, heat and the negative aspects of the sun. The people
believed that without her water, Egypt could dry and burn in the sun. So
she took on the form of a lion - as did the other goddesses with the 'Eye
of Ra' title - and was also strongly linked to the sun.
As the 'Eye of Ra' she was also linked to Bast, Sekhmet, Hathor, Isis,
Wadjet and Nekhbet. This story is very similar to another tale of the 'Eye
of Ra', where Sekhmet slaughters mankind before getting drunk, returning
to heaven and turning into the sweet goddess Hathor.
At Iunet (Dendera) there was a portion of the city named after her - "The
House of Tefnut" . She was worshiped in connection with the Ennead at
Iunu, and in her lion form at Nay-ta-hut (Leontopolis).
Despite Akenaten's distaste for the gods of Egypt, he and Nefertiti used
Tefnut and Shu for political purposes. They depicted themselves as the

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twin gods in an apparent attempt to elevate their status to that of being a
living god and goddess, the son and daughter of the creator, on earth.
Akenaten was not a monotheist - despite raising the Aten above all other
gods, and attempting to quash the worship of some other deities,
Akenaten did not drop all links with other deities. Ra, Shu, Tefnut, Thoth,
Ptah and Hathor were still prominent gods in Akenaten's religion.
Tefnut was both the Left (moon) and the Right (sun) Eyes of Ra,
representing both heavenly sources of light that the ancient Egyptians
saw, and thus she was a goddess of both the sun and dryness, and the
moon and moisture. She was one of the original deities - one of the
Ennead - in the various versions of creation, and she was the first mother,
according to these stories. Even though she was not as popular as her
daughter Nut, or her granddaughters Nephthys or Isis, the Egyptians knew
that without her, Egypt would descend into chaos. It is no wonder that
they equated her with the goddess Ma'at.

Thoth

God of the Moon, Magic and Writing

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The Key of Life

Thoth's other names include Djehuty, Jehuti, Tahuti, Tehuti, Zehuti, Techu,
or Tetu, Lord of the Khemenu. One of Thoth's titles, "Three times great,
great" was translated to the Greek (Trismegistos) making Hermes
Trismegistus.
Thoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian
pantheon, often depicted with the head of an Ibis. His feminine counterpart
was Seshat. His chief shrine was at Khemennu, where he led the local
pantheon, later renamed Hermopolis by the Greeks (in reference to him

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through the Greeks' interpretation that he was the same as Hermes) and
Eshmunen in Coptic. He also had shrines in Abydos, Hesert, Urit, Per-Ab,
Rekhui, Ta-ur, Sep, Hat, Pselket, Talmsis, Antcha-Mutet, Bah,
Amen-heri-ab, and Ta-kens.

Thoth and Seti at Abydos

Thoth and the Eye of

Ra

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He was considered the heart and tongue of Ra as well as the means by
which Ra's will was translated into speech. He has also been likened to the
Logos of Plato and the mind of God (The All).
Thoth, like many Egyptian gods and nobility, held many titles. Among
these were "Scribe of Ma'at in the Company of the Gods," "Lord of Ma'at,"
"Lord of Divine Words," "Judge of the Two Combatant Gods," "Judge of the
Rekhekhui, the pacifier of the Gods, who Dwelleth in Unnu, the Great God
in the Temple of Abtiti," "Twice Great," "Thrice Great,"" and "Three Times
Great, Great."
Thoth has been involved in arbitration, magic, writing, science and the
judging of the dead.
In the Egyptian mythology, he has played many vital and prominent roles,
including being one of the two deities (the other being Ma'at) who stood on
either side of Ra's boat. In the underworld, Duat, he appeared as an ape,
A'an, the god of equilibrium, who reported when the scales weighing the
deceased's heart against the feather, representing the principle of Ma'at,
was exactly even.

Depictions of Thoth
In art, Thoth has been depicted in many ways depending on the era and on
the aspect the artist wished to convey. Thoth was usually depicted with
the head of an ibis, deriving from his name, and the curve of the ibis'
beak, which resembles the crescent moon. Sometimes, he was depicted
as a baboon holding up a crescent moon, as the baboon was seen as a

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nocturnal, and intelligent, creature. The association with baboons led to
him occasionally being said to have as a consort Astennu, one of the
(male) baboons at the place of judgment in the underworld, and on other
occasions, Astennu was said to be Thoth himself.

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He also appears as a dog faced baboon or a man with the head of a
baboon when he is A'an, the god of equilibrium. In the form of A'ah-Djehuty
he took a more human-looking form. These forms are all symbolic and are
metaphors for Thoth's attributes. The Egyptians did not believe these
gods actually looked like humans with animal heads . For example, Ma'at
is often depicted with an ostrich feather, "the feather of truth," on her head
, or with a feather for a head.

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Thoth on his throne

Cairo Museum: Thoth, Sobek and Wadjet ... remind one of penguins.

Letter X = Above and

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Below

Thoth and Seshat

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The Tree of Life

Thoth was thought to be scribe to the gods, who kept a great library of

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scrolls, over which one of his wives, Seshat (the goddess of writing) was
thought to be mistress. He was associated by the Egyptians with speech,
literature, arts, learning. He, too, was a measurer and recorder of time, as
was Seshat. Many ancient Egyptians believed that Seshat invented writing,
while Thoth taught writing to mankind. She was known as 'Mistress of the
House of Books', indicating that she also took care of Thoth's library of
spells and scrolls.
Seshat is the Goddess of Libraries

all forms Writing

and the Measurement of Time.

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Thoth The Scribe

Thoth became credited by the ancient Egyptians as the inventor of writing,

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and alphabets (ie. hieroglyphs) themselves. He was also considered to
have been the scribe of the underworld, and the moon became
occasionally considered a separate entity, now that Thoth had less
association with it, and more with wisdom. For this reason Thoth was
universally worshipped by ancient Egyptian Scribes.
[Thoth the Scribe, wrote the story of our reality then placed it into grids for
us to experience and learn through the alchemy of time and
consciousness.]
Thoth became credited as the inventor of the 365-day (rather than
360-day) calendar, it being said that he had won the extra 5 days by
gambling with the moon, then known as Iabet, in a game of dice, for
1/72nd of its light (5 = 360/72). When the Ennead and Ogdoad systems
started to merge, one result was that, for a time, Horus was considered a
sibling of Isis, Osiris, Set, and Nephthys, and so it was said that
Hathor/Nuit had been cursed against having children during the (360) day
year, but was able to have these five over the 5 extra days won by Thoth.

Attributes

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Thoth was a master magician
The Egyptians credited him as the author of all works of science, religion,
philosophy, and magic. The Greeks further declared him the inventor of
astronomy, astrology, the science of numbers, mathematics, geometry,
land surveying, medicine, botany, theology, civilized government, the
alphabet, reading, writing, and oratory. They further claimed he was the
true author of every work of every branch of knowledge, human and
divine.
Egyptologists disagree on Thoth's nature depending upon their view of the
Egyptian pantheon. Most Egyptologists today side with Sir Flinders Petrie
that Egyptian religion was strictly polytheistic, in which Thoth would be a
separate god.
His contemporary adversary, E. A. Wallis Budge, however, thought
Egyptian religion to be primarily monotheistic where all the gods and
goddesses were aspects of the God Ra, similar to the Trinity in
Christianity and devas in Hinduism. In this view, Thoth would be the aspect
of Ra which the Egyptian mind would relate to the heart and tongue.

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His roles in Egyptian mythology were many. Thoth served as a mediating
power, especially between good and evil, making sure neither had a
decisive victory over the other.
The ancient Egyptians regarded Thoth as One, self-begotten, and
self-produced. He was the master of both physical and moral (ie. Divine)
law, making proper use of Ma'at. He is credited with making the
calculations for the establishment of the heavens, stars, Earth, and
everything in them. Compare this to how his feminine counterpart, Ma'at
was the force which maintained the Universe. He is said to direct the
motions of the heavenly bodies. Without his words, the Egyptians believed,
the gods would not exist. His power was almost unlimited in the
Underworld and rivaled that of Ra and Osiris.

Mythology
Thoth has played a prominent role in many of the Egyptian myths.
Displaying his role as arbitrator, he had overseen the three epic battles
between good and evil. All three battles are fundamentally the same and
belong to different periods. The first battle took place between Ra and
Apep, the second between Heru-Bekhutet and Set, and the third between
Horus, the son of Osiris, and Set. In each instance, the former god
represented order while the latter represented chaos. If one god was
seriously injured, Thoth would heal them to prevent either from overtaking
the other.
Thoth was also prominent in the Osiris myth, being of great aid to Isis.
After Isis gathered together the pieces of Osiris' dismembered body, he
gave her the words to resurrect him so she could be impregnated and
bring forth Horus. When Horus was slain, Thoth gave the formulae to
resurrect him as well. Similar to God speaking the words to create the
heavens and Earth in Judeo-Christian mythology, Thoth, being the god who
always speaks the words that fulfill the wishes of Ra, spoke the words that
created the heavens and Earth in Egyptian mythology.

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This mythology also credits him with the creation of the 365 day calendar.
Originally, according to the myth, the year was only 360 days long and
Nut was sterile during these days, unable to bear children. Thoth gambled
with Khonsu, the moon, for 1/72nd of its light (360/72 = 5), or 5 days,
and won. During these 5 days, Nut gave birth to Kheru-ur (Horus the Elder,
Face of Heaven), Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nepthys.
In the Ogdoad cosmogony, Thoth gave birth to Ra, Atum, Nefertum, and
Khepri by laying an egg while in the form of an ibis, or later as a goose
laying a golden egg.
Thoth in the Book of the Dead

Thoth also went by the name of Tehuti,

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the ruler of Atlantis

History

341
was originally the deification of the moon in the Ogdoad belief system.
Initially, in that system, the moon had been seen to be the eye of Horus,
the sky god, which had been semi-blinded (thus darker) in a fight against
Set, the other eye being the sun. However, over time it began to be
considered separately, becoming a lunar deity in its own right, and was
said to have been another son of Ra. As the crescent moon strongly
resembles the curved beak of the ibis, this separate deity was named
Djehuty (i.e. Thoth), meaning ibis.
Thoth became associated with the Moon, due to the Ancient Egyptians
observation that Baboons (sacred to Thoth) 'sang' to the moon at night.
The Moon not only provides light at night, allowing the time to still be
measured without the sun, but its phases and prominence gave it a
significant importance in early astrology/astronomy. The cycles of the

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moon also organized much of Egyptian society's civil, and religious,
rituals, and events. Consequently, Thoth gradually became seen as a god
of wisdom, magic, and the measurement, and regulation, of events, and
of time. He was thus said to be the secretary and counselor of Ra, and
with Ma'at (truth/order) stood next to Ra on the nightly voyage across the
sky, Ra being a sun god.
Thoth became credited by the ancient Egyptians as the inventor of writing,
and was also considered to have been the scribe of the underworld, and
the moon became occasionally considered a separate entity, now that
Thoth had less association with it, and more with wisdom. For this reason
Thoth was universally worshipped by ancient Egyptian Scribes. Many
scribes had a painting or a picture of Thoth in their "office". Likewise, one
of the symbols for scribes was that of the ibis.
During the late period of Egyptian history a cult of Thoth gained
prominence, due to its main centre, Khnum (Hermopolis Magna), also
becoming the capital, and millions of dead ibis were mummified and
buried in his honor. The rise of his cult also led to his cult seeking to
adjust mythology to give Thoth a greater role.
Thoth was inserted in many tales as the wise counsel and persuader, and
his association with learning, and measurement, led him to be connected
with Seshat, the earlier deification of wisdom, who was said to be his
daughter, or variably his wife. Thoth's qualities also led to him being
identified by the Greeks with their closest matching god Hermes, with
whom Thoth was eventually combined, as Hermes Trismegistus, also
leading to the Greeks naming Thoth's cult centre as Hermopolis, meaning
city of Hermes.
It is also viewed that Thoth was the God of Scribe and not a messenger.
Anubis was viewed as the messenger of the gods, as he travelled in and
out of the Underworld, to the presence of the gods, and to humans, as
well. Some call this fusion Hermanubis. It is in more favor that Thoth was a
record keeper, and not the messenger. In the Papyrus of Ani copy of the
Egyptian Book of the Dead the scribe proclaims "I am thy writing palette,
O Thoth, and I have brought unto thee thine ink-jar. I am not of those who
work iniquity in their secret places; let not evil happen unto me." Chapter

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XXXb (Budge) of the Book of the Dead is by the oldest tradition said to be
the work of Thoth himself.
There is also an Egyptian pharaoh of the Sixteenth dynasty of Egypt
named Djehuty (Thoth) after him, and who reigned for three years.

Center of Worship
During the late period of Egyptian history a cult of Thoth gained
prominence, due to its main centre, Khnum (Hermopolis Magna), in Upper
Egypt also becoming the capital, and millions of dead ibis were
mummified and buried in his honor. The rise of his cult also lead to his cult
seeking to adjust mythology to give Thoth a greater role, including varying
the Ogdoad cosmogony myth so that it is Thoth who gives birth to
Ra/Atum/Nefertum/Khepri, as a result of laying, as an ibis, an egg
containing him. Later it was said that this was done in the form of a goose
- literally as a goose laying a golden egg. The sound of his song was
thought to have created four frog gods and snake goddesses of the
Ogdoad who continued Thoth's song, helping the sun journey across the
sky.

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Thoth was the 'One who Made Calculations Concerning the Heavens, the
Stars and the Earth', the 'Reckoner of Times and of Seasons', the one who
'Measured out the Heavens and Planned the Earth'. He was 'He who
Balances', the 'God of the Equilibrium' and 'Master of the Balance'. 'The
Lord of the Divine Body', 'Scribe of the Company of the Gods', the 'Voice
of Ra', the 'Author of Every Work on Every Branch of Knowledge, Both
Human and Divine', he who understood 'all that is hidden under the
heavenly vault'. Thoth was not just a scribe and friend to the gods, but
central to order - ma'at - both in Egypt and in the Duat. He was 'He who
Reckons the Heavens, the Counter of the Stars and the Measurer of the
Earth'.

42 Books of Thoth

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Thoth as Hermes in ancient Greece complied the Hermetic Text referred
to him as Kore Kosmu. What he knew, he carved on stone [mataphor of
physical plane] then hid most of the information. The sacred symbols of
the cosmic elements he hid away using the secrets of Osiris, keeping and
maintaining silence, that younger ages of the cosmic time clock might
seek them out. Thoth was said to have succeeded in understanding the
mysteries of the heavens and to have revealed them by inscribing them in
sacred books which he then hid here on Earth, intending that they should
be searched for by future generations but found by those of the bloodline.
Some of these sacred books are referred to as the 42 Books of
Instructions or the 42 Books of Thoth which describe the instructions for
achieving immortality plus 2 more books kept separately. The dating of
the books is somewhere between the third century BC and the first
century AD. Their influence has been tremendous on the development of
Western occultism and magic. Neo-pagan witchcraft contains many rituals
and much esoteric symbolism based upon Hermetic writings.
According to one legend Hermes Trismegistus, who was a grandson of
Adam and a builder of the Egyptian pyramids, authored the books. But,
more probably the books were written by several succeeding persons.
According to legend, the books were initially written on papyrus.
A chronicler of pagan lore, Clement of Alexandria, stated thirty-six [36] of

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the Hermetic books contained the entire Egyptian philosophy; four [4]
books on astrology; ten [10] books called the Hieratic on law, ten [10]
books on sacred rites and observances, two [2] on music, and the rest on
writing, cosmography, geography, mathematics and measures and
training of priests. Six [6] remaining books concerned medicine and the
body discussing diseases, instruments, the eyes and women. Most of the
Hermetic books - along with others - were lost during the burning of the
royal libraries in Alexandria. The surviving books were secretly buried in
the desert where they are presently located. A few initiates of the mystery
schools, ancient secret cults, allegedly know their location. What remains
of the surviving Hermetic lore has been passed down through generation
and published in many languages.
Most important of all are three works.
• The most important and oldest is The Divine Pynander. It consists on
17 fragments all in one work. Within these fragments are many of
the Hermetic concepts, including the was divine wisdom and the
secrets of the universe were revealed to Hermes and the way in
which Hermes established his ministry to spread this wisdom
throughout the world. The Divine Pynander apparently was revised
during the first centuries AD but lost none of its meaning due to
incorrect translations.
• Poimmandres or The Vision is the second book of The Divine
Pynander and perhaps the most famous. It relates Hermes' mystical
vision, cosmogony, and the secret sciences of the Egyptians as to
culture and the spiritual development of the soul.
• The third work - Hermes Trismegistus is the wisdom of the
Hermetica - the Emerald Tablets of Thoth. It's all about alchemy,
time and consciousness.

Thoth, Time, Thought, Geometry and Reality

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Reality is myth, math, and metaphor. It is a consciousness computer
experiment in time and illusion created by thought consciousness. The
name Thoth means 'Thought' and 'Time'. Thoth was the master architect
who created the blueprint of our reality based on the patterns of sacred
geometry or 12 around 1.
It is here, in the duality - duat - underworld - chaos - void - place of creation
'outside the box' of our experience - reflected in gods and goddesses, the
landscapes of Egypt including the pyramids and temples - that we
experience until we evolve in the alchemy of time and consciousness.
Thoth's Chamber

Fibonacci

Sequence

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Thoth created a grid program of experience - electromagnetic in nature to
allow for the bipolar aspects of linear time and illusion. Thoth constructed
a pyramidal shaped vehicle which personifies the nature of reality. He
placed half above - "As is Above" in the nonphysical and half below "As is
Below" thus creating the sands of time - the hourglass - the X Box - at the
center of the planet where it all began and will all evolve at Zero Point a
time or place where all comes into balance.

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Thoth was the 'god of the equilibrium' and considered depictions of him as
the 'Master of the Balance' to indicate that he was associated with the
precession of the equinoxes - a time when the day and the night were
balanced.

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Thoth and the Pyramids

In one role or another

Thoth played a crucial part in the design

orientation and mythology

351
of many famous ziggurats

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pyramids and temples.

Thoth and Hidden Knowledge

It is written in several ancient texts that Thoth wrote a

major work of scriptural importance that would one day be found.

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Thoth allegedly wrote books in which he set forth

fabulous knowledge of magic and incantation then concealed them in a

tomb.

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Thoth in Other Famous God Roles

Sumer: Enki among other creational forces depicted in myths about reality
as a biogenetic experiment with extraterrestrial connotations

Mesoamerica: Quetzalcoatl
Inca Viracocha
Rome: Mercury The Messenger
Greece: Hermes Weights and Measures, Travel
Celtic: Merlin the Magician and Storyteller
Atlantis Chiquitet, Tehuti,Zep Tepi
Persia Zarathustra or Zoroaster - Z
The list of roles this soul played is endless from all mythological gods,
religious figures, famous people in science and history, creational forces
including alien gods, etc.
According to a very old Masonic tradition, the Egyptian god Thoth played a
major part in preserving knowledge of the mason craft and transmitting it
to mankind after the flood. Our reality is a Masonic Program - Mother
Sound - Creation by Harmonics - Symbolized by the Pyramid and the Eye -
the Dollar Bill and the collapse of the economy at the end of time.

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1 Look into notes on this.
Andrew Rutledge Feb 22, 2011 10:00 PM

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