Egyptian gods -Ennead based
1. Am[e]mit: "devourer, soul-eater"; demon who eats the unworthy souls following judgment in
Osiris' hall; creates restless souls/ ghosts; lion chest & front legs; hippo back & rear legs, crocodile
head
2. Anput: Anubis' wife; woman with jackal head
3. Anubis: jackal god of mummification, burial, afterlife; in some myth, he rules Duat, not Osiris;
black [death] jackal [animal or head]; weighed souls; associated with Hermes, Sirius, Cerberus;
son of Set & Nephthys [some as son of Osiris -Nephthys disguised herself as Isis or got Osiris
drunk to sleep with her]
4. Apep/ Apophis: evil giant snake or dragon demon; dark & chaos -his role later absorbed by Set;
16yds long ["world-encircler"], golden, flint head; lives in Duat, just below horizon, to hide from
Ra for ambush; tries to swallow Ra-sun; when winning vs. Ra, thunderstorm, earthquakes, solar
eclipse occur, but gods cut him open to rescue Ra; hunted by Bast [cat-form]; worshipped against
by creating mini-model snakes to abuse; Taweret's consort
5. Atum: sun god -original creator god in Ennead mythology, later the dusk aspect of Ra; associated
with kingship [as all sun gads were]; depicted as man wearing royal [blue/ stripe] headcloth or UL
crown
6. Babi: baboon god; baboons were considered deceased ancestors because of their human-like
qualities; because they were aggressive omnivores, they were thought bloodthirsty- Babi was
often depicted eating entrails; because of baboons' sexual behavior and association with the dead,
they were thought to represent dead/ afterlife virility
7. Bast[et]: daughter & Eye of Ra; cat goddess [head or animal]; protection against evil spirits -cats
eat rodents, who eat /despoil grain & cause disease; associated with perfumes or ointments &
with mothers based on how queen cats treat kittens; Greeks associated her with Artemis;
sometime Anubis' wife
8. Bes: drove off evil spirits, left only good things; represented the good things in life like dance,
music & sexual pleasure; depicted in military tunic, front facing [as opposed to most gods in
profile] and with erection; associated with healing & fertility; Christianized as Italian St. Bessus
due to exported popularity -fertility matters; Ibiza, Spain is named for him
9. Geb: god of earth, husband of Nut, father of Isis, Osiris, Set, & Nephthys; associated with
earthquakes [his laugh], crops, & snakes; depicted as man reclining on back, facing Nut, often with
Shu standing on him to hold up Nut- Greeks associated with Cronus
10. Hathor: goddess of joy, feminine love, motherhood; music, dance, fertility; cow goddess [animal or
horns with sun disc between]; especially worshipped by women, had male & FEMALE priests;
associated with miners, sky [sky-cow confused with Nut]; worship spread even to Canaan -temple
destroyed by Joshua; Greeks associated her with Aphrodite & Io; sometimes consort of Horus;
daughter & "Eye" of Ra
11. Horus: son of Osiris & Isis; falcon [head or animal, peregrine] with UL crown; associated with
Pharaoh in life; sun, war, hunting, protection, royal god-power; strong eye =sun, weak eye=moon;
boat race during war with Set- Set's of stone, it sank, Horus' of wood painted like stone, Horus
wins; consort of Hathor sometimes; war vs Set associated with Nile vs desert & lower/north Egypt
vs upper/south Egypt
12. Isis: Osiris' sister-wife, Nut & Geb's daughter, Horus' mother; motherhood, magic, rebirth, nature;
throne on head, sometime winged; sycamore tree
13. Kebechet: Anubis' daughter- goddess of freshness & purification, embalming fluid; depicted as
snake [animal or head] or ostrich
14. Khonsu* : the moon, Thoth gambled with him to get light for Nut's birthing; later absorbed into
Thoth & Horus' weak eye
15. Ma'at: goddess/ representation of order, truth, justice, balance; feather on head/ alone, arm-wings
[female royal headdresses are -wing shaped to honor her]; souls weighed vs. her feather in Duat;
wife of Thoth
16. Nefertum: aspect of Ra, a young man whose tears created mankind [see Ogdoad notes]; also
depicted as child of Ptah
17. Neith: goddess of war, hunting, later weaving; consort of Nu, Set, mother of Sobek; depicted with
goad, arrows & shield on head or with weaving shuttle on head & arrows in hand; made weapons,
guarded bodies of dead warriors, wove mummy bandages; protectress of women/ marriage;
Greeks associated with Athena
18. Nephthys; sister-wife of Set, mother of Anubis; depicted with house & basket on head, either with
falcon wings or as kite-falcon; patroness of enclosures, especially temples & homes; nurse to
Horus, protectress of mummies, childbirth, dangers associated with dark
19. Nu[n]; chaos waters; mound rose from these to produce Ra; Neith's consort
20. Nut: sky goddess; depicted as blue, star-covered nude woman arched over Geb [her husband],
supported by Shu, on fingers & toes, sometimes as cow, sometimes as woman with pot on her
head [representing womb?]; ladders symbol; protectress of children/ birth; mother of Isis, Osiris,
Set, & Nephthys;
21. Osiris: god of underworld -see story; mummified, UL crown; black/green skin
22. Ptah: god of craftsmen, architects, later of fire & earthquakes; consort of Sekhmet, father of
Nefertum & Imhotep [famed human priest-architect]; depicted with green skin, often as deformed
dwarf, wearing skullcap & shroud, crown with feathers surrounding solar disc; represented by 2
birds with human heads; role of architects/ priests & royalty
23. Ra: sun god -main version [dawn is Khepri, dusk is Atum]; falcon head
24. Sekhmet: warrior & healing goddess, lioness head, red dress; daughter & "Eye" of Ra; bloodthirsty;
wife of Ptah
25. Seshat: goddess of wisdom, writing, architecture, scribes, mathematics [applied math especially],
history; priests were often in charge of libraries or architects; wife of Thoth; depicted with 7-point
emblem [palm leaf?] over head, survey string on belt, palm branch for record keeping, cheetah or
leopard skin attire
26. Set: desert, storms, foreigners, later- darkness, evil, chaos; foreigners worshipped Set, therefore
Set was associated with oppressive overlords of Egypt; possible linguistic connection to Arabic
Shetan -Satan; "Set animal" -curved snout, rectangular ears, forked tail, canine/ human body or
donkey headed; consort of Nephthys, father of Anubis, son of Geb & Nut; Greek associattion with
Typhon -monster
27. Shu: god of air, consort/ brother of Tefnut; created from Ra's spilled semen or breath; calming,
cooling influence' depicted as man with 1-4 ostrich feathers on head
28. Sobek: crocodile god; protection from/ for crocs, associated with Nile; patron of army due to crocs'
strength & fierceness; son of Set & Neith; his temples have sacred pool for crocodiles to live
29. Taweret: goddess of childbirth/ fertility, Nile associations; bipedal hippo with lion limbs &
crocodile on her back, depicted pregnant with sagging/ nursing breasts, with sa [ribbon loop
shape -signifies protection] & dagger to drive away evil; females hippos attack to protect young,
not territory like males; consort of Apep [sometimes Set]
30. Tefnut: goddess of moisture, wife of Shu, mother of Geb & Nut; created from Ra's spilled semen or
spit; woman with lioness head & pointed ears
31. Thoth: ibis or baboon head, lunar disc or crescent moon; consort of Ma'at or Seshat; Greek
association with Hermes; god of writing, wisdom, time/ seasons, magic, judge of disputes/
mediation, healing, science, later -moon, balance, law, science; record-keeper in Duat; created 365day solar calendar- was originally 360 but Thoth gambled with moon to win 5 days' worth of light
so Nut could give birth since Ra forbade it during any day of the year; ibis -because bill is crescentshaped [moon], baboon because nocturnal & intelligent