Egyptian Gods
Egyptian Daily
By Meghan Seneski and Amanda George
Anubis
Ra is the god of
the sun and he
appears as the
head of a falcon
and a sun disk.
_____________________
Hathor is the
goddess of music
and she appears
as horns of a cow
and a sun disk.
_____________________
Sekhmat is the
goddess of
destruction and
she appears with
the head of a lion.
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,
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
Nut is the goddess of the sky
and she appears as a blue
figure with golden stars.
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.
Geb is the god of Earth and
appears as the color of plants
and Nile mud.
More Egyptian Gods
Anubis
A god of the earth and vegetation,
Osiris symbolized in his death the
yearly drought and in his miraculous
rebirth the periodic flooding of the
Nile and the growth of grain. He was a
god-king who was believed to have
given Egypt civilization.
Osiris was the first child of Nut and
Geb, and therefore the brother of
Seth, Nephthys, and Isis. He was
married to his sister, Isis. He was also
the father of Horus and Anubis. These
traditions state that Nephthys
(mother of Anubis) assumed the form
of Isis, seduced him (perhaps with
wine) and she became pregnant with
Anubis.
Thoth
The god of wisdom and learning. He
was said to be self-created in the
beginning along with his consort,
the goddess Ma'at (truth). The two
produced eight children, the most
important being Amon. Alternately
depicted as an ibis-headed human,
an ibis, or a baboon (or dog-headed
ape), perhaps because the grave
facial expressions of these creatures
suggested thoughtfulness. He
carries a pen and scrolls with which
he records all things.
Thoth was believed to have filled
many roles in the world of the gods.
It was believed that he invented
writing and was the vizier and
official scribe of the afterworld. The
Book of the Dead was written by
him. He and Ma'at were believed to
stand on either side of Re in his
boat as he (as the Sun) traveled
across the sky. It was thought that
they also may have directed the
course that the boat took. It was
widely believed that Thoth invented
the magical and hermetic arts, and
thus the Tarot deck is frequently
referred to as the "Book of Thoth"
He was associated with the moon;
as the sun vanished, Thoth tried to
dispel the darkness with his light.
scenes involving the gods, but most
especially at the judgement of the
deceased. It is here that he (shown
as a dog-headed ape) sits on the
top of the balance that weighs the
heart of the deceased to determine
if it is as light as ma'at. The concept
of ma'at is one of truth, justice, and
"that which is straight". It may even
be related to "cosmic order". The
baboon Thoth informs the ibisheaded Thoth when the balance is
at equilibrium. The ibis-headed
Thoth then makes his report to the
other gods who then pass
judgement on the deceased.
Thoth is shown attending all major
Sekhmet
She was often closely associated
with Hathor (the goddess of joy,
music, dance, pregnancy and birth).
In this partnership, she was seen as
the harsh aspect of the friendly
Hathor. A temple was constructed
by Amenemhet II to SekhmetHathor at Kom el Hisn (Imau in the
western Delta) in which she and
Hathor are referred to as the
"Mistress of Imau". Imau was
situated near a branch of the Nile
that has since shifted eastwards,
but in ancient times the town was
right on the edge of the desert on
the route to the Libyan frontier.
Horus
Clearly it was hoped that Sekhmet
would protect the border.
Isis and Osiris
As with much of the ancient
Egyptian mythology, there
are various versions of the
story of Isis and Osiris, but
basically it runs as
follows.......
Osiris was an earthly ruler,
who was popular with his
subjects. His brother, Set,
was jealous of this
popularity and plotted
against Osiris.
Set's plans to be rid of his
brother started when he
secretly obtained his
brothers measurements and
had a magnificent casket
made to fit. This casket was
in the form of a human
shaped box.
Set then organized a large
feast to which Osiris and a
number of others (usually
given as 72) were invited. At
the height of the
festivities Set produced
the casket and
announced that it would
be given to whoever it
fitted. All the guests
tried the casket for size,
but none fitted until
finally Osiris stepped
into the casket.
Anubis
Anubis
Set immediately slammed the lid
closed and sealed the casket shut
(with molten lead). The sealed coffin
was then thrown into the Nile.
Isis was devastated at the loss of her
husband and searched for the casket
throughout Egypt and then
overseas. She eventually found it
where it had come to rest in the
roots of a massive tree.
Isis then returned the coffin to Egypt
for a proper burial. For safe keeping
she concealed it in the marshes
beside the Nile.
Unfortunately for Isis Set found the
casket while out hunting and was so
enraged he chopped the body of
Osiris into pieces, and scattered the
parts throughout the land of Egypt.
Poor Isis had to then set out again
looking for the parts of her husband.
Eventually she found all the parts
except one and reassembled Osiris
and wrapped him in bandages. In
some accounts Isis breathed life
back into Osiris' body and it was
then that Horus was conceived. This
was a more magical event that it
seems, considering the one part of
Osiris Isis couldn't find.
The young Horus then went out to
battle his uncle Set and to avenge
his father’s death. After a series of
fights detailed in 'The contending of
Horus and Set' neither god was able
to secure an overall victory.
Ultimately Osiris was declared king
of the underworld, Horus king of the
living, and Set ruler of the deserts as
the god of chaos and evil.
Set
The earliest representation of Set is
that on a carved ivory comb from
the Amratian period (Naqada I,
4500BC - 35BC, orthodox dates) and
he also appears on the famous
Scorpion mace head. His worship
seems to have originated in one of
the most ancient settlements in the
town of Nubt (Kom Ombo), in upper
(southern) Egypt. Nubt (near
modern Tukh) lies near the entrance
to the Wadi Hammammat, the
doorway to the eastern desert and
its gold deposits, and the city took
its name from the word for gold, Nbt
(which also means ruler or lord). As
a result Set was sometime called "He
of gold town". Nubt was the most
important of the ancient
settlements, and was located close
to the site of the Naqqada
settlement from which this early
culture takes it name. Pre-dynastic
worship of Seth was also evident in
the 19th and 19th Nomes of Upper
Egypt.
In the Osirian mythology he was
married to Nephthys, but their
marriage was not a happy one.
However, Set had many other
wives/concubines. According to one
myth he lived in the Great Bear, a
constellation in the northern sky - an
area which symbolized darkness,
and death. He was restrained with
chains and guarded by his wife
Taweret, the hippo goddess of
childbirth. He was given the two
foreign goddesses Anat and Astarte
(war goddesses from the SyriaPalestine area and daughters of Ra)
as wives in compensation for
Ma´at´s (or Neith´s) ruling that
Horus should rule Egypt.
At this point in history, Set was
clearly associated with Upper Egypt
and was a popular and esteemed
god. However, by the Third
Intermediate Period was associated
with the Hyksos (who saw a
similarity between Set and Baal) and
so became seen as a force for evil.
He was then "rehabilitated" during
the Nineteenth Dynasty only to be
recast as an evil deity by Greek,
Roman and Christian theologists.
However, he had no children,
despite being married to the
goddess of childbirth and a
Cannanite fertility goddess as well as
Nephthys and Neith. This was
considered to be very
unconventional by the Egyptians.
Not only was he infertile, but one of
his testicles had been torn off by
Horus when Set tore out Horus´ eye.
He only ate lettuce, which was
sacred to the fertility god Min
because it secreted a white, milky
substance that the Egyptians linked
to semen and he was considered to
have odd sexual habits. He was
bisexual, and tried (and failed) to
rape both Horus and Isis.
Set was the black boar who
swallowed the moon each month,
obscuring its light. He was also
identified with the hippopotamus,
crocodiles, scorpions, turtles, pigs
and donkeys - all animals which
were considered to be unclean or
dangerous. Some fish were
considered to be sacred to Set (most
notably the Nile carp and the
Oxyrynchus) as they had apparently
eaten the penis of Osiris after Set
had dismembered the dead king.
However, he was most often
depicted as a "Set animal" or a man
with the head of a "Set animal". The
Set animal (sometimes known as a
'Typhonian animal' because of the
Greek identification with Typhon) is
a dog or jackal like creature, but it is
not clear whether it exactly
represented an extinct species, or
was a mythological beast uniquely
associated with Set himself.
Set's battle with Horus (the elder
and the child) and Osiris
Although they fought, neither party
could win and it was believed that
they would continue to fight until
the end of time when Ma´at was
destroyed and the waters of Nun
(chaos) engulfed the world.
However, once Set had been recast
as an evil entity, the story changed
to record that Horus had won their
battle, and thus good had triumphed
over evil. Some historians have
argued that the battle between Set
and Horus was a mythological
representation of the struggle to
unite Egypt under one ruler.
According to this theory, the
followers of Horus were successful
and so Set was pushed into the
background.
It is interesting to note that the
pharaoh Sekhemhib displayed his
name in a serekh topped by a Set
animal, not a falcon (representing
Horus), while Khasekhemwy´s
serekh included both a Set animal
and a falcon. This has been taken as
evidence that the battle between
Upper and Lower Egypt had been
won and the ruler wished to
appease both factions.
Even as an infant he was dangerous
and unpredictable. According to the
pyramid texts he ripped himself
violently from his mother´s womb
instead of being born normally like
his siblings. Set was jealous of his
brother Osiris. Two reasons are
given for this jealousy. The first is
that Osiris was made Pharaoh of
Egypt after Geb resigned the throne.
Set felt that he should have been
given this accolade, and wished to
usurp the throne. The second reason
is that his wife Nephthys tricked
Osiris into having sex with her (by
disguising herself as her sister Isis,
the wife of Osiris), and bore him a
son - Anubis. Set was
understandably unhappy about the
situation but seems to have held his
grudge against his (more handsome)
brother Osiris rather than his
unfaithful wife. Whatever the
reason, Set decided that his brother
had to die.
He made a great feast, supposedly in
honour of Osiris, and offered a
beautifully carved chest to
whichever guest would fit into it. Of
course, the chest was built to fit
Osisris, and when he lay down inside
it, Set´s followers nailed the lid shut
and threw the chest into the Nile.
Isis managed to find the chest and
bring it back to Egypt. However, Set
discovered the chest and
dismembered the corpse of his
brother, spreading the parts all over
the country. Isis and Nepthys began
their search for the pieces of Osiris,
but his penis could not be found
(because it was swallowed by a fish
in the Nile). Undaunted, Isis
reassembled the pieces and
magically conceived her child, Horus.
When he grew up he fought with
Set, essentially adopting the position
of Horus the Elder as the enemy of
Set. This of course, added to the
confusion between Horus the Elder
and Horus the son of Isis and Set´s
role changed from being an equal to
his brother Horus the Elder, to the
evil uncle of his nephew Horus the
child.
Set the protector
He was thought to have white skin
and red hair, and people with red
hair were thought to be his
followers. He was associated with
the desert (which takes its name
from the Egyptian word "dshrt" - the
red place). He represented the fierce
dry heat of the sun as it parched the
land, and was infertile like the
desert. Initially he probably
represented the desert near Nubt,
but soon he represented all deserts
and foreign lands, becoming a god of
overseas trade. Set had been
associated with the desert and
foreigners for some time before the
Hyksos took over parts of lower
Egypt. However, when they took him
as their main god, this broke Set´s
association with lower Egypt. His
name was erased from monuments
and his statues destroyed. All of his
negative attributes were
emphasised and his positive side
was ignored.
But Set's fortunes soon changed.
The Pharaohs of the Nineteenth
Dynasty were from the Delta area
where worship of Set was still
popular. It is also interesting that
both Seti I (who even named himself
after Set) and Ramesses II seem to
have had red hair. Although Amun
was the state god, Set was more
highly venerated in the Delta.
Ramesses II´s divided his army into
four divisions, and named one for
Set. When he fought the Hittities he
was described as being "like Set in
the moment of his power" and "like
Seth, great-of-strength". He even
named his daughter Bint-Anat
(Daughter of Anath, Set´s wife).
The Greeks associated Set with
Typhon, the largest monster ever
born. Typhon was the son of the
Earth and Tartarus (the place of
torture in Hades), and thoroughly
evil. Both were storm gods
associated with the colour red and
with pigs (whose meat was
considered to be unclean by many
cultures including the Egyptians).
However, unlike Typhon Set had a
protective role and even in his
negative aspects the Egyptians
understood his place in the world.
He was dangerous and
unpredictable, but could be a
powerful friend. During the
Ptolemaic period a temple to both
Horus and Sobek (who was often
associated with Set as both took the
form of a crocodile) was built south
of Nubt and named Ombos (now
known as Kom Ombos) after the god
of the ancient city - Set.
Isis
Isis, the Egyptian goddess of rebirth
remains one of the most familiar
images of empowered and utter
femininity. The goddess Isis was the
first daughter of Geb, god of the
Earth, and Nut, the goddess of the
Overarching Sky. Isis was born on
the first day between the first years
of creation, and was adored by her
human followers. Unlike the other
Egyptian goddesses, the goddess Isis
spent time among her people,
teaching women how to grind corn
and make bread, spin flax and weave
cloth, and how to tame men enough
to live with them (an art form on
which many of us would welcome a
refresher course!) Isis taught her
people the skills of reading and
agriculture and was worshipped as
the goddess of medicine and
wisdom. More than any other of the
ancient Egyptian goddesses, Isis
embodied the characteristics of all
the lesser goddesses that preceded
her. Isis became the model on which
future generations of female deities
in other cultures were to be based.
As the personification of the
"complete female", Isis was called
"The One Who Is All", Isis Panthea
("Isis the All Goddess"), and the
"Lady of Ten Thousand Names".
The goddess Isis, a moon goddess,
gave birth to Horus, the god of the
sun. Together, Isis and Horus
created and sustained all life and
were the saviors of their people.
Hathor
Hathor is one of the most ancient
Egyptian goddesses. She was known
as "the Great One of Many Names"
and her titles and attributes are so
numerous that she was important in
every area of the life and death of
the ancient Egyptians. It is thought
that her worship was widespread
even in the Predynastic period
because she appears on the Narmer
palette. However, some scholars
suggest that the cow-headed
goddess depicted on the palette is in
fact Bat (an ancient cow goddess
who was largely absorbed by
Hathor) or even Narmer himself.
However, she was certainly popular
by the Old Kingdom as she appears
with Bast in the valley temple of
Khafre at Giza. Hathor represents
Upper Egypt and Bast represents
Lower Egypt.
She was originally a personification
of the Milky Way, which was
considered to be the milk that
flowed from the udders of a
heavenly cow (linking her with Nut,
Bat and Mehet-Weret). As time
passed she absorbed the attributes
of many other goddesses but also
became more closely associated
with Isis, who to some degree
usurped her position as the most
popular and powerful goddess. Yet
she remained popular throughout
Egyptian history. More festivals were
dedicated to her and more children
were named after her than any
other god or goddess. Her worship
was not confined to Egypt and
Nubia. She was worshipped
throughout Semitic West Asia,
Ethiopian, Somlia and Libya, but was
particularly venerated in the city of
Byblos.
She was a sky goddess, known as
"Lady of Stars" and "Sovereign of
Stars" and linked to Sirius (and so
the goddesses Sopdet and Isis). Her
birthday was celebrated on the day
that Sirius first rose in the sky
(heralding the coming innundation).
By the Ptolemaic period, she was
known as the goddess of Hethara,
the third month of the Egyptian
calendar.
Hathor was also the goddess of
beauty and patron of the cosmetic
arts. Her traditional votive offering
was two mirrors and she was often
depicted on mirrors and cosmetic
palettes. Yet she was not considered
to be vain or shallow, rather she was
assured of her own beauty and
goodness and loved beautiful and
good things. She was known as "the
mistress of life" and was seen as the
embodiment of joy, love, romance,
perfume, dance, music and alcohol.
Hathor was especially connected
with the fragrance of myrrh incense,
which was considered to be very
precious and to embody all of the
finer qualities of the female sex.
Hathor was associated with
turquoise, malachite, gold and
copper. As "the Mistress of
Turquoise" and the "lady of
Malachite" she was the patron of
miners and the goddess of the Sinai
Peninsula (the location of the
famous mines). The Egyptians used
eye makeup made from ground
malachite which had a protective
function (in fighting eye infections)
which was attributed to Hathor.
As the "lady of the west" and the
"lady of the southern sycamore" she
protected and assisted the dead on
their final journey. Trees were not
commonplace in ancient Egypt, and
their shade was welcomed by the
living and the dead alike. She was
sometimes depicted as handing out
water to the deceased from a
sycamore tree (a role formerly
associated with Amentet who was
often described as the daughter of
Hathor) and according to myth, she
(or Isis) used the milk from the
Sycamore tree to restore sight to
Horus who had been blinded by Set.
Because of her role in helping the
dead, she often appears on
sarcophagi with Nut (the former on
top of the lid, the later under the
lid). She occassionally took the form
of the "Seven Hathors" who were
associated with fate and fortune
telling. It was thought that the
"Seven Hathors" knew the length of
every childs life from the day it was
born and questioned the dead souls
as they travelled to the land of the
dead. Her priests could read the
fortune of a newborn child, and act
as oracles to explain the dreams of
the people. People would travel for
miles to beseech the goddess for
protection, assistance and
inspiration. The "Seven Hathors"
were worshiped in seven cities:
Waset (Thebes), Iunu (On,
Heliopolis), Aphroditopolis, Sinai,
Momemphis, Herakleopolis, and
Keset. They may have been linked to
the constellations Pleiades.
However, she was also a goddess of
destruction in her role as the Eye of
Ra - defender of the sun god.
According to legend, people started
to criticise Ra when he ruled as
Pharaoh. Ra decided to send his
"eye" against them (in the form of
Sekhmet). She began to slaughter
people by the hundred. When Ra
relented and asked her to stop she
refused as she was in a blood lust.
The only way to stop the slaughter
was to colour beer red (to resemble
blood) and pour the mixture over
the killing fields. When she drank the
beer, she became drunk and drowsy,
and slept for three days. When she
awoke with a hangover she had no
taste for human flesh and mankind
was saved. Ra renamed her Hathor
and she became a goddess of love
and happiness. As a result, soldiers
also prayed to Hathor/Sekhmet to
give them her strength and focus in
battle.
Of course, Thoth already had a wife,
Seshat (the goddess of reading,
writing, architecture and arithmetic),
so Hathor absorbed her role
including acting as a witness at the
judgement of the dead. Her role in
welcoming the dead gained her a
further husband - Nehebkau (the
guardian of the entrance of the
underworld). Then when Ra and
Amun merged, Hathor became seen
as the wife of Sobek who was
considered to be an aspect of AmenRa. Yet Sobek was also associated
with Seth, the enemy of Horus!
She took the form of a woman,
goose, cat, lion, malachite, sycamore
fig, to name but a few. However,
Hathor's most famous manifestation
is as a cow and even when she
appears as a woman she has either
the ears of a cow, or a pair of
elegant horns. When she is depicted
as entirely a cow, she always has
beautifully painted eyes. She was
often depicted in red (the color of
passion) though her sacred color is
turquoise. It is also interesting to
note that only she and the dwarf
god Bes (who also had a role in
childbirth) were ever depicted in
portrait (rather than in profile). Isis
borrowed many of her functions and
adapted her iconography to the
extent that it is often difficult to be
sure which of the two goddesses is
depicted. However, the two deities
were not the same. Isis was in many
ways a more complex deity who
suffered the death of her husband
and had to fight to protect her infant
son, so she understood the trials and
tribulations of the people and could
relate to them. Hathor, on the other
hand, was the embodiment of
power and success and did not
experience doubts. While Isis was
merciful, Hathor was single minded
in pursuit of her goals. When she
took the form of Sekhmet, she did
not take pity on the people and even
refused to stop killing when ordered
to do so.
SET: God of Chaos. Also handles
War, Storms and Deserts.
Horus is the god of pharaohs and
earth and he appears with a head of
a hawk with a crown of Egypt.
OSIRIS: Mr. Big of the Underworld.
Not a gangster as such but still in
charge of the Dead End scenario.
Isis
NUT: Goddess of the Sky.
GEB: Macho Earth God, as opposed
to all the feminine Earth Mothers
out there.
ISIS: Very popular Goddess of
Motherhood, Royalty and Family
Commitment.
THOTH: Well-known God with the
head of an Ibis. He's a good allrounder for Arts, Science, Music,
Astronomy, Speech and Letters. A
good egg. Thoroughly
recommended.
Osiris is the god of the dead and
appears in a white crook and a
flail.
Seth is the god of chaos and the
desert and appears with a long
curved snout.
BAST: Daughter of Ra, bast is the
cat-headed Goddess of Fertility,
Sensuality and Fire Prevention.
She also has a flair for avenging
wrongs and is feisty enough for
the Greeks to have identified her
with Artemis.Previously known as
Autum, he's the most important
Egyptian God. He created himself
out of the mound formed by the
ogdoad's primordial chaos, and
then made Shu and Tefnut to
form the world. Now he sails
across the sky in his solar boat.
HATHOR: Egyptian Goddess of
Happiness, which seems to have
been in short supply in that part
of the world.
ANUBIS: Egyptian God of the
Dead and Lord of Mummy
Wrappings. He's the famous
funeral God with the black dog's
head. But is he a Doberman
or a jackal? No-one really knows
for sure. ("Down, Anubis down!"
No, it must be a jackal.)
Egyptian gods and goddesses are
important to Egyptian history
because they believe the god or
goddess is in charge of what they
name them after.
Many people believe they are
related to different gods or
goddesses.
Most of the ancient gods or
goddesses turn into animals (shape
shifters).
The names of the gods and or
goddesses are Anubis, Nut, Geb, Isis,
Thoth, Set, Osiris, Bast and Hathor.
All gods and or goddesses have
powers or control something.
Goddesses are girls.
Gods are boys.
There are ten main gods and
goddesses.
Isis is the goddess of magic and life
and appears with a throne on her
head or she is holding a baby.
Thoth is the god of wisdom and he
appears in a head of ibis.
Anubis is the god of the embalming
and he appears as the head of a
jackal.
Ma’at is the goddess of justice and
she appears with a feather in her
hair.
Amun is the god of creation and he
appears with as crown of feathers.
Hathor is one of the most ancient
Egyptian goddesses. She was known
as "the Great One of Many Names"
and her titles and attributes are so
numerous that she was important in
every area of the life and death of
the ancient Egyptians. It is thought
that her worship was widespread
even in the Predynastic period
because she appears on the Narmer
palette. However, some scholars
suggest that the cow-headed
goddess depicted on the palette is in
fact Bat (an ancient cow goddess
who was largely absorbed by
Hathor) or even Narmer himself.
However, she was certainly popular
by the Old Kingdom as she appears
with Bast in the valley temple of
Khafre at Giza. Hathor represents
Upper Egypt and Bast represents
Lower Egypt.
She was originally a personification
of the Milky Way, which was
considered to be the milk that
flowed from the udders of a
heavenly cow (linking her with Nut,
Bat and Mehet-Weret). As time
passed she absorbed the attributes
of many other goddesses but also
became more closely associated
with Isis, who to some degree
usurped her position as the most
popular and powerful goddess. Yet
she remained popular throughout
Egyptian history. More festivals were
dedicated to her and more children
were named after her than any
other god or goddess. Her worship
was not confined to Egypt and
Nubia. She was worshipped
throughout Semitic West Asia,
Ethiopian, Somlia and Libya, but was
particularly venerated in the city of
Byblos.
She was a sky goddess, known as
"Lady of Stars" and "Sovereign of
Stars" and linked to Sirius (and so
the goddesses Sopdet and Isis). Her
birthday was celebrated on the day
that Sirius first rose in the sky
(heralding the coming innundation).
By the Ptolemaic period, she was
known as the goddess of Hethara,
the third month of the Egyptian
calendar.
Hathor was also the goddess of
beauty and patron of the cosmetic
arts. Her traditional votive offering
was two mirrors and she was often
depicted on mirrors and cosmetic
palettes. Yet she was not considered
to be vain or shallow, rather she was
assured of her own beauty and
goodness and loved beautiful and
good things. She was known as "the
mistress of life" and was seen as the
embodiment of joy, love, romance,
perfume, dance, music and alcohol.
Hathor was especially connected
with the fragrance of myrrh incense,
which was considered to be very
precious and to embody all of the
finer qualities of the female sex.
Hathor was associated with
turquoise, malachite, gold and
copper. As "the Mistress of
Turquoise" and the "lady of
Malachite" she was the patron of
miners and the goddess of the Sinai
Peninsula (the location of the
famous mines). The Egyptians used
eye makeup made from ground
malachite which had a protective
function (in fighting eye infections)
which was attributed to Hathor.
As the "lady of the west" and the
"lady of the southern sycamore" she
protected and assisted the dead on
their final journey. Trees were not
commonplace in ancient Egypt, and
their shade was welcomed by the
living and the dead alike. She was
sometimes depicted as handing out
water to the deceased from a
sycamore tree (a role formerly
associated with Amentet who was
often described as the daughter of
Hathor) and according to myth, she
(or Isis) used the milk from the
Sycamore tree to restore sight to
Horus who had been blinded by Set.
Because of her role in helping the
dead, she often appears on
sarcophagi with Nut (the former on
top of the lid, the later under the
lid). She occassionally took the form
of the "Seven Hathors" who were
associated with fate and fortune
telling. It was thought that the
"Seven Hathors" knew the length of
every childs life from the day it was
born and questioned the dead souls
as they travelled to the land of the
dead. Her priests could read the
fortune of a newborn child, and act
as oracles to explain the dreams of
the people. People would travel for
miles to beseech the goddess for
protection, assistance and
inspiration. The "Seven Hathors"
were worshiped in seven cities:
Waset (Thebes), Iunu (On,
Heliopolis), Aphroditopolis, Sinai,
Momemphis, Herakleopolis, and
Keset. They may have been linked to
the constellations Pleiades.
However, she was also a goddess of
destruction in her role as the Eye of
Ra - defender of the sun god.
According to legend, people started
to criticise Ra when he ruled as
Pharaoh. Ra decided to send his
"eye" against them (in the form of
Sekhmet). She began to slaughter
people by the hundred. When Ra
relented and asked her to stop she
refused as she was in a blood lust.
The only way to stop the slaughter
was to colour beer red (to resemble
blood) and pour the mixture over
the killing fields. When she drank the
beer, she became drunk and drowsy,
and slept for three days. When she
awoke with a hangover she had no
taste for human flesh and mankind
was saved. Ra renamed her Hathor
and she became a goddess of love
and happiness. As a result, soldiers
also prayed to Hathor/Sekhmet to
give them her strength and focus in
battle.
Of course, Thoth already had a wife,
Seshat (the goddess of reading,
writing, architecture and arithmetic),
so Hathor absorbed her role
including acting as a witness at the
judgement of the dead. Her role in
welcoming the dead gained her a
further husband - Nehebkau (the
guardian of the entrance of the
underworld). Then when Ra and
Amun merged, Hathor became seen
as the wife of Sobek who was
considered to be an aspect of AmenRa. Yet Sobek was also associated
with Seth, the enemy of Horus!
She took the form of a woman,
goose, cat, lion, malachite, sycamore
fig, to name but a few. However,
Hathor's most famous manifestation
is as a cow and even when she
appears as a woman she has either
the ears of a cow, or a pair of
elegant horns. When she is depicted
as entirely a cow, she always has
beautifully painted eyes. She was
often depicted in red (the color of
passion) though her sacred color is
turquoise. It is also interesting to
note that only she and the dwarf
god Bes (who also had a role in
childbirth) were ever depicted in
portrait (rather than in profile). Isis
borrowed many of her functions and
adapted her iconography to the
extent that it is often difficult to be
sure which of the two goddesses is
depicted. However, the two deities
were not the same. Isis was in many
ways a more complex deity who
suffered the death of her husband
and had to fight to protect her infant
son, so she understood the trials and
tribulations of the people and could
relate to them. Hathor, on the other
hand, was the embodiment of
power and success and did not
experience doubts. While Isis was
merciful, Hathor was single minded
in pursuit of her goals. When she
took the form of Sekhmet, she did
not take pity on the people and even
refused to stop killing when ordered
to do so.
The saving of mankind was
commemorated every year on the
feast day of Hathor/Sekhmet.
Everyone drank beer stained with
pomegranate juice and worshipped
"the Mistress and lady of the tomb,
gracious one, destroyer of rebellion,
mighty one of enchantments". A
statue of Sekhmet was dressed in
red facing west, while Bast was
dressed in green and faced east.
Bast was sometimes considered to
be Sekhmet´s counterpart (or twin
depending on the legend), and in the
festival of Hathor they embodied the
duality central to Egyptian
mythology. Sekhmet represented
Upper Egypt while Bast represented
Lower Egypt.
Sekhmet was closely associated with
Kingship. She was often described as
the mother of Maahes, the lion god
who was a patron of the pharaoh
and the pyramid texts (from dynasty
five) suggest that the Pharaoh was
conceived by Sekhmet. For example,
one relief depicts the Pharaoh
Niuserre being suckled by Sekhmet.
This ancient myth is echoed in the
New Kingdom reliefs in the temple
of Seti I which depict the Pharaoh
being suckled by Hathor whose title
is "mistress of the mansion of
Sekhmet". Ramesses II (Seti´s son)
adopted her as a symbol of his
power in battle. In friezes depicting
the Battle of Kadesh, Sekhmet
appears on his horse, her flames
scorching the bodies of enemy
soldiers. But, one Pharaoh in
particular seems to have had an
obsession with Sekhmet.
Amenhotep III (father of Akhenaten,
Dynasty Eighteen) built hundreds of
statues of Sekhmet in the precinct of
Mut's temple (known as "Isheru")
south of the Great Temple of Amun
in Karnak. It is thought that there
was one for every day of the year
and that offerings were made every
day.
Osiris
A god of the earth and vegetation,
Osiris symbolized in his death the
yearly drought and in his miraculous
rebirth the periodic flooding of the
Nile and the growth of grain. He was
a god-king who was believed to have
given Egypt civilization.
Osiris was the first child of Nut and
Geb, and therefore the brother of
Seth, Nephthys, and Isis. He was
married to his sister, Isis. He was
also the father of Horus and Anubis.
These traditions state that Nephthys
(mother of Anubis) assumed the
form of Isis, seduced him (perhaps
with wine) and she became
pregnant with Anubis.
The oldest religious texts refer to
Osiris as the great god of the dead,
and throughout these texts it is
assumed that the reader will
understand that he once possessed
human form and lived on earth. As
the first son of Geb, the original king
of Egypt, Osiris inherited the throne
when Geb abdicated. At this time
the Egyptians were barbarous
cannibals and uncivilized. Osiris saw
this and was greatly disturbed.
Therefore, he went out among the
people and taught them what to eat,
the art of agriculture, how to
worship the gods, and gave them
laws. Thoth helped him in many
ways by inventing the arts and
sciences and giving names to things.
Osiris was Egypt's greatest king who
ruled through kindness and
persuasion. Having civilized Egypt,
Osiris traveled to other lands,
leaving Isis as his regent, to teach
other peoples what he taught the
Egyptians.
During Osiris' absence, Isis was
troubled with Seth's plotting to
acquire both her and the throne of
Egypt. Shortly after Osiris' return to
Egypt, in the twenty-eighth year of
his reign, on the seventeenth day of
the month of Hathor (late
September or November), Seth and
72 conspirators murdered him. They
then threw the coffin in which he
was murdered into the Nile, with his
divine body still inside.
Isis, with the help of her sister
Nephthys, and Anubis and Thoth,
magically located Osiris' body. Upon
learning the his brother's body was
found, Seth went to it and tore it
into fourteen pieces and scattered
them throughout Egypt. Isis once
again found every part of his body,
save his phallus (it had been eaten
by the now-cursed Nile fish). She
magically re-assembled Osiris and
resurrected him long enough to be
impregnated by him so that she
could give birth to the new king
Horus.
Seth of course was not willing to
surrender the throne of Egypt to the
youthful Horus and thus a tribunal of
gods met to decide who was the
rightful king. The trial lasted eighty
years. Eventually through Isis'
cunning she won the throne for her
son.
Osiris meanwhile had become the
king of the Afterlife. He was believed
to be willing to admit all people to
the Duat, the gentle, fertile land in
which the righteous dead lived, that
had lived a good and correct life
upon earth, and had been buried
with appropriate ceremonies under
the protection of certain amulets,
and with the proper recital of certain
"divine words" and words of power.
His realm was said to lie beneath
Nun, in the northern heavens or in
the west.
It is as the King of the Afterlife that
Osiris gained his supreme popularity.
He was originally a minor god of
Middle Egypt, especially in
comparison to the gods of Heliopolis
and Hermopolis, etc. Noting his
increasing popularity, and sensing
that Osiris would one day eclipse the
adoration of their own gods, the
priests of these cities adopted him
into their own cosmogonies.
The elements of his story was seen
as symbolic of real events that
happened in Egypt. With his original
association to agriculture, his death
and resurrection were seen as
symbolic of the annual death and regrowth of the crops and the yearly
flooding of the Nile. The sun too
with its daily re-birth and death was
associated with Osiris. His rivalry
with his brother Seth, the god of
storms and the desert, was symbolic
of the eternal war between the
fertile lands of the Nile Valley and
the barren desert lands just beyond.
The pharaoh of Egypt was called
Horus, while his deceased father was
the new Osiris.
Several festivals during the year
were held in Egypt, in celebration of
Osiris. One, held in November,
celebrated his beauty. Another,
called the "Fall of the Nile" was a
time of mourning. As the Nile
receded, the Egyptians went to the
shore to give gifts and show their
grief over his death. When the Nile
began to flood again, another
festival honoring Osiris was held
whereby small shrines were cast into
the river and the priests poured
sweet water in the Nile, declaring
that the god was found again.
The name "Osiris" is the Greek
corruption of the Egyptian name
"Asar" (or Usar.) There are several
possibilities as to what this name
means, "the Strength of the Eye", is
one. Another is "He Sees the
Throne". The oldest and simplest
form of the name is the hieroglyph
of the throne over an eye (there are
at least 158 versions of the name).
At one point the first syllable of the
name was pronounced "Aus" or "Us"
and may have gained the meaning of
the word usr, "strength, might,
power". At this time the Egyptians
supposed the name to mean
something like the "strength of the
Eye" (i.e., the strength of the Sungod Re.)
Another possibility raised by an
ancient hymn's author is that the
name "Unnefer" (another name by
which Osiris was known) comes from
the roots un ("to open, to appear, to
make manifest") and neferu, ("good
things"). The author then wrote
these lines in his hymn to the god,
"Thy beauty maketh itself manifest
in thy person to rouse the gods to
life in thy name Unnefer". In any
case, even to the ancients, the origin
of Osiris' Egyptian name is a
mystery.
Osiris was usually portrayed as a
bearded, mummified human with
green skin and wearing the atef
crown. His hands emerge from the
mummy wrappings and hold the flail
and crook.
Egyptian Gods
EGYPT
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
Bastet is the goddess of cats and
she appears with the head of a cat.
Ancient god symbol
Hathor
Hathor is one of the most
ancient Egyptian goddesses.
She was known as "the
Great One of Many Names"
and her titles and attributes
are so numerous that she
was important in every area
of the life and death of the
ancient Egyptians. It is
thought that her worship
was widespread even in the
Predynastic period because
she appears on the Narmer
palette. However, some
scholars suggest that the
cow-headed goddess
depicted on the palette is in
fact Bat (an ancient cow
goddess who was largely
absorbed by Hathor) or
even Narmer himself.
However, she was certainly
popular by the Old Kingdom
as she appears with Bast in
the valley temple of Khafre
at Giza. Hathor represents
Upper Egypt and Bast
represents Lower Egypt.
Attributes: From very early
times Ra was a sun god. He
took on many of the
attributes and even the
names of other gods as
Egyptian myths evolved. A
good example of this is the
god Ra and Amun
merging to become
Amun-Ra or Ra and
Horus combining to
become Ra-Harakhte.
Since Ra was a god of
great antiquity, there
are far to many
stories connected
with him to relate
them all. I will relate
some that I find
interesting, including
the legend of Ra and
Hathor.