Egyptian Mythology
Compiled by Shawn C. Knight Release 9405.08 ****************************************************************
Part I: The Gods ----- INTRODUCTORY NOTE Herein I
have placed short summaries explaining the functions of many
of the more important gods worshiped in Ancient Egypt. If anyone
can suggest any additions, modifications, clarifications, etc.
please feel free to contact me by Email at knightster+@cmu.edu
. Also, if anyone catches any typos, let me know. Typos in the
names of gods may or may not be corrected, depending upon whether
(upon consulting my sources, grammars, dictionaries, etc.) they're
actually typos! If some fact is blatantly wrong, please contact
me with a reference, and I will see if I can find some further
information on the subject. In such cases, we may be considering
two different versions of the myth, in which case I will add
the variant information as such to the FAQ. ----- BIBLIOGRAPHIC
NOTE The bulk of this material is to be found, in a more comprehensive
and scholarly form, in Sir E. A. Wallis Budge's _The Gods of
the Egyptians; or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology_ (Dover, New
Tork, 1969 ed. reprinted paperback from original London 1904
printing). However, much of it is collected from various other
sources which I have read during the course of my nearly 15 years
as an amateur Egyptologist. If you want a bibliography, I will
start by recommending all the works of Mr. Budge; particular
titles include _Egyptian Magic_, _Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection_,
_The Egyptian Book of the Dead_, and _Egyptian Language_. Those
particularly interested in the language of Ancient Egypt should
be aware also of Budge's _An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary_.
For the most highly interested students (with sufficient time,
interest, and background in linguistics) I cannot overly recommend
Sir Alan Gardiner's _Egyptian Grammar_, latest reprinting 1988,
contact Oxbow Books if interested but be forewarned: my copy,
the absolute prize of my book collection, cost $80 if I recall
correctly. (I keep my copy right next to Crowley's _Magick in
Theory and Practice_ and Blavatsky's _Isis Unveiled_.) -----
SPECIAL THANKS Special thanks is due to Amen, for all things,
and to Nephthys, for her love. ----- Amen (Amon, Amun, Ammon,
Amoun) Amen's name means "The Hidden One." Amen was
the patron deity of the city of Thebes from earliest times, and
was viewed (along with his consort Amenet) as a primordial creation-deity.
He is represented in five forms: (1) a man, enthroned; (2) a
frog-headed man (as a primordial deity); (3) a cobra-headed man;
(4) an ape; (5) a lion. His sacred animals were the goose and
the ram, though he was not depicted as them. Up to Dynasty XII
Amen was unimportant except in Thebes; but when the Thebans had
established their sovereignty in Egypt, Amen became a prominent
deity, and by Dynasty XVIII was termed the King of the Gods.
His famous temple, Karnak, is the largest religious structure
ever built by man. According to E.A.Wallis Budge's _Gods of the
Egyptians_, Amen by Dynasy XIX-XX was thought of as "an
invisible creative power which was the source of all life in
heaven, and on the earth, and in the great deep, and in the Underworld,
and which made itself manifest under the form of Ra." Amen
was self-created, according to later traditions; according to
the older Theban traditions, Amen was created by Thoth as one
of the eight primordial deities of creation (Amen, Amenet, Heq,
Heqet, Nun, Naunet, Kau, Kauket). During the New Kingdom, Amen's
consort was Mut, "Mother," who seems to have been the
Egyptian equivalent of the "Great Mother" archetype.
The two thus formed a pair reminiscent of the God and Goddess
of other traditions such as Wicca. SEE ALSO Amen-Ra, Mut, Thoth.
----- Amen-Ra A composite deity, invented by the priests of Amen
as an attempt to link New Kingdom (Dyn. XVIII-XXI) worship of
Amen with the older solar cult of the god Ra. SEE ALSO Amen,
Ra. ----- Amset (Imsety, Mestha, GD: Ameshet) One of the Four
Sons of Horus, Amset was represented as a mummified man. He was
the protector of the liver of the deceased, and was protected
by the goddess Isis. SEE ALSO Four Sons of Horus, Isis. -----
Anubis (Anpu, GD: Ano-Oobist) Anubis (the Greek corruption of
the Egyptian "Anpu") was the son of Nephthys: by some
traditions, the father was Set; by others, Osiris. Anubis was
depicted as a jackal, or as a jackal-headed man; in primitive
times he was probably simply the jackal god. Owing to the jackal's
tendency to prowl around tombs, he became associated with the
dead, and by the Old Kingdom, Anubis was worshipped as the inventor
of embalming, who had embalmed the dead Osiris, thus helping
preserve him in order to live again. Anubis was also worshipped
under the form "Wepuat" ("Opener of the Ways"),
sometimes with a rabbit's head, who conducted the souls of the
dead to their judgement, and who monitored the Scales of Truth
to protect the dead from deception and eternal death. SEE ALSO
Nephthys, Osiris, Set. ----- Bast (Bastet) A cat-goddess, worshiped
in the Delta city of Bubastis. A protectress of cats and those
who cared for cats. As a result, an important deity in the home
(since cats were prized pets) and also important in the iconography
(since the serpents which attack the sun god were usually represented
in papyri as being killed by cats). She was also worshiped as
the consort of Ptah-seker-ausar; and is joined with Sekhmet and
Ra (a very unusual combination of male and female deities) to
form Sekhmet-bast-ra, also worshiped as Ptah-seker-ausar's spouse,
and viewed as a deity of the destructive, purifying power of
the sun. SEE ALSO Ptah, Ra, Sekhmet. ----- Bes A deity of either
African or Semitic origin; came to Egypt by Dynasty XII. Depicted
as a bearded, savage-looking yet comical dwarf, shown full-face
in images (highly unusual by Egyptian artistic conventions).
Revered as a deity of household pleasures such as music, good
food, and relaxation. Also a protector and entertainer of children.
However, many texts point to the idea that Bes was a terrible,
avenging deity, who was as swift to punish the wicked as he was
to amuse and delight the righteous. ----- Duamutef (GD: Thmoomathph,
Tuamutef) One of the Four Sons of Horus, Duamutef was represented
as a mummified man with the head of a jackal. He was the protector
of the stomach of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess
Neith. SEE ALSO Four Sons of Horus, Neith. ----- Four Sons of
Horus The four sons of Horus were the protectors of the parts
of the body of Osiris, and from this, became the protectors of
the body of the deceased. They were: Amset, Hapi, Duamutef, and
Qebhsenuef. They were protected in turn by the goddesses Isis,
Nephthys, Neith, and Serket. SEE ALSO Amset, Duamutef, Hapi,
Isis, Neith, Nephthys, Qebhsenuef, and Serket. ----- Geb (Seb)
The god of the earth, son of Shu and Tefnut, brother and husband
of Nuit, and father of Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. In the
earliest stages of Egyptian history his name was Geb; in later
forms of the language it became Seb, but the old pronunciation
has become so common in popular works on the subject that it
is used herein. His sacred animal was the goose, and he was often
referred to as the "Great Cackler". He is generally
represented as a man with green or black skin - the color of
living things, and the color of the fertile Nile mud, respectively.
It was said that Seb would hold imprisoned the souls of the wicked,
that they might not ascend to heaven. ----- Hadit: SEE Hor-behedet.
----- Hapi (GD: Ahephi) One of the Four Sons of Horus, Hapi was
represented as a mummified man with the head of a baboon. He
was the protector of the lungs of the deceased, and was protected
by the goddess Nephthys. The name Hapi, spelled identically in
mostbut not all cases, is also the name of the god who was the
personification of the River Nile, depicted as a corpulent man
(fat signifying abundance) with a crown of lilies or papyrus
stems. SEE ALSO Four Sons of Horus, Nephthys. ----- Hathor (Het-heru,
Het-Hert) A very old goddess of Egypt, worshiped as a cow-deity
from earliest times. The name "Hathor" is the Greek
corruption of the variants Het-Hert ("the House Above")
and Het-Heru ("the House of Horus"). Both terms refer
to her as a sky goddess. The priests of Heliopolis often referred
to her as Ra's consort, the mother of Shu and Tefnut. Like Isis,
Hathor was considered by many to be the goddess "par excellence"
and held the attributes of most of the other goddesses at one
time or another. Like Isis and Mut, Hathor was a manifestation
of the "Great Mother" archetype; a sort of cosmic Yin.
She had so very many manifestations that eventually seven important
ones were selected and widely worshiped as the "Seven Hathors":
Hathor of Thebes, Heliopolis, Aphroditopolis, Sinai, Momemphis,
Herakleopolis, and Keset. The Greeks identified her with Aphrodite,
and this is not too far off, as she represented, in the texts,
everything true, good, and beautiful in all forms of woman; mother,
wife, sister, and daughter; also the patron of artists of every
kind, and of joyful things, festivals, and happiness. The star
Sirius (called by the Egyptians Sepdet) was sacred to her. SEE
ALSO Isis, Mut, Ra, Shu, Tefnut. ----- Heru-ra-ha A composite
deity in Crowley's quasi-Egyptian mythology; composed of Ra-Hoor-Khuit
and Hoor-par-kraat. Apparently without basis in historical Egyptian
mythology, but the name, translated into Egyptian, means something
approximating "Horus and Ra be Praised!" SEE ALSO Ra-Hoor-Khuit,
Hoor-pa-kraat. ----- Hor-akhuti (Horakhty) "Horus of (or
in) the Horizons," one of the most common titles of Horus,
especially when in his function as a solar deity, emphasizing
his reign stretching from one horizon to the other. SEE ALSO
Horus, Ra, Ra-Hoor-Khuit. ----- Hor-behedet (HADIT) A form of
Horus worshipped in the city of Behdet, shown in the well-known
form of a solar disk with a great pair of wings, usually seen
hovering above important scenes in Egyptian religious art. Made
popular by Aleister Crowley under the poorly transliterated name
"HADIT", the god appears to have been a way of depicting
the omnipresence of Ra and Horus. As Crowley says in _Magick
in Theory and Practice_, "the infinitely small and atomic
yet omnipresent point is called HADIT." This is a good expression
of the god - seen almost everywhere, yet at the same time small
and out-of-the-way. SEE ALSO Horus. ----- Hor-pa-kraat (Horus
the Child, GD: Hoor-par-kraat) Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris,
distinguished from Horus the Elder, who was the old patron deity
of Upper Egypt; but the worship of the two gods became confused
early in Egyptian history and the two essentially merged. Represented
as a young boy with a child's sidelock of hair, sucking his finger.
The Golden Dawn attributed Silence to him, presumably because
the sucking of the finger is suggestive of the common "shhh"
gesture. SEE ALSO Horus. ----- Horus (Her) One of the most important
deities of Egypt. Horus as now conceived is a mixture of the
original deities known as "Horus the Child" and "Horus
the Elder". As the Child, Horus is the son of Osiris and
Isis, who, upon reaching adulthood, becomes known as Her-nedj-tef-ef
("Horus, Avenger of His Father") by avenging his father's
death, by defeating and casting out his evil uncle Set. He then
became the divine prototype of the Pharaoh. As Horus the Elder,
he was also the patron deity of Upper (Southern) Egypt from the
earliest times; initially, viewed as the twin brother of Set
(the patron of Lower Egypt), but he became the conqueror of Set
c. 3000 B.C.E. when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and formed
the unified kingdom of Egypt. SEE ALSO Hor-pa-kraat, Horus the
Elder, Isis, Osiris, Set. ----- Horus the Elder (Her-ur, Aroueris)
Horus, the patron god of Upper Egypt from time immemorial; distinguished
from Horus the Child (Hor-pa-kraat), who was the son of Isis
and Osiris; but the two gods merged early in Egyptian history
and became the one Horus, uniting the attributes of both. SEE
ALSO Hor-pa-kraat, Horus. ----- Isis (Auset) Perhaps the most
important goddess of all Egyptian mythology, Isis assumed, during
the course of Egyptian history, the attributes and functions
of virtually every other important goddess in the land. Her most
important functions, however, were those of motherhood, marital
devotion, healing the sick, and the working of magical spells
and charms. She was believed to be the most powerful magician
in the universe, owing to the fact that she had learned the Secret
Name of Ra from the god himself. She was the sister and wife
of Osiris, sister of Set, and twin sister of Nephthys. She was
the mother of Horus the Child (Hor-pa-kraat), and was the protective
goddess of Horus's son Amset, protector of the liver of the deceased.
Isis was responsible for protecting Horus from Set during his
infancy; for helping Osiris to return to life; and for assisting
her husband to rule in the land of the Dead. Her cult seems to
have originally centered, like her husband's, at Abydos near
the Delta in the North (Lower Egypt); she was adopted into the
family of Ra early in Egyptian history by the priests of Heliopolis,
but from the New Kingdom onwards (c. 1500 BC) her worship no
longer had any particular identifiable center, and she became
more or less universally worshiped, as her husband was. SEE ALSO
Amset, Hor-pa-kraat, Horus, Nephthys, Osiris, Ra, Set. -----
Khephra (Keper) The creator-god, according to early Heliopolitan
cosmology; considered a form of Ra. The Egyptian root "kheper"
signifies several things, according to context, most notably
the verb "to create" or "to transform", and
also the word for "scarab beetle". The scarab, or dung
beetle, was considered symbolic of the sun since it rolled a
ball of dung in which it laid its eggs around with it - this
was considered symbolic of the sun god propelling the sphere
of the sun through the sky. In later Heliopolitan belief, which
named the sun variously according to the time of the day, Khephra
was the nighttime form of the sun. SEE ALSO Ra. ----- Khonsu
(Chons) The third member (with his parents Amen and Mut) of the
great triad of Thebes. Khonsu was the god of the moon. The best-known
story about him tells of him playing the ancient game "senet"
("passage") against Thoth, and wagered a portion of
his light. Thoth won, and because of losing some of his light,
Khonsu cannot show his whole glory for the entire month, but
must wax and wane. SEE ALSO Amen, Mut, Thoth. ----- Ma'at (Ma)
The wife of Thoth, Ma'at's name means "Truth", "Justice",
and perhaps even "Tao". It cannot readily be rendered
into English but "truth" is perhaps a satisfactory
translation. Ma'at was represented as a tall woman with an ostrich
feather in her hair. She was present at the judgement of the
dead; her feather was balanced against the heart of the deceased
to determine whether he had led a pure and honest life. All civil
laws in Egypt were held up to the "Law of Ma'at", which
essentially was a series of old conceptions and morals dating
to the earliest times in Egypt. A law contrary to the Law of
Ma'at would not have been considered valid in Egypt. SEE ALSO
Thoth. ----- Min (Menu, Amsu) A form of Amen depicted holding
a flail (thought to represent a thunderbolt in Egyptian art)
and with an erect penis; his full name was often given as Menu-ka-mut-ef
("Min, Bull of his Mother"). Min was worshiped as the
god of virility; lettuces were offered as sacrifice to him and
then eaten in hopes of procuring manhood; and he was worshiped
as the husband of the goddess Qetesh, goddess of love and femininity.
SEE ALSO Amen, Qetesh. ----- Mut (GD: Auramooth) The wife of
Amen in Theban tradition; seen as the mother, the loving, receptive,
nurturing force (similar to Yin) behind all things, even as her
husband was the great energy, the creative force (similar to
Yang). The word "mut" in Ancient Egyptian means "mother".
She was also the mother of Khonsu, the moon god. SEE ALSO Amen,
Khonsu. ----- Neith (Net, Neit, GD: Thoum-aesh-neith) A very
ancient goddess worshiped in the Delta; revered as a goddess
of wisdom, often identified with Ma'at; in later traditions,
the sister of Isis, Nephthys, and Serket, and protectress of
Duamutef, the god of the stomach of the deceased. SEE ALSO Duamutef,
Ma'at. ----- Nephthys (Nebt-het) The sister and wife of Set,
and sister of Isis and Osiris; also the mother (variantly by
Set or by Osiris) of Anubis. She abandoned Set when he killed
Osiris, and assisted Isis in the care of Horus and the resurrection
of Osiris. She was, along with her sister, considered the special
protectress of the dead, and she was the guardian of Hapi, the
protector of the lungs of the deceased. SEE ALSO Hapi, Horus,
Isis, Osiris, Set. ----- Nuit (Nut) The goddess of the sky, daughter
of Shu and Tefnut, sister and wife of Geb, mother of Osiris,
Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Described by Crowley in his _Magick
in Theory and Practice_ thus: "Infinite space is called
the goddess NUIT." Nut was generally depicted as a woman
with blue skin, and her body covered with stars, standing on
all fours, leaning over her husband, representing the sky arched
over the earth. Her relationship to HADIT is an invention of
Crowley's with no basis in Egyptology, save only that Hadit was
often depicted underneath Nuit - one finds Nuit forming the upper
frame of a scene, and the winged disk Hadit floating beneath,
silently as always. This is an artistic convention, and there
was no marriage between the two in ancient Egyptian legend. SEE
ALSO Geb, Hor-behedet (Hadit), Shu. ----- Osiris (Ausar) The
god of the dead, and the god of the resurrection into eternal
life; ruler, protector, and judge of the deceased, and his prototype
(the deceased was in historical times usually referred to as
"the Osiris"). His cult originated in Abydos, where
his actual tomb was said to be located. Osiris was the first
child of Nut and Geb, thus the brother of Set, Nephthys, and
Isis, who was also his wife. By Isis he fathered Horus, and according
to some stories, Nephthys assumed the form of Isis, seduced him
thus, and from their union was born Anubis. Osiris ruled the
world of men in the beginning, after Ra had abandoned the world
to rule the skies, but he was murdered by his brother Set. Through
the magic of Isis, he was made to live again. Being the first
living thing to die, he subsequently became lord of the dead.
His death was avenged by his son Horus, who defeated Set and
cast him out into the desert to the West of Egypt (the Sahara).
Prayers and spells were addressed to Osiris throughout Egyptian
history, in hopes of securing his blessing and entering the afterlife
which he ruled; but his popularity steadily increased through
the Middle Kingdom. By Dynasty 18 he was probably the most widely
worshiped god in Egypt. His popularity endured until the latest
phases of Egyptian history; reliefs still exist of Roman emperors,
conquerors of Egypt, dressed in the traditional garb of the Pharaohs,
making offerings to him in the temples. SEE ALSO Anubis, Geb,
Horus, Isis, Nephthys, Ra, Set. ----- Pharaoh (deified kings)
From earliest times in Egypt the pharaohs were worshipped as
gods: the son of Ra, the son of Horus, the son of Amen, etc.
depending upon what period of Egyptian history and what part
of the country is being considered. It should be noted that prayers,
sacrifices, etc. to the pharaohs were extremely rare, if they
occured at all - there seems to be little or no evidence to support
an actual cult of the pharaoh. The pharaoh was looked upon as
being chosen by and favored by the gods his fathers. The pharaoh
was never regarded as the son of any goddesses, but rather as
the son of the Queen his mother, fathered by the god, incarnate
as his earthly father. (A few seeming exceptions to this include
a sculpture of Pharaoh Tutankhamen being embraced by his "parents"
Amen and Mut, but the intent here seems to be to compare the
king with their son Khonsu, rather than to actually claim that
Mut was his mother.) SEE ALSO Amen, Khonsu, Mut. ----- Ptah Worshiped
in Memphis from the earliest dynastic times (c.3000 BC), Ptah
was seen as the creator of the universe in the Memphite cosmology.
He fashioned the bodies in which dwelt the souls of men in the
afterlife. Other versions of the myths state that he worked under
Thoth's orders, creating the heavens and the earth according
to Thoth's specifications. Ptah is depicted as a bearded man
wearing a skullcap, shrouded much like a mummy, with his hands
emerging from the wrappings in front and holding the Uas (phoenix-headed)
scepter, an Ankh, and a Djed (sign of stability). He was often
worshiped in conjunction with the gods Seker and Osiris, and
worshiped under the name Ptah-seker-ausar. SEE ALSO Osiris, Seker,
Thoth. ----- Qebhsenuef (Kabexnuf, Qebsneuef) One of the Four
Sons of Horus, Qebhsenuef was represented as a mummified man
with the head of a falcon. He was the protector of the intestines
of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Serket. SEE
ALSO Four Sons of Horus, Serket. ----- Qetesh Originally believed
to be a Syrian deity, Qetesh was an important form of Hathor,
specifically referred to in the latter's function as goddess
of love and beauty. Qetesh was depicted as a beautiful nude woman,
standing or riding upon a lion, holding flowers, a mirror, or
serpents. She is generally shown full-face (unusual in Egyptian
artistic convention). She was also considered the consort of
the god Min, the god of virility. SEE ALSO Hathor, Min. -----
Ra Ra was the god of the sun during dynastic Egypt; the name
is thought to have meant "creative power", and as a
proper name "Creator", similar to English Christian
usage of the term "Creator" to signify the "almighty
God." Very early in Egyptian history Ra was identified with
Horus, who as a hawk or falon-god represented the loftiness of
the skies. Ra is represented either as a hawk-headed man or as
a hawk. Owing to the fact that the sun was a fire, the Egyptians
realized that in order to travel through the waters of Heaven
and the Underworld, it required a boat, and so Ra was depicted
as traveling in a boat. During the day the boat was a great galley
called Madjet ("becoming strong") and during the night,
a small barge called Semektet ("becoming weak"). During
dynastic Egypt Ra's cult center was Annu (Hebrew "On",
Greek "Heliopolis", modern-day "Cairo").
In Dynasty V, the first king, Userkaf, was also Ra's high priest,
and he added the term "Sa-Ra (Son of Ra)" to the titulary
of the pharaohs. Ra was father of Shu and Tefnut, grandfather
of Nut and Geb, great-grandfather of Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys,
and great-great-grandfather to Horus. In later periods (about
Dynasty 18 on) Osiris and Isis superseded him in popularity,
but he remained "Ra netjer-aa neb-pet" ("Ra, the
great God, Lord of Heaven") whether worshiped in his own
right or, in later times, as half of the Lord of the Universe,
Amen-Ra. SEE ALSO Amen, Amen-Ra, Geb, Horus, Isis, Nephthys,
Nut, Osiris, Set, Shu, Tefnut. ----- Ra-Hoor-Khuit (Ra-Hor-akhuti)
"Ra, who is Horus of the Horizons." An appelation of
Ra, identifying him with Horus, showing the two as manifestations
of the singular Solar Force. The spelling "Ra-Hoor-Khuit"
was popularized by Aleister Crowley, first in the Book of the
Law (Liber AL vel Legis). SEE ALSO Hor-akhuti, Horus, Ra. -----
Seb: SEE Geb. ----- Sebek The crocodile-god, worshipped at the
city of Arsinoe, called Crocodilopolis by the Greeks. Sebek was
worshipped to appease him and his animals. According to some
evidence, Sebek was considered a fourfold deity who represented
the four elemental gods (Ra of fire, Shu of air, Geb of earth,
and Osiris of water). In the Book of the Dead, Sebek assists
in the birth of Horus; he fetches Isis and Nephthys to protect
the deceased; and he aids in the destruction of Set. ----- Seker
A god of light, protector of the spirits of the dead passing
through the Underworld en route to the afterlife. Seker was worshiped
in Memphis as a form of Ptah or as part of the compound deities
Ptah-seker or Ptah-seker-ausar. Seker was usually depicted as
having the head of a hawk, and shrouded as a mummy, similar to
Ptah. SEE ALSO Ptah. ----- Sekhmet A lioness-goddess, worshiped
in Memphis as the wife of Ptah; created by Ra from the fire of
his eyes as a creature of vengeance to punish mankind for his
sins; later, became a peaceful protectress of the righteous.
She was worshiped with Bast and Ra as a compound deity, Sekhmet-bast-ra,
and was considered the consort of Ptah-seker-ausar. SEE ALSO
Bast, Ptah, Ra, Seker. ----- Serket (Serqet, Selket) A scorpion-goddess,
shown as a beautiful woman with a scorpion poised on her head;
her creature struck death to the wicked, but she was also prayed
to to save the lives of innocent people stung by scorpions; she
was also viewed as a helper of women in childbirth. She is also
depicted as binding up demons that would otherwise threaten Ra,
and she sent seven of her scorpions to protect Isis from Set.
She was the protectress of Qebhsenuef, the son of Horus who guarded
the intestines of the deceased. She was made famous by her statue
from Tutankhamen's tomb, which was part of the collection which
toured America in the 1970's. SEE ALSO Isis, Qebhsenuef, Ra,
Set. ----- Set Originally, in earliest times, Set was the patron
deity of Lower (North) Egypt, and represented the fierce storms
of the desert whom the Lower Egyptians sought to appease. However,
when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and ushered in the First
Dynasty, Set became known as the evil enemy of Horus (Upper Egypt's
dynastic god). Set was the brother of Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys,
and husband of the latter; according to some versions of the
myths he is also father of Anubis. Set is best known for murdering
his brother and attempting to kill his nephew Horus; Horus, however,
managed to survive and grew up to avenge his father's death by
establishing his rule over all Egypt and casting Set out into
the lonely desert for all time. In the 19th Dynasty there began
a resurgence of respect for Set, and he was seen as a great god
once more, the god who benevolently restrained the forces of
the desert; but this was short-lived and by around Dynasty 20
or 21 Set became once more dreaded as the god of evil. SEE ALSO
Anubis, Horus, Isis, Osiris, Nephthys. ----- Shu The god of the
atmosphere and of dry winds, son of Ra, brother and husband of
Tefnut, father of Geb and Nuit. Represented in hieroglyphs by
an ostrich feather (similar to Ma'at's), which symbol he is usually
shown wearing on his head. He is generally shown standing on
the recumbent Geb, holding aloft his daughter Nuit, separating
the two. It was said that if he ever ceased to interpose himself
between earth and sky, life would cease to be on our world -
a very accurate assessment, it would seem. The name "Shu"
appears to be related to the root "shu" meaning "dry,
empty." Shu also seems to be a personification of the sun's
light. Shu and Tefnut were also said to be but two halves of
one soul, perhaps the earliest recorded example of "soulmates."
SEE ALSO Geb, Nuit, Ra, Tefnut. ----- Tefnut The goddess of moisture
and clouds, daughter of Ra, sister and wife of Shu, mother of
Geb and Nuit. Depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness,
which was her sacred animal. The name "Tefnut" probably
derives from the root "teftef", signifying "to
spit, to moisten" and the root "nu" meaning "waters,
sky." SEE ALSO Geb, Nuit, Ra, Shu. ----- Thoth (Tahuti)
The god of wisdom (Thoth is the Greek corruption of the original
Egyptian Tahuti), Thoth was said to be self-created at the beginning
of time, along with his consort Ma'at (truth). The two produced
eight children, of which the most important was Amen, the hidden
one, who was worshiped in Thebes as the Lord of the Universe.
Thoth was depicted as a man with the head of an ibis bird, and
carried a pen and scrolls upon which he recorded all things.
He was shown as attendant in almost all major scenes involving
the gods, but especially at the judgement of the deceased. It
was widely believed that Thoth invented the magical and hermetic
arts, and thus the Tarot deck, especially its revision by Aleister
Crowley, is often referred to as the "Book of Thoth".
SEE ALSO Amen, Ma'at. ***************************************************************
Part II - Frequently asked Questions (per se) ----- INTRODUCTORY
NOTE Herein I have placed a few frequently asked questions, and
their answers, concerning ancient Egyptian mythology. If anyone
can suggest any additions, modifications, clarifications, etc.
please feel free to contact me by Email at knightster+@cmu.edu
. Also, if anyone catches any typos, let me know. Typos in the
names of gods may or may not be corrected, depending upon whether
(upon consulting my sources, grammars, dictionaries, etc.) they're
actually typos! If some fact is blatantly wrong, please contact
me with a reference, and I will see if I can find some further
information on the subject. In such cases, we may be considering
two different versions of the myth, in which case I will add
the variant information as such to the FAQ. ----- * In Liber
AL, there are some Egyptian names that look funny. What's the
deal? Crowley, it seems, tried as much as possible to use the
original Egyptian pronounciations of divine names, rather than
use their popular Greek corruptions. Some of these (e.g. Hadit)
have since been revised in the light of better knowledge of Egyptian,
but his attempt was in general a good one. * Was there any Egyptian
gematria? Put simply, no. If there was a standard order used
by the Egyptians for their alphabet, it has been lost. And unlike
Hebrew, but like English, the symbols used to express numbers
in Ancient Egyptian were not used for letters. However, since
the phonetics of Egyptian closely parallel Hebrew, it is possible
to transliterate Egyptian names and phrases into the Hebrew alphabet
for gematric computations much more readily than English. * What's
the deal with all these 'hyphenated' gods like Amen-Ra, Ra-Hoor-Khuit,
Ptah-Seker-Ausar, etc.? Most hyphenated gods' names are explained
thusly: In ancient Egypt, different cities often had completely
different conceptions of cosmology. As the influence of a city
grew, so often did the influence of its mythos. It became necessary
to reconcile different gods who served similar roles, and so
the priests took the enlightened viewpoint that the "gods"
were merely one entity manifesting under different names and/or
forms. The one entity was referred to by a compound name, such
as Amen-Ra or Ptah-Seker-Ausar. However, some hyphenated gods'
names are merely hyphenated to make them easier to read, for
example, Her-nedj-tef-f, from the Egyptian words Her "Horus",
nedj "avenger", tef "father", and -f "his",
thus "Horus, the avenger of his father." In the case
of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, we have both explanations in force: Ra "Ra",
Hoor "Horus", khuit "of the horizons", thus
"Ra, who is like Horus of the Horizons". |