Egyptian pantheon

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nṯrt "goddess"

in hieroglyphs

nṯr "god"

in hieroglyphs

Ancient Egyptian religion was polytheistic and often zoomorphic. The Egyptian term for goddess was neṯeret (nṯrt; netjeret, nečeret) and the term for god was neṯer (nṯr; also transliterated netjer, nečer). The hieroglyphs for these terms R8) are depicted as flags followed by an appropriate gender symbol.

The pharaoh was deified after death, and bore the title of nṯr nfr "the good god", if men. The title, "servant of god" was used for the religious leaders in the temples of gods, ḥmt-nṯr was applied to priestesses and ḥm-nṯr was applied to priests, with parallel constructions for goddesses, the religious leaders of their temples, and for dead pharaohs who were women.

The term, hemt-nṯr-nt imen "servant of the god, wife of Amun" was a title held by priestesses in the tenth (2,160 BCE) and twelfth (1991-1802 BCE) dynasties (Shafer, p 14), which was adopted by the women members of the royal family in the New Kingdom (the hereditary, royal lineage of Egypt was a matrilineality, carried by its women). The New Kingdom is dated from 1,570-1,070 BCE and includes the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth dynasties. The term "god father" jt-nṯr was an epithet of Thoth when he became identified as a counterpart to the goddess, Ma'at.

Ancient Egyptian culture persisted. That dynasty was ruled by a Hellenistic royal family for nearly 300 years, from 305 BCE. to 30 BCE, when the Romans conquered Cleopatra VII, the last pharaoh. Roman rule lasted until the final invasion by Muslim Arabs in 646 CE that ended 975 years of Græco-Roman rule over Egypt. During that time religious concepts had blended few aspects from the invading cultures with the native, but retained most of the Egyptian cults and deities for continuity with the long history of a culture that served as the authority for the government, maintained the royal lineage, and interwove their deities with their rulers—along with the developing Christian beliefs among some of the Romans.

1 Regional pantheons during the Old Kingdom
2 Later regional pantheons
3 List of deities of Ancient Egypt
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Regional pantheons during the Old Kingdom

Ancient Egyptian votiv statues of the gods

In the Old Kingdom, the third through sixth dynasties dated between 2,686 to 2,134 BCE, the pantheons of individual Egyptian cities varied by region. Beliefs can be split into five distinct localized groups during that time and which arose later:

the Ennead of Heliopolis, meaning the nine - consisted of Atum, Geb, Isis, Nut, Osiris, Nephthys, Seth, Shu, and Tefnut
the Ogdoad of Hermopolis, a changing myth which began with eight deities who were worshipped in four female-male pairs; the females were associated with snakes and the males with frogs: Naunet and Nu, Amaunet and Amun, Kauket and Kuk, Hauhet and Huh; first being a cult having Hathor and her son, Ra (and later, Horus as the son of Isis, who was an aspect of Hathor); later changing to a cult where Hathor and Thoth were the main deities over a much larger number of deities; and even later, Ra was assimilated into Atum-Ra through a merger with Atum of the Ennead cosmogeny; in the final version of the creation myth a lotus, a symbol held by Hathor, was said to have arisen from the waters after an explosive interaction, the lotus was said to have opened and revealed Ra, who later became identified as Horus also
the Khnum-Satis-Anuket triad of Elephantine, which was the dwelling place of Khnum, the ram-headed god of the cataracts, who guarded the origin of the waters of the Nile which was thought to issue from caves beneath the island; in Elephantine he was worshipped along with his counterpart, Satis, a more ancient gazelle-headed war, protector, and fertility deity who personified the flooding of the Nile, and Anuket, the fertility goddess who was the deification of the Nile, daughter to Satis, and became identified as their daughter in the triad. Other versions of myths identify Khnum with the creation of bodies in association with Heket, the goddess who breathed life into the bodies. In another variant Khnum is identified as the counterpart of Menhit and the father of Heka, a personification of law

[edit] Later regional pantheons

the Amun-Mut-Chons triad of Thebes that arose during the Middle Kingdom in 2134-1991 B.C.
the Ptah-Sekhmet-Nefertem triad of Memphis, which is unusual because these deities were not associated with each other before this triad was formalized, when beliefs about the Ennead and Ogdoad were merged after Memphis rose to prominence

[edit] List of deities of Ancient Egypt

Amun (also spelled Amen) - the hidden one, a local creator deity later married to Mut after rising in importance
Amunet - female aspect of the primordial concept of air in the Ogdoad cosmogony; was depicted as a cobra snake or a snake-headed woman
Anubis -jackal god of embalming and tomb-caretaker who watches over the dead
Anuket, goddess of the Nile River, the child of Satis and among the Elephantine triad of deities; temple on the Island of Seheil, giver of life and fertility, gazelle-headed
Apep (Apophis) - evil serpent of the Underworld, enemy of Ra and formed from a length of Neith's spit during her creation of the world
Apis - the Apis bull probably was at first a fertility figure concerned with the propagation of grain and herds; but he became associated with Ptah, the paramount deity of the Memphis area and also, with Osiris (as User-Hapi) and Sokaris, later gods of the dead and the underworld. As Apis-Atum he was associated with the solar cult and was often represented with the sun-disk of the cow deity between his horns, being her offspring. The Apis bull often represented a king who became a deity after death, suggesting an earlier ritual in which the king was sacrificed
The Aten - the sun disk or globe worshipped primarily during the Amarna Period in the Eighteenth Dynasty when representing a monotheistic deity advanced by Amenhotep IV, who took the name Akhenaten
Atum - a creator deity, and the setting sun
Bast, goddess, protector of the pharaoh and a solar deity where the sun could be seen shining in her eyes at night, a lioness, house cat, cat-bodied or cat-headed woman, also known as Bastet when superseded by Sekhmet
Bat - represented the cosmos and the essence of the soul (Ba), cow goddess who gave authority to the king, cult originated in Hu and persisted widely until absorbed as an aspect of Hathor after the eleventh dynasty; associated with the sistrum and the ankh
Bes - dwarfed demigod - associated with protection of the household, particularly childbirth, and entertainment
The four sons of Horus- personifications of the containers for the organs of the deceased pharaohs - Imsety in human form, contained the liver and was protected by Isis; Hapi in baboon form, contained the lungs and was protected by Nephthys; Duamutef in jackal form, contained the stomach and was protected by Neith; Qebehsenuef in hawk form, contained the large intestines and was protected by Serket
Geb - god of the Earth and first ruler of Egypt
Hapy - god embodied by the Nile, and who represents life and fertility
Hathor - among the oldest of Egyptian deities - often depicted as the cow, a solar deity who was the mother to the pharaoh, the golden calf of the bible, and later goddess of Love and Music
Heget - goddess of childbirth and fertility, who breathed life into humans at birth, represented as a frog or a frog-headed woman
Horus - the falcon-headed god, son of Isis, god of pharaohs and Upper Egypt
Isis - goddess of magical power and healing, "She of the Throne" who was represented as the throne, also the wife of Osiris and goddess of the underworld^{[citation needed]}.
Iusaaset - the "shadow" of Atum or Atum-Ra, a goddess who was seen as the mother and grandmother of the gods, referred to as the great one who comes forth
Khepry - the scarab beetle, the embodiment of the dawn
Khnum - a creator deity, god of the inundation
Khonsu - the son of Amun and Mut, whose name means "wanderer", which probably refers to the passage of the moon across the sky, as he was a lunar deity. In the late period, he was also considered an important god of healing
Kuk - the personification of darkness that often took the form of a frog-headed god, whose consort was the snake-headed Kauket
Maahes - he who is true beside her, a lion prince, son of Bast in Lower Egypt and of Sekhmet in Upper Egypt and sharing their natures, his father varied—being the current chief male deity of the time and region, a god of war, weather, and protector of matrilineality, his cult arrived during the New Kingdom era perhaps from Nubia and was centred in Taremu and Per-Bast, associated with the high priests of Amon, the knife, lotuses, and devouring captives
Ma'at - a goddess who personified concept of truth, balance, justice, and order - represented as a woman, sitting or standing, holding a sceptre in one hand and an ankh in the other - thought to have created order out of the primal chaos and was responsible for maintaining the order of the universe and all of its inhabitants, to prevent a return to chaos
Mafdet - she who runs swiftly - early deification of legal justice (execution) as a cheetah, ruling at judgment hall in Duat where enemies of the pharaoh were decapitated with Mafdet's claw; alternately, a cat, a mongoose, or a leopard protecting against vermin, snakes, and scorpions; the bed upon which royal mummies were placed in murals
Menhit - goddess of war - depicted as a lioness-goddess and therefore becoming associated with Sekhmet
Meretseger - goddess of the valley of the kings, a cobra-goddess, sometimes triple-headed, dweller on the top of or the personification of the pyramid-shaped mountain, Al-Qurn, which overlooked the tombs of the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings
Meskhenet - goddess of childbirth, and the creator of each person's Ka, a part of their soul, thereby associated with fate
Menthu - an ancient god of war - nomad - represented strength, virility, and victory
Min - 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". 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.
Mnevis - was the sacred bull of Heliopolis. The bull was associated with Ra as the offspring of the solar cow deity, and possibly also with Min. When Akhenaten abandoned the other god named Amun (Amen) in favour of the Aten he claimed that he would maintain the Mnevis cult. The cult may have retained his favor because of its solar associations.
Mut (also spelled Mout), mother, was originally a title of the primordial waters of the cosmos, the mother from which the cosmos emerged, as was Naunet in the Ogdoad cosmogony, however, the distinction between motherhood and cosmic water lead to the separation of these identities and Mut gained aspects of a creator goddess
Naunet - a goddess, the primal waters from which all arose, similar to Mut and later closely related to Nu
Neith - goddess of war, then great mother goddess - a name of the primal waters, the goddess of creation and weaving, said to weave all of the world on her loom
Nekhbet - goddess depicted as a white vulture - protector of Egypt, royalty, and the pharaoh with her extended wings - referred to as Mother of Mothers, who hath existed from the Beginning, and Creatrix of the World (related to Wadjet); always seen on the front of pharaoh’s double crown with Wadjet
Nephthys - goddess of death, holder of the rattle, the Sistrum - sister to Isis and the nursing mother of Horus and the pharaohs represented as the mistress of the temple, a woman with falcon wings, usually outstretched as a symbol of protection
Nut - goddess of heaven and the sky - mother of many deities as well as the sun, the moon, and the stars
Osiris - god of the underworld after Hathor and Anubis, fertility, and agriculture - the oldest son of the sky goddess, Nut, and the Earth god, Geb, and being brother and later, the husband of Isis - and early deity of Upper Egypt whose cult persisted into the Sixth Century BC
Pakhet - she who tears - deity of merged aspects of Sekhmet and Bast, cult center at Beni Hasan where north and south met - lioness protector, see Speos Artemidos
Ptah - a creator deity, also god of craft
Ra - the sun, also a creator deity - whose chief cult centre was based in Heliopolis meaning "city of the sun"
Ra-Horakhty - god of both sky and Sun, a combination of Ra and Horus - thought to be god of the Rising Sun
Reshep - war god who was originally from Syria
Satis - the goddess who represented the flooding of the Nile River, ancient war, hunting, and fertility goddess, mother of the Nile, Anuket, associated with water, depicted with a bow and arrows, and a gazelle or antelope horned, and sometimes, feathered crown
Sekhmet - goddess of destruction and war, the lioness - also personified as an aspect of Ra, fierce protector of the pharaoh, a solar deity, and later as an aspect of Hathor
Seker- god of death
Selket- scorpion goddess, protectress, goddess of magic
Sobek - crocodile god of the Nile
Set - god of storms, later became god of evil, desert, also Lower Egypt
Seshat - goddess of writing, astronomy, astrology, architecture, and mathematics depicted as a scribe
Shu - embodiment of wind or air
Swenet - goddess of the ancient city on the border of southern Egypt at the Nile River, trade in hieroglyphs
Taweret - goddess of pregnant women and protector at childbirth
Tefnut - goddess, embodiment of rain, dew, clouds, and wet weather, depicted as a cat and sometimes as a lioness
Thoth - god of the moon, drawing, writing, geometry, wisdom, medicine, music, astronomy, magic; usually depicted as ibis-headed, or as a goose; cult centered in Khemennu
Wadjet - the goddess - snake goddess of lower Egypt, depicted as a cobra, patron and protector of Egypt and the pharaoh, always shown on crown of the pharaohs; later joined by the image of Nekhbet after north and south united; other symbols: eye, snake on staff
Wadj-wer - fertility god and personification of the Mediterranean sea or lakes of the Nile delta
Wepwawet - jackal god of upper Egypt
Wosret - a localized guardian goddess, protector of the young god Horus, an early consort of Amun, who was later superseded by Mut