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Ancient Egyptian deities information


Painted relief of a seated man with green skin and tight garments, a man with the head of a jackal, and a man with the head of a falcon
The gods Osiris, Anubis, and Horus in the Tomb of Horemheb (KV57) in the Valley of the Kings

Ancient Egyptian deities are the gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistory. Deities represented natural forces and phenomena, and the Egyptians supported and appeased them through offerings and rituals so that these forces would continue to function according to maat, or divine order. After the founding of the Egyptian state around 3100 BC, the authority to perform these tasks was controlled by the pharaoh, who claimed to be the gods' representative and managed the temples where the rituals were carried out.

The gods' complex characteristics were expressed in myths and in intricate relationships between deities: family ties, loose groups and hierarchies, and combinations of separate gods into one. Deities' diverse appearances in art—as animals, humans, objects, and combinations of different forms—also alluded, through symbolism, to their essential features.

In different eras, various gods were said to hold the highest position in divine society, including the solar deity Ra, the mysterious god Amun, and the mother goddess Isis. The highest deity was usually credited with the creation of the world and often connected with the life-giving power of the sun. Some scholars have argued, based in part on Egyptian writings, that the Egyptians came to recognize a single divine power that lay behind all things and was present in all the other deities. Yet they never abandoned their original polytheistic view of the world, except possibly during the era of Atenism in the 14th century BC, when official religion focused exclusively on an abstract solar deity, the Aten.

Gods were assumed to be present throughout the world, capable of influencing natural events and the course of human lives. People interacted with them in temples and unofficial shrines, for personal reasons as well as for larger goals of state rites. Egyptians prayed for divine help, used rituals to compel deities to act, and called upon them for advice. Humans' relations with their gods were a fundamental part of Egyptian society.

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Ancient Egyptian deities

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Ancient Egyptian deities are the gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient...

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List of Egyptian deities

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Ancient Egyptian deities were an integral part of ancient Egyptian religion and were worshipped for millennia. Many of them ruled over natural and social...

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Gate deities of the underworld

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The gate deities of the underworld were ancient Egyptian minor deities charged with guarding the gates of the Egyptian underworld. The Egyptians believed...

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Cats in ancient Egypt

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In ancient Egypt, cats were represented in social and religious scenes dating as early as 1980 BC. Several ancient Egyptian deities were depicted and sculptured...

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Ra

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ancient Egyptian deity of the Sun. By the Fifth Dynasty, in the 25th and 24th centuries BC, he had become one of the most important gods in ancient Egyptian...

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Ancient Egyptian religion

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It centered on the Egyptians' interactions with many deities believed to be present and in control of the world. About 1500 deities are known. Rituals...

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Ancient Egyptian funerary practices

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were not only viewed as pets, but as incarnations of the deities. Most Ancient Egyptian deities were associated with particular animals, frequently being...

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Clothing in ancient Egypt

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Ancient Egyptian clothes refers to clothing worn in ancient Egypt from the end of the Neolithic period (prior to 3100 BC) to the collapse of the Ptolemaic...

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Ankh

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substances such as air or water. Commonly depicted in the hands of ancient Egyptian deities, sometimes being given by them to the pharaoh, it represents their...

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Amun

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Amen, Amana; Ancient Egyptian: jmn, reconstructed as /jaˈmaːnuw/ (Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → /ʔaˈmaːnəʔ/ (later Middle Egyptian) → /ʔaˈmoːn/...

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Bastet

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*Ubastat) in Egyptian speech, later becoming Coptic Oubaste. What the name of the goddess means remains uncertain. Names of ancient Egyptian deities often were...

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Index of Egyptian mythology articles

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This is an index of Egyptian mythology articles. Many synonyms exist for Egyptian deities; what follows is a list of each distinct entry, and does not...

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Horus

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also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably...

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Ancient Egyptian creation myths

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Ancient Egyptian creation myths are the ancient Egyptian accounts of the creation of the world. The Pyramid Texts, tomb wall decorations, and writings...

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Ancient Egyptian conception of the soul

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plural ḥꜥw, meaning approximately "sum of bodily parts"). According to ancient Egyptian creation myths, the god Atum created the world out of chaos, utilizing...

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Outline of ancient Egypt

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is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BCE (according to conventional Egyptian chronology) with the political...

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Ptah

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(Ancient Egyptian: ptḥ, reconstructed [piˈtaħ]; Ancient Greek: Φθά; Coptic: ⲡⲧⲁϩ; Phoenician: 𐤐𐤕𐤇, romanized: ptḥ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a...

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Taweret

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protective ancient Egyptian deities, most notably the crocodile god Sobek and the lioness goddess Sekhmet. These violent theriomorphic deities take on some...

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Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs

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Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs were centered around a variety of complex rituals that were influenced by many aspects of Egyptian culture. Religion...

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Apep

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(Ancient Egyptian: ꜥꜣpp(y) *ʻAʼpāp(ī); Coptic: Ⲁⲫⲱⲫ Aphōph), or Apophis (/əˈpoʊfɪs/; Ancient Greek: Ἄποφις Ápophis), was the ancient Egyptian deity who...

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Neith

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Ancient Egyptian: nt, likely originally to have been nrt "she is the terrifying one"; also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit) was an early ancient Egyptian deity...

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Egyptian mythology

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Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world...

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Isis

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Greek deities, such as the invention of marriage and the protection of ships at sea, and she retained strong links with Egypt and other Egyptian deities who...

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Assessors of Maat

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The Assessors of Maat were 42 minor ancient Egyptian deities of the Maat charged with judging the souls of the dead in the afterlife by joining the judgment...

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Ancient Egyptian technology

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Ancient Egyptian technology describes devices and technologies invented or used in Ancient Egypt. The Egyptians invented and used many simple machines...

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