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Anat — goddess of war, often depicted with a shield, lance, and axe; served as a
protectoress of the king in battle, and interchangeable with Astarte; called
“mother of all the gods” and “mistress of the sky”; introduced from Syria or
Palestine; consort with the Syrian gods Reshef and Baal, who fathered a wild
bull with her
Anubis (Anpu) — canine god of the dead and the “opener of roads” for the dead
souls, associated with mummification and embalming; often assumes the
form of a jackal, perhaps to ward off these animals from humans who had
died in the desert; also depicted as a black dog, symbolic of rotting corpses
and the fertile black soil of the Nile; he is the bastard son of Osiris and
Nephthys, who abandoned her son, but was raised by Isis in her stead
Aso — a beautiful sorceress and queen of Ethiopia, whose power was supposedly as strong
as Isis. In the Osiris myth, Aso assists Set by entering the shadow of Isis and
Nephthys in order to discover the secret measurements of Osiris
Atum — creator god and solar deity; Atum came into being before the
heavens and earth were separated, rising out of Nun, the waters
of chaos, to form the primeval mound; his name means “the all” or
“completed one”; Atum began creation by copulating with his hand
(or spitting out) Shu and Tefnut, therefore earning Atum the
moniker “the Great He-She”; a protector deity, associated closely
with the rituals of kingship (Atum lifts the souls of the dead
pharaohs from the pyramid to the heavens); linked with various
animals, such as the lion, bull, lizard, serpent, and scarab beetle;
associated with Ra, often as a combined form Atum-Ra; received
the setting sun in the boat of Ra as it descends on the horizon
Bast (Bastet) — an ancient cat goddess who protected women during pregnancy;
was a patroness of music, singing, and dancing, and she was the protector
of joy, love, and pleasure; often depicted with a cat’s head (or a lioness’
head), or as a seated cat; affiliated with the rays of the sun, representing
light and warmth; some consider her to be the mother of the savage lion-
god Mahes (Miysis in Greek), whose name means “Lord of Slaughter”
Bata (Bat) — an ancient bull god (or cow goddess, depicted with two faces), representing
fertility, ultimately assimilated with Hathor by the New Kingdom; also represented
unity over Upper and Lower Egypt, depicted in one 12th Dynasty tomb flanked by
Horus and Set in poses of reconciliation; some scholars assert that Bata’s identity
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became incorporated into two other gods: Set and Baal, a Canaanite bull god identified
with Set; the Phoenecian and Hebrew "beth" ("house") may be transliteration of
“Bata,” here used as a magical name of Set, and possibly created by a phonetic shift
from “Seth” to “Beth”
Befen — one of seven scorpions sent by Thoth and Serkhet to protect Isis and to help her
escape Set’s captivity
Ennead (Pesedjet) — term (meaning “nine”) used to define the nine major gods of the
Egyptian pantheon: Atum (the Bull of the Ennead), his children Shu and Tefnut, his
grandchildren Geb and Nut, and his four great grandchildren Osiris, Set, Isis, and
Nephthys; sometimes Thoth, Horus, Ra, and Ptah are included as well
Hapi —the god of inundation, and the fertility of the Nile River; symbol of life and
fertility, depicted as a pot-bellied bearded man with pendulous breasts and
a headdress filled with aquatic plants, symbolizing the nurturing aspects of
the river; his name means “runner”
Hathor — bovine goddess with diverse qualities, often worshipped in three forms: as a cow,
as a woman with the ears of a cow, and as a woman wearing a headdress consisting of
a wig, horns, and a sun disk; her name means “House of Horus,” and her hieroglyph
shows a falcon confined inside a rectangle; she was regarded as the divine mother of
all reigning pharaohs, associated with royal
pleasures, such as sex, love, joy, and music;
sometimes depicted as a lion form of the goddess
Sekhmet, and in this guise she assumes the form of
one of Ra’s eyes smiting blasphemers; also known
as the “lady of the west,” where she was said to
receive the setting sun, which she protected until
morning; also known as the “lady of the sycamore,”
and is associated with healing powers
Egyptian Gods and Goddesses K 173
Heka — “magical speech”; represented magic, supernatural powers, and miracles;
patron god of wizards and physicians; the concept that the spoken word has
the power to create or destroy; to repeat a person’s name was to render him
immortal; stands in Ra’s Boat of a Million Years, along with Hu
(authoritative utterance or command) and Sia (perception)
Horus — “face” (the face of heaven), “high,” “above”; root of the word
“hero”; he became the intermediary between the living and the
dead, receiving human prayers for Osiris; known as the “twice-
born” due to his human reincarnation of Horus the Elder, his
original spirit form; symbolized as a hawk; represents
leadership, as well as the intelligence, alertness, and longevity
of a just ruler; nothing escaped his watchful eye (his eyes were
first depicted as the sun and the moon); became king of Upper
and Lower Egypt
Isis — “the throne,” the power to make kings, the seat and
throne of the soul; the binding force of the divine soul;
depicted early as a mistress of magic, she learns Ra’s
true name, and hence the secrets of the universe; also
called Weret-Hekau (“Great of Magic”) and Mut-Netjer
(“Mother of the Gods”); helped to civilize Egypt with
her husband Osiris, teaching agriculture and medicine
and instituting marriage; she also attained Ra’s
powers, which she dedicated to the service of mankind
Khons (Khonsu) — the moon god and the god of healing, typically represented
as a baboon or a mummified hawk-headed human; his name means
“wanderer” or “navigator,” and he was associated with the nature of
dreams; he is often honored during childbirth, and was credited with the
ability to drive out evil spirits; linked with Thoth, god of writing and
wisdom, who is another lunar deity; depicted as a young man with a
hawk’s head, mummy wrappings, and the scepter of the god Ptah
Neith (Nit) —creation goddess whose symbol was a shield with crossed
arrows; representing Lower Egypt, she wore the red crown; mythical
inventor of weaving, she was linked with mummy bandages; said to be a
consort to Set and mother of Sobek; sometimes she was depicted as a
sexless being, associated with the lake of Nun, the primordial waters of
chaos before creation; her name means “primeval waters,” “one who is,”
or “she who saw Atum’s birth”; was the patroness of hunting, warfare,
and the Libyans
Nekhbet — a vulture goddess paired with Wadjet (cobra goddess of the north),
representing dominion over Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively; she is
depicted as a vulture with outspread wings and talons holding shen signs
(symbols of eternity); she resided in the primeval waters of chaos before
creation; was a patroness of childbirth and nature, often depicted wirh a
water lily and a serpent entwined in its stems; her name means “she of
Nekheb”
Nemty — a war god having the form of a falcon, identified with Horus; often
depicted as a falcon-headed man in a boat; his name means “he who
travels,” and appears as a ferryman who sails the Ennead to the Island
in the Middle; had his toes cut off for disobeying orders from the Ennead
Nephthys (Nebt-hut) — “Mistress of the House”; “Friend of the Dead”; the lady
of the house (represents Isis as a married woman); wife of Set, but
mistress of Ra and Osiris; rides the night boat of the underworld, meeting
the deceased king’s spirit and riding him to “Lightland”; she gives
guidance to the deceased and comforts the living relatives; is the wife of
Set and the mother of Anubis, the jackal-headed god fathered by Osiris
Nun (Nu) — “the Father of Fathers and the Mother of Mothers”; “the
void”; “the waters of potentiality”; “the primeval waters,” or a
state of being before The First Time; she lies inert until Atum
rises and throws off the waters to begin creation (which is
ongoing), creating Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture); all things
will return to Nun, a perpetual state of nonbeing
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Onuris (Anhur, Inhert) — the god associated with war and hunting, whose
name means “he who brings back the distant one” or “the bringer of
fear”; he is portrayed as a bearded man holding a spear or a rope,
symbolic of the battles between Horus and Set (Horus used these
weapons to defeat Set in his hippopotamus form); also known as an
avenger defending Egypt on behalf of Ra, assuming Ra’s warrior
aspects, thus given the epithet “son of Ra”; he was worshipped in
conjunction with the god Shu, another solar deity; associated with
Mars; also represented the creative power of humans
Osiris (Asar, Wesir, Greek Orion) — “He sees the Throne”; “the seat and
throne of the eye”; the heavenly source of the soul’s substance and the
heavenly body to which all souls return; the judge of the dead and
overseer of the blessed spirits; embodies the “Black Land of the Two
Lands” as the fertile soil from the Nile’s flood; he is annually
“murdered” by the Red Land (Set), but is resurrected at the rising of
Sopdet (the star Sirius) in late July; originally the lord of the earth,
Osiris became the king of the gods and the Other World after his death
Egyptian Gods and Goddesses K 177
by Set and his resurrection by Isis; usually represented in mummified form,
symbolizing his authority over the dead; called Un-Nefer (“Good Being”) to indicate
his ability to judge the dead souls of the Underworld
Ptah — a creator god, called “Lord of Truth” in historical records, often depicted
as a mummy with his hands protruding from the wrappings, holding a staff
that combines the djed pillar (stability), ankh sign (life), and the was
scepter (prosperity); the patron of craftsmen, he was thought to have
paralleled Atum, creating the world by thoughts emanating from his heart
and words emerging from his tongue; the source of ethical and moral
order; he devised the “Opening of the Mouth” ceremony that allowed the
human soul to ascend to the heavens
Ra (Re) — “the sun” (that is, the sun that is in your mind, as opposed to
the disk in the sky, Aten); Ra was the most popular solar deity,
and he “lives” inside the physical disk of the sun, which is also
called the “Boat of a Million Years,” riding on the belly of Nut
(sky) and traveling in the darkness of the underworld half of the
time; symbol of light, life, and warmth; a creator and destroyer,
Ra represented the sun at its height in the noonday sky (Khepri
was the sunrise and Atum the sunset); symbolized also as a heron
(or a phoenix) who rises from the primordial waters (Nun) and
sings the song of creation; was often combined with Horus to
form Ra-Harakhti, a dweller in (and master of) the horizon; rose
out of an egg created by Ptah (or out of a lotus flower); the
monthly waxing and waning of the moon restored the eye of Ra;
depicted with a solar disk and cobra atop his head
Sekhmet — a lioness goddess whose name means “she who is powerful”; she
personified the aggressive aspects of female deities, often appearing with
the head of a lioness; she is linked with Wadjet when she assumes the
aspects of the fire-breathing Eye of Ra, often called the “Red Lady” in
this form; as a healer, her powers of destruction would be turned against
plague and disease; was wife to Ptah; paired with Hathor to kill the
blasphemers of Ra
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Serket (Serqet, Selket) — a scorpion goddess depicted with a scorpion atop her
head, poised to strike; her name is an abbreviation of the phrase serket
hetyt, meaning “one who causes the throat to breathe” or “she who
breathes”; one of her duties is to guard the royal coffin and canopic chest
in the pharaoh’s pyramid, along with Isis, Nephthys, and Neith; her name
appears in many spells for curing venomous bites; is the protector of little
children, especially from scorpion bites; assisted women in childbirth by
warding off the demons; also known as the goddess of detoxification
Set (Seth, Sutekh, Seti, Seba) — the god of the storm, lightning, and
thunder, he was a force of strength, violence, destruction, and chaos;
his name means “instigator of confusion,” “dazzle,” “stabilizing staff or
pillar,” or “He before whom the sky shakes”; the divine force of
habits; the ability of the body to control the awareness of flesh; the
guardian of the Boat of a Million Years; the shadow of Horus (Horus
and Set combine to form a complete individual); later became known
as the desert “Red Land,” a murderer, and even evil itself (Hebrew
“Satan” and the Greek “Typhon”); also known as a trickster god;
symbolized as an ass, hippopotamus, pig, jackal, and hyena
Tefen — one of seven scorpions sent by Thoth and Serkhet to protect Isis and to help her
escape Set’s captivity
Tefnut — “sky-spittle,” “rain”; airborne moisture, clouds, dew, and rain; the
wetness of life; the biological process; her sweet vaginal waters
nourish the earth; depicted as a female sphinx (woman with a lion’s
head), surmounted by the sun and seated on the throne, trampling the
enemies of the Two Lands; twin to Shu; with her twin sister Nut, the
earth-god and twin Geb, and god of the air Shu, they made a quartet
of air, sky, earth, and water; she was linked to the creative powers of
Ptah, serving as a means of bringing life into existence
in the Hall of Two Truths to record the verdict of the deceased person’s soul (that is
read by Anubis); associated with the moon, he was called “Lord of Heavens,”
“Beautiful Night,” and “Silent Being”; he was the protector of priest-physicians, and
was associated with the inundation of the Nile; skilled in magic incantations,
especially of healing
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