Basic Information
This page is an index to the myths and religion of Ancient Egypt. The Egyptian culture existed for some 3,000 years, and during that time their religion evolved constantly. They ended up with a huge pantheon of deities.
Some concepts in Egyptian Mythology:
- Animals were very important to the Egyptians. Nearly every god had an associated animal, and were often represented as theriocephalic beings with a human body and the head of their animal type. See also List of Animals. There's also a list of animal headed gods at our Theriocephaly page.
- Elaborate Funerary Practices as dictated by the Book of the Dead and the Book of Gates. These revolved around Mummification, and spells intended to protect the deceased in the next world. For an idea of just how elaborate this could get, see King Tut's Tomb Treasures.
- Apotheosis of the Pharoah. The kings of egypt became gods after their death, and were deemed the sons and representatives of the gods while alive.
- Maat, meaning truth, justice, balance and the natural order. Eventually this became personified as a goddess. The egyptians were very interested in Time and cycles, such as the rhythmic yearly flooding of the nile, and the daily journey of Ra through the sky.
- Creation Myths. The Egyptians had at least four different contradictory stories about how the world came to be.
- Protective amulets with divine power, like the Eye of Horus and the Scarab (artifact). When King Tut was buried, his mummy was wearing over 100 amulets.
- The Ancient Egyptian concept of the soul named the many souls of each person: the Ren, Ba, Ka, Sheut, Ib, Aakhu, Khaibut and Khat.
Major Cosmological Deities
- Amun – "the hidden one", a creator deity with a cult centre in Thebes.
- Amunet – the primordial goddess, the in the Ogdoad cosmogony; depicted as a cobra snake or a snake-headed woman
- Apophis or Apep – evil serpent of the Underworld and enemy of Ra; formed from a length of Neith's spit during her creation of the world.
- Atum – the oldest creator deity with a cult centre in Heliopolis.
- The Aten – a sun deity worshipped prominently during the period of Atenism in the eighteenth dynasty under Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten)
- Bes – God of war, music, and protector of homes and children.
- Geb – god of the Earth, first ruler of Egypt and husband of Nut.
- Hathor or Hethert – cow or cow-goddess of the sky, fertility, love, beauty, and music
- Horus or Heru – god of the sky, war and kingship. Has the head of a falcon, hawk or peregrine falcon
- Isis or Aset – goddess of magic, motherhood and fertility and consort of Osiris, represented as the throne
- Khepri – the scarab beetle or scarab-headed creator god identified with the rising sun.
- Khnum – ram-headed creator god who causes the Nile flood.
- Ma'at – goddess who personified the order and balance of the universe, and worked in the underworld to do the "weighing of the heart" ceremony.
- Min – god of fertility, represented as a man with an erect penis.
- Mut – mother goddess, consort of Amun.
- Neith – goddess of creation, war, and hunting.
- Nu – deification of the primordial watery abyss.
- Nut (mythology) – goddess of the sky and heavens.
- Osiris or Wesir – judge of the dead and ruler in the afterlife and consort of Isis.
- Ptah – creator deity, also a god of craft.
- Ra – the sun, also a creator deity, whose chief cult center was based in Heliopolis, has the head of a falcon
- Sekhmet – lioness goddess of the sun, destruction, pestilence, and war; fierce protector of the pharaoh, and later as an aspect of Hathor; later identified as a sister to Bast.
- Set or Seth – god of chaos evil; protector of Ra. Has the head of a Set beast
- Shu - god of the air.
- Tefnut – goddess of moisture, moist air, dew, and rain.
- Thoth or Djehuty – ibis-headed god of the moon, drawing, writing, geometry, wisdom, medicine, music, astronomy and magic.
Deities associated mainly with the funerary cult and underworld
- Am-heh - minor underworld god, "devourer of millions"
- Ammit – crocodile-headed female devourer in Duat, a funerary deity appearing in the Judgement Hall of Osiris.
- Anubis - dog or jackal god of embalming] and tomb-caretaker who watches over the dead.
- Aken – boat-keeper of the underworld ferry.
- Aker - earth deity.
- Ba-Pef - minor underworld god
- Heka - deification of magic
- The four sons of Horus - anthropomorphic personifications of the four canopic jars
- Iabet - goddess, personification of the east.
- Imentet - goddess of the necropolis west of the Nile
- Hu - deification of authoritative utterance, or command.
- Mehen - protective snake god which coils around the sun god Ra during his journey through the night.
- Meretseger – cobra-goddess of tomb builders and protector of royal tombs.
- Nehebkau - 'uniter' or 'provider of ka's', a benign snake deity.
- Nephthys or Nebthet – goddess of death, night, and lamentation; the nursing mother of Horus and the pharaohs.
- Saa or Sia - deification of perception.
- Seker or Sokar - falcon god of the Memphite necropolis
- Shait or Shai - deification of the concept of fate.
Other significant deities
- Andjety - god thought to be a precursor to Osiris.
- Anhur - god of war at Abydos and Thinis.
- Anput - goddess who was the female aspect of Anubis, his wife.
- Anti - hawk god of Upper Egypt
- Anuket - gazelle-headed goddess of the Nile River, the child of Satis, and among the Elephantine triad of deities.
- Apis – bull deity worshipped in the Memphis region.
- Ash - god of oases and the vineyards of the western Nile Delta.
- Amenhotep, son of Hapu – philosopher, god of healing
- Ahmose-Nefertari – Mistress of the sky, lady of the west
- Amenhotep I – god of oracles, god of Deir el-Medina
- Babi - baboon god associated with death and virility.
- Banebdjedet - ram god of fertility.
- Bast or Bastet – goddess depicted as a lioness, house cat, cat-bodied or cat-headed woman; after Greek occupation identified by them as a lunar deity.
- Bat (goddess) – cow goddess who gave authority to the king, her cult originated in Upper Egypt and persisted widely until absorbed as an aspect of Hathor after the eleventh dynasty.
- Bata - bull god.
- Bes – dwarfed demigod associated with protection of the household, particularly childbirth, and entertainment.
- Chenti-cheti - crocodile god.
- Eye of Ra – the symbol and eye of sun god did sometimes itself manifest as a goddess and even rebelled against Ra
- Ha - god of the western deserts.
- Hapi or Hapy – deification of the annual flooding of the Nile, associated with fertility.
- Hatmehit - fish goddess, originally a deification of the Nile River.
- Hauhet - female personification of infinity or eternity
- Hedetet - scorpion goddess, later incorporated into Isis
- Hemen - falcon god
- Heqet – frog or a frog-headed goddess of childbirth and fertility
- Hemsut - goddess of fate and protection
- Heryshaf - ram god
- Huh - deification of eternity
- Iah - god of the moon
- Iat - minor goddess of milk and, by association, of nurturing and childbirth
- Iusaaset – a primal goddess described as "the grandmother of all of the deities"
- Imhotep – god of medicine and healing.
- Kauket - snake-headed female personification of darkness, whose consort was the frog-headed Kuk
- Kebechet - goddess of embalming liquid and purification, a snake or ostrich
- Kneph - a creator deity
- Khonsu – god of youth and the moon
- Kuk – frog-headed personification of darkness, whose consort or female form was the snake-headed Kauket
- Maahes – lion-headed god of war, weather
- Mafdet – goddess who protected against snakes and scorpions
- Menhit – goddess of war, associated with Sekhmet
- Meret - goddess associated with rejoicing, singing, and dancing.
- Meskhenet – goddess of childbirth and the creator of each person's Ka, a part of their soul, which she breathed into them at the moment of birth
- Mnevis – the sacred bull of Heliopolis
- Monthu or Montu - falcon god of war
- Nefertem - god of healing and beauty and perfume.
- Nekhbet – vulture goddess, patron of pharaohs and Upper Egypt
- Neper - a god of grain
- Pakhet – feline goddess, a synthesis of Sekhmet and Bast, has the head of a caracal or other wild cat
- Petbe - god of revenge
- Qebui – god of the north wind
- Rem - fish god who fertilizes the land with his tears
- Renenutet - cobra or snake goddess worshipped in Lower Egypt, associated with Wadjet, fate, and deification of the act of giving a true name during birth, later Geb was her husband
- Satet – goddess of war, hunting, fertility, and the flooding of the Nile River
- Serket – scorpion goddess of healing stings and bites
- Seshat – goddess of writing, astronomy, astrology, architecture, and mathematics; depicted as a scribe
- Shed - savior deity
- Shezmu - god of execution, slaughter, blood, oil, and wine
- Sobek – crocodile god of the Nile, patron of the military
- Sobkou - messenger god
- Sopdet - goddess seen as the personification of the star Sothis, (Sirius)
- Sopdu - personification of the scorching heat of the sun arriving after heliacal rising
- Ta-Bitjet - scorpion goddess identified as the consort of Horus
- Tatenen - androgynous deity of the primordial mound
- Taweret – hippopotamus goddess of pregnant women and protector during childbirth
- Tenenet - goddess of beer
- Unut - snake goddess, but sometimes depicted with the head of a lion or hare
- Wadjet – snake goddess and protector of Lower Egypt, often shown with two snake heads at once, or a human head on a snake body
- Wadj-wer – fertility god and personification of the Mediterranean Sea or lakes of the Nile Delta
- Weneg - plant god supporting the heavens
- Werethekau - goddess of supernatural powers and protection of the deceased, associated with the crowns
- Wepwawet – jackal or wolf god of warfare and hunting
- Wosret – a guardian goddess of Thebes whose cult became prominent widely, protector of the young god Horus, an early consort of Amun, later superseded by Mut
Important companies of deities
- The Ennead of Heliopolis, meaning "the nine" – consisted of Ra/Atum, Shu and Tefnut, Geb and Nut, Osiris and Isis, Nephthys and Set, and Horus… which you'll notice totals up to 10, not nine.
- The triad of Memphis: Ptah, Sekhmet and Nefertem
- The Ogdoad of Hermopolis, 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
- The triad of Thebes: Amun, Mut and Khonsu
Places:
- Aaru
- Akhet
- Duat
- Neter-khertet
- hypothetical real-world location: Egyptian sacred Ibis farm
Symbols:
- Ankh
- The Crook and the Flail
- Djed
- Double Crown
- Eye of Horus
- Imiut fetish
- Nemes Headdress
- Scarab (artifact)
- Was
- Uraeus
Myths:
Monsters, Creatures, and Special Animals:
- Ammit
- Apep
- Bennu (similar to a Phoenix)
- The Ghost of Akhenaten
- Griffin
- Petsuchos
- Serpopard
- Set Animal (see also Typhonian Animal and Salawa)
- Shezmu
- Sphinx
- Three-Legged Crow
Honorable mention: the Mummy. They are not creatures of Egyptian Myth, but thanks to mankind's fertile fears of the unknown, the dead, and the past, it's pretty common to have some sort of undead Mummy in games associated with Ancient Egypt, especially those set hundreds or thousands of years later when someone disturbs the tomb of a Pharoah.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- Obviously of use for a games and stories set in Ancient Egypt.
- Thanks to Interpretatio Graeca, it's likely to be relevant to tales set in Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and other parts of the Ancient World.
- Likewise useful as-is for urban fantasy tales, especially those with a panmythology/fantasy kitchen sink approach, like the Scion RPG.
- Elements can easily make their way into pulp genre tales of adventurer archaeologists raiding tombs and pyramids in search of things like King Tut's Tomb Treasures.
- Given the animal-head motif, you could re-envision the entire Egyptian pantheon as shapeshifters, lycanthropes, wise folklore animals, etc.
- Not gods, but a category of animal-themed supernatural creatures who were influential enough to manipulate pharoahs and priests and guide egyptian culture.
- You could remove them from the Egyptian setting, either being those entities set in another time or era, or even not address their deific or historic status. Essentially just using the myths as a template for personalities or creature types. If you stick to lesser known Egyptian gods (using Pakhet or Maahes instead of Bast, for example), your players/audience might not realize what you're riffing on until you've been doing it a while.