Aadi or Sarti, is a divine patron who is one of the 40 gods of the Small Host in Heliopolis.

Acre(ancient Egyptian 'kr) - was considered the soul-manifestation (Ba) of the god Geb (Giba), the pre-dynastic deity of the earth; later - one of the gods of the underworld, one of the assistants of the god Ra in the battles with Apep. Depicted as a two-headed lion or a two-headed sphinx.

Akshut

Amana- see Amon.

Amantha(ancient Egyptian imntt) (conventional reading “Amentet”, form of the liquid form of the unit of number from the word “west”) - the goddess of the West, who met the dead in the Duat. Perhaps one of the hypostases of Hathor, with which she was later identified. Wed. Old Greek analogue - Hera, owner of the Garden of the Hesperides.

Amauna(Ancient Egyptian imwnt) - one of the four goddesses of the Hermopolitan Great Ogdoad, a pair of the god Amun. She was depicted as a woman with a snake's head.

Amente(Old Egyptian ‘imnt(i) [‘amanti] Amanti, Middle Egyptian Amanti, Late Egyptian Amente, demotic. Amente, Copt. Amenth, Phoenician, Old Greek. Auev &nq.-Tiv, lat. Amen-thes) - the god of the West, a kind of analogue of ancient Greek. Hespera. Identified with Osiris.

Amma- “The Devourer”, a monster that devours soul-hearts (Eb) according to the verdict of the afterlife court, the personification of the doom of the soul to return to the circle of bodily incarnations.

Amon, or Amun (ancient Egyptian 'imn ['aman-/amana Aman, Amanu, Aman-, middle Egyptian. Am[m]on, late Egyptian. Amun, Amen, demotic. Amen, Copt. Amoun, Amen; date. Amoun-, Ammouneis; other Greek A(j.jicov,-(ovoi;, Azzokhpg; lat. Ammon, Hammon, -onis - “invisible”).

Theban cosmogony considered Amon the only Revealed creation (Image, Appearance), who created all things, the father of fathers and the father of all gods, who raised the sky and established the earth. The gods were born from his mouth (that is, they were created by his word), people came out of the tears of his eyes. His wife Mut gave birth to his son Hansa (Old Egyptian Hansa, Middle Egyptian Hans, Late Egyptian Khons, Copt. Shons), who became the god of the Month, the full moon and the lord of time. Hansa was known as the patron saint of doctors and healing.

According to the cosmogonic myth of the Hellenistic period, at the beginning of the world there existed a great serpent named Kem-Atef, who, dying, bequeathed to his son Irta to create the Great Eight gods (the gods Amana, Kauk, Naun, Hauh and the goddesses Amauni, Kauki, Nauni and Hau-hi ). The gods had the appearance of men with the heads of frogs, and the goddesses had the appearance of women with the heads of snakes.

The gods of the Great Eight swam in the waters of the primordial Naun and set off on a journey to the lower reaches of the Nile, to the city of Hermopolis. They created an Egg from earth and water and placed it on the Primordial Hill. There, Khapri, the young sun god, hatched from the egg.

And then they sailed to Memphis and Heliopolis, where they gave birth to the gods Ptah and Atum (Atama), respectively. Having completed their great mission, the eight deities returned to Thebes and died there. The gods were buried in Deme (now Medinet Abu), in the temple of their creator Kem-Atef, and a cult of the dead was established there.

Amon was depicted in the form of a man or a ram, crowned with a crown of “atef” (two tall feathers). The receptacle of his soul was considered to be ram-headed sphinxes with lion bodies.

The sacred animals of Amun are the serpent, the white goose and the ram, whose divine symbolism is as follows.

The serpent is the image of the serpent Kem-Atef, the Constellation Draco, the North Pole of the earth and the north pole of the world, the north wind, the winter solstice and the winter season.

The White Goose, or the Great Gogotun, is the image of the Full Moon, the god Hansa, a symbol of the Great Day of Creation.

The Ram is the image of Amun himself, the Constellation Aries, a symbol of Spirit, Air, Wind, the spring equinox and fertility.

The lion body of the sphinx symbolizes the Constellation Leo Major, the summer solstice, the hot season.

The Phoenician theologian Sanhunyaton, having come across the secret writings of the Ammunaeans in Byblos in the recesses of temples, diligently began to study them himself. He thus expounded the theology of the Byblos Ammunaeans.

The beginning of everything was the Spirit (Greek Aer, i.e. spirit, gloomy air and similar to the (north) wind, or even the very breath of gloomy air; Egyptian Amon) and the muddy gloomy Infinity (Greek Chaos or Apeiron, i.e. infinity, boundless space; Egyptian. Ha-uh/Huh). They were limitless and had no end for many centuries.

The spirit did not know its creation. When the Spirit fell in love with its own principles and mixing occurred, this combination received the name Desire (Greek: Pothos). This is the beginning of the structure of all things.

From the union of the Spirit (Egyptian Shu and Aman, i.e. Amon) came Mot (Egyptian Tefnut and Mut); Some consider it silt, others - rotten watery mixture. From it came all the seeds of creation and the birth of all things. The first to shine were Mut, the Earth, the Sun, the Moon, the fixed stars and the wandering luminaries.

When the air was filled with light, then from the ignition of the sea and the earth there arose the winds of Noth, Boreas, Eurus, Zephyr, clouds, the greatest overthrows and outpourings of heavenly waters.

When all this stood out and was separated from its former places due to the heat of the sun and everything again met and collided with one another in the air, thunder and lightning occurred.

Later, certain beings who did not possess feeling also existed, from which gifted intellectuals, called the Guardians of Heaven (Zophasemin), emerged. They were egg-shaped.

As a result of the thunderclaps, the aforementioned creatures, already gifted with intelligence, awoke, frightened by the noise, and males and females began to move in the sea and on land.

They were the first to sanctify the products of the earth, began to consider them gods and worship what they themselves, their descendants and all those who came before them supported life.

This is the tradition of the admirers of Amun (ammunaeans) of the city of Biblical Phoenicia. It was not much different from the tradition of the Egyptian Thebes or the Libyan Oasis of Amun.

The esoteric essence of the theogony and cosmogony of the Ammunaeans was well known to the Hellenic initiates.

Pherecydes and the Orphics called the serpent Kem-Atef Ophi-oneus, or Ophion (i.e., the Serpent), his offspring - Ophionides. The astral symbolism was the same: Ophi-on personified the Constellation Draco, and the Ophionids were the non-setting stars of the northern hemisphere. The creation of all things was associated with them (Ophion and Eurynome correspond to Kem-Atef and Muat, winter and the north wind Boreas).

Orphic cosmogonies operate with analogies of the Egyptian deities of the Great Ogdoad. Air (Aer, Ether) mentioned at the beginning of the world corresponds to Amon; Darkness (Erebus) - Kauku; Waters (Pontus) - Naunu; and Gaping (Chaos) Hauhu. But the Orphic doctrine did not divide them into female and male halves.

The well-known exoteric (i.e., addressed to the uninitiated) myth of the titans conveys an allegory of the ancient esoteric myth about the seven energy fields of the Sun, among which is the field of the titan Kriya (Ram).

Titan Crius represents the energy flow of the Sun during the 30 days after the vernal equinox, once anticipated by the eastern morning sunrise of the constellation Aries.

Kria's wife was Pontus' daughter Eurybia, who bore him three Titanide sons.

Titan Kriy, like Amon, was considered the ruler of three worlds - the heavenly, the manifest earthly and the otherworldly. His dominion over them was exercised through his three sons - Astray, Pallant and Persai. Crius was the grandfather of the Winds (Anemov) and Stars (Astrov), Victory (Niki), Violence (Biya), Power (Kratos) and Zeal (Zelos), as well as the mistress Hecate. After the victory of the Olympians over the Titans, the sons of Krius were replaced by the sons of Cronos - Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, respectively, and the grandchildren of Kriy went over to the side of Zeus. His energy field was occupied by Hercules, Ares and Hephaestus.

Kriy had visible images: a ram (his name means “ram”), the constellation Aries, the planet Mars, the color red, red flowers. The element of Kriya is air!

In the Orphic theogony, Amon corresponds to the northern wind Boreas in the guise of the serpent or dragon Ophion (Ophio neya), from whose courtship the foremother of all things, Eurynome, in the guise of a sea dove, laid on the waters the World Egg, from which, in turn, everything that exists in the world came - the Sun and the Moon, stars, air, waters, mountains, plants, animals and people.

Of the non-setting constellations, Amon (like the north wind Ophion) corresponds to the Dragon, coiling around the north pole of the ecliptic.

Am-Haibitu- one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, the divine patron of Elephantine.

Antamentes(Old Egyptian Khant-Amanti - “the first of the Western”, Middle Egyptian Khantamante, Late Egyptian Khanta-mente, demotic Hantamente) - an epithet of Anubis.

Anubis(ancient Egyptian 'inpw ['anapa] Anapa, middle Egyptian Anop, late Egyptian Anup, demotic Anup, Copt. Anoup, ancient Greek Auo'fts.chbsk;, lat. Anubis, -idis/-is) is the main god of the West, who met the souls of the dead. The patron of funeral sacraments, rituals, mummification, he, together with Thoth, weighs the soul-heart (Eb) on the Scales of Truth. Depicted as a man with the head of a jackal.

He personified the mystical horror at the meeting of a man and a jackal during the harmful attacks of jackals on the cemeteries of the ancient Egyptians. A prayer addressed to Anubis saved Sah’s body from being torn apart by wild beasts of the desert.

Together with the dog-headed Auput, he was considered the conductor of the souls of the dead into the Duat. In the night sky he had his own image in the constellation Canis Minor (Prokion) and seemed to lead Osiris (Orion). Correct identifications with the characters of Greek mythology are the dog Cerberus, who guards the gates of the kingdom of Hades, and Hermes Psychopomp (the guide of the souls of the dead to Hades).

Ankh ara, Ankhur- see Onuris.

Ankhati-if, Ankhatpi, or Akhtanaf/Ikhtenef(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared in the city of Sais.

Apapi, or Afofis- see Apep.

Apis(ancient Egyptian hpj Hapi, middle Egyptian (H)api, (H)ap-, late Egyptian Hap-, demotic. Hap-, ancient Greek Aliz, -yu<;/-18о(;, лат. Apis,-is/-idis) — олицетворение реки Нил, ее разлива; священное животное — речной буйвол. Др.-греч. эзотерическое соответствие — Океан, его сын Инах, Апис, убитый Тельхионом и Тель-хином, Эпаф, сын Ио от Зевса.

Apep(ancient Egyptian. Apapi, middle Egyptian. Apophi, late Egyptian. Apup, demotic. Apup, ancient Greek. Aphohrts, lat. Aphophis): 1) a collective image of the enemies of the god Ra, the main opponent

The Sun, leader of the raids on the Rook of Millions of Years, personification of solar eclipses. Giant snake; 2) protector and assistant of Osiris, participating in the punishment of sinners at the Afterlife Court.

Arfi-ma-hat- one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, the divine patron of Lycopolis or Letopolis.

Athyris— see Hathor.

Atum, or Atom(Old Egyptian. Atama, Middle Egyptian. Atom, Late Egyptian. Atum, demotic. Atem, Copt. “Perfect”) - the first-born creator of the universe, who emerged from Naun. On the one hand, he personified the sun at sunset in the evening, and on the other, the full moon at night. He was considered the parent-creator of the morning sun Khapri and the daytime sun Ra, and through them - the god of air Shu (Shau) and the goddess Tefnut (Tfene). He headed the Great Heliopolis Ennead (Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys).

Exact ancient Greek the esoteric correspondence is the titan Hyperion, as the father of Helios, Eos, Hemera and Hespera, the grandfather of Phaethon and his sisters Heliad. In the Orphic teachings of ancient Egypt. Atum became the source of the image of Eros-Protogon (=Erikepaia).

He was depicted as a man with a white crown, a uraeus and the sign of the “breath of life” (ankh), as well as in the form of animals: a snake (uraeus), a beetle (scarab), a baboon and an ichneumon. Atum's sacred animals were the ichneumon, the black bull Mnevis and the poisonous centipede Sepa. His celestial image is the constellation Taurus and the Seven Sacred Cows (Pleiades).

Output(ancient Egyptian. Auput, middle Egyptian. Ouput, late Egyptian. Upet, demotic. Vepuat; Upuat - “opener of paths”) - the god of the other world, the guide of the deceased to the Duet, opening for him the paths to the House of Osiris. Patron of the dead, graves, funeral sacraments.

Like Anubis, he personified the mystical horror of representatives of the wolf family. His sacred animal was the wolf. It was believed that meeting a wolf in a dream or in reality foreshadows death. The howl of a wolf also enjoyed a bad mystical reputation.

The celestial image of Auput was the constellation Canis Major (without Sirius), “leading” Orion (Osiris). Auput, like Anubis, is related to ancient Greek. allegorical image of Cerberus.

Oh(ancient Egyptian ih ['ah] - “month, moon”, Ah-(masi), middle Egyptian. Ah-(masi), late Egyptian. Ah-(mose), demotic. Ah- /Eh-, ancient Greek A-(tsoots. lat. A-masis) - the deity of the Moon, the personification of the Month. Later identified with Thoth and Osiris.

Ahi((mu), Aihi, Ihi or Hay (Haya)) (conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared in Kunu. He was considered the son of Horus of Baitite and the goddess Hathor. He was depicted as a boy with a “lock of youth” and a sistrum. Patron of music.

Ba(Old Egyptian b’ bi, Middle Egyptian bi, Late Egyptian b, Demot. ba, Copt, ba) - soul-manifestation, astral body of a human being.

Babai(conventional reading) - the spirit of darkness and darkness, acting among the gods of the Duat, hostile to the deceased. In unclear hints it is identified with Set or his creation. There are descriptions of him as an opponent of Set and a champion of Horus.

Bast- one of the 40 gods of the Small Host. A goddess in the form of a woman with the head of a cat or in the form of a cat. She was considered the daughter of the god Ra, his assistant in battles with Apo-po. She was close to the lioness goddesses (Sekhmet, Tefnut). Divine patroness of the city and district of Bubas-tis. Her celestial image is the planet Mercury. The earthly sacred animal is the cat. Corresponds to ancient Greek. Artemis the hunter.

Basti- one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, the divine patron from Shetait (Shetit), the shrine of Resetev.

Great Gogotun- an allegorical image of the primordial creator god in the guise of a white goose (swan), who sat on the primordial hill among endless waters, built a nest in the branches of a willow and laid an egg from which the Sun hatched. A favorite ancient character in stories about the essence of the Great Day (the full moon between 31 and 61 days after the spring equinox).

Great Host of Gods- a meeting of the gods, before which the deceased pronounced the Confession of Denial of Sins. The Book of the Dead lists 12 gods of this host: Ra, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Nephthys, Isis, Hathor, Set, Horus, Hau and Sia.

Great Temple of Both Maat (Great Hall of Two Truths) - an image of a temple in another existence, in which the judgment of the soul of the deceased takes place. Ideas about it go back to descriptions of the data of “mystical experience”, which have much in common and diverge in minor details.

This Building appears to be an incredibly long rectangular nave of the Temple with massive stone walls, its vaults and apse are lost in the distance, the space of the walls is regularly divided by certain pylons, attached columns or other similar buttresses of grandiose size and height. On the cornices of these pylons there are perfect figures in which God reveals himself to the world (pyramids, cubes, balls, vessels, etc.).

A grandiose portal leads into the nave of the Temple, closed by gates made of imperishable, indestructible material. Silence, peace and cold reign under the darkened arches of the Temple. Subdued light filters in from a distant niche in the apse.

The soul (Ba) that has flown into the Temple floats freely in its immeasurable spaces, without fear of hitting the vaults, walls and floors. The winged soul enjoys the flight, its light illuminates enough space around. The soul (Ba) sits on the cornices of the pylons, examines the perfect figures, and sometimes tries to grab a few with it in order to boast of these wondrous things to family and friends.

This is remembered about the nave of the Temple of the Both Maat of the soul (Ba) of the living initiates of the first degrees. Descriptions of the judgment and weighing of the soul-heart are conveyed by great initiates.

Ware(“Great”: ancient Egyptian and middle Egyptian. Uir, late Egyptian. Uer, demotic. Ver, Copt., Phoenician, other Greek. Ar-neg-ts, lat. Har- oer-is) was once an epithet of the supreme deity of the daytime sky and light, an analogue of the Indo-European Dieus (Zeus). In the process of transforming the triple system of the supreme gods of the Indo-Europeans (Zeus-Hades-Poseidon) into the dual ancient Egyptian (Osiris-Set), this epithet was assigned to a special hypostasis of Horus-Falcon (Hara-Uir, Aroeris), which was opposed to the image of Horus the son of Isis (Arsies) or Horus, son of Osiris.

Harpocrates- see Horus.

Geb(ancient Egyptian gbb Gib(b), middle Egyptian Geb, late Egyptian Cab, demotic, Copt., Phoenician, ancient Greek Kt1f-et)?, lat. Ceph-eus) is the god of the earth, one of the Heliopolis Ennead of gods. He was usually depicted as a man with the crown of Upper Egypt or Lower Egypt on his head. Geb and the goddess Nut, children of Shu and Tefnut, were considered the parents of Osiris and Set, Hathor, Isis, Nephthys. The soul of Ba Geb was the god Khnum. Hebe was considered a good god who protects people from snakes, plants grow on him, and the Nile River flows from him. Geb's title is "prince of princes", he was considered the ruler of Egypt. Osiris was considered the heir of Geb, from whom power was transferred to the pharaohs through Horus.

Ancient Greek correspondence - the titans Kron and Rhea (Uranus and Gaia) and their great offspring: Zeus, Hades and Poseidon, Hera, Hestia and Demeter.

Gib- see Geb.

Gore(“Heavenly Height”, ancient Egyptian. Hara, Khar-, middle Egyptian. Har, late Egyptian. Choir, Khur, Kher, demotic. Chorus, Khur, Kher, ancient Greek. Ap-' copoq, lat. Nag-/Nog.) - the earthly embodiment of the divine energy of the Sun, corresponds to Zeus and his incarnations: Zagreus, Epaphus, Dionysus.

Horus, the son of Isis, Horus “in infancy” (Harpocrates) was conceived by her from the revived body of Osiris after finding his sarcophagus in Byblos. Horus was born white-skinned. Its white color symbolized Lower Egypt. He was born in the Delta and, in order to hide him from Seth, was given by his mother to be raised by the goddess Uto on the island of Khemmis.

As a teenager, he fought off the love advances of his uncle Seth, who ruled Egypt at the time. Having matured, he summoned Seth to the court of the Great Host of Gods because of his father's heritage. But, having won the trial, he was forced to resort to violence to avenge his father. Horus defeated Seth in several battles, captured and executed him, plunging him into another existence.

Gor Baitit(ancient Egyptian. Hara Bahidit, middle Egyptian. Har Bahidit, late Egyptian. Khor Ba(h)itit, other Greek. Fssr-Bon,8raiE, lat. Phar-Baithites; other Greek. analogies - Coy, Apollo). See Gor.

Dundee, or Denji - the divine patron of the city of Hermopolis.

Dasar-tap(Old Egyptian Dasar-tap, Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian, Demot., Copt. Jesertep, Phoenician, Ancient Greek Tosor): 1) one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who was in the cave of his sanctuary; 2) one of the spirits of Osiris’s retinue; U) a huge snake, the enemy of Ra, the personification of the forces of darkness and evil.

Deans(from the Latin singular decanus, plural decani - “commander of a squad of ten warriors”) - the name of 36 Egyptian deities - “guardians of the heavens”, personifying 36 segments of the ecliptic and, accordingly, 36 constellations. The Decans arose from the World Egg of Mut and were the prototypes of earthly creatures.

Otherwise, the deans were called advisory gods. Of these, one half observed the above-ground, the other half - the underground places, making simultaneous events in the world of people and in the world of gods of other existence. Every 10 days, one of the deans was sent down by the gods as a messenger, and the other, on the contrary, was sent from people to the gods. See Amon, Mut.

Jed(Ancient Egyptian, Middle Egyptian Did, Late Egyptian, Demotic Det, Copt. Jet, Phoenician, Old Greek tseu-btus-os, Lat. Men-det-is) - a fetish of Osiris, a pillar that symbolized the wooden stand in which, according to myth, the chest with the body of Osiris was enclosed in Byblos. It was made from bundles of reeds inserted into each other (an allusion to the Field of Reeds). The four ropes, with the help of which the huge Djed was lifted and fixed, were twisted at the ends in a spiral and their directions indicated the points of sunrise and sunset.

During the Khab-Sad holiday, a ritual was performed to install the Djed in a vertical position (“raising the Djed”), which has openly phallic symbolism. The ritual act of raising Djed resembled the arousal of the phallus of the god Geb (who in Egyptian images lies under the sky goddess Nut and points his phallus upward for intercourse). Such rituals were designed to stimulate childbirth, livestock fertility and general natural fertility.

This is also where the “astral” symbolism of Djed comes from, associated either with the Milky Way or with the axis of the world (or the axis of space), designated by the Egyptians as a “star pillar” or “star tree”.

Duamutef(conventional reading) - one of the four sons of Horus, symbolizing the digestion of food in the stomachs of living beings. Therefore, his canopy was given the image of a man with the head of a falcon.

Duat or Dat, - otherness in the Egyptian understanding. The oldest description of the Duet depicts it as a starry sky, where the souls of the dead rushed to inhabit the stars. For this flight, souls needed wings (soul manifestation (Ba)) or winged carriers, which were considered to be the goddesses Nhaba (white falcon) and Neit (owl), the god Thoth (ibis), etc.

Later it was believed that the god Thoth transports the departed souls of the dead in his silver Boat (sickle of the month).

Moreover, the Duet was considered to be the eastern side of the night sky, where the “Resurrection” of the Sun (Khapri) took place every day. The western part of the sky, where the “dead” Sun (Atum) was moving away, was also called a duet.

The Duat is sometimes personified in the guise of the goddess-intercessor of the soul of a deceased king or prince. Identification with the Field of Reeds is also quite justified - after all, the abode of eternal bliss is identical to the Sun, regardless of whether it is day or night on Earth.

Dudu-(f)- one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, a divine patron who appears in (the district of) Andi / Anedti / Andeti.

It has(conventional reading) - one of the sons of Gore, who had a human appearance and was responsible for the liver of living beings.

Inaef- one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who was from Zele Obei Maat (Truths) or from Yugert.

Iremibef, or Ariemebef, - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared in Tuba or Tibti.

Irti(f)-ma-das(conventional reading Irti-em-des) - the divine patron of the city of Letopol.

Isis(Old Egyptian ‘st [‘isi], Middle Egyptian Isi, Late Egyptian f’ese] Ese, demotic Ese, other Greek 1о-к;,-1О<;/-ю5,лат. Is-is, -idis) — олицетворение солнечной энергии, преломленной Луной и Землей. Исида была сестрой Осириса, в которого влюбилась еще в утробе матери Нут. Родившись, она стала его супругой и соправительницей в Египте.

After the insidious murder of her husband, Setom rejected the latter’s love advances and wandered disconsolately across countries in search of a husband. She found the sar-cophagus of Osiris in Byblos under miraculous circumstances. She returned him to the Delta and conceived the son of Horus from the body of Osiris, revived by magical spells. But Isis did not protect the body of Osiris. Set tore it into 14 pieces and scattered it throughout the Nile Valley.

Inconsolable Isis collected the body of her husband throughout the country, and having collected it, she turned it into the first mummy and buried it in Busiris or Abydos.

Isis has Aryan analogues - the Vedic sister-wife of Yama - Yami (Yamuna) and the Avestan Iimak, the wife and sister of Iima-Khshaeta. In the Greek esoteric tradition, the exact analogy of Isis is Hera, the twin sister and wife of Zeus.

In the heavens, the image of Isis was the constellation Canis Major (Sirius).

Ka(Old Egyptian k' ku, Middle Egyptian ku, Late Egyptian ka, Demot. ka, Copt., Phoenician, Old Greek si-7″0-iathos, iro-KE -pwoq, lat. ae-gy-ptus, my-ce-rinus) - soul DOUBLE.

Kanamti, or Kenemte, - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared from Kanamta in the darkness.

Canon(ancient Greek) - the name of the helmsman Menelaus, who died in Egypt. He became the helmsman of the boat of Osiris (the constellation Argo) and gave the name to the brightest star.

Kararti or Kerti, is the divine patron of the West from among the 40 gods of the Small Host.

Kauk(ancient Egyptian, middle Egyptian, late Egyptian, demotic, Copt.) personification of darkness, gloom - Erebus.

Cauca(Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian, Demotic, Copt.) personification of the Great Night, Orphic Nyx.

Kem Atef(conventional reading, ancient Greek Knef) - a giant serpent, the embodiment of the north wind, the god Amun. Corresponds to ancient Greek. Boreas or Ophion.

Knef- see Kem-Atef.

Maat(ancient Egyptian m’t Mya, middle Egyptian Mua, late Egyptian [te’] Me, demotic Me) - goddess of world order and legality, analogue of ancient Greek. Themis Titanides.

The Book of the Dead mentions not only the goddess of Truth herself, but also “Obe Maat” (Temple of the Two Truths). During the post-mortem judgment, two truths are declared before the gods: one by the soul (Ba) in its confession of denial of sins, and the other when the soul is weighed (Eb) on the Scales of Truth.

Small Host of Gods- the collective name of the community of gods of judgment over the soul of the deceased. The Small Host consisted of two (Ru(ru)ti = Shu and Tefnut) and forty gods, mainly the patrons of the 40 Egyptian districts and their sacred centers. In surviving monuments, these 42 gods are referred to allegorically, designated not by their real names, but by various epithets. Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether we are talking about the well-known main deity of the city, or about an unknown deified ancestor, leader, ruler, saint.

The Small Host of Gods became the prototype of Christian saints, intercessors of the souls of those who died at the Last Judgment.

Merit- here: perhaps the goddess of music, the patroness of solemn chants to the gods.

Meskhent- goddess of childbirth and good fortune, close to Shai. Like all childbirth deities, she was associated with the resurrection of the dead. Sometimes it served as a personification of a maternity chair made of bricks. Depicted as a brick with a woman's head. The center of the cult is Abydos, where the four hypostases of Meschent are attested.

Min(ancient Egyptian Mina, middle Egyptian Ming, late Egyptian, demotic Men, Copt., Phoenician, ancient Greek M-u-Kepivog, lat. My-cerinus) - corresponds to Perseus, son of Danai. He often appeared in the sanctuary of Khemmis, where his sandal, 2 cubits in size, was also found. Every time Perseus's sandal appeared, prosperity came throughout Egypt. In honor of God, the Egyptians organized all kinds of hymn competitions, awarding cattle, animal skins and cloaks as rewards to the winners. \parOpinion (ancient Egyptian mn'wi, middle Egyptian Mnaui, late Egyptian Mnevi, demotic Mneve, ancient Greek, middle Egyptian, late Egyptian Mut, demotic Mut, Copt, mout, date, mwt, ancient Greek (dhgoE, lat. Muth) - the great mother of the gods was depicted as a woman with a vulture crest on her headdress. She personified some liquid primary matter (water turbidity, Nile silt) , from which living creatures arose. She was the mother, and Amun the spirit was the father.

At first, Mut was lifeless darkness, haze, chaos, water, which was ignited by passion for the spirit (Aman) and from it produced Aeons. The bodies of people come from silt, and their souls come from the four elements. From Mut came the seed of every creature and the birth of all living things.

She took on the appearance of an egg. And the Sun, Moon, stars and great luminaries shone. There were also some animals that did not have feelings; from them came intelligent animals, and they were called “Guardians of the Sky.” They are known as the 36 Decans of the ecliptic.

The lunar god Hansa-Shons was also considered the son of Mut and Amon.

In the ancient Greek exoteric theogony, the analogue of Mut is the daughter of Pontus Eurybia, the wife of the titan Kria, the mother of Perseus, Pallanta and Astraus, the grandmother of the winds and constellations, Hecate, Zelos, Biya, Kratos and Nike. In the Orphic theogony, Mut is called Eurynome, from whose union with the north wind Boreas, in the guise of the serpent Ophion, everything in the world was born.

Nabi or Nebi(conventional reading) - divine patron from among the 40 gods of the Small Host.

Outside(ancient Egyptian nwnt Nauna, middle Egyptian Nauna, late Egyptian Naune, demotic Navne) - the goddess of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad, the female couple Nuna.

Nak- divine serpent.

Naha-hara(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, the divine patron of the Memphis necropolis of Resetev.

Naha-hoo(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, the divine patron of the Memphis necropolis of Resetev (possibly identical to Naha-hara).

I'll give a damn(Nahm), or Nekhen (conventional reading), is one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who is from Hakad or Hekhadi.

Nefertum(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared in Memphis. Son of Ptah and Sekh-met, personification of the lotus and the birth of the Sun.

Nephthys(ancient Egyptian nbt-h’- Nibt-ho, late Egyptian Nebt-hu, de-mot. Nebthu, ancient Greek Necp &ug, lat. Nephthys) - literally “mistress of the house.” In Egyptian mythology, the youngest of the children of Hebe and Nut, the sister of Isis, Osiris and Set, corresponds to the ancient Greek. Demeter. She was depicted as a woman with a hieroglyph of her name on her head. She was considered the wife of Set, but, judging by the texts, she had very little connection with him. Its essence is almost not revealed in Egyptian religious literature. Nephthys acts together with her sister Isis in the mysteries of Osiris in all funeral magical rites. She, along with Isis, mourns Osiris, participates in the search for his body, guards the mummy, standing at the head of his bed. Both sisters meet the deceased near the eastern sky. According to the Pyramid Texts, Nephthys sails in the night barge (Isis in the daytime). Nephthys and Isis are identified with falcon faces, which is why they are often depicted as winged women. The lack of an independent role for Nephthys gives the impression of an artificially invented goddess serving as a mate for Set. Plutarch identifies Nephthys with the infertile lands (Isis personified the fertile lands).

Nehehau, Naha-hu(conventional reading) - the divine patron of the Memphis necropolis.

Nib-ar-tasr- “Lord Lightbringer”, an epithet of the god Ra.

Nib-aui, or Nib-abui(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared in the city of Lycopolis (Siut).

Nib-mua, or Neb-me(Middle and Middle Egyptian “Lord of Truth”), divine patron from the Great Temple of Both Truths, one of the 40 gods of the Small Host.

Nibharu or Nebhur(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared in Nedefet.

Well- deity of Heaven (masculine form of the goddess Nut). Often mentioned in the Book of the Dead.

Nun(ancient Egyptian nwn Naun, middle Egyptian Noun, late Egyptian Nun, date, nun, ancient Greek vo) - the god Nun and the goddess Naunet personification of Chaos as the element of water. They are the patrons of the Nile flood, as well as the winter solstice and rainy season in the Delta. Nun and Naunet (the personification of the sky along which the sun floats at night) are the first of the gods of the Hermopolis Ogdoad. From them came Atum, its head. Nun was considered the father of Hapi, Khnum and Khepri. In Memphis he was identified with Ptah, and in Thebes with Amon.

Chickpeas(Old Egyptian Nwt Ni, Middle Egyptian Ni, Late Egyptian [pe] Ne, demotic Ne) - Goddess of the Sky, part of the Heliopolis Ennead, daughter of Shu and Tefnut, wife and sister at the same time Hebe. Children Nut - Sun-Pa and stars. Every day Nut swallows his children to give birth to them again. Geb quarreled with his wife, who was devouring children, and Shu separated them. So Nut ended up in heaven, and Geb remained on earth. In Heliopolis, the children of Nut were also considered Osiris, Set, Isis and Nephthys. The epithets of Nut are “huge mother of stars” and “giver of gods.”

One thousand souls are identified in Nut. She raises the dead to heaven and guards them in the tomb.

Nhab-Kau, or Nekhebkau(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared from a cave in the city of Heracleopolis; god-serpent fighter, assistant to Ra-Atum in the fight against the rebels. One of the Guardians of the Entrance to the Duat, Ra's companion on his night voyage.

Nhab-Nafra, or Nekheb-Nefert(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared from a cave or lake Nafra (Nefert).

Onuris(ancient Egyptian, middle Egyptian Anhara, late Egyptian Anhur, demotic Onhur, Copt., Phoenician, ancient Greek Ovovpic, lat. Onuris) - was the god of the hunt, but was also revered and as the god of war. He helps Ra in the fight against Apep, and Goruv in the fight against Set. Onuris corresponds to the ancient Greek Iapetus - the father of the Titanides Atlas, Menoites, Prometheus and Epimetheus. In Greece he was also identified with Ares.

Onuphry(Un-nafri) - “constantly abiding in goodness” - the most common epiet of Osiris.

Osiris(Old Egyptian wsir, Middle Egyptian Usiri, Late Egyptian Usire, demotic [‘esire] Esire, Phoenician Ekprts, Tsprts, Oilrts, other Greek Osyarts, -1O<;/-15о(;, лат. Osiris,-is/-idis) — верховный потусторонний бог, владыка небытия, аналог греч. Аида или скорее Хтонического Зевса. Осирис — тот верховный судия, который является отлетевшей душе в мире ином. Этот бог не имеет никакой связи с растительностью или с древним обычаем ритуального убийства племенного вождя, связи, которую безрезультатно ищут непосвященные.

Osiris personifies the universal energetic basis of the world. In the revealed world, he is represented by what was in the past (“he is Yesterday”), and by his son Horus (“who is Today”). In the world of other existence, Osiris appears to souls (Ba and Eb) in human form in dreams and during the posthumous judgment over them. Osiris is the supreme judge and supreme ruler in other existence, whose powerful voice is listened to by the gods, spirits (Ah), souls (Eb and Ba). In the manifest world, Osiris is the ruler of souls (Ka and Sah), through which he incarnates in tangible forms.

The bull Apis was considered the embodiment of the soul (Ba) of Osiris on earth, in the heavens of the constellations Taurus and Orion.

Osiris was conceived by the goddess Nut from Ra and fell in love with his sister Isis while still in the womb. He was born on the first “inserted” day (see Thoth). Osiris was depicted as “black”, as the color black symbolized the fertile muddy soil of the Nile Valley.

They said that, having reigned, Osiris immediately turned the Egyptians away from their meager and bestial lifestyle, showed them the fruits of the earth and taught them to honor the gods. Then he wandered, subjugating the entire earth and not needing weapons at all for this. For he won over most people to his side, charming them with persuasive words, combined with singing and all kinds of music. Therefore, the Hellenes identified him with Dionysus.

Osiris was cunningly imprisoned in a sarcophagus by his brother Set and 72 conspirators on the 17th day of the month Athyri (November 13, Gregorian style), when the Sun crossed the constellation Scorpio, in the 28th year of Osiris' reign on Earth.

The sarcophagus was thrown into the sea near the city of Tanis, and was found by Isis in the city of Byblos. Having placed the sarcophagus of Osiris far from the roads, in the Busirite district, Isis went to her son

Mountain in Buto. Set came across a sarcophagus, opened it, tore Osiris into 14 pieces and scattered them throughout the Nile Valley. Therefore, many tombs of Osiris were called in Egypt.

For the death of his father and the seizure of the throne, Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, took revenge on the treacherous Seth. He became the successor of his father and uncle on the Egyptian throne.

In Aryan traditions, Osiris was identified with the divine Iima (Avestan Iima-Khshaeta) or the Indian Yama (Vedic Iama). In the Greek tradition, the direct analogues of the divine pair Osiris - Isis were brother and sister - the twins Zeus and Hera.

Ptah(Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian. Ptah, Late Egyptian. Pteh, Demot. Pte(x), Copt., Old-Grey. Ag-uo-yat-od, FOss, Lat. Phtha) - Memphis primordial creator god, corresponds to Atum. Together with his wife Sekhmet and son Nefertum, he formed the Memphis Triad of gods. The sacred bull Apis was considered the living embodiment of the soul (Ka) of Ptah. The Hellenes identified Ptah with Hephaestus, and his son I-ma-hatap (Imhotep), an architect and anatomist, with Asclepius.

Ra(ancient Egyptian. R', middle Egyptian. Ra, late Egyptian. R'a (Re), demotic. Re, Copt. Rts, Re, ancient Greek. Ra-tseesch;, lat. R(h)a-mses) - “Sun”, the golden calf, which is born by the heavenly cow, the father and ruler of the gods; his wife is Riai. He personifies the midday sun, his morning hypostasis is Khapri, his evening hypostasis is Atum. The sacred animal is a falcon, a hawk, and in Khapri it is a scarab (dung beetle). The personification of solar energy and solar radiation during the day. Images in the form of a man with the head of a falcon, instead of a crown, he had the Eye of Uto with Ure-em (Solar disk with a snake).

Esoterically corresponds to the Greek titan Hyperion, the father of Helios, Eos, Gomera and Hesper, Selene, Phaethon and his sisters (Hesperides-Heliad).

Rin(ancient Egyptian t [pp], middle Egyptian Rin, late Egyptian, demotic, Copt. Ren, ancient Greek Pqv - “true name”) - one of the soul-essences of the deity , person, animal or any thing. It was believed that there was an inextricable sacred connection between Rin and its bearer. By influencing a name in magical ways, you can also influence its bearer.

Ru(ru)ti (“both Rugs from heaven”)(conventional reading) - the divine duo of Shu and Tefnut as deities of the Small Host (2 and 40). They were considered the progenitors of all things and the parents of the gods. That is why they were placed at the head of the Small Host of Gods.

Rugi ("one Rugi")- epithet of the primordial god Atum.

Raver(Old Egyptian. Ria-uir, Middle Egyptian. Ria-vir, Late Egyptian. Ra-uer, Dem. Re-wer) - “Great” is an epithet of the god Ra.

Saah- deity.

Sabau (Sebau)- a monster snake, enemy and adversary of the god Ra during the latter’s night journey in the Boat of Millions of Years.

Sad-kasu, or Sed-kesu(conventional reading) - the divine patron of Heracleopolis from among the 40 gods of the Small Host.

Sarthiu, or Aadi(conventional reading) - the divine patron of Heliopolis from among the 40 gods of the Small Host.

Sarharu or Serkhur(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared in the city of Unsi (t).

Sakha- divine snake.

Satis- one of the goddesses of the Duat, who washed the body of the deceased king from four vessels. Symbolized water and the flood of the Nile. How the Eye of Ra symbolized the bright star Fomalhaut. Patroness of hunting. Sacred animal antelope.

Sah(Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, Sakh, Late Egyptian, Demotic, Sakh) - the human body as one of its five named entities.

Sakhriu, or Sakhri, - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who came from Utan (Untha).

Set(ancient Egyptian swthi, middle Egyptian Suth, late Egyptian Seth, demotic Seth(x), ancient Greek Zt]9, lat. Seth) - brother of Osiris, Isis and Nephthys, personifying the elemental forces of earthly nature. Corresponds to Poseidon and Typhon in Greek mythology.

The constellation of Set was considered to be the Big Dipper, or rather the Dragon, in the tail of which the North Star was once located (as a result of precession).

Seth was born on the “unlucky” third day from among the “insert” ones (see Thoth). Seth was red-skinned and had red hair. The red color of Set symbolized the “red land,” i.e., the Arabian Desert and the Red Sea. He sought by force the love of Nephthys. Out of envy and hatred of his brother, he committed terrible deeds. He destroyed Osiris and made shameful amorous advances towards young Horus. He brought everything in the world into disorder, filling the earth and sea with evil. Then he was punished. Animals of Seth: crocodile, hippopotamus, boar and donkey.

Sekhmet(ancient Egyptian shmt Sakhma, or Sakhmi, middle Egyptian Sakhma, late Egyptian Sakhme, demotic Sekhme) - “Mighty” goddess of the Memphis Triad, possessing divine creative energy. Patroness of kings, military campaigns and battles, and healers. As the Eye of Ra personified the star Regulus, hence its lion-like appearance.

Smythe Fiends- retinue of the god Set.

Sokar, or Sokaris(ancient Egyptian sqr - “performing a sacrificial slaughter”, Sakar, middle Egyptian Sokar, ancient Greek, lat. Socaris), patron god of the dead and the necropolis of Memphis, one of the gods of the Duet. He was a hypostasis of Ptah (Pta-Sokar in the form of a mummified falcon or a mummy with the head of a falcon) and Osiris (Sokar-Osiris in the form of a mummified falcon in the white crown of Osiris). Sokar personified the souls of Sah and Ba of Osiris and also the soul of Ba of the god Geb.

Soti(s)(ancient Egyptian spelt Sapdi, middle Egyptian Sop-di, late Egyptian Soti, ancient Greek Esovt., Eyuvts.-eooo, lat. Sothis, -is) goddess who personified the brightest star , the eastern morning sunrise of which preceded the flood of the Nile. This star was once Sirius. In the Du-at myths, Sothis washes the body (Sakh) with water at the entrance to the Duat from four vases and is identified with the Elephantine goddess Satis. Sothis was considered the constellation of Isis.

Dry, or Dry(ancient Egyptian sbk Sabk, middle Egyptian Sobk, late Egyptian Su(b)k, demotic Suk (Sukh), ancient Greek Zovxoc, lat. Suchus) son of the goddess Neit, giver waters and floods of the Nile. Sometimes portrayed as an evil spirit of darkness in the Duet, an enemy of the god Ra, attacking the Rook of Millions of Years. His sacred animal was the crocodile.

According to the myth, Horus, having cut the body of the defeated Set into pieces, then collected them in the guise of the crocodile Sukhos.

Tamsanu or Temsen(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared in the city of Busiris.

Tanmiu, or Tenmi(conventional reading) - the divine patron of the city of Bubastis from the 40 gods of the Small Host.

Ta-radiu, or Ta-red(conventional reading) - a divine patron, emerging from the night at dawn, one of the 40 gods of the Small Host.

Tatau(ancient Egyptian ttw Tatau) (conventional reading) - leaders, leaders; a collective name for several groups of the most important gods. Tatau chiefs:

1) in the city of Heliopolis - Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Osiris, Thoth, in the Sekhmet quarter - Thoth and Horus;

2) in the city of Busiris - Osiris, Isis, Horus and Nephthys;

3) in the city of Buto - Horus, Isis, Has, Hapi;

4) in Ta-ui-Rahti Isis, Horus, Anubis, Thoth and Kesta (Has?);

5) in the city of Abydos - Osiris, Isis, Aupu(a)t;

6) in Neru-tef - Ra, Shu, Osiris, Babai;

7) in Resetev - Horus, Osiris, Isis.

Tefnut(ancient Egyptian tfnt, middle Egyptian Tfini, late Egyptian Tfene, demotic Tfene, Copt. Tqmvri, ancient Greek, lat. Eurynoma) goddess of moisture, part of the Heliopolitan Ennead. Tefnut is the twin sister and wife of the god Shu, the creation of Atum. Sometimes she was called the daughter of Ra, his Eye, they said about her: “the daughter of Ra is on his forehead.” When Ra rises above the horizon in the morning, Tefnut shines on his forehead and burns his enemies with her gaze. Her earthly incarnation is a lioness.

Thoth or Thout(ancient Egyptian dhwtj Dahauti, late Egyptian Thovt, Phoenician Tahaut, ancient Greek Votov, ToouToq, lat. Taautes) - god of the full moon, guide and protector of the souls of the dead, weighing their word on the scales; judge; patron of doctors and medicine. The sacred bird of Toga is the ibis.

Represents the solar energy of two weeks (31-45 days) after the spring equinox and the full moon in the second month after the equinox.

Depicted in the guise of an ibis and a dog-headed baboon monkey.

According to the theogonic myth, when Ra learned that Nut had secretly married Geb, he cursed her, saying that she would not give birth in any month or year. But Thoth, secretly in love with the goddess Nut, himself became friends with her.

Then, playing checkers with the moon god Akh, Thoth played one seventeenth of each of the lunar cycles, added up five full days from these parts and added them to three hundred and sixty. The Egyptians called these extra days “inserted” and “birthdays of the gods.”

On the first of the “inserted” days Osiris was born, and at the moment of his birth a prophetic voice said: “The Lord of all things has come into the world.”

On the second day Arueris (Horus the Great) was born, whom some called “the elder Horus.”

On the third day Seth was born, but not on time or in the right way. He jumped out of his mother's side, punching through it.

On the fourth day, Isis was born in the moisture.

On the fifth, Nephthys was born, who is called the End, Victory or Aphrodite. In essence, she is Demeter.

Tradition said that Osiris and Arueris came from Ra, Isis from Thoth, and Set and Nephthys from Geb.

They also said that Isis and Osiris, having fallen in love with each other, united in the darkness of the womb even before birth. Nephthys later succumbed to Seth's persecution and became his wife.

In general, the Egyptian kings considered the third of the “inserted” days to be unlucky; they did not engage in public affairs during this time and did not take care of themselves until nightfall.

Uam(an)ti ( Uammati or Uam-muati) (conventional reading) is a deity from the Small Host, appearing from the torture chamber or from the judgment seat (Habit?).

Udi-Nasart, or Udi-Nesser(conventional reading) - the divine patron of Memphis from among the 40 gods of the Small Host.

Udi-Rhit, or Udi-Rekhit(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appeared in the courtyard of Sais.

Unam-basku, or Unem-beseku(conventional reading) - the divine patron in the courtyard of thirty (?) from Ma-bit, one of the 40 gods of the Small Host.

Unam-san-f(Unam-snaf or Unem-senf) (conventional reading) - the divine patron at the sacrificial altar, one of the 40 gods of the Small Host.

Usakh-Nimmit, or Usekh-Nemtut(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, the divine patron of the Heliopolis district.

Uto(ancient Egyptian 'wdw ['udu] Udu, middle Egyptian. Udo, late Egyptian, demotic. Uto, Eto, Copt. Ejo (“Green”), ancient Greek. V-oshso , Latin B-uto) - a goddess in the guise of a snake, the patroness of the Nile floods and all kinds of floods in general, the sea waters of the Mediterranean and plant greenery. One of the two patronesses of a united Egypt and a sovereign king (together with Nhaba-Kor-shun).

She was depicted as a cobra or a kite with a snake's head, sometimes as a woman with the head of a lioness. The Solar Eye of Uto had Uraeus as its symbol. Her sacred animal is the ichneumon (mongoose). Her image in the heavens is the brightest star Canopus.

According to myth, when Leto, who belonged to the Host of Eight Ancient Deities, lived in Buto, Isis gave her the newborn Apollo into her care. Leto saved Apollo and saved him on the so-called floating island of Khemmis, when Typhon, who was prowling throughout the earth, came to capture the son of Osiris.

This Leto was also considered the nurse of Apollo and Artemis. The Egyptians called Apollo Orom, Leto and Demeter - Isis, Artemis - Bastis, Asteria, and not Leto - Uto, Typhon - Seth. Wed. Greek myths about Asteria and Leto and the birth of Apollo and Artemis on the floating island of Ortygia.

In ancient Greek exoteric mythology, Uto has an analogue to one of the two daughters of Phoibe and Coy - Leto and Asteria, as well as one of the two Gorgons, the granddaughters of Pontus. In addition, Uto has some signs of Themis (flood and deluge, green color, constellations Leo Major and Aquarius). And in Orphic cosmogony

Uto corresponds to Eurynome. In the Hellenistic era, she was identified with Aphrodite Urania.

Fundy (Dundee) (conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, the divine patron of the Hare District (the city of Hermopolis).

Phoenix(ancient Egyptian bnw; conventional reading. Benu, ancient Greek Thomas); - IKOO, lat. Phoenix, -icis) is a mythical divine bird in the Heliopolitan cosmogony, the embodiment of the primordial god Atum. At dusk, the Phoenix sat on the Ben-Ben hill in the middle of the waters of Naun and made a nest in the branches of a willow tree, where it laid the World Egg. In the morning, the god of the rising sun, Khapri, hatched from the egg.

The Phoenix was considered the soul (Ba) of the god Ra and the soul (Ba) of the god Osiris; depicted as a heron or peacock. The Phoenix, a kind of Firebird, was considered a symbol of eternal life and Resurrection.

He was especially revered in Heliopolis, where his fetishes were worshiped - the Ben-Ben stone and the Ished (willow) tree. The Phoenix holiday - Palm Sunday and Great Day - with its ritual bread, willow branches and a painted egg is known to most Indo-European peoples and has nothing to do with the Jewish Passover, as well as the Christian Easter.

Khadi-Ibhu, or Hedi-Ibehu(conventional reading) - the divine patron of Fayum from the 40 gods of the Small Host, who came from the “land of the Lake”.

Hamamat- spirits of the kingdom of Osiris.

Hamiu, or Hemi(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appears either in Tui or in Kaui (Akhaui).

Hantamente- see Antamentes.

Hapi(ancient Egyptian hpi.: 1) one of the four children of Horus, depicted on the lid of the canon with the lungs of the deceased. One of the 40 gods of the Small Host; 2) see Apis.

Hapt-hat, or Hapat-sadi(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, the divine patron of the district of Khar-Akha.

Harmachis(Ancient Egyptian Hara-ma-hiti - “Horus of both horizons, Horus in the sky”) - the hypostasis of Horus in the form of a lion with the head of a falcon or a lion with the head of a man. The famous Great Sphinx in the Harmachis pyramid complex.

Har-fa-ha-ef, or Hor-ef-ha-f(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, the divine patron “from the cave” (Taphit-Dat).

Hauch(ancient Egyptian hwh Xayx, middle Egyptian X(o)uh, late Egyptian Xyx, ancient Gray Chaos, lat. Chaos) - the personification of infinity, endless space; analogue of ancient Greek. Chaos and Apeiron. He was depicted as a man with the head of a frog.

Hauha(ancient Egyptian hwht) - goddess, female couple of the god Khauch. Depicted with the head of a snake.

Hedi-Hati(“the giver of linen”) is the divine patron of linen fabrics.

Khnum(Old Egyptian Khnama, Late Egyptian Khnum) - a god in the guise of a ram or a man with the head of a ram. Guardian of the sources of Apis (Nile), lord of waters and giver of floods, god of fertility and harvest, patron of those who are relieved of their burdens.

Khnum had power over the fate of man, whose creator he was considered. According to myth, he sculpted the first people from clay on a potter's wheel. Together with Satis and Anuket he formed the Triad. Neith and the warrior goddess Mankha, the lioness goddess, were considered the consorts of Khnum.

Khnum's sacred animal is the ram.

Khnum originally personified the energy of the Sun at the spring equinox; his image was the constellation Aries.

Esoteric correspondence - Prometheus, creator of humanity, patron of potters. Athena, the patroness of weavers, is an accomplice in the creation of mankind.

Hons(ancient Egyptian hnsw Hansa, middle Egyptian Khons, late Egyptian, demotic, Copt. Shons - “Passing”) - lunar deity, lord of time, patron of doctors and healing, god of truth, oracle; identification Aah - Month; esoteric correspondence to Atlas, the grandfather of Hermes. Dahauti, Dhaut, Thoth corresponds to the grandson of Khons.

Hriuru(conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appears in the city of Imad (Nahat).

Hu- abstract deity, personification of the divine will; god of the creative Word. In Memphis cosmogony, Ptah is identified with the “Word”.

Shad-kharu (Shedhur) (conventional reading) - one of the 40 gods of the Small Host, who appears in the city of Urit.

Shai- the deity of good fate, good luck and prosperity, close in functions and ideas to Renenutet. He was also considered the patron of viticulture. Later he acquired the features of the god of fate - the patron and guardian of man. Around the middle of the New Kingdom, along with Renenutet, he began to be associated with the afterlife cult. He was originally depicted as a serpent and as a man. The cult center is Shashotep in the XIII Upper Egyptian nome (Greek Ipsele, Arabic Shutb - on the western bank of the Nile, 5.5 km south of the city of Lycopolis).

Shadu(“savior”) - a divine boy, armed with a bow and arrow, protecting from the bites of scorpions and snakes.

Zone(ancient Greek Auov, -covog) - son of Chronos (Time), personification of Eternity.

Erpat(conventional reading) - an epithet or title of the god Geb.

The name book of the Egyptian gods includes the names and epithets of deities most often found in the Book of the Dead. Particular emphasis is placed on various variants of vowels and pronunciation, as well as conditional readings (introduced for convenience and not reflecting the true pronunciation).

Egyptian words were pronounced differently during different eras of the language's long history. We have given the dating of abbreviations before forms of names in accordance with the generally accepted British system:

• ancient egypt. (c. 2650-2135 BC) - the ancient Egyptian language of the Old Kingdom from the appearance of the first coherent texts;
• Middle-Egyptian (c. 2135-1785 BC) - the classical state of the Egyptian language in religious, monumental and literary texts;
• late-Esp. (1550-700 BC) - the everyday language of secular documents, literature and monumental inscriptions;
• demot. (VII century BC - V century AD) - demotic, i.e., the common language of the ancient period;
• Copt. (III-XV centuries AD) - vocalized writing of the Roman and Arab periods, mainly literature of secular and religious content;
• lat. - Latin rendering of Egyptian names.
• conventional reading - arbitrary vocalization of consonantal writings that does not reflect the actual pronunciation, which remains either unknown or doubtful and unconfirmed by independent evidence;
• Phoenician - Phoenician rendering of the names of Egyptian deities;
• ancient Greek - ancient Greek rendering of the names of Egyptian deities;
• Arabic - Arabic rendering of the names of Egyptian deities.

A line under a consonant letter indicates its emphatic character or pronunciation feature (t, d, x, k are special consonants of the Egyptian language, pronounced with great effort).

In Ancient Egypt there were a very large number of gods. Each city had its own pantheon or Ennead– 9 main deities that people worshiped. However, for the first time such an ennead appeared in the city of Heliopolis (Heliopolis). It has been known since the times of the Early Kingdom, that is, from the origins of Egyptian civilization.

The priests who lived in this city were considered the most influential and powerful. It was they who named the very first nine deities. Therefore, it is believed that the main gods of Ancient Egypt originated in Heliopolis, and the pantheon itself began to be called Heliopolis or great ennead. Below is a list of the supreme deities and a brief description of them.

God Ra

This is the supreme ancient Egyptian deity. It personified the sun. After the creation of the world, Ra began to reign over it, and this was the most fertile time for people. The power of God lay in his mysterious name. Other celestials wanted to know this name in order to gain the same power, but the sun god did not tell it to anyone.

A lot of time passed, and Ra grew old. He lost his vigilance and told his mysterious name to his great-granddaughter Isis. After this, a period of chaos ensued, and people stopped obeying the supreme deity. Then the sun god decided to leave the earth and go to heaven.

But he did not forget people and continued to take care of them. Every morning he boarded a boat called Atet, and the sun's disk shone above his head. In this boat, Ra sailed across the sky and illuminated the earth from dawn to noon. Then, between noon and twilight, he transferred to another boat called Sektet and went in it to the underworld to illuminate the ordeals of the afterlife.

In this mournful place, the sun god met every night with the huge serpent Apep, who personified evil and darkness. A battle began between Ra and the serpent, and the sun god was always the winner. But by the next night evil and darkness were reborn again, and the battle was repeated again.

The ancient Egyptians depicted the god Ra with the body of a man and the head of a falcon, which was crowned with a solar disk. On it lay the goddess Wajit in the form of a cobra. She was considered the patroness of Lower Egypt and its pharaohs. This god had other names in some religious centers. In Thebes he was called Amun-Ra, in Elephantine Khnum-Ra. But this did not change the main essence of the solar deity, who had the status of the main god of Ancient Egypt.

God Shu

This deity personified the air space illuminated by the sun. Shu was the son of Ra, and when he ascended to heaven, he began to reign in his place. He ruled the sky, the earth, the mountains, the winds, the seas. After thousands of years, Shu also ascended to heaven. In terms of status he was considered second after Ra.

In some images he was shown as a man with the head of a lion. He sat on a throne carried by lions. But there are many more images of the god of air in the form of an ordinary person with a feather in his head. It symbolized the goddess of truth Maat.

Goddess Tefnut

This deity also belonged to the main gods of Ancient Egypt. Tefnut is the goddess of heat and moisture. She was the daughter of the god Ra and was the wife of Shu’s brother. The husband and wife were twins. But even before marriage, the god Ra sent his daughter to Nubia, having quarreled with her, and a drought occurred in Egypt. Then the sun god returned his daughter, and she married Shu.

The return of Tefnut and her marriage became a symbol of the blossoming of nature. Most often, the goddess was depicted as a man with the head of a lioness and a fiery disk above her head. The disk indicated her connection with her father Ra, since the daughter was considered his fiery eye. When the sun god appeared early in the morning on the horizon, a fiery eye shone in his forehead and burned all enemies and ill-wishers.

God Geb

Geb is the god of the earth, the son of Shu and Tefnut. He married his sister Nut - the goddess of the sky - and this couple had children: Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys. It is noteworthy that Geb constantly quarreled with Nut, who ate her children - the heavenly bodies - before dawn, but gave birth to them again on the eve of twilight.

These quarrels tired Shu's father, and he separated the spouses. He raised the chickpeas high into the sky, and left Hebe on the ground. He reigned after his father, and then transferred his power to his son Osiris. He was most often depicted as a green man sitting on a throne with a royal crown on his head.

Goddess Nut

Nut is the goddess of the sky, daughter of Shu and Tefnut, sister and wife of Geb. She was the mother of Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys. In the morning, the goddess of the sky swallowed the stars, and in the late evening she gave birth to them, thereby symbolizing the change of day and night. She had an inextricable connection with the world of the dead.

She raised the dead into the sky and guarded the tombs of the dead. She was depicted as a woman with a curved body. It stretched across the horizon and touched the ground with the tips of his fingers and toes. Often, under the curved body of Nut, Geb was depicted lying on the ground.

It must be said that the main gods of Ancient Egypt would have lost a lot without Osiris. He was the great-great-grandson of the god Ra and ruled the earth after his father Geb. During his reign he taught people many useful things. He married his own sister Isis, and Seth and Nephthys were his brother and sister. But Seth, who lived in the desert in the south of Egypt, began to envy his successful brother, killed him and usurped royal power for himself.

Set not only killed, but dismembered the body of Osiris into 14 pieces and scattered them throughout the lands of Egypt. But the faithful wife Isis found all the pieces, put them together and called a guide to the underground kingdom of Anubis. He made a mummy from the body of Osiris, which became the first in Egypt. After this, Isis turned into a female kite, spread herself over the body of her husband and brother and became pregnant by him. Thus was born Horus, who became the last of the gods to rule the earth. After him, power passed to the pharaohs.

Horus defeated Set, sent him back south to the desert, and revived his father with the help of his left eye. After this, he remained to rule on earth, and Osiris began to reign in the afterlife. The god was depicted as a man in white robes and with a green face. In his hands he held a flail and a scepter, and his head was crowned.

Isis (Isis) was extremely popular in Ancient Egypt, considered the goddess of fertility, symbolizing motherhood and femininity. She was the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. The Egyptians believed that the Nile flooded when Isis cried, mourning Osiris, who left her and went to rule the kingdom of the dead.

The importance of this goddess increased significantly during the Middle Kingdom, when funerary texts began to be used not only by the pharaohs and members of their families, but also by all other inhabitants of Egypt. Isis was depicted as a man with a throne on his head, who personified the power of the pharaohs.

Seth (Seth) is the youngest son of Geb and Nut, brother of Osiris, Isis and Nephthys. He married the latter. He was born on the third New Year's day, jumping out of his mother's side. The ancient Egyptians considered this day unlucky, therefore, until the day ended, they did not do anything. Set was considered the god of war, chaos and sandstorms. He personified evil, which made him similar to Satan. Having killed Osiris, he reigned on earth for a short time until he was overthrown by Horus. After that, he ended up in the desert in southern Egypt, from where he sent sandstorms to fertile lands.

Seth was depicted as a man with the head of an aardvark or a donkey. He had long ears and in many depictions a red mane. Sometimes this god was given red eyes. This color symbolized desert sand and death. The pig was considered the sacred animal of the god of sandstorms. Therefore, pigs were classified as unclean animals.

The youngest of the children of Geb and Nut, named Nephthys, also belonged to the main gods of Ancient Egypt. She was born on the last day of the year. The ancient Egyptians viewed this goddess as a complement to Isis. She was considered the goddess of creation, which permeates the entire world. Nephthys ruled over everything ephemeral that could not be seen, touched or smelled. She had a connection with the world of the dead, and at night she accompanied Ra on his voyage through the underworld.

She was considered Seth's wife, but did not have the pronounced negative traits characteristic of her husband. This goddess was depicted in a human female form. Her head was crowned with a hieroglyph indicating the name of the goddess. On sarcophagi she was depicted as a woman with wings, symbolizing the protector of the dead.

Type: polytheism
Peculiarities: deification of animals, developed funeral cult
Cycle of myths: creation of the world, punishment of people for sins, the struggle of the sun god Ra with Apep, death and resurrection of Osiris

Ancient Egyptian religion - religious beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Egypt from the pre-dynastic period until the adoption of Christianity. Over its many-thousand-year history, the ancient Egyptian religion went through various stages of development: from the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms to the Late and Greco-Roman periods.

Early beliefs

The prehistoric tribes of the Nile Valley, like representatives of other primitive cultures, saw manifestations of powerful mysterious forces in all diverse objects and natural phenomena inaccessible to their understanding. A typical form of early religion for them was fetishism and totemism, which experienced various changes under the influence of the population's transition from nomadism to a sedentary lifestyle. The most famous ancient Egyptian fetishes: Imiut, Ben-Ben stone, Iunu pillar, Djed pillar; The common Egyptian religious symbols also originate from ancient fetishes: Ankh, Wadjet, Was.

To a large extent, the beliefs of the primitive Egyptians, as well as their entire lives, were influenced by the Nile, the annual flood of which deposited fertile soil on the banks, which made it possible to collect good harvests (the personification of beneficial forces), but sometimes it caused significant disasters - floods (the personification of destructive forces for humans). The periodicity of the river flood and observation of the starry sky made it possible to create the ancient Egyptian calendar with sufficient accuracy; thanks to this, the Egyptians early mastered the basics of astronomy, which also affected their beliefs. In the first settlements-cities of the Egyptians that emerged, there were various deities, specific for each individual locality, usually in the form of a material fetish, but much more often in the form of an animal - a totem.

Animal cult

The deification of animals in dynastic Egypt took place over the centuries, going back to prehistoric totemism, with which in a number of cases it was very close, actually constituting phenomena of the same order. Nomes and cities were often compared and were associated with their animal gods, which was reflected in their names (see list of nomes of Ancient Egypt), and many hieroglyphs of Egyptian writing were symbols of animals, birds, reptiles, fish and insects, which were ideograms denoting which -or deities.

Pantheon of Gods of Egypt

The ancient Egyptian religion, with all its inherent diversity of gods, was the result of a merger of independent tribal cults.

Appearance

Egyptian gods have an unusual, sometimes very bizarre appearance. This is due to the fact that the religion of Egypt consisted of many local beliefs. Over time, some gods acquired aspects, and some merged with each other, for example, Amun and Ra formed the single god Amun-Ra. In total, Egyptian mythology has about 700 gods, although most of them were revered only in certain areas.

Most gods are a hybrid of man and animal, although for some only decorations remind of their nature, like the scorpion on the head of the goddess Selket. Several gods are represented by abstractions: Amun, Aten, Nun, Bekhdeti, Kuk, Niau, Heh, Gerech, Tenemu.

Deities of Ancient Egypt

God Ptah.

Ptah or Ptah, is one of the names of the Creator God in the ancient Egyptian religious tradition.

God Atum.

Atum (Jtm) is the god of creation in ancient Egyptian mythology. It symbolized the original and eternal unity of all things.

Geb and Nut. (Here the goddess of the cosmos is depicted as a woman, she is curved in the form of a dome, has exorbitantly long arms and legs (supports) and only touches the ground (depicted as a man) with the tips of her fingers and toes. Shu, who separates this pair, also does not look tense under the weight "celestial body")

Geb - Ancient Egyptian god of the earth, son of Shu and Tefnut, brother and husband of Nut and father of Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys.

Chickpeas (Well, Nuit) is the ancient Egyptian goddess of the Sky, daughter of Shu and Tefnut, sister and wife of Geb and mother of Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys. In the ancient beliefs of the Egyptians, Nut was a heavenly cow who gave birth to the sun and all the gods.

God Shu wearing an elaborate crown with four feathers

Shu - Egyptian deity of air, son of Atum, brother and husband of Tefnut. After the identification of Atum with Ra, he was considered the son of Ra. The veneration of Shu was especially expressive in Letopolis in the delta.

Tefnut , also Tefnet, laudatory name Nubian cat - goddess of moisture in Egyptian mythology. She is also the eye of Ra, in this capacity Tefnut shines with a fiery eye in his forehead and burns the enemies of the great god. In this capacity, Tefnut was identified with the goddess Uto (Uraeus).

Amon (Amen, Amun, Imen) - the ancient Egyptian god of the Sun, king of the gods (nsw nTrw) and patron of the power of the pharaohs.
Amun is the god of the sun in Egyptian mythology.

Goddess Mut

Mut , Egyptian goddess (actually “mother”) is an ancient Egyptian goddess, queen of heaven, second member of the Theban triad (Amun-Mut-Khonsu), mother goddess and patroness of motherhood.

God Montu

Montu (mnṯw) - the ancient god of the city of Ermont, in the region of which Thebes rose and became the capital of Egypt, which also revered Montu, hence his traditional epithet - “lord of Thebes”.

God Khonsu

Khonsou - an Egyptian god, revered in Thebes as the son of Amun and Mut, with whom he formed the Theban triad of gods, the deity of the moon. The latter brought him closer to Thoth already during the Middle Kingdom, when he was sometimes called the scribe of truth.

God Ra

Ra(ancient Greek Ρα; lat. Ra) - the ancient Egyptian sun god, the supreme deity of the ancient Egyptians. His name means "Sun". The center of the cult was Heliopolis.

God Osiris.

Osiris (Osiris) (Egyptian wsjr, ancient Greek Ὄσιρις, lat. Osiris) - god of rebirth, king of the underworld in ancient Egyptian mythology.

Goddess Isis.

Isis (Isis) (Egyptian js.t, ancient Greek Ἶσις, lat. Isis) is one of the greatest goddesses of antiquity, who became a model for understanding the Egyptian ideal of femininity and motherhood. She was revered as the sister and wife of Osiris, the mother of Horus, and, accordingly, the Egyptian kings, who were originally considered the earthly incarnations of the falcon-headed god.
Being very ancient, the cult of Isis probably originated from the Nile Delta. Here was one of the most ancient cult centers of the goddess, Hebet, called Iseion by the Greeks.

God Horus

Choir , Horus (ḥr - “height”, “sky”) - the god of the sky, royalty and sun; the living ancient Egyptian king was represented as the incarnation of the god Horus.

Goddess Nephthys.

Nephthys (Greek), Nebetkhet (ancient Egyptian “Lady of the monastery”). Its essence is almost not revealed in Egyptian religious literature. Nephthys was often depicted together with Isis as her opposite and at the same time as her complement, symbolizing inferiority, passivity, and infertile lands.
Nephthys, whose name is pronounced Nebethet in Egyptian, was considered by some authors as the goddess of death, and by others as an aspect of Black Isis. Plutarch described Nephthys as “the mistress of all that is unmanifest and immaterial, while Isis rules over all that is manifest and material.” Despite the connection with the Lower World, Nephthys bore the title of “Goddess of creation who lives in everything.”

Heh in the image of the primordial ocean.

Heh or Huh - an abstract deity of Egyptian mythology, associated with the constancy of time and eternity, the personification of infinity, endless space.

Nun (Ancient Egyptian “nwn” - “water”, “aquatic”) - in ancient Egyptian mythology - the primordial ocean that existed at the beginning of time, from which Ra emerged and Atum began the creation of the world.

God Khnum.

Khnum - creator god, creating man on a pottery disk, guardian of the Nile; a man with the head of a ram with spirally twisted horns.
“Khnum is the god of fertility in ancient Egyptian mythology, the demiurge god who created the world on a potter’s wheel.

God Anubis.

Anubis (Greek), Inpu (ancient Egyptian) - the deity of Ancient Egypt with the head of a jackal and the body of a man, a guide for the dead to the afterlife.

God Set

Set (Seth, Sutekh, Suta, Seti Egyptian. Stẖ) - in ancient Egyptian mythology, the god of rage, sandstorms, destruction, chaos, war and death. However, initially he was revered as the “protector of the sun-Ra”, the patron of royal power, his name was included in the titles and names of a number of pharaohs.

Goddess Hathor

Hathor , or Hathor (“house of Horus”, that is, “sky”) - in Egyptian mythology, the goddess of the sky, love, femininity, beauty, fun and dancing.

Bogiga Bast

Bast or Bastet - in Ancient Egypt, the goddess of joy, fun and love, female beauty, fertility and home, who was depicted as a cat or a woman with the head of a cat. During the early dynasties, before the domestication of the cat, it was depicted as a lioness.

Goddess Sekhmet

Sekhmet (Sokhmet) - patron goddess of Memphis, wife of Ptah. The goddess of war and the scorching sun, the formidable eye of the sun god Ra, a healer who had the magical power to induce diseases and cure them, patronized doctors who were considered her priests. Guarded the pharaoh.

Goddess Neith

Nate - Egyptian goddess of hunting and war, patroness of Sais in the Western Delta. Possibly Neith corresponds to the Carthaginian and Berber goddess Tanit. The cult of Neith was also widespread among the Libyans. Her hieroglyph was one of the signs of their tattoo. Sebek's mother.

God Sebek

Sebek (Sobek, Sobk, Sokhet, Sobki, Soknopais, in Greek Sukhos (Greek Σοῦχος)) - the ancient Egyptian god of water and the flood of the Nile, depicted with the head of a crocodile; it is believed that he scares away the forces of darkness and is the protector of gods and people. Sebek was the patron saint of crocodiles.

God Thoth

That (otherwise Teut, Tut, Tuut, Tout, Tehuti, other Greek Θώθ, Θόουτ from Egyptian ḏḥwty, possibly pronounced ḏiḥautī) - the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom and knowledge.

Goddess Maat

Maat (Ammaat) is an ancient Egyptian goddess who personifies truth, justice, universal harmony, divine institution and ethical norms.

The goddess Isis seated on a throne, bas-relief on the sarcophagus of Ramesses II

About Egyptian mythology

The sources for studying the mythology of Ancient Egypt are characterized by incomplete and unsystematic presentation. The nature and origin of many myths are reconstructed on the basis of later texts. The main monuments that reflected the mythological ideas of the Egyptians are various religious texts: hymns and prayers to the gods, records of funeral rites on the walls of tombs. The most significant of them are the “Pyramid Texts” - the oldest texts of funeral royal rituals, carved on the walls of the interior of the pyramids of the pharaohs of the V and VI dynasties of the Old Kingdom (XXVI - XXIII centuries BC); “Texts of sarcophagi”, preserved on sarcophagi from the Middle Kingdom era (XXI - XVIII centuries BC), “Book of the Dead” - compiled from the period of the New Kingdom to the end of Egyptian history.

Egyptian mythology began to take shape in the 6th - 4th millennia BC, long before the emergence of class society. Each region (nome) develops its own pantheon and cult of gods, embodied in heavenly bodies, stones, trees, birds, snakes, etc.

The significance of Egyptian myths is invaluable; they provide valuable material for the comparative study of religious ideas in the Ancient East, and for the study of the ideology of the Greco-Roman world, and for the history of the emergence and development of Christianity.

Cosmogonic myths

Judging by archaeological data, in the most ancient period of Egyptian history there were no cosmic gods who were credited with the creation of the world. Scholars believe that the first version of this myth arose shortly before the unification of Egypt. According to this version, the sun was born from the union of earth and sky. This personification is undoubtedly older than the cosmogonic ideas of the priests from major religious centers. As usual, the existing myth was not abandoned, and the images of Geb (god of the earth) and Nut (goddess of the sky) as the parents of the sun god Ra were preserved in religion throughout ancient history. Every morning Nut gives birth to the sun and every evening hides it in her womb for the night.

Ancient temple on the banks of the Nile

Theological systems that proposed a different version of the creation of the world probably arose at the same time in several major cult centers: Heliopolis, Hermopolis and Memphis. Each of these centers declared its main god to be the creator of the world, who was, in turn, the father of other gods who united around him.
Common to all cosmogonic concepts was the idea that the creation of the world was preceded by the chaos of water immersed in eternal darkness. The beginning of the exit from chaos was associated with the emergence of light, the embodiment of which was the sun. The idea of ​​an expanse of water, from which a small hill appears at first, is closely related to Egyptian realities: it almost exactly corresponds to the annual flood of the Nile, the muddy waters of which covered the entire valley, and then, receding, gradually opened up the land, ready for plowing. In this sense, the act of creating the world was repeated annually.

Egyptian myths about the beginning of the world do not represent a single, coherent story. Often the same mythological events are depicted in different ways, and the gods appear in them in different guises. It is curious that with many cosmogonic plots explaining the creation of the world, extremely little space is devoted to the creation of man. It seemed to the ancient Egyptians that the gods created the world for people. In the written literary heritage of Egypt there are very few direct indications of the creation of the human race; such indications are the exception. Basically, the Egyptians limited themselves to the belief that a person owes his existence to the gods, who expect gratitude from him for this, understood very simply: a person must worship the gods, build and maintain temples, and regularly make sacrifices.

Atum with double crown

The priests of Heliopolis created their own version of the emergence of the world, declaring him the creator of the sun god Ra, identified with other gods - creators Atum and Khepri (“Atum” means “Perfect”, the name “Khepri” can be translated as “The One who arises” or “The One who who brings it into existence"). Atum was usually depicted in the form of a man, Khepri in the form of a scarab, which means that his cult dates back to the time when the gods were given the form of animals. It is curious that Khepri never had her own place of worship. As the personification of the rising sun, he was identical to Atum - the setting sun and Ra - shining during the day. The appearance of a scarab given to it was associated with the belief that this beetle is capable of reproducing on its own, hence its divine creative power. And the sight of a scarab pushing its ball suggested to the Egyptians the image of a god rolling the sun across the sky.

The myth of the creation of the world by Atum, Ra and Khepri is recorded in the Pyramid Texts, and by the time its text was first carved in stone, it had probably been around for a long time and was widely known.

Statue of Ramses II in the Temple of Ptah in Memphis

According to the Pyramid Texts, Ra - Atum - Khepri created himself, emerging from chaos called Nun. Nun, or the Prime Ocean, was usually depicted as an immense primordial expanse of water. Atum, emerging from it, did not find a place where he could stay. That's why he created Ben-ben Hill in the first place. Standing on this island of solid soil, Ra-Atum-Khepri began to create other cosmic gods. Since he was alone, he had to give birth to the first pair of gods himself. From the union of this first couple other gods arose, thus, according to the Heliopolitan myth, the earth and the deities that ruled it appeared. In the ongoing act of creation, from the first pair of gods - Shu (Air) and Tefnut (Moisture) - Geb (Earth) and Nut (Sky) were born. They in turn gave birth to two gods and two goddesses: Osiris, Set, Isis and Nephthys. This is how the Great Nine of Gods arose - the Heliopolis Ennead. This version of the creation of the world was not the only one in Egyptian mythology. According to one legend, the creator of people was, for example, a potter - the god Khnum, who appeared in the guise of a ram - who sculpted them from clay.

Memphis today

The theologians of Memphis, the largest political and religious center of Ancient Egypt, one of its capitals, included in their myth about the creation of the world many gods belonging to different religious centers, and subordinated them to Ptah as the creator of everything. The Memphis version of cosmogony, compared to the Heliopolitan one, is much more abstract: the world and the gods were created not through a physical act - as in the process of creation by Atum - but exclusively through thought and word.
Sometimes the firmament was represented in the form of a cow with a body covered with stars, but there were also ideas according to which the sky is a water surface, the heavenly Nile, along which the sun flows around the earth during the day. There is also the Nile underground, along which the sun, having descended beyond the horizon, floats at night. The Nile, flowing through the earth, was personified in the image of the god Hapi, who contributed to the harvest with his beneficial floods. The Nile itself was also inhabited by good and evil deities in the form of animals: crocodiles, hippopotamuses, frogs, scorpions, snakes, etc. The fertility of the fields was controlled by the goddess - the mistress of bins and barns, Renenutet, revered in the form of a snake that appears on the field during the harvest, ensuring the thoroughness of harvesting. The grape harvest depended on the vine god Shai.

Anubis in the form of a dog. Figurine from the tomb of Tutankhamun

Anubis with a mummy. Painting on the wall of Sennejem's tomb

Myths of the mortuary cult

An important role in Egyptian mythology was played by ideas about the afterlife as a direct continuation of the earthly one, but only in the grave. Its necessary conditions are the preservation of the body of the deceased (hence the custom of mummifying corpses), the provision of housing for him (tomb), food (mortuary gifts and sacrifices brought by the living). Later, ideas arise that the dead (that is, their ba, soul) go out into the sunlight during the day, fly up to heaven to the gods, and wander through the underworld (duat). The essence of man was thought of in the inextricable unity of his body, souls (there were believed to be several of them: ka, ba; the Russian word “soul,” however, is not an exact correspondence to the Egyptian concept), name, shadow. A soul wandering through the underworld is in wait for all sorts of monsters, from which you can escape with the help of special spells and prayers. Osiris, together with other gods, administers the afterlife judgment over the deceased (the 125th chapter of the “Book of the Dead” is specially dedicated to him). In the face of Osiris, psychostasia occurs: the weighing of the heart of the deceased on scales balanced by truth (the image of the goddess Maat or her symbols). The sinner was devoured by the terrible monster Amt (a lion with the head of a crocodile), the righteous man came to life for a happy life in the fields of Iaru. Only those who were submissive and patient in earthly life could be acquitted at the trial of Osiris, the one who did not steal, did not encroach on temple property, did not rebel, did not speak evil against the king, etc., as well as “pure in heart” (“I am pure , clean, clean,” the deceased asserts in court).

Goddess Isis with wings

Agricultural myths

The third main cycle of myths of Ancient Egypt is associated with Osiris. The cult of Osiris is associated with the spread of agriculture in Egypt. He is the god of the productive forces of nature (in the Book of the Dead he is called grain, in the Pyramid Texts - the god of the vine), withering and resurrecting vegetation. So, sowing was considered the funeral of the grain - Osiris, the emergence of shoots was perceived as his rebirth, and the cutting of ears during the harvest was perceived as the killing of God. These functions of Osiris are reflected in an extremely widespread legend describing his death and rebirth. Osiris, who reigned happily in Egypt, was treacherously killed by his younger brother, the evil Set. Osiris’s sisters Isis (who is also his wife) and Nephthys search for the body of the murdered man for a long time, and when they find it, they mourn. Isis conceives a son, Horus, from her dead husband. Having matured, Horus enters into a fight with Set; at the court of the gods, with the help of Isis, he achieves recognition of himself as the only rightful heir of Osiris. Having defeated Set, Horus resurrects his father. However, Osiris, not wanting to stay on earth, becomes the king of the underworld and the supreme judge over the dead. The throne of Osiris on earth passes to Horus. In another version of the myth, the resurrection of Osiris is associated with the annual floods of the Nile, which are explained by the fact that Isis, mourning Osiris, after the “night of tears” fills the river with her tears.

God Osiris. Painting of the tomb of Sennejem, 13th century BC

Myths associated with Osiris are reflected in numerous rituals. At the end of the last winter month "Khoyak" - the beginning of the first month of spring "Tibi" the mysteries of Osiris were performed, during which the main episodes of the myth about him were reproduced in dramatic form. Priestesses in the images of Isis and Nephthys depicted the search, mourning and burial of the god. Then the “great battle” took place between Horus and Set. The drama ended with the erection of the “djed” pillar dedicated to Osiris, symbolizing the rebirth of God and, indirectly, of all nature. In the predynastic period, the holiday ended with a struggle between two groups of mystery participants: one of them represented summer, and the other winter. Summer always won (the resurrection of nature). After the unification of the country under the rule of the rulers of Upper Egypt, the nature of the mysteries changes. Now two groups are fighting, one of which is in the clothes of Upper Egypt, and the other - of Lower Egypt. Victory, naturally, remains with the group symbolizing Upper Egypt. During the days of the Mysteries of Osiris, dramatized rites of coronation of the pharaohs were also celebrated. During the mystery, the young pharaoh acted as Horus, the son of Isis, and the deceased king was portrayed as Osiris sitting on the throne.

God Osiris. Painting, 8th century BC

The character of Osiris as the god of vegetation was reflected in another cycle of rituals. In a special room of the temple, a clay likeness of the figure of Osiris was erected, which was sown with grain. For the holiday of Osiris, his image was covered with green shoots, which symbolized the rebirth of the god. In the drawings one often sees the mummy of Osiris with shoots sprouted from it, which are watered by the priest.

The idea of ​​Osiris as the god of fertility was also transferred to the pharaoh, who was considered the magical focus of the country’s fertility and therefore participated in all the main rituals of an agricultural nature: with the onset of the rise of the Nile, he threw a scroll into the river - a decree that the beginning of the flood had come; the first solemnly began preparing the soil for sowing; cut the first sheaf at the harvest festival, and for the whole country made a thanksgiving sacrifice to the harvest goddess Renenutet and to the statues of the dead pharaohs after completing field work.

Bastet cat

The cult of animals, widespread in all periods of Egyptian history, left a clear mark on Egyptian mythology. Gods in the form of animals, with the heads of birds and animals, scorpion gods, and snake gods act in Egyptian myths along with deities in human form. The more powerful a god was considered, the more cult animals were attributed to him, in the form of which he could appear to people.

Egyptian myths reflect the peculiarities of the worldview of the inhabitants of the Nile Valley, their ideas about the origin of the world and its structure, which have developed over thousands of years and go back to primitive times. Here are attempts to find the origins of being in the biological act of creation of the gods, the search for the original substance personified by divine couples - the embryo of later teachings about the primary elements of the world, and, finally, as one of the highest achievements of Egyptian theological thought - the desire to explain the origins of the world, people and all culture as the result of the creative power embodied in the word of God.

Ancient Egypt, despite everything, remains one of the most mysterious civilizations. It is still called the “gift of the Nile” and is considered the birthplace of the pyramids and the Sphinx, which gazed into the boundless sands. The past and present of this state are intertwined with threads of historical events and amazing stories. Ancient Egyptian myths are a truly valuable gift that helps modern historians unravel many of the mysteries of this country’s past. It is in them that the meaning of existence and their interaction with the outside world lies.

Features of Egyptian mythology

Even without being a historian, any person realizes that the mythology of any ancient civilization is based on the worldview of a particular people. The ancient mythology of Egypt has amazing features that are contained in numerous symbols hidden behind everyday events. It is almost impossible to understand them through a cold mind. To do this, you need to take a philosophical look at what is hidden behind the string of words. What is the main feature of these ancient tales and legends? Ancient Egyptian mythology, first of all, called on a person not to resist current events, not to go against what is now commonly called fate, because everything done contrary to the “wise order” will turn against humanity.

Heroes of the myths of Ancient Egypt

The first myths in Egypt were written, or rather, told, even before the construction of the famous pyramids. They contained legends about the creation of all life on earth. In addition, the ancient mythology of Egypt contained stories about the struggle of gods for power. Unlike many eastern peoples, the Egyptians did not like to include ordinary people in their myths, so their main characters were always numerous gods. The Egyptians revered and loved some, while others were feared or outright afraid. At the same time, the population of Ancient Egypt was considered close to the divine principle, because, according to the same myths, the gods in ancient times lived among people, and their direct descendants became kings and took care of their people.

Villain Gods and Helper Gods

What and who was the mythology of ancient Egypt about? Gods are the main characters of similar works in many other civilizations. And ancient Egyptian is no exception. As mentioned above, the Egyptians divided all gods into good and evil. If the former could be “negotiated” with the help of offerings, the latter knew no mercy and could moderate their anger only after huge sacrifices were made to them in the form of human lives. It's time to remember all the higher beings that ancient Egyptian mythology has ever mentioned.

There were several supreme gods in Egypt; this depended primarily on the regions of a given state. Everywhere, Egyptians revered and respected the sun god Ra, and the pharaohs were considered his children. In Thebes (Upper Egypt) he was considered Amon-Ra, the god of the wind and the sun, while in Lower Egypt Atum, the god of the setting sun, reigned supreme. In Heliopolis, located in Lower Egypt, the main deity was Geb, the god of the earth, and in Memphis - Ptah. Such is the diversity. It is worth noting that in ancient Egyptian mythology there was more than one sun god. In those days, the Egyptians extolled not only the luminary itself, but also the stages of its existence on earth: the morning and evening sun. In addition, the god of the solar disk Aten was perceived as a separate divine principle.

In addition to the creatures described above, the myths about the ancient gods of Egypt also mentioned other, no less important and influential entities. Positive roles in this case belonged to Amat for sins), Apis (patron of fertility and strength), as well as Horus (god of dawn or the rising sun). In addition, Anubis, Isis, Osiris and Ptah were often mentioned on the positive side in myths. The following were considered cruel, and, therefore, unloved higher entities in Egypt: Sebek - the god of lakes and rivers, who could only be appeased by making great sacrifices to him, Seth - the lord of the winds and the desert, Sekhmet - the goddess of war, cruel and merciless to all people.

Particularly interesting are the ancient Egyptian myths about heaven and earth, that is, the world. In different centers of Egypt, the main role was assigned to one deity, while others were either his assistants or resisted and plotted. There was only one point of contact between these cosmogonistic directions - the deity Nun, symbolizing the Primordial Chaos.

Myths about the creation of the world according to Heliopolis

The population of the Egyptian city of Heliopolis and its environs believed that the creation of the world, or rather, of everything on earth, took place thanks to Atum. In their opinion, it was this god who was the very first creature to arise in the depths of Nun - a vast, cold and dark substance. Not finding a solid place from which he could try to create light and heat, Atum created Ben-Ben - a hill rising in the middle of the cold, lifeless ocean.

After some thought about what else to create, God decided to create Shu (the god of the wind), who could set the surface of the ocean in motion, and Tefnut (the goddess of world order), who was called upon to ensure that Shu did not destroy what will be created next. Nun, seeing such a miracle, endowed Shu and Tefnut with one soul between them. Since there was no light in this new world, the first gods suddenly became lost. Atum sent his Eye to search for them, which soon led his children to their ancestor. Out of joy, Atum shed tears; they dripped onto the earth’s surface and turned into people.

Shu and Tefnut, meanwhile, gave birth to Geb and Nut, who soon began to live as husband and wife. Soon the goddess of the firmament Nut gave birth to Osiris, Set and Horus, Isis and Nephthys. The entire divine family, according to this myth, constitutes the Great Nine Gods of Egypt. But this is far from the only version of the order of appearance of higher beings, and therefore their primacy. The ancient mythology of Egypt contains several more stories on this topic.

Creation of the World: Memphis Cosmogony

According to the version of the creation of the world, set out in the scrolls that were found in Memphis, the first god to arise in the depths of Nun was Ptah, representing the firmament of the earth. By an effort of will, he tore himself out of the earth and gained a body. Ptah decided to create faithful helpers for himself from the same material from which he himself arose, that is, from the earth. The first to be born was Atum, who, by the will of his father, recreated the Great Nine Gods of Egypt from the darkness of Nun. Bird could only endow them with wisdom and power.

Theban version of the origin of the world

In Thebes the story is somewhat different from those followed in other areas of Ancient Egypt. The first and most significant difference is the number of gods: if in other versions it was the Great Nine, then the Theban suggests the presence of three supreme beings: Mina - Amun - the sun god, and the war god Montu. Ming was considered the creator of the whole world. Somewhat later, Min and Amon were already presented as a single deity, symbolizing the sun, which gives light, warmth and rich harvests.

Hermopolis cosmogony on the origin of the world

The largest pantheon of ancient Egyptian "primordial" gods existed in the mythological version of the creation of the world found at Hermopolis. In the abyss of the Great Chaos (Nuna), forces aimed at destruction reigned, consisting of three pairs of deities: Nisa and Niaut, symbolizing emptiness, Tenema and Tenemuit, symbolizing disappearance in the darkness, as well as Gerech and Gerecht - the gods of night and darkness. They were opposed by four pairs of deities endowed with positive powers: Huh and Hauhet (gods of infinity), Nun and Naunet Kuk and Kauket (gods of darkness), Amon and Amaunet (invisible gods). This is the so-called Great Eight. Swimming for a long time in the waters of the ocean, they created an egg and placed it on the only place above the water - Fire Hill. After some time, a young Ra hatched from him, who was given the name Khepri. So there were nine gods, and they were able to start creating people.

Life after death in Egyptian myths

The myths and legends of Ancient Egypt were not only dedicated to the creation of the world. The faith that reigned in this country assumed the existence of life after death. In Egyptian mythology, the underworld was a large, deep river, with boats scurrying between its banks. The souls of dead people, according to myths, after the extinction of the body, found themselves in such a boat and made a long journey between the world of the living and the dead. Only upon reaching the opposite shore could the soul of the deceased calm down. The success of this journey was ensured by the gods: Anubis was responsible for the safety of the body before and after burial, Selket protected the souls of the dead, Sokar guarded the gates of the underworld, Upuat accompanied the souls during the journey along the River of the Dead.

Preservation of the body of the deceased was also of great importance, for which purpose it was mummified, preserving the internal organs in separate vessels. According to legend, a person could be reborn if all the rituals were carried out exactly as prescribed by the great wise law.

The fight between good and evil in Egyptian myths

The ancient mythology of Egypt did not ignore such a theme as the struggle between good and evil. To date, many stories have been translated about how the gods of Egypt fought with evil divine beings, who were most often represented in the form of crocodiles and hippopotamuses. The main fighter against them was, of course, the Sun God, and the main helpers in restoring order were the original gods - Shu, Montu, Nut and others. According to mythology, Ra's battles with evil take place every day, and not only in the world of the living, but also in the kingdom of the dead.

The mythology and religion of Ancient Egypt is very interesting and mysterious. The inhabitants of the country of the pyramids believed in gods, gave them names and painted their images. From this article you will learn the names of the gods of Egypt, why they were feared and respected, loved and revered, and held holidays and celebrations.

A specific god was responsible for each situation or activity. But in general, the detailed Egyptian religion and mythology still attracts the attention of both Egyptologists and lovers of antiquity to this day.

Deities that had a great influence on Egypt are represented here. The secret of the five gods - Ra, Amun, Anubis, Horus and Osiris - is one of the main secrets of Ancient Egypt.

Gods of Egypt: pantheon of the Nile Power

The pharaohs, according to the ancient Egyptians, were also gods. And after death, their bodies were placed in pyramids. The Egyptians believed that with the help of the pyramids, the pharaohs became immortal and went to heaven with the other gods.

The secrets of the gods of Egypt have not been revealed to this day. Egyptologists are literally collecting information piece by piece about the ancient culture and religion of the country of the Great Nile. Thanks to this, you and I have the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the ancient world of pyramids and pharaohs and learn a little about the Egyptian gods.

Below are the names of the gods of Egypt, which were of great importance in the history of the country, as well as their descriptions. The magazine "Secrets of the Gods of Egypt" will give you a more complete picture of the Egyptian pantheon of gods.

Ra

Residents of a sunny country cannot imagine their life without the sun; therefore, the sun god in Egypt is the most revered deity. The sun god in Egypt is Ra. But he did not immediately become dominant.

The cult of his worship originated in the city of Iunu, which was the most important city in the country, and its location was not far from the modern capital of Egypt. The origin of the cult of the god Ra goes back very far into the past; thousands and thousands of years ago the influence of this deity was very strong.

The sun played an important role for the Egyptians, so each period of solar presence in the sky during the day had a specific name. For example, the morning sun was called Khepri, the daytime and bright one, which majestically towered over the country in the middle of the day, was called Ra, and the evening sun, preparing for bed, was called Atum.

There are many versions of the origin of the god Ra: for example, there is a version that the sun god in Ancient Egypt is a golden calf that was born by the Cosmic cow Nut; according to another version, the god Ra appeared from a sacred lotus, which breathed life into him.

Creator of the world

Then Ra created humidity and air - Tefnut and Shu, who were the creators of heaven and earth - Nut and Heb. These gods became the parents of such gods as Set, Isis, Nephthys and Osiris. It was this moment that marked the beginning of the birth of the entire Universe and Egypt.

According to the ancient Egyptians, Ra flew across the sky on wings, and therefore the image of a solar disk with wings was the main symbol of Egypt.

It was also believed that the sun god in ancient Egypt traveled through the skies in his solar boat, with a retinue of other gods. And with the onset of night, the sun god transferred to another boat - a night one - and continued the journey.

The night journey of the god Ra was fraught with many dangers, one of which was a meeting with a giant snake, Ra's most important enemy. But the sun god overcame all obstacles and dangers every night, and in the morning the sun rose again and illuminated the majestic Egypt.

God Ra greatly influenced the pharaohs. They believed that they ruled according to his laws. If they deviated from the laws of the sun god, then the ruler would face a loss of power. But this could only happen after death. Multiple temples were erected in honor of the sun god.

Most often, Ra was depicted as a man, with the head of a ram or a ram. But these are not all animals that symbolize Ra; the deity has many different guises.

Amon and the secrets of the gods of Egypt

The majestic and most important deity of Ancient Egypt is the king of the gods and the sun god. He was originally the patron saint of the city of Thebes, but as Thebes developed and grew in influence, Amon became an increasingly important and revered deity.

In the 16th-14th centuries. BC e. Amon merged with the sun god Ra and became the most powerful deity of the entire divine pantheon. Since then, the sun god in Egypt was called Amon-Ra.

Amon-Ra was considered the king of all gods, patron, protector and creator. The pharaohs believed that it was Amun-Ra who helped them rule the state fairly and wisely and defeat their enemies.

The pharaohs themselves were also deified, because they were considered the sons of Amun-Ra. Therefore, pharaohs often bore names that included the name of the deity.

The most beautiful temples were built in honor of the king of the gods, the most famous of which were built in Karnak and Luxor. The most magnificent temple was erected in Karnak, its area is 260,000 square meters. meters. During the festival of the valley, a statue of Amun-Ra was taken out of it, and the god communicated with the people with the help of priests. Many complex issues were resolved that day; Amon-Ra’s decision was not questioned.

The animals of Amon-Ra were the goose and the ram; they personified wisdom and calm. God himself was depicted as a man, wearing a crown and holding sceptres. Sometimes the image of God took the form of a man with the head of a ram. Often the body of Amon-Ra was covered with blue paint, since the value of this paint allowed it to be used only for the most revered gods.

The Story of Anubis

This god was considered the patron of the dead and was depicted as a jackal or dog, as well as a man with a dog or jackal head. During the Old Kingdom, Anubis (originally) was the god of death in Egypt, but over time he became only one of the gods surrounded by Osiris, who took his place.

Anubis was called the god of embalming, and his duties included embalming the body and turning it into a mummy. It was Anubis who made the first mummy; he wrapped the body of his father, Osiris, in a special cloth soaked in a special solution. All the gods of Egypt had a sacred animal, for Anubis it was a dog.

By laying his hands on the mummy, Anubis transformed the deceased into an enlightened one, who was now ready for further life in the afterlife. He escorted the deceased to a special hall, where he was judged and his heart was weighed on special scales.

The main city where Anubis was revered was the city of Kasa. Subsequently, the influence of Anubis spread throughout Egypt.

Origin of Osiris

One of the greatest and most revered gods of Ancient Egypt is the god of the kingdom of the dead. Osiris was depicted as a man whose body was bandaged, like mummies. The god holds scepters in his hands, and his head is crowned with a crown with feathers on the sides.

There are many hypotheses about the origin of this important ancient Egyptian deity, but Egyptologists cannot come to a common opinion.

According to ancient records, the god of death in Egypt - Osiris - is the eldest son of the god Geb and the goddess Nut. The ancient Egyptians considered the birthplace of Osiris to be the desert located west of Memphis; according to the Egyptians, the afterlife began there. Sometimes Osiris was prescribed to be born in the vicinity of the city of Thebes.

A very beautiful myth exists in ancient Egyptian mythology. According to him, Osiris was an earthly god, that is, a pharaoh, and ruled together with his sister and wife Isis. Osiris was revered and respected, and he, in turn, helped and advised people how to farm, grow various crops, and taught them to honor the gods.

Death and Resurrection of Osiris

Everything would be fine, but brother Seth was jealous of Osiris and decided to get rid of him. Together with the conspirators, he imprisoned Osiris in a sarcophagus and threw him into the water of the sacred Nile. But contrary to expectations, the sarcophagus did not drown, but floated with the flow.

Later, Isis found her husband and brother and wanted to bring him back to life, but the insidious Set did not let this happen and cut the body of Osiris into pieces and scattered them throughout Egypt. But Isis managed to find all the parts of the body of her husband and brother, unite them and bury Osiris according to customs.

The main city of the cult of Osiris was Abydos, where celebrations in honor of the god were regularly held. Many people gathered at these festivals to honor Osiris. Subsequently, the influence of this god spread throughout the country and beyond.

Gore

He was considered the god of the sky and the sun from the most ancient times, and was depicted in the form of a falcon. Translated, Horus means “height”.

Horus was revered and respected in many areas throughout Egypt, and his fame began in pre-dynastic times. God in the form of a falcon was certainly associated with the sun, his journey across the sky took place in a divine boat, or, according to another version, the god of Egypt Horus fluttered in the skies on his wings.

The Egyptians always associated Horus with the pharaoh; they believed that the ruler was none other than Horus in human form. Thus, using the example of the statue of the great Pharaoh Khafre, you can see that the falcon covers the head of the ruler with its wings. The influence and importance of Horus has never been in doubt, unlike many other Egyptian deities.

The Egyptians combined many different deities in one name, Horus. For example, there was Horus of Bekhdet, who was the son of Ra, the god of the Sun. According to ancient writings, Horus of Bekhdet accompanied his father on his journey across the sky on his boat, while Horus defeated the enemies of Ra.

There was also Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis. He was at enmity with Set, the brother of Isis, who killed Osiris. There is a myth about the Eye of Horus. Set tore the eye from Horus, with which he wanted to resurrect his father, Osiris. But Horus returned his eye and fulfilled his intention. Since then, the “eye of Horus” is a famous Egyptian symbol, which is very often found in texts, drawings, and amulets. The “Eye of Horus” was worn as an amulet; the Egyptians believed that it had protective magical powers.

Horus was mainly depicted in the image of a great bird - a falcon. Or the image of Horus looked like a man with the head of a falcon. One way or another, Horus’s head was always crowned with a red and white crown, which was a symbol of the Upper and Lower Nile.

sacred bull

Apis is the god of fertility in Egypt. Apis was represented in the form of a bull, in turn, the Egyptians worshiped not a mythical animal, but a living one. But in order for a bull to receive such a title, it had to be endowed with certain characteristics, such as black spots on the body or a white triangular spot on the forehead. There were 29 characteristics in total, this number is associated with the days of the lunar cycle.

The bull, which met all the characteristics, truly lived like a god - he had servants and priests who carefully watched every movement of the bull and made their predictions. The bull was well fed and even dressed in elegant clothes. The animal also had its own harem, which contained sacred cows. The sacred bull lived at the temple in Memphis.

After reaching a certain age, namely 25 years, the bull was killed because it was considered old and could not properly perform the functions of a deity. The bull was drowned in a sacred well, and then buried like a person, and of the highest rank. His body was mummified and placed in a special sarcophagus.

Geb

One of the most important gods of the Egyptian pantheon is Geb. He was the son of the wind god Shu and the goddess of water and humidity Tefnut. Also known as the god of fertility in Egypt

Geb decided the fate of the dead in the courtroom of Osiris. He watched as the heart of the deceased was weighed on scales, and if the heart was not pious, then the soul of the deceased fell into the power of Geb.

But still, this deity is not distinguished by ferocity and anger. Geb was a symbol of fertility among the ancient Egyptians. In this regard, often in the images one could see Geb’s body green - the color of the earth and plants.

There is a very beautiful myth about this deity. According to him, Geb and his sister and wife Nut loved each other very much and constantly embraced each other. Ra did not like this very much, and he told the god Shu, his son, about this.

Shu separated Geb and Nut and raised him high above himself. Thus, Geb became the sky, and Nut his goddess, and between them there was always air - the god Shu. Geb missed his beloved very much, and tears flowed from his eyes, which turned into seas and oceans.

Goddess mother

Isis is one of the greatest and most revered goddesses of the ancient Egyptian pantheon. Isis was considered the patroness of motherhood and family, fertility, water, wind, family fidelity, and also the guardian of the dead.

The etymology of the cult of Isis is not yet known; there is a version that she was originally a goddess in the Delta, and later her influence spread throughout Egypt. Isis, moreover, is one of the most ancient deities.

According to the myth of Isis and Osiris, the goddess is searching for the body parts of her beloved husband, whom Set killed. When Isis finds all the parts of the body, she, with the help of Anubis and Thoth, mummifies the body of Osiris and resurrects him. But the revival occurs only for a while, during which Isis manages to conceive a child from Osiris.

Isis gives birth to a son, Horus, whom she hides. When Horus grew up, he fought with Set and won, and Osiris was resurrected.

Isis was associated with the throne of the ruler and was symbolically considered the mother of the pharaoh. There is speculation that her name means "throne", but this is an unproven fact.

Most often, Isis was depicted as a woman, whose head was crowned with a crown, symbolizing the throne. There are also images of Isis with horns and a disk of the sun between them. Another image is of a woman with wings that are pressed to her hands.

In the last period of the history of Ancient Egypt, Isis was depicted as a woman feeding a baby, which meant her son, Horus. The baby was sitting in his mother’s arms.

From people to celestials

Imhotep was a scientist and physician who was deified after his death. Few receive such an honor. And Imhotep became the first to receive the status of a deity without having family ties to the royal family.

Images of Imhotep and information about his family have not survived to this day, and it is also unknown where the brilliant scientist is buried. What is known is that Imhotep had many important titles during his lifetime.

The god of wisdom - Imhotep - was initially revered in the territory of Memphis, but over time his popularity gained momentum and covered the entire territory of Egypt. By the way, the magazine “Gods of Egypt” devotes an entire issue to this character.

Main female deity

Bastet was the goddess of beauty, love and holidays. She was a symbol of feminine grace and beauty. The goddess Bastet was depicted as a cat or a woman with a cat's head. An indispensable attribute of Bastet was the sistrum - a musical instrument.

Cats were considered sacred animals in Ancient Egypt. The Egyptians saw the care of the gods in protecting their houses from rodents. Even the moisture from a cat's nose was considered sacred.

The first large temple in honor of Bast was built in Bubastis; it was then that the cult of the goddess began to flourish, and she took pride of place in the Egyptian pantheon of gods.

In honor of the goddess Bastet, very magnificent celebrations and holidays were held in Egypt. People walked, had fun, sang songs and praised Bastet. She became an international deity.

In every Egyptian home, cats were treated with great honor and respect, and in the event of a fire, for example, cats and other animals were rescued first.

When a cat died, the owner had to bury the body with all honors. And he himself was sad and shaved off his eyebrows in honor of mourning. Thousands of mummified cat bodies were discovered in Bubastis.

Mother of existence - Nut

In Ancient Egypt, Nut was considered the goddess of the sky. The Egyptians imagined her in the form of a naked woman who rose above the ground, leaning on it only with her hands and feet.

Nut's head was turned to the west, and the ancient Egyptians believed that Nut swallowed the setting sun, and in the morning she gave birth, and it illuminated the earth again. The same thing happened with the moon and stars.

The Egyptians believed that a person could also be reborn after death in the form of stars in the sky, so images of the goddess Nut decorated the ceilings of tombs.

During the Old Kingdom, the ceilings of the graves were decorated with images of stars, which were a symbol of the sky and Nut. Later, images of the goddess herself began to be painted on the inside of the sarcophagus lids so that she would ascend the deceased to heaven.

Nut was depicted as a woman. Sometimes certain hieroglyphs were written on her head. Nut was also often represented in the form of a woman whose arms and legs rest on all four cardinal directions. Her body was covered with stars or wings were added to her appearance, which meant the protection of the goddess and the coolness that she gives to people.

Seth as a synonym for devastation

The god of chaos and destruction, Set, is considered one of the main gods of ancient Egyptian history. He was also considered the lord of storms and hurricanes.

Set was the brother of Isis, Osiris and Nephthys, and he was also the husband of Nephthys. The ancient Egyptians did not consider this something abnormal and vicious. But the marriage of Seth and Nephthys was unhappy.

The worship of Seth dates back to ancient times, as evidenced by various historical finds - statues, amulets, images, etc. At the same time, his power and influence spread throughout the territory of Egypt.

Set became the murderer of Osiris, his brother, as a result of which Osiris's son Horus was at enmity with Set for many years. They fought for the royal throne.

According to the records, Set and Horus fought in various battles, which ended either in the victory of Set or in the triumph of Horus. The rest of the gods were tired of this, and they decided to assemble a tribunal, at which each of the opponents spoke out regarding their desire to receive the throne.

The decision declared Horus the winner, and he became the ruler of Egypt. Set had to return the eye of Horus, which he tore out in one of the battles.

As time passed and history changed, Set became more and more cruel and ferocious, and, in the end, began to personify everything evil on earth. Seth committed many blasphemous crimes, which added even more negative qualities to his person.

The image of Seth is a man with the head of an unusual animal, with long ears and an elongated nose. Seth was also depicted as a crocodile, pig, dog or donkey.

The listed gods of Egypt constitute the most famous part of them, but there were many more of them. At the same time, new objects for worship were introduced into the pantheon at the request of the pharaoh.

Even the hierarchy in this sacred matter for the Egyptians also depended on the supreme ruler of the state in the Nile Delta. It is enough to recall the fairly well-known fact of the religious reform of Amenhotep IV, who later became Akhenaten, and replaced Amun-Ra with Aten. The gods of Egypt, the names of these creatures immediately transport you to a fairy-tale world in which you want to stay longer. The science of Egyptology will help with this, which will allow you to learn all the nuances of the divine world of the ancient state of the pharaohs.

And the new idea of ​​the publishing house "Ashet" - the magazine "Secrets of the Gods of Egypt" - will allow you to collect figurines of the most famous celestials of this African country.