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Egyptian Gods

© Copyright 2002, Jim Loy

The above were the main gods of ancient Egypt. Some are known mainly by the Greek version of their names.

• Amun and Ra were eventually combined into the chief god Amun-Ra.
• Anubis (Anpu in Egyptian) was a god of the netherworld.
• Aten was the visible disk of the sun, worshipped during the reign of Akhenaton.
• Atum was god of the setting sun.
• Bastet was the cat-headed goddess.
• Geb was the earth god.
• Hapi was the Nile god.
• Hathor was the love goddess, sometimes represented as a cow.
• Horus was two gods, Horus of the Two Horizons and Horus the son of Osiris, later combined into one god.
• Isis was the sister and wife of Osiris. The last sign of her name, as shown here, is actually the sign for Hathor. Isis often is shown with that crown, too (with cows horns around a sun). Often Isis is shown with her throne (the first symbol of her name) on her head.
• Kheperi was the rising sun.
• Khnum was the ram-headed god, who created human beings.
• Maat was the goddess of truth and justice.
• Min was the god of fertility.
• Mont was the war god.
• Mut was Amun's wife.
• Nut was the sky goddess.
• Osiris was the king of the netherworld.
• Ptah was the father of the gods.
• Ra (Re) was the sun god and creator of the universe.
• Ra-Harakhti was also called Harakhti or Horus of the two horizons
• Seth was brother and killer of Osiris.
• Shu was goddess of the sky.
• Sobek was the crocodile god.
• Tefnut or Tefenet was the lion-headed goddess.
• Thoth (Djehuti in Egyptian) was the scribe of the gods.

Another goddess was Taueret, the hippopotamus goddess. A godlike creature was Ammit the devourer of souls (who devours the hearts of evil people), a combination of crocodile and other animals, who sat near the scales (on which the deceased's heart was weighed against Maat's feather of truth) in many Egyptian paintings and inscriptions. Bes was a dwarf god of late Egyptian times. And the Apis Bull was a sacred bull. There were many more gods and goddesses.

A number of gods (Ptah, Khnum, Atum, Ra, and others) were given credit for creating the universe, in conflicting stories from different cities. The Ennead (Greek for "group of nine") were Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys.

See Egyptian Clip Art: Gods & Goddesses, for some nice pictures of some of the gods and goddesses. It is brought to you by The Tomb of the Chihuahua Pharaohs.

A young lady sent me email complaining that, according to her sources, Kheperi was not the god of the rising sun. She didn't tell me what her sources were. From what I can gather from several sources, Kheperi was the god of the rising sun, Atum was the god of the setting sun, Harakhti (or Ra Harakhti) was the god of the two horizons. And all of these were aspects of the sun god Ra (Re). And, of course, Amun-Ra combined the two gods Amun (Amen) and Ra (Re) into one god.

Addendum:

Here is a longer list of gods (many of whom were worshipped in only certain parts of Egypt), from Egypt: Gods, Myths and Religion by Lucia Gahlin and other sources. Some were gods from other countries:

• Aker - earth god - two lions, facing opposite directions
• Amaunet - snake-headed goddess
• Amunhotep, son of Hapu
• Ammit - devourer of the hearts of the wicked - head of crocodile, front of leopard, back of hippopotomus
• Amun - king of gods, hidden god - man with double plumed crown
• Anat - war goddess - Syria, Palestine
• Anubis (Anpu) - enbalming and underworld - jackal or jackal-headed man
• Anukis (Anket) - huntress, inundation goddess - woman with plumed headdress
• Apis - sacred bull
• Apophis (Aapep) - snake god - underworld, chaos
• Arensnuphis - man with plumed crown - Nubian
• Astarte - war goddess - Syrian
• Aten - sun disc
• Atum - primeval creator god
• Baal - Syrian god
• Baba - baboon - virility
• Banebdjedet - ram - virility
• Bastet - cat or cat-headed goddess
• Bat - woman with cow's ears and horns - fertility
• Benu - heron - rebirth
• Bes - dwarf god - household, childbirth
• Buchis - bull
• Duamufet - jackal-headed man - Canopic jar (stomach and upper intestines)
• Geb - Earth god - fertility
• Hapy (Hapi) - Nile god
• Hapy - baboon-headed man - Canopic jar (lungs)
• Hathor - mother/fertility goddess - cow or woman with cow's ears and horns and sun disc on head
• Hatmehyt - fish
• Hauhet - snake-headed goddess
• Heket - frog or frog-headed goddess - childbirth
• Herishef - long-horned ram with atef crown and sun disc headdress - creator
• Horus - falcon or falcon-headed god - king, sky
• Hu - in human form
• Heh/Huh - frog-headed god
• Ihy - in child form - god of music
• Imhotep - god of wisdom and medicine
• Imsety - in man form - Canopic jar (liver)
• Ipy (Ipet) - hippopotamus goddess
• Ishtar - Assyrian goddess
• Isis - wife of Osiris, mother of Horus
• Kautet - snake-headed goddess
• Khepri (Khopri) - scarab beetle or man with beetle for head - rising sun
• Khnum - ram or ram-headed god - creator
• Khonsu - child god of the moon
• Kuk - frog-headed god
• Maat - goddess of truth and justice - woman with single feather headdress
• Mafdet - cat goddess
• Mandulis - Nubian god
• Mehen - coiled serpent god
• Mehet Weret - cow goddess
• Meretseger - cobra or cobra-headed goddess
• Meskhenet - brick with woman's head
• Mihos - lion god
• Min (Minu) - fertility god - man with double-plumed headdress and erect phalus
• Mnevis - bull with solar disk between horns
• Mont (Montu) - falcon or falcon-headed war god - with sun disc and double-plumed headdress
• Mut - vulture (or woman with vulture headdress) mother goddess
• Naunet - snake-headed goddess (sometime with a frog head)
• Nefertem - man or lion-headed man with lotus headdress or lotus blossom
• Neith - goddess of hunting and war - woman with red crown
• Nekhbet - vulture goddess with white crown
• Neper - god of grain
• Nephthys - daughter of Geb and Nut, sister of Osiris, Set, and Isis - often with wings on her arms
• Nun - god of primordial waters - sometimes with a frog head
• Nut - sky goddess - naked woman with body arched over the earth (the god Geb)
• Onuris - warrior/hunter god - carried spear
• Osiris - king of the netherworld - mummified man with atef crown
• Pakhet - lion goddess
• Ptah - creator god - mummified man with skull cap and was-djed-ankh scepter
• Qadesh - middle-eastern goddess
• Qebehsenuef - falcon-headed man - Canopic jar (lower intestines)
• Re (Ra) - creator god - ram-headed or falcon-headed
• Renenutet - cobra goddess of harvest and fertility
• Reshef/Reshep - Syrian war god
• Sah - Orion
• Satet/Satis - goddess with white crown and antelope horns
• Sekhmet - lion or lion-headed goddess - daughter of Ra
• Selket (Serket) - goddess with scorpion headdress - protected the dead
• Seshat - goddess of writing
• Seth - god of chaos, brother of Osiris and Isis - Seth animal (see picture above) or man with Seth animal head
• Shay - god of destiny
• Shezmu - netherworld demon of wine
• Shu - god of air - son of Atum, brother of Tefnut
• Sia - god of knowledge
• Sobek - crocodile or crocodile-headed god
• Sokar - hawk or mummified man with hawk head - a ruler of the netherworld
• Sopdet/Sothis - Sirius - woman with star on head
• Tatenen - innundation god - double-plumed crown and ram's horns
• Taweret - hippopotamus goddess - household and childbirth goddess
• Tayet - weaving goddess
• Tefnut - lion-headed (or cobra) goddess - sister of Shu
• Thoth (Djehuty) - scribe of the gods, god of writing and scribes - ibis or ibis-headed or baboon
• Wadjet (Uto/Edjo) - cobra or lioness goddess
• Wepwawet - jackal or jackal-headed god
• Werethekau - lioness-headed goddess - oversees coronation of king

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