Every town and sanctuary along the Nile had its own local spirits and gods, which fused, changed, and evolved through time. Thus many gods take on different roles, merge in meaning, or conflict with one another. But here are the bare bones of some of the most well-known.

Amun

"The Hidden One", the Creator often fused with Ra as a sun god, sometimes said to have laid the world as an egg. He was patron deity of Thebes, capital of Egypt during many periods. His temple there, Karnak, is the largest temple in the world. The Valley of Kings and desert canyons on the west bank opposite Karnak contain the ruined village of ancient artisans and thousands of tombs both famous and hidden. His totems were the ram and the goose.

Anpw (Greek: Anubis)

Egyptian funerary god, the black jackal, in charge of performing burial rites, of guiding the dead soul along the dangerous paths of the Duat (the afterworld), and weighing the heart of the deceased in the Hall of the Two Truths before Ausar and his court of judges.

He was usually said to be the child of Ausar and Nebt-het. Also called Khenty-Imentiu, lord of the westerners, since the Duat was believed to lie beyond the sunset.

Apep (Greek: Apophis)

The "huge Serpent" and devourer attempted to eat the sun every sunset and sunrise, when a great battle is fought spreading blood across the horizon. He also waits under the scales at the Weighing of the Heart, waiting to devour any heart which dips lower in the scales than Ma'at, the feather of truth.

Apis

Bull god of strength, fertility, and the vitality of the Pharaoh's soul.

Asar/Ausar (Greek: Osiris)

The god of the dead and eternal afterlife, he reigned forever in the Duat after his treacherous murder at the hands of his brother Set. His child Heru was magically begotten after death by the spells of his wife and sister Aset.

Aset/Auset (Greek: Isis)

Supreme goddess of magic and wisdom, mother of Heru, associated with the vulture, a protector spirit, and the cobra, the only creature in all creation made by someone other than Amun. She retrieved and remade Ausar's mutilated body with the help of Anpw and her sister Nebt-het, so that his soul, and all who came after, could enjoy the afterlife.

Aten

The solar disk, worshipped as a deity in its own right. Briefly made the one and only god of Egypt by the infamous Pharaoh Akhenaten.

Bast (Greek: Bastet)

Daughter of Ra, the cat-goddess of the delta, often a deity of affection, hearth and home. Cats were respected and often portrayed as the slayers of evil serpents. [read: Wyrm] She was sometimes fused with the more dangerous Sekhmet.

Bes

A popular spirit probably imported from the lands to the south, the bearded, bushy-tailed dwarf Bes was a popular household protector. He wielded the curved moon-shaped knife and musical instruments to slay or drive off creatures of Set, and was the special patron of children. [Read: kinfetch spirit, or at least often associated with cubs and RoP]

Duamutef

Jackal-headed deity, one of the four sons of Heru who protected the body of the dead.

Geb

God of the earth and growing things, son of Shu and Tefnut, husband and brother of the sky-goddess Nuit, father of Ausar, Aset, Set, and Nebt-het.

Hapi

Hermaphroditic god of the Nile, plenty, abundance, and the life-giving annual flood. His followers were crocodiles and frogs (who were potent symbols of resurrection, appearing magically from the dry, dead banks after water passed over them.)

Het-Heru (Greek: Hathor)

An ancient cow-goddess, at various times taking on the role of Great Mother and consort of Ra [read:Gaia], protector of Heru (hence her name, "House of Heru), and goddess of love. Her head formed the handle of the powerful ancient rattle known as the sistrum, used to frighten away evil spirits.

Heru (Greek: Horus)

Sky god, son of Ausar and Aset, the sun and moon are sometimes said to be his eyes. The legends of his vengeance against Set for the murder of his father permeate Egyptian culture. Select aspects:

"Heru-pa-Khret"

(Greek: Harpokrates), Heru the child, reared secretly by his magical mother Ausar.

"Heru Wer",

Heru the Elder, the boy grown into manhood who fought Set.

"Harakhte",

Heru of the Horizon, associated with Ra and the rising sun.

"Har-nedj-itef",

Heru the Avenger (nedj) of his Father.

"Heru-em-Akhet",

(Greek: Harmachis), Heru on the Horizon, the setting sun and the symbol of ressurection.

"Heru-Mau",

Horus the Uniter. The delta area of the river and the long southern stretch in the desert were called the "Two Lands" of Khem, and were culturally distinct.

Khephra

The scarab whose name means "to create" or "to transform" was the form Ra took as the Creator. The symbol came from the habit of this beetle in rolling a clod of earth in which it laid its eggs and from which new scarabs later emerged; the Egyptians believed it rolled the sun in the same fashion.

Khonsu

God of the moon, whose name means "Wanderer", he bored the full moon on his brow and the single side-lock worn by Egyptian children and priests. His totem was the baboon, often taken over by Tehuti. Tehuti was famous for having won away enough of the moon's light in a gambling game to fill out the 360-day year to 365, thus causing the moon to wax and wane.

Khnum

Ram-headed god who controlled the annual inundation and shaped the physical forms of all life on his potter's wheel at the source of the Nile.

Ma'at

Sometimes said to be consort of Tehuti, her name is an important concept meaning "truth, balance, harmony, justice". A tall woman whose symbol is an ostrich plume, the hearts of the dead had to be weighed against her feather. All laws were dictated by Ma'at, and a blue bead inscribed with her name was worn by judges [read: patron of Philodoxes].

Meretseger

"She who loves Silence". This Egyptian cobra goddess protected the tombs west of Thebes. She dwelled on a pyramid-shaped mountain overlooking the Valley ofo Kings. She blinded or poisoned criminals, especially graverobbers. Her cult mysteriously died out in the XXI dynasty [read: something to do with the war against the Leeches].

Menu (Greek: Min)

A popular fertility god of the harvest, he was also patron of desert roads and travellers.

Montu

Falcon-headed war god of Upper Egypt, imported from Nubia to the south.

Mut

"Mother". Consort of Khons, she was the great nurturing Vulture goddess and mother of everything. Closest equivalent to Gaia.

Neit (Greek: Neith)

Virgin huntress, goddess of war and domestic arts, quite obviously identified with Athena and Artemis by the Greeks. Her symbol was a shield bearing crossed arrows. She was the mother of Sobek.

Nekhbet

Vulture goddess of upper Egypt, another nurturing figure.

Nebt-het (Greek: Nepthys)

"Lady of the house," mother of Anpw. Originally Set's wife and sister, she left him to help Aset raise Heru after the murder of Ausar. She was often depicted as a kite hovering over the corpse in the funerary rites where she and Auset served as protectors.

Nuit (Nut)

Well-known Egyptian sky goddess, daughter of Shu and Tefnut, depicted arching over the world with her belly painted with stars.

Ptah

Local creator god of Memphis, he carried a phoenix-headed scepter, was shaved and wore a tight-fitting shroud, and was said by the Memphites either to have spoken the world into existence through his Word, to have fashioned the world according to the designs of Tehuti. More widely adapted as patron of artisans, builders, and craftsmen of all kinds.

Ra

Sun-god of Egypt identified with Heru and the Falcon, supreme ruler of the gods and of Earth during its mythic golden age, later embodied by his descendants, the Pharaohs. The Theban Amun was naturally fused with him to create Amen-Ra.

Sebek/Sobek

Crocodile-god, worshipped to appease his anger. He was the symbol of the pharaoh's might and often wore a crown of twin feathers or a cobra. He was uneasily incorporated into a benevolent role as the one who calls Aset and Nebt-het to protect the newly deceased, and he aided in the battle against Set.

Seker

A god of light, an aspect of Ptah who was a falcon-headed guide to dead souls.

Sekhmet

Often fused with Bast and Het-heru, the great lioness goddess and wife of Ptah was the bloodthirsty embodiment of the fire of Ra. She was the agent of vengeance and swift justice. In one legend, Ra created her to destroy mankind after it turned away from morality and the gods, but later relented and changed her to the only slightly less destructive guise of Het-heru, love. [Often used on GarouMUSH as an ahroun figure and a symbol of the Impergium]

Selket

The scorpion-goddess who stung the wicked and prayed for the lives of innocents stung by scorpions to be spared. She aided in childbirth and bound demons and monsters of Set sent to harm her friends.

Sepdet (Greek: Sothis)

The goddess of the dog-star, Sirius, sometimes fused with Auset. She was the symbol of prosperity and renewal, since her rising just before dawn around August 1, after a 72-day absence from the sky, heralded the annual life-giving flood of the Nile and the start of the new year. Her symbol is the crown and the star.

Set

Originally the patron of Lower (Northern) Egypt, he represented the desert, the Red Land, storms and chaos. Later he became jealous of his brother Ausar, who ruled the world after Ra retired to rule the sky as the sun-god. His murder of Ausar started the long terrible battle between the forces of good and evil, the life-giving spirits of the green river valley and the dwellers of the desert, who all came to be looked upon as the enemy.

Shu

Well-known god of the air and the winds, husband of Tefnut and father of earth and sky.

Taweret

"The Great One", hippopotamus goddess of pregnancy, a powerful spirit with the legs and paws of a lion, the tail of a crocodile, human breasts, and a swollen belly. She held the protective amulet "Sa", a circle with a bar at one end, and drove off evil spirits, often assisted by Bes.

Tefnut

"The spitter", goddess of moisture, clouds, pure water, and the rare magic known as rain, she was daughter of Ra, wife of Shu, and mother of earth and sky.

Tehuti (Greek:Thoth)

God of wisdom, originally a moon god, associated with magic, mathematics, and the creation of writing. In his wise aspect he was shown with the head of an Ibis, wearing both the crescent and full moon. In this guise he served as the note-taker in the underworld who recorded judgements passed on the dead. He was a baboon in his equally famous trickster aspect.

Wepwawet

"Opener of the ways", Egyptian jackal or desert wolf. He was both god of war and the guide to the paths of the dead, that treacherous spirit journey west beyond the setting sun to the utopian land of the Duat where Ausar reigned. He used an adze, a form of hoe, to "Open the Mouth" of the deceased, the most critical part of the burial rite in which the dead spirit was freed to speak and act. [I use the Opening of the Mouth ceremony as Gathering for the Departed]

by Ellen Brundige

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