The History of the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt

July 14th, 2013 Tags: ancient egypt, ancient egypt gods and goddesses, egypt, egypt gods and goddesses, gods and goddesses, Gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt
Posted in The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt

The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt

The Gods & Goddesses of Ancient Egypt played a massive role in the lives on the people of Ancient Egypt.  They believed strongly in the power of the Gods and Goddesses.   Belief in this system and the power of the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt was so strong.

Throughout history, various pharaohs stopped at nothing to ensure that the people believed they had received the divine right to rule from the gods themselves.

Role of the Gods and Goddesses of Egypt

The ancient Egyptians are believed to have had as many as two thousand Gods and Goddesses. Key gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt were Ra, Isis, Osiris, Sekhmet, Hathor, Horus, Sobek, Nephrys, Wadjet, Bes, Anubis, Set, Bastet, Khepri, Thoth, Maat, Net, Geb, Ptah, Khnum to name a few.  Roles for these Gods and Goddesses were varied.

Each of them has a myth or legend surrounding how they came to be so important.  Sekhmet, for example, was the goddess of war and protection.  Statues of Sekhmet were carried into battle by the Pharaoh.   Many temples has statues of Sekhmet to protect them.

Maat was the goddess of balance and law and represented the energy of ancient Egypt.  Everything had to be in balance in accordance with the energy of Maat for life to be considered in Ancient Egypt.  During the weighing of the heart ceremony the heart of the deceased Pharaoh is weighed against the feather of Maat.  If the heart is heavier than the feather of Maat, it is thrown to be eaten by the Jackal and the Pharaoh cannot continue into the afterlife.  Anubis protected the Pharaoh on his journey through the afterlife.

The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt Represented the Mythology of Nature, the Earth, Sky, Moon, Sun, Stars and the Nile River

The Ancient Egyptians strived to understand their place in the universe and their mythology centres itself on nature, the earth, sky, moon, sun, stars, and the Nile River. This is where the cosmic creation of Egyptian myth began. Ancient Egyptian mythology states that in the beginning of time everything began with Nu.

Unlike other ancient cultures, whose gods looked somewhat like people, Egyptian gods had animal heads with many of them having human bodies.

Ra was the most important of the gods. The Ancient Egyptians believed that Ra was the creator of the world and of life. Ra represented the Sun and was therefore known as the god of light.  He was often referred to as the Great Cat.  In Ancient Egypt, family members shaved their eyebrows in mourning when the family cat died. In those days killing a cat was a crime punishable by death. The cat was considered sacred and worshiped by mummifying them before burial. In one ancient city in Egypt, more than 300,000 cat mummies were found.

Play the video and watch this interesting documentary about the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt.

Click the link below to find out about how you can learn about the mythology of the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt on our tours of Egypt.