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PRESENTS |
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| The ancient Egyptian religion was very complex. It was also relatively untouched by outside influences for many centuries. Its most striking feature was the vast number of gods and goddesses who could be depicted in human, animal, or other forms. The gods were never grouped systematically, and many of them were therefore interchangeable. |
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had different forms, the gods also personified different powers. Horus, a god in the form
of a falcon, symbolized the sun and came to represent the pharaoh. Thoth, the moon god,
was also the god of time because the phases of the moon were used to calculate the months.
Powers of nature were symbolized by Ra, the sun-god; Nut, the sky goddess; and Geb, the
Earth god. For a time Amenhotep IV made the sun, under the name Aton, the sole god (see
Ikhnaton). Anubis, in the form of a dog, was god of the dead, Ptah was the creator, and Min
was a god of fertility. Other major gods and goddesses included Bast, goddess of music;
Isis, queen of the gods; Ma'at, the goddess of law, justice, and truth; Nekhbet, the
protector of childbirth; Osiris, a fertility god, giver of civilization, and ruler of the
dead; Sekhmet, a warlike sun-goddess; and Shu, the god of light and air who supported the
sky. (See also Isis and
Osiris.) and the book of the DEAD
© 1999 C.Stokes. |
Egyptian Mythology 