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# GREAT of PRAISES
Professor Will Adams
## THE PANTHEON OF ANCIENT EGYPT ANCIENT EGYPT
# Gift of the Nile
The ancient Egyptians inhabited the fertile valley of
the Nile .
The river's annual flood deposited a fresh layer of silt ,
renewing the fertility of the soil & ensuring that, for
the most part, the country was prosperous & the
population sufficiently fed.
For much of the year, most people would be involved
in agricultural labor of some kind, but during the
Inundation (July October) the workforce was used
by the state for building & other major projects such
as "rehabilitation" of the land following the flood. Ancient Egyptian
# RELIGION Ancient Egyptian
# RELIGION
Man's first gods embodied the
forces of nature.
Terrifying and unpredictable, they
were feared rather than revered
by our ancestors.
Yet while much of the world was
in darkness, worshipping cruel
incarnations of natural forces, a
river valley in Africa held a people
who followed a different path. Ancient Egyptian
# Religion
Instead, they worshipped
gods that were beautiful to
behold, luminous beings
that walked the Earth,
guiding humanity to
Paradise. Egyptian Gods:
Theyre Just Like Us!
They had human forms but were much
more powerful; yet like humans, they
got angry, despaired, fought with one
another, had children, and fell in love.
They lived lives that were very much like
those of the people who worshipped
them: the ancient Egyptians.
They were gods to be feared, yes (as all
gods are), but they were also gods to be
loved .ANCIENT
# EGYPTIAN
## Storytelling
What's more, the
Egyptians enjoyed talking
about the gods!
Like the gods of the later
Greeks & Romans, the
Egyptian gods seemed to
be made for storytelling. Storytelling in ANCIENT EGYPT
There were tales to teach, tales to
entertain, & tales with morals, and in
those stories, the gods didn't seem
so far away or unreachable.
It was comforting to hear that the
gods also wept for those they lost, to
hear that the gods laughed, to learn
that they faced many of the same
problems that people did, albeit on a
grander scale.
By learning about the gods on an
intimate level, the Egyptians could
better relate to the universe around
them. The ancient Egyptians practiced a
belief system that was part
totemism, part polytheism, and part
ancestor worship.
There were numerous gods, but
rather than living on an isolated
mountain or in an unreachable
heaven, many of them lived invisibly
in the mortal world, acting through
sacred sites, items, animals, or even
chosen people.
Furthermore, the spirits of the
deceased, if remembered and
honored, could aid and guide the
living from the Afterlife.
# Egyptian Religion The Ancient Egyptian
# PANTHEON The Ancient
Egyptian
Pantheon
Ra was the patron god of the sun, creation,
and was the ruler of the gods.
In the creation myths, Ra is the primal creator.
He created himself (or arose out of nothing)
and created the first gods, Shu and Tefnut ,
from his spittle.
Ra was revered not only as the father of the
gods but also as the father of the pharaohs.
The title "Son of Ra" was included in the many
titles of the king.
# Ra The Ancient
Egyptian
Pantheon
Shu is the Patron god of cool dry air.
Shu (along with his sister Tefnut)
were the first two gods created by
Ra.
He is the g od of cool air & the upper
sky.
He was responsible , like Atlas, for
holding up the atmosphere &
separating it from the Earth .
As the lord of air, he is also creator
of the wind.
# Shu The Ancient Egyptian Pantheon
Tefnut was patron goddess of ho t, damp air.
She (along with her brother Shu) was the first
go d created by Ra at the beginning of time.
She was goddess of rain (remember that even in
ancient times, very little rain fell in Egypt) and of
the warm, humid air near the Nile.
Legends say that she once argued with her
father, Ra, and left Egypt for Nubia in the south.
She returned only after the god Thoth, god of
wisdom, persuaded her.
# TEFNUT The
Ancient
Egyptian
Pantheon
After Ra , four deities (Shu, Tefnut, Geb, and
Nut) established the Egyptian cosmos .
Geb was the earth god; the Earth was his body
and was called the House of Geb, just as the
atmosphere was called the House of Shu.
Nut, his wife, was the goddess of the stars.
Sh e protected the world from the darkness of
outer spac e & the demonic creatures that
dwelt in its darkness.
# Geb & Nut
STAR -CROSSED
## LOVERS The
Ancient
Osiris was god of the Afterlife, the dead, & past pharaohs .
He appears as a green -skinned, mummified pharaoh.
Osiris was the goddess Isiss husband & the father of their
son, Horus, god of living pharaohs.
Osiris was killed by his jealous, evil brother Set so, even
though he was a god, he no longer dwelt in the land of the
living.
In the Afterlife, he sits on a great throne, where he is
praised by the souls of the just & good who reside there.
Those who pass the tests to ente r the Afterlife become
worthy to enter The Blessed Light Land , that part existence
that is like the mortal world, but without sorrow or pain.
# Osiris Egyptian Pantheon The Ancient
Egyptian
Pantheon
Set was god of whirlwinds , storms, chaos, evil, &
darkness.
He had a human body with the head of a jackal.
In the Legend of Osiris, Set kills Osiris and scatters
his body in the Nile, then claims the throne of the
gods for his own.
He is later struck down by Horus, the son of Osiris,
who restores order to the world.
Set & Horus continue to battle for control of the
world, setting up an epic conflict of good vs. evil.
# SET The Ancient Egyptian
# PANTHEON
Isis was goddess of sexuality, birth ,
healing, & magic.
She was the greatest Egyptian
goddess, wife & sister of Osiris,
mother of Horus, sister of Set, Osiris
& Nephthys , and daughter of Geb &
Nut
She searched for Osiriss body ,
retrieved & reassembled it, als
taking on the role of goddess of the
dead as a result. Isis The Ancient Egyptian Pantheon
Nephthys was the goddess who
protected the dead crossing into the
Afterlife.
She piloted the night boat of the
Afterlife, meeting the deceased's spirit
and accompanied them into Light
Land.
Nephthys had connections with life as
well as death: she stood at the head of
the birth -bed to comfort & assist the
mother giving birth.
# NEPHTHYS The Ancient Egyptian Pantheon
Horus was the god of the sky & the living
pharaohs.
He was Isis & Osiriss son & battled his evil
uncle Set to help his mother magically
resurrect his father.
Horus is traditionally depicted as having the
body of a human and the head of a falcon or
other bird of prey.
# HORUS The Ancient Egyptian Pantheon
Anubis was the funerary god of embalming
& mummification.
He is the child of Nephthys & Set.
Anubiss mother, Nephthys, exposed her son
at birth in the desert.
Instead of dying, he was found by Isis, who
then raised him; Anubis then became the
attendant of Isis.
Anubi s is depicted as a jackal -headed man.
# ANUBIS The Ancient
Egyptian Pantheon
Bastet was the goddess of fire, cats , the
home, & pregnant women.
She was usually represented as a woman
with the head of a domesticated cat.
Bastet seemed to have two sides to her
personality: docile & aggressive .
Her docile & gentle side was displayed in her
duties as a protector of the home & pregnant
women.
Her aggressive & vicious nature is descri bed
in the accounts of battles wherein the
pharaoh was said to slay the enemy as
Bastet slaughtered her victims.
# BASTET THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PANTHEON
Hathor was the cow -eared goddess of the sky,
the sun, the queen, music, dance & the arts.
Music & dance were part of worship of Hathor
like no other go d in Egypt.
Hathor herself was the incarnation of dance,
and stories were told of how Hathor danced
before Ra when he was sad to cheer him up.
Inspiration was also Hathors power, and
artist s would come to the temples of Hathor to
have their dreams explained or to beseech her
for aid in creating their works.
# HATHOR The
Ancient
Egyptian
Pantheon
Khepri was a uniqu e Egyptian god connected
with a particular animal: the sacred scarab.
The scarab is a type of dung beetle common
throughout Egypt.
The scarab's habit of laying eggs in animal
dung (as well as the bodies of dead scarabs)
was noticed by the Egyptians.
The subsequent hatching of the eggs from
this seemingly unpromising material led to
the Egyptians associating the scarab with
renewal, rebirth & resurrection.
# Khepri The
Ancient
Egyptian
Pantheon
Khnum was depicted as a ram -headed human.
He was the Egyptian water god & the potter god
wh o created humanity.
It was believed that he created the first human
children on his potter's wheel usin g clay from the
banks of the Nile.
Khnum also protected the sun (in the form of the
god Ra) on its daily journey through the
underworld.
Every night, Ra & Khnum sailed together through
the underworld in the solar boat until the sun
safely rose again at the dawn of the next day.
# Khnum The Ancient
Egyptian Pantheon
Ma'at was the goddess of truth, balance, &
order.
Maat (unlike Hathor & Nephthys) was
more of a concept than an actual goddess.
Her name literally meant truth in
Egyptian.
Maa t was truth, order, balance, & justice
embodied.
She was harmony, she was what was right,
she was the wa y things should be.
It was thought that if Ma'at didn't exist, the
universe would become chaos once again.
# Maat THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PANTHEON
Nekhbet was the goddess of vultures.
In ancient times, she was the protector of the
pharaohs of Upper Egypt - if they proved
themselves strong enough.
Over time, Nekhbet came to represent the
white crown of Upper Egypt & protection of
the pharaoh.
She was late r paired with the snake -goddess
Wadjet, who represented Lower Egypt.
# NEKHBET THE
ANCIENT
EGYPTIAN
PANTHEON
Wadjet was the cobra goddess of Lower Egypt .
She was depicted as a cobra.
Legends say that Wadjet was nurse to the infant god
Horus and helped Isis, his mother, protect him from his
treacherous uncle, Set.
Wadjet & Nekhbet were the protective goddesses of the
united kingdom and were often paired on the pharao hs
crow n, symbolizing his reign over all of Egypt.
The form of the rearing cobra on a crown is calle d a
uraeus .
# WADJET The Ancient Egyptian Pantheon
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet was
originally the lioness -headed warrior
goddess, as well as goddess of
healing for Upper Egypt.
She is depicted as a lioness, the
fiercest hunter known to the
Egyptians.
It was said that her breath created the
desert.
She was seen as the protector of
the pharaohs and led them in warfare.
# SEKHMET The
Ancient
Egyptian
Pantheon
Sobek was th e crocodile god.
He was god of the Nile River, which was believed to have
been created from Sobek s sweat.
Sobek possessed both the strength & nature of a crocodile,
which the Egyptians both feared & respected; he eventually
became a symbol of the pharaoh's power.
The Nile, which was full of crocodiles, was important to the
livelihood of the Egyptians in both agriculture & transport.
Therefore, it made good sense to have a god like Sobek - who
could appease the ferocious beasts!
# SOBEK The Ancient Egyptian Pantheon
Taweret was goddess of pregnancy,
childbirth, and a protector of
women & children.
Like Bastet, she could be a ferocious
demon as well as a protective and
nurturing go d.
She was comparable to the lion, the
crocodile, and the hippo: all animals
tha t were feared by the Egyptians
but also highly respected.
# TAWERET The
Ancient
Egyptian
Pantheon
The god Thoth was depicted with a human body & an ibis head.
He was the god of wisdom, writing, numbers, knowledg e,
astronomy, & learning.
He was also a god of the Afterlife: he oversaw Maats scales in the
Weighing of the Heart Ceremony.
Thoth used the scales to weigh the heart of the deceased against
Maats Feather of Truth to determine if they were worthy to enter
the Afterlife .
As the scribe of the gods, Thoth recorded the result of each
judgment.
# THOTH What Happens
# NEXT?
Next, we will explore how the
religion of the ancient Egyptians
affected their lives & their
cultural development.
Most importantly, we will try to
understand a culture through
what they believed and, in doing
so, give them what they sought
most: immortality.
To Be Continued