Amun "Amen Ra" redirects here. For the Belgian band, see Amenra. Amun (also Amon (/ˈɑːmən/), Amen; Ancient Greek: Ἄμμων Ámmōn, Ἅμμων Hámmōn) was a major Egyptian deity. He was attested since the Old Kingdom together with his spouse Amaunet. With the 11th dynasty (c. 21st century BC), he rose to the position of patron deity of Thebes by replacing Monthu.[1] After the rebellion of Thebes against the Hyksos and with the rule of Ahmose I, Amun acquired national importance, expressed in his fusion with the Sun god, Ra, as Amun-Ra. Early history Amun rose to the position of tutelary deity of Thebes after the end of the First Intermediate Period, under the 11th dynasty. Temple at Karnak The history of Amun as the patron god of Thebes begins in the 20th century BC, with the construction of the Precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak under Senusret I. Major construction work in the Precinct of Amun-Re took place during the 18th dynasty when Thebes became the capital of the unified Ancient Egypt. New Kingdom Decline
Horus Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egypt specialists.[1] These various forms may possibly be different perceptions of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasized, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality.[2] He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner or peregrine, or as a man with a falcon head.[3] Etymology[edit] Horus was also known as Nekheny, meaning "falcon". Note of changes over time[edit] In early Egypt, Horus was the brother of Isis, Osiris, Set and Nephthys. Horus and the pharaoh[edit] Origin mythology[edit] Mythological roles[edit] Sky god[edit] God of war and hunting[edit]
Bastet Photograph of an alabaster cosmetic jar topped with a lioness, representing Bast, an 18th dynasty burial artifact from the tomb of Tutankhamun circa 1323 BC - Cairo Museum Bastet was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (2890 BC). As Bast, she was the goddess of warfare in Lower Egypt, the Nile River delta region, before the unification of the cultures of ancient Egypt. Her name is also spelled Baast, Ubaste, and Baset.[1] The two uniting cultures had deities that shared similar roles and usually the same imagery. In Upper Egypt, Sekhmet was the parallel warrior lioness deity to Bast. Name[edit] Bastet, the form of the name which is most commonly adopted by Egyptologists today because of its use in later dynasties, is a modern convention offering one possible reconstruction. During later dynasties, Bast was assigned a lesser role in the pantheon bearing the name Bastet, but retained. She is also known as The Eye of Ra. Bubastis[edit] Temple[edit]
Nut (goddess) Nut (/nʌt/ or /nuːt/)[1] or Neuth (/nuːθ/ or /njuːθ/; also spelled Nuit or Newet) was the goddess of the sky in the Ennead of Egyptian mythology. She was seen as a star-covered nude woman arching over the earth,[2] or as a cow. Great goddess Nut with her wings stretched across a coffin A sacred symbol of Nut was the ladder, used by Osiris to enter her heavenly skies. A huge cult developed about Osiris that lasted well into Roman times. The sky goddess Nut depicted as a cow Ra, the sun god, was the second to rule the world, according to the reign of the gods. Some of the titles of Nut were: Nut was the goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, a symbol of protecting the dead when they enter the after life. Because of her role in saving Osiris, Nut was seen as a friend and protector of the dead, who appealed to her as a child appeals to its mother: "O my Mother Nut, stretch Yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in You, and that I may not die."
Khepri Khepri (also spelled Khepera, Kheper, Khepra, Chepri) is a god in ancient Egyptian religion. Symbolism[edit] Khepri was connected with the scarab beetle (kheprer), because the scarab rolls balls of dung across the ground, an act that the Egyptians saw as a symbol of the forces that move the sun across the sky. Religion[edit] Appearance[edit] References[edit] ^ Jump up to: a b Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). External links[edit] Media related to Khepri at Wikimedia Commons
Aten Alternative use: the Aten asteroids, named after 2062 Aten; A10 Networks, a manufacturer of computer networking equipment Aten Aten (also Aton, Egyptian jtn) is the disk of the sun in ancient Egyptian mythology, and originally an aspect of Ra. The deified Aten is the focus of the monolatristic, henotheistic, or monotheistic religion of Atenism established by Amenhotep IV, who later took the name Akhenaten in worship and recognition of Aten. In his poem "Great Hymn to the Aten", Akhenaten praises Aten as the creator, and giver of life. Overview[edit] The full title of Akhenaten's god was "Ra-Horakhty who rejoices in the horizon, in his Name as the Light which is in the sun disc." Royal Titulary[edit] Pharaoh Akhenaten and his family adoring the Aten, second from the left is Meritaten who was the daughter of Akhenaten. Small Temple of the Aten at Akhetaten Variant translations[edit] Variant vocalizations[edit] Egyptologists have vocalized the word variously as Aten, Aton, Atonu, and Itn.
Shu (Egyptian deity) As the air, Shu was considered to be cooling, and thus calming, influence, and pacifier. Due to the association with air, calm, and thus Ma'at (truth, justice and order), Shu was portrayed in art as wearing an ostrich feather. Shu was seen with between one and four feathers. In a much later myth, representing the terrible weather disaster at the end of the Old Kingdom, it was said that Tefnut and Shu once argued, and Tefnut left Egypt for Nubia (which was always more temperate). It was said that Shu quickly decided that he missed her, but she changed into a cat that destroyed any man or god that approached. He carries an ankh, the symbol of life. Hans Bonnet: Lexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6, S. 685-689 → ShuAdolf Erman: Die Aegyptische Religion, Verlag Georg Reimer, Berlin 1909Wolfgang Helck: Kleines Lexikon der Ägyptologie, 1999 ISBN 3-447-04027-0, S. 269f. → Shu
Atum Atum (/ɑ-tum/), sometimes rendered as Atem or Tem, is an important deity in Egyptian mythology. Name[edit] Atum's name is thought to be derived from the word tem which means to complete or finish. Origin[edit] Atum is one of the most important and frequently mentioned deities from earliest times, as evidenced by his prominence in the Pyramid Texts, where he is portrayed as both a creator and father to a king.[2] Roles[edit] In the Old Kingdom the Egyptians believed that Atum lifted the dead king's soul from his pyramid to the starry heavens.[6] He was also a solar deity, associated with the primary sun god Ra. In the Book of the Dead, which was still current in the Graeco-Roman period, the sun god Atum is said to have ascended from chaos-waters with the appearance of a snake, the animal renewing itself every morning.[8][9][10] Atum is the god of pre-existence and post-existence. Relationship to other gods[edit] Iconography[edit] Worship[edit] References[edit] External links[edit]
Uraeus The Uraeus is a symbol for the goddess Wadjet, who was one of the earliest Egyptian deities and who often was depicted as a cobra. The center of her cult was in Per-Wadjet, later called Buto by the Greeks.[2] She became the patroness of the Nile Delta and the protector of all of Lower Egypt. The pharaohs wore the Uraeus as a head ornament: either with the body of Wadjet atop the head, or as a crown encircling the head; this indicated Wadjet's protection and reinforced the pharaoh's claim over the land. In whatever manner that the Uraeus was displayed upon the pharaoh's head, it was, in effect, part of the pharaoh's crown. At the time of the unification of Egypt, the image of Nekhbet, who was represented as a white vulture and held the same position as the patron of Upper Egypt, joined the image of Wadjet on the Uraeus that would encircle the crown of the pharaohs who ruled the unified Egypt. Golden Uraeus of Senusret II[edit] Uraeus as a hieroglyph[edit] See also[edit] Notes[edit]
Indra Origins[edit] Aspects of Indra as a deity are cognate to other Indo-European gods; they are either thunder gods such as Thor, Perun, and Zeus, or gods of intoxicating drinks such as Dionysus. The name of Indra (Indara) is also mentioned among the gods of the Mitanni, a Hurrian-speaking people who ruled northern Syria from ca.1500BC-1300BC.[5] Vedic Indra corresponds to Verethragna of the Zoroastrian Avesta as the noun verethragna- corresponds to Vedic vrtrahan-, which is predominantly an epithet of Indra. In the Rigveda[edit] The Rigveda states, He under whose supreme control are horses, all chariots, the villages, and cattle; He who gave being to the Sun and Morning, who leads the waters, He, O men, is Indra. (2.12.7, trans. It further states, Indra, you lifted up the pariah who was oppressed, you glorified the blind and the lame. The Rig-Veda frequently refers to him as Śakra: the mighty-one. Status and function[edit] Characteristics[edit] Appearance[edit] Other characteristics[edit]