Ancient Egypt

1. By Thomas Falzon AncientEgypt GODSAND GODDESES

2. Ra Sun God: Sun worship and pyramids • The sun was just as important as the Nile in the Egyptian times. • It was believed that the goddess Nut gave birth to the sun in the morning and swallowed it at night. • The sun was so important in the Egyptian times that it was known as a god called Ra. • He was the most important god of all gods.

3. Anubis God of Embalming: Mummies • Anubis chief of all the dead. He looked over all dead mummified Egyptians. • He also invented the mummification process. • He had a human body with a black jackals head. His ears were pointed and prickled. • Sometimes embalmers wore Anubis masks when at work.

4. Osiris First pharaoh and tamer of the land: Farming • Egyptians believed that the God known as Osiris was the first pharaoh. • He taught the early Egyptians to farm. He turned deserts into cropped lands where animals could graze. • Osiris was chief god of the underworld. • In most images he is seen on mummies bandages

5. Bes God of family and health: The Egyptian home • Bes protected the home and was God of family life. • He was favoured by pregnant woman and woman who hoped to be pregnant. • His image was painted on to bedroom furniture to ensure a good nights rest and to protect you from nightmares.

6. Ma‘ at Goddess of truth: The weighing of the heart • Ma‘ at was the patron saint of judges so they often wore her as part of their uniform. • She was known as the woman who wore a feather on here head and often wore a dress that was patterned with feathers. • Ma’ at was the one who made sure that the seasons changed, the stars moved and the gods and humans were in harmony.

7. Thoth God of wisdom: Writing and scribes • Thoth was usually shown as a man with the head of a ibis bird but could be shown as a total ibis bird or a baboon. Both were sacred to him. • In temples dedicated to him thousands of ibis were bred in captivity and most were mummified. • At the temple Hermopolis, there is a cemetery for mummified baboons buried in tunnels.

8. Ptah The creator god: Craft • In the beginning Ptah created the world and molded the other gods out of precious metals such as gold and silver. This is how he became patron saint of craftsmanship. • He was worshiped in a place in northern Egypt called Memphis. There he became chief god and had a great temple named after him. • He then married Sekhmet a terrifying goddess with the head of a lion. Her name means ‘the powerful one’ and she haunts those who are enemies to her father, Ra.

9. Amun King of the gods: Karnak temple • Amun is one of the greatest gods of the Egyptian era. • By the time the new kingdom had been built he was king of all gods. His most important temple, at Karnak, made lots of money and soon became the richest in the land. • It was said that Ra and Amun joined forces and were sometimes called Amun-Ra. • His name means ‘the hidden one’.

10. Hathor Goddess of festivals: Music and feasting • Hathor has one of the best loved goddess of all time. This is because she was associated with Love, happiness, music and festivals. • She was described in three different ways: A woman wearing a head dress of a sun disk with two cow horns either side of the sun disk; A woman with little cow ears sticking out of a curly wig or a cow. • She was mother to pharaohs and they were sometimes called ‘son of hathor’

11. Seth Wicked god of the sky: Crime in ancient • Seth was the most evil Gods of all the Egyptian Gods. • Seth is the god of Chaos, confusion and violent weather. • In Egyptian times Seth murdered his brother, Osiris, and then scattered the pieces all over the land. • He appeared with a forked tail with cloven hooves with large pricked ears, a snout and a monstrous head. Although he sometimes took the shape of frightening animals.

12. Khnum God of the river Nile: Religion and the river • The river Nile was essential to the Egyptians for survival because in the Egyptian times it barely ever rained so it was main source of water. • Every July the Nile would overflow and both sides would be covered in a thick black mud. This was called Inundation and was so vital it had its own god. • Khnum was in charge of the river and Inundation. • Inundation was so important because if it did not happen all crops would die.

13. Horus God of kingship: Government and administration • Horus had a mother and father called Isis and Osiris and is often shown as a child. • He became divine protector and god of every pharaoh. • He was closely linked with the pharaohs in whose hands the administration of the whole land of Egypt was placed. • In a battle a between Horus and his uncle Seth, Horus’s eye was torn out, shredded and thrown in the sea. Thoth retrieved and fixed the eye. He then gave the healed eye to his dead father. He then tried to heal his father with the eye. It was a symbol of healing and power.