This is Aker, the double lion god, the gaurdian of the sunrise and sunset. Between the lions is the akhet symbol which represents the horizon on which the sunrises or sets. This symbol is made up of a solar disk cradled between the two peaks of the mountain djew. The western peak was called Manu, while the eastern peak was called Bakhu. It was these peaks that supported the sky.

• Amun
  The Hidden One.
  
• Cult Center: Thebes, the temples of Luxor and Karnak.
• Attributes: Early, a god of air and wind. Later, a fertility god. The Creator of all things. During the New Kingdom he became "The king of the gods". He was said to be able to assume any form he wished, with each of the other gods being one of these forms. From the eighteenth dynasty on he was a national deity. Through political means managed to assimilate many lesser gods
• Representation: A bearded Man wearing a cap surmounted by two tall plumes. A ram, a ram headed man, or a ram headed sphinx
• Relations: Self created at the beginning of time. Believed to be the physical father of all Pharaohs.
• Other Names: Amon, Amen, Amen Ra, Amon Re
• Representation: A bearded Man wearing a cap surmounted by two tall plumes. A ram, a ram headed man, or a ram headed sphinx.
• Relations: Self created at the beginning of time. Believed to be the physical father of all Pharaohs.
• Other Names: Amon, Amen, Amen Ra, Amon Re

• Cult Center: A female demon, she is found in The Book of the Dead, She plays an important role in the Hall of Maat.
• Attributes: We find Ammut during the judgement of the deceased, when his heart is weighied against the feather of Maat. It was Ammut who would devour the souls of those who's hearts proved heavier than Maat. This was a terrifying prospect for the ancient Egyptians. It meant the end of existence. They would never meet Osiris and live forever in the Fields of Peace.
• Representation: A combination of the head of a crocodile, the middle of a lioness and the hind quarters of a hippopotamus.
• Other Names: Amam, Am-mit.

• Cult Center: Thinis, Lycopolis, quickly spreading throughout Egypt.
• Attributes: Guardian of the Necropolis (cemetery). He was the guide of the dead as they made their way through the darkness of the underworld. As a patron of magic, it was believed he could foresee a persons destiny, in this role he was the announcer of death.

      Anubis was the patron of embalming. He was also the keeper of poisons and medicines. He provided unguents and rare herbs to help Isis and Nephthys with the embalming of Osiris. Anubis then performed the funeral of Osiris, which would be the model for all funerals to come. As he received the mummy into the tomb, he performed the 'Opening of the Mouth' ceremony.

  In the "Hall of Maat", Anubis appears on behalf of the diseased. It was Anubis who saw that the beam of the great scale was in the proper position as he supervises the weighing of the heart of a deceased person against the feather of Maat. The god of knowledge,Thoth, records the results. It is also Anubis that protects the dead from Ammut, the 'Devourer'.

• Representation: A man with the head of a jackal. A dog or a jackal.
• Relations: Son of Nephthys and Osiris, some believe him to be the son of Seth. Later adopted by Isis.

• Cult Center: At Tell el-Amarna in the city of Akhetaten (the horizon of Aten)
• Attributes: The Aten gained its prominence during the reign of Akhenaten. The heretic king made an effort it seems, to unite all the peoples of Egypt under one god. He abolished the traditional cults of Egypt and replaced them with the Aten. Unfortunately for Akhenaten, the Egyptians did not wish to be united in this fashion. The king considered the Aten to be the creative force in the universe and the only god worthy of his worship.
• Representation: Inscriptions state that the god had no physical image, but it was represented as a solar disk projecting many downward rays that ended as human hands. Sometimes holding ankhs, the symbol of eternal life.

• Cult Center: Bubastis in the Delta.
• Attributes: As a sun goddess she represents the warm, life giving power of the sun. Her cult appears as early as the Second Dynasty. Like a cat, she was admired for her agility and strength. Bast defended Ra against the serpent Apep.
• Representation: A woman with the head of a domesticated cat, sometimes holding a sistrum.
• Relations: Daughter and wife of Ra, mother of Khensu and Maahes.
• Other Names: Bast.
•  

 

 

• Cult Center: Throughout Egypt.
• Attributes: Geb was thought to represent the earth, he is often seen reclining beneath the sky goddess Nut. Geb was called 'the Great Cackler', and as such, was represented as a goose. It was in this form that he was said to have laid the egg from which the sun was hatched. He was believed to have been the third divine king of earth. The royal throne of Egypt was known as the 'throne of Geb' in honor of his great reign.
• Representation: As a vegetation-god he was shown with green patches or plants on his body. As the earth, he is often seen lying beneath Nut, leaning on one elbow, with a knee bent toward the sky, this is representive of the mountains and valleys of the earth. He was often pictured with a goose on his head or as a goose.
• Relations: Son of Shu and Tefnut, twin brother of Nut, husband of Nut, father of Osiris and Isis, Seth, Nephthys.
• Other possible Names: Keb
•  

Hapi

• Cult Center: Throughout Egypt.
• Attributes: Hapi was a very important deity to anyone living in the Nile valley. He was the god of the Nile, particularly the inundation, His followers worshipped him even above Ra. After all, without the sun the Egyptians would have lived in darkness, but without the Nile the Egyptians would have perished. It was believed that Hapi's source was two whirlpools in the caves on Elephantine island. On his journey he was thought to flow through the Underworld, through the heavens, and then through Egypt. He was responsible for watering the meadows and bringing the dew. But most importantly he brought the fertile inundation. He provided food and water for nourishment and for offerings to the gods. As a fertility god he is associated with Osiris.
• Representation: A bearded man coloured blue or green, with female breasts, indicating his powers of nourishment. As god of the Northern Nile he wears papyrus plants on his head, and as god of the southern Nile he wears lotus plants. He is often seen carrying offerings of food or giving libations of water from a vase. Sometimes he is pictured offering two plants and two vases, which represented the upper and lower Nile.
• Relations: Husband of Nekhebet.
• Other possible Names: Often confused with Horus' son, Hapy.

• Cult Center: Dendera and throughout Egypt 
• Attributes: .Because her worship stretches back to pre-dynastic times, we find Hathor identified with many local goddesses, and it can be said that all the goddesses were forms of Hathor. At times we find her playing the role of a sky-goddess, a sun-goddess, a moon-goddess, a goddess of the east, a goddess of the west, a goddess of moisture, a goddess of fertility, an agricultural goddess, and a goddess of the underworld.

  . .  .Hathor was the goddess of joy, motherhood, and love. She was considered the protectress of pregnant women and a midwife. She was the patron of all women, no matter their station in life. As the goddess of music and dancing her symbol was the sistrum. As a fertility goddess and a goddess of moisture, Hathor was associated with the inundation of the Nile. In this aspect she was associated with the Dog-star Sothis whose rising above the horizon heralded the annual flooding of the Nile. In the legend of Ra and Hathor she is called the "Eye of Ra."

  . . . . .In later times, when the Osiris cults gained popularity, her role changed. She now welcomed the arrival of the deceased to the underworld, dispensing water to the souls of the dead from the branches of a sycamore and offering them food. Hathor was also represented as a cow suckling the soul of the dead, thus giving them sustenance during their mummification, their journey to the judgement hall, and the weighing of their soul. In the Late Period, dead women identified themselves with Hathor, as men identified with Osiris. . . . . .

• Representation: Hathor was originally worshipped in the form of a cow, sometimes as a cow with stars on her. Later she is represented as a woman with the head of a cow, and finally with a human head, the face broad and placid, sometimes she is depicted with the ears or horns of a cow. She is also shown with a head-dress resembling a pair of horns with the moon-disk between them. Sometimes she is met with in the form of a cow standing in a boat, surrounded by tall papyrus reeds. As the "Mistress of the Necropolis" she is shown as the head of a cow protruding from a mountainside. In this case she wears a menat necklace, which is a symbol of rebirth.
  
  
• Relations: Daughter of Nut and Ra. Wife of Ra, mother of Ihy. Many legends portray her as the mother of Horus the Elder. Other as the wife of Horus of Edfu, The fruit of this union was Horus the Younger .
  
  Horus

   

  
  He who is above.

   

  

  • Cult Center: Throughout Egypt.
  • Attributes: The name Horus comes from the Egyptian word Hor, which translates as 'face'. We find him worshipped as Mekhenti-irry which translates as 'He who has on his brow Two Eyes', the sun and moon representing his eyes. On nights when there is no moon we find him worshipped as Mekhenti-en-irty, 'He who on his brow has no eyes', in this form he was considered the god of the blind.

    The followers of Horus invaded Egypt in pre dynastic history, at this time he was venerated as a victorious warlord. He became a part of the state religion and was associated with the sun god, Ra. Horus was so important to the state religion that Pharaohs were considered his human manifestation and even took on the name Horus.

    In the more popular religious beliefs of the Osiris cults he was the son of Osiris and Isis. The avenger of his father's murder and the model of a dutiful son. It is in these stories that we find him doing battle with his uncle, Seth.

  • Representation: You will find different Representations of Horus that fit with the different names that are listed below, however, the most common is a falcon or falcon headed man.

    

  • Other Names:
    Haroeris (Horus the Elder) An early form of Horus. He was a god of light. His eyes represented the sun and the moon. He was also the brother of Osiris and Seth. Sometimes he was the son or the husband of Hathor.

    Horus Behudety  In the form of Horus of Edfu, he represented the midday sun. This Horus was worshipped in the western Delta and later, as his cult spread south into Upper Egypt, a cult center was established in Edfu. Horus of Edfu fights a great battle against Seth and an army of conspirators. He is pictured as a winged sun-disk or as a hawk headed lion.

    Ra-Harakhte   (Horus of the two horizons) This horus was identified with Ra and the daily voyage of the sun from horizon to horizon. The two deities combined to become Ra-Harakhte. He was represented as a falcon or a falcon-headed man wearing the solar disk and double crown or the uraeus and the atef crown.

    Harmakhet (Horus in the Horizon) In this form he represented the rising sun and was associated with Khepri. He was also considered to be the keeper of wisdom. He was sometimes pictured as a man with a falcon's head, or a falcon headed lion. But his most recognizable form is that of a sphinx, or as a ram-headed sphinx.

    Harsiesis (Horus son of Isis) This Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris. He was conceived magically after the death of Osiris and brought up by Isis on a floating island in the marshes of Buto. The child was weak and in constant danger from the scheming of his wicked uncle Seth, who sent serpents and monsters to attack him. But his mother, Isis was great in the magical arts and she warded off this evil by using a spell against creatures biting with their mouths and stinging with their tails, and the young Horus survived and grew.

    Harpokrates (The infant Horus) As a child he represented the new born sun and was often pictured being suckled by Isis. he was usually represented as a seated child, sucking his thumb, his head was shaved except for the sidelock of youth. Even as a child, he wore the royal crown and uraeus.

    Harendotes (Horus the avenger of his father)

    Har-pa-Neb-Taui (Horus Lord of the Two Lands)

  Isis

   

  

   

  The Throne.

   

   

  • Cult Center: A temple is dedicated to her on the Island of Philae, near the first cataract. She is revered throughout Egypt.
  • Attributes: Isis is one of the earliest and most important goddess in ancient Egypt. She was regarded as the feminine counterpart to Osiris, a role she probably occupied before the dawn of dynastic Egypt. No other Egyptian deity has stood the test of time as well as Isis. Her cult was not extinguished with the other Egyptian gods, but was embraced by the Greeks and Romans, her worship has even lasted into the present day.

    She was revered by the Egyptian people as the great mother-goddess and represents the maternal spirit in its most intimate form. She is often seen suckling a young Horus. In the Osiris legend she is seen as a dutiful wife, a grieving widow and as a protector of the dead.

    As a winged goddess she may represent the wind. In the Osiris legend there are references to Isis wailing and moaning like the wind. She is also continually travelling up and down the land in search of her lost husband. Upon finding Osiris' body, she takes the shape of one of the swiftest birds, a kite. Flapping and darting above his dead body she wails in mourning. She restores life to Osiris by flapping her wings and filling his mouth and nose with air.

    Isis was a great enchantress, the goddess of magic. Together with Thoth, she taught mankind the secrets of medicine. She was the embalmer and gaurdian of Osiris. She is often rendered on the foot of coffins with long wings spread to protect the deceased.
    
    

•  
  • Representation: A woman wearing on her head the hieroglyphic symbol of her name, which represents a throne or seat. Often seen wearing horns and a solar disk on her head. Sometimes she is pictured with wings, It is noteworthy that she is one of only a few deities that we find with wings in ancient Egyptian mythology.
  • Relations: Daughter of Nut and Geb. Sister of Osiris, Nephthys, and Seth. Wife of Osiris. Mother of Horus.
   
  Khepri

   

  

   

  He Who Comes Into Existence.

• Cult Center: Heliopolis.
• Attributes: A sun god, associated with the sunrise. Because of his association with the sunrise he is considered to be one of the creator gods. It was Khepri that pushed the sun across the sky in much the same fashion that a dung beetle (scarab) pushed a ball of dung across the ground.
• Representation: A man with a scarab head. Or a scarab.
• Relations: Self created.
• Other possible Names: Khepra, Khepera

• Cult Center: Philae, Elephantine and Esna.
• Attributes: A very ancient deity. As a water god he was closely associated with the annual flooding of the Nile. His name means to create. He was the creator of all things that are and all things that shall be. He created the gods and he fashioned mankind on a potters wheel.
• Representation: A ram headed man.
• Relations: Self created.
• Other Names: Khnemu

• Cult Center: Throughout Egypt.
• Attributes: The goddess Maat represents the ideals of law, order, and truth. The word, Maat translates "that which is straight." it implies anything that is true, ordered, or balanced. She was the female counterpart of Thoth. We know she is a very ancient goddess because we find her in the boat of Ra as it rose above the waters of the abyss of Nu on the first day. Together with Thoth, they charted the daily course of the sun god Ra. She is sometimes called the 'eye of Ra' or the 'daughter of Ra'.

  Maat also plays an important part in the Book of the Dead. It is in the Hall of Maat the judgement of the dead was performed. This was done by weighing one's heart (conscience) against the feather of Maat. If a balance was struck the deceased was deemed to be worthy of meeting Osiris in the after life. If the heart of the deceased was found to be heavier then the feather of Maat it would be devoured by Ammut.

• Representation: A woman wearing a tall ostrich feather on her head. Or an ostrich feather.
• Relations: Daughter of Ra, wife of Thoth.
• Other possible Names: Mayet

• Cult Center: Panopolis and Koptos 
• Attributes: In early times Min was a sky-god whose symbol was a thunderbolt. His title was Chief of Heaven. Well into the Middle Kingdom he was identified with the falcon-god Haroeris (Horus the Elder). Above all, Min was worshipped by men as a fertility god, a bestower of sexual powers. He was also seen as a rain god that promoted the fertility of nature, especially in the growing of grain.

  During the Min festivals that celebrated the beginning of the planting season, we find renderings of pharaohs ceremonially hoeing the ground and watering the fields under the supervision of Min. Likewise at the Min festival that marked the beginning of the harvest season, the pharaoh was seen reaping the grain.

  Despite his fertility associations, Min was also known as Lord of the Eastern Desert. In this role he was the protector of the caravan routes from his cult center at Koptos to the Red Sea. As the Lord of Foreign Lands he was the protector of nomads and hunters.

• Representation: Min was pictured as an bearded, ithyphallic man, with his legs close together. He wore two tall feathers, the same headdress that we find Amun wearing. His arm is raised, holding a whip, or a thunderbolt. In the New Kingdom he was represented as a white bull.
• Relations: Son of Ra or of Shu.
  Mut

   

  

   

  Lady of Heaven.

   

  • Cult Center: Thebes.
  • Attributes: Mut was the divine mother, the queen of all gods. She was the female counterpart of Amun. Mut usurped many of the other Egyptian goddess that exhibited the attributes of motherhood. During the New Kingdom, The marriage of Mut and Amun was one of the great annual celebrations. Amun would be brought from his temple at Karnak, a great following would escort him to visit Mut at her temple at Luxor. In spite of her marriage to Amun, Mut was bisexual, perhaps to reinforce her position as the mother of all things. Her hieroglyphic symbol was a vulture, it was worn on the crowns of Egypt's queens to typify their motherhood.
  • Representation: A woman wearing a vulture headdress, with the double crown of upper and lower Egypt. In some pictures the heads of vultures project from her shoulders. Sometimes she holds a papyrus sceptre.
  • Relations: Wife of Amun, mother of all the gods, mother of all living things.
    Neith

     

    

     

    Great Goddess.

     

     

    • Cult Center: Sais in the western Delta
    • Attributes: Neith was a goddess of the hunt. She may have also been a war goddess. Her worship dates from pre dynastic history. In early times she was called 'mother of the gods' and 'Great Goddess'. She was considered the guardian of men and gods.

      Later, Neith was seen as a protector of the dead, she is often seen standing with Nephthys at the head of coffins. Or assisting Isis, Nephthys, and Serqet to guard the Canopic jars. As 'Opener of the Ways', she was a guide in the underworld, a female Anubis. In the Eighteenth Dynasty she took on the attributes of Hathor, as a protector of women. As a creative deity she was said to be the wife of Khnum at Elephantine. She was appealed to for her wisdom as an arbitrator during the great quarrel of Horus and Seth.

      Neith assumed the role of state deity during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, when the kings of Sais repeled the invading Assyrians and reunited Egypt. This period lasted for about a century and a half and the tendency in art and religion was to try to regain the glories of the past. This was a suitable time for the worship of an ancient goddess.

    • Representation: Neith was pictured as a woman wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt, holding a bow and crossed arrows. Her cult sign was a shield and crossed arrows. Occasionally she was represented as the great cow, mother of Ra.
    • Relations: Varied with time period. Mother of Sobek, Isis, Horus and Osiris. Or mother of Ra. The pharaoh Nectanebo II of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, claimed her as his Mother. Wife of Khnum.
     
    Nephthys

     

    

     

    Lady of the House.

     

• Cult Center: Throughout Egypt. Plays a role in the Osiris legend.
• Attributes: Her name means 'Lady of the House' it's thought to be referring to Osiris' Palace. Nephthys conceived no children with her husband Seth. Her son, Anubis was conceived from a union with Osiris. It is said that she tricked Osiris into this union by making him drunk, or by disguising herself as Isis. Fearing Seth's anger, Nephthys hides the infant in the Delta marshes shortly after his birth. Seth murders Osiris and Nephthys flees in fear. She finds her sister, Isis, and helps in the search for Osiris' body. Nephthys tells her sister about the infant. During the search for Osiris, Isis finds Anubis and adopts him. After finding the body of Osiris, she helps Isis embalm him. The two sisters turn into birds and fly about mourning over the dead body. She is often rendered on the head of coffins, as Isis is rendered at the foot, with long wings spread to protect the deceased.
• Representation: A woman wearing on her head the hieroglyphic symbol of her name.
• Relations: Daughter of Nut and Geb. Sister of Osiris, Isis, and Seth. Wife of Seth, mother of Anubis.
• Other Names: Nebhet

• Cult Center: Throughout Egypt.
• Attributes: Nut was originally a mother-goddess who had many children. The hieroglyph for her name, which she is often seen wearing on her head is a water pot, but it is also thought to represent a womb. During the day, Nut and Geb are separated, but each evening Nut comes down to meet Geb and this causes darkness. If storms came during the day, it was believed that Nut had some how slipped closer to the earth. She also plays an important role in creation mythology.
• Representation: As the sky goddess, she is shown stretching from horizon to horizon, touching only her fingertips and toes to the ground. Her husband, Geb is often shown reclining beneath her. She is also pictured as a giant sow, suckling many piglets. These piglets represented the stars, which she swallowed each morning before dawn. Nut was considered to be the mother of the sun and the moon. In some cases she took the form of a great cow who's eyes represented the sun and the moon.
• Relations: Daughter of Shu and Tefnut, twin sister of Geb, wife of Geb, mother of Osiris and Isis, Seth, Nephthys.
  
  
  Osiris

   

  

   

  King of the Dead.

   

  • Cult Center: Busiris, later Abydos.
  • Attributes: Supreme god and judge of the dead. The symbol of resurrection and eternal life. Provider of fertility and prosperity to the living.
  • Representation: A bearded man wearing white mummy wrappings. Wearing the atef crown and holding the symbols of supreme power, the flail and crook. His skin is green to represent vegetation or red to represent the earth. See also the Osiris legend.
  • Relations: Son of Geb and Nut. Brother of Isis, Nephthys, and Seth and in some myths he is brother ofHorus. Husband of Isis and father of Horus. Father of Anubis by Nephthys.

   

  Ptah

   

  

   

  The Opener.

• Cult Center: Memphis.
• Attributes: Ptah represents the sun at the time when it begins to rise above the horizon and or right after it has risen. As early as the Second Dynasty, he is regarded as a creator god. The patron of architects, artists and sculptors. It was Ptah who built the boats for the souls of the dead to use in the afterlife. In the Book of the Dead we learn that he was a master architect, and responsible for building the framework of the universe. It was said that Ptah created the great metal plate that was the floor of heaven and the roof of the sky. He also constructed the supports that held it up. Some creation legends say that by speaking the names of all things, Ptah caused them to be.
• Representation: A man wrapped as a mummy with a shaved head and beard. Hanging from the back of his neck is the Menat, a symbol of happiness. Holding a staff that is a combination of three symbols. An ankh, a djed, and a was scepter.This staff represents life, stability, and longevity.
• Relations: husband of Sekhmet, father of Nefer-tem.
• Other Names: Ptah-Seker

• Cult Center: Heliopolis and throughout Egypt.
• Attributes: From very early times Ra was a sun god. He took on many of the attributes and even the names of other gods as Egyptian myths evolved. A good example of this is the god Ra and Amun merging to become Amun-Ra or Ra and Horus combining to become Ra-Harakhte. Since Ra was a god of great antiquity, there are far to many stories connected with him to relate them all. I will relate some that I find interesting, including the legend of Ra and Hathor.

  . . . . .One legend states that each day, Ra was born and began a journey across the sky. Ra was believed to travel in the Manjet-boat. or the 'Barque of Millions of Years'. He was joined on this daily journey by a crew of many gods . The Manjet-boat would sail through the twelve provinces, representing the twelve hours of daylight. At the end of each day Ra was thought to die and embarked on his night voyage. For this journey he was called Auf, which means 'corpse'. Ra sailed in a boat called the Mesektet-boat or night-barque on his journey through the twelve hours of darkness.

. . . . .It was not always smooth sailing on these ships. During the day Ra had to defeat his chief enemy, a serpent or snake named Apep. A great battle was faught between Ra and Apep, and Ra was usually victorious, however on stormy days or during an eclipse the Egyptians believed that Apep had been victorious and swallowed the sun.

. . . . .Because no wind blows in the Underworld, Auf (Ra) had to rely on various unfriendly spirits and demons to help tow his barque along the river in the underworld. Auf's main job in the Underworld was to bring light to the souls of the dead as he passed through their realm. After his departure these souls fell back into a lonely darkness. The Underworld of these early solar myths was a very different place then the fields of peace that we find in the Osiris cults of the later periods.

• Representation: He is often pictured as a hawk or as a hawk headed man with a solar disk encircled by a uraeus on his head. He is often pictured wearing the double crown of upper and lower Egypt.
• Relations: Father of the first divine couple, Shu and Tefnut. Grandfather of Geb and Nut, whose children were Osiris and Isis, Seth and Nephthys.
• Other Names: Re, Phra.

• Cult Center: Memphis.
• Attributes: A sun goddess. She represents the scorching, burning, destructive heat of the sun. She was a fierce goddess of war, the destroyer of the enemies of Ra and Osiris. Her temper was uncontrollable. In the legend of Ra and Hathor, Sekhmet's anger became so great, she would have destroyed all of mankind if Ra had not taken pity on us and made her drunk.

  . . . . .Sekhmet was the wife of the creator-god Ptah. This marriage was unusual in that it resulted from geographical proximity of their cults rather than a sharing of attributes.

• Representation: A woman with the head of a lion.
• Relations: Daughter of Nut and Geb. Wife of Ptah, mother of Nefer-Tem
• Other Names: Sakhmet, Sekhet, Nesert.

Seshat

• Cult Center: Throughout Egypt
  
• Attributes: Goddess of reading, writing, architecture and arithmetic. She plays an important role in a ceremony called stretching the cord in which she assists the pharaoh in locating and laying out the corners of a temple. She was also responsible for recording the names and tribute of captives taken in battle. We often find her recording the pharaohs name on the tree of life or recording the royal jubilees on a notched palm branch.
• Representation: A woman wearing a panther skin, the ornament on her head consists of a star under a bow or cow horns. She is often holding a palm branch with the symbol of a jubilee pavilion hanging from it.
• Relations:.Wife of Thoth. .
• Other Names:Sesha

• Cult Center: Ombos.
• Attributes: Early in Egyptian history, Seth is spoken of in terms of reverence as the god of wind and storms. He was even known as the Lord of Upper Egypt. Horus being the Lord of Lower Egypt. It was Seth who stood in the front of the solar barque to defended the sun god Ra from his most dangerous foe, the serpent Apep. At this time, he seems to have had no conflicts with the cults of Isis or Osiris. In fact, he was part of the same family of gods, and married to his twin sister, Nephthys.

  . . . . .However, it appears the followers of Seth may have resisted the followers of Horus and the First Dynasty pharaoh, Menes, when he united Upper and Lower Egypt. This struggle for control of Egypt seems to be reflected in the mythology. At this point, Seth is portrayed as questioning the authority of his brother, Osiris. The Osiris cults took this opportunity to discredit the followers of Seth; he was now considered to be Osiris' evil brother. And the story was told that Seth was evil since birth, because he ripped himself from his mother's womb by tearing through her side. In the Osiris legends, it is Seth who tricks and murders Osiris. He is also the antagonist of Horus. By the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, Seth was the embodiment of evil. He was depicted with red eyes and hair. The ancient Egyptians beleived red represented evil.

• Representation: Man with the head of an unknown animal. Some times he takes the form of a crocodile. He is represented as a hippopotamus or a black pig in his battles with Horus.
• Relations: Son of Geb and Nut. Brother of Isis, Nephthys, and Osiris. The husband of Nephthys or sometimes the husband of Taurt.
• Other Names: Set, Suetekh.

• Cult Center: Crocodilopolis in the Faiyum, after the Twelfth Dynasty he was worshipped everywhere with cult centers at Kom Ombo, Thebes and at Lake Moeris.
  
  

• Attributes: Admired and feared for his ferocity. At the command of Ra, He performed tasks such as catching with a net the four sons of Horus as they emerged from the waters in a lotus bloom. Sometimes identified with Seth when Seth took the form of a crocodile. It is said that in the Osiris legends, Horus takes the form of a crocodile in order to retrieve the parts of Osiris's body that were cast into the Nile by Seth.
• Representation: A crocodile, a mummified crocodile or as a man with a crocodile-head. Sometimes wearing horns like those of Amon-Ra, and the solar disk.
• Relations: Son of Neith of Sais.
• Other Names: Sebek, Sebek-Ra, Sobk, Suchos, Sobki or Soknopais.

• Cult Center: Temples at Thebes and Deir el-Bahri.
• Attributes: Protectress of pregnant woman and infants. Also protectress of rebirth into the afterlife.
• Representation: A pregnant hippopotamus with human breasts, the hind legs of a lioness and the tail of a crocodile.
• Relations: Daughter of Ra, sometimes considered the mother of Isis and Osiris. Sometimes considered the wife of Seth.
• Other Names: Taueret, Ta-weret, Thoeris, Rert, or Reret.

• Cult Center: Eshmunen or Hermopolis.
• Attributes: Thoth was a moon god who played an important role in the Osiris legend and the judgment of the dead in the Hall of Maat. Thoth was said to be mighty in knowledge and divine speech. The inventer of spoken and written language. As the lord of books he was the scribe of the gods and patron of all scribes. He is credited with inventing astronomy, geometry, and medicine. Thoth was the measurer of the earth and the counter of the stars, the keeper and recorder of all knowledge. It was Thoth who was believed to have written important religious texts such as The Book of the Dead. In this text, he appears in the Hall of Maat as a scribe holding a writing reed and palette to record the results of the weighing of the deceased's heart against the feather of Maat.
• Representation: A man with the head of an Ibis. An ibis or an ape. A dog faced ape. He is often seen wearing a lunar disk and cresant on his head or the Atef crown.
• Relations: Self conceived at the beginning of time. Husband of Maat. Brother and some times husband of Seshat.
• Other Names: Tehuti.

. . . . . As is the case with most ancient mythologies, the Egyptians created myths to try to explain their place in the cosmos. Their understanding of the cosmic order was from direct observation of nature. Therefore their creation myths concern themselves with gods of nature; the earth, the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, and of course, the Nile river.

. . . . .Since the Nile river, with its annual floods played a critical role in this cosmic order. It should come as no surprise to find water the fundamental element in the Egyptians ideas of creation. For the Egyptians to watch the inundation of their land would have been like watching a earthly model of their ideas of a watery creation. Allow me to explain.

. . . . .In the beginning there was only water, a chaos of churning, bubbling water, this the Egyptians called Nu or Nun. It was out of Nu that everything began. As with the Nile, each year the inundation no doubt caused chaos to all creatures living on the land, so this represents Nu. eventually the floods would recede and out of the chaos of water would emerge a hill of dry land, one at first, then more. On this first dry hilltop, on the first day came the first sunrise. So that is how the Egyptians explain the beginning of all things.

. . . . .Not surprisingly, the sun was also among the most important elements in the Egyptians lives and therefore had an important role as a creator god. His names and attributes varied greatly. As the rising sun his name was Khepri, the great scarab beetle, or Ra-Harakhte who was seen as a winged solar-disk or as the youthful sun of the eastern horizon. As the sun climbed toward mid-day it was called Ra, great and strong. When the sun set in the west it was known as Atum the old man, or Horus on the horizon. As a solar-disk he was known as Aten. The sun was also said to be an egg laid daily by Geb, the 'Great Cackler' when he took the form of a goose.

. . . . .To the Egyptians the moon was any one of a number of gods. As an attribute of the god Horus the moon represented his left eye while his right was the sun. Seth was a lunar god, in his struggles with the solar god Horus, Seth is seen as a god of darkness doing constant battle with the god of light. We often find the ibis-headed god Thoth wearing a lunar creseant on his head.

. . . . .To the Egyptians the sky was a goddess called Nut. She was often shown as a cow standing over the earth her eyes being the sun and the moon. She is kept from falling to earth by Shu, who was the god of air and wind, or by a circle of high mountains. As this heavenly cow, she gave birth to the sun daily. The sun would ride in the 'Solar Barque' across Nut's star covered belly, which was a great cosmic ocean. Then as evening fell, Nut would swallow the sun creating darkness. She is also pictured as a giant sow, suckling many piglets. These piglets represented the stars, which she swallowed each morning before dawn.Nut was also represented as an elongated woman bending over the earth and touching the horizons with her toes and finger tips. Beneath her stretched the ocean, in the center of which lay her husband Geb, the earth-god.He is often seen leaning on one elbow, with a knee bent toward the sky, this is representive of the mountains and valleys of the earth. Green vegetation would sprout from Geb's brown or red body. Thus the world perceived by t he ancient egyptians came to be, calling on them to respect its creators, Atum and Khepri.