Eggsquisitely Mythical #25: Egypt
- Wera Niyom
- Oct 3
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 7
Hello, fellow eggs and mythology lovers!
For our next Eggsquisitely Mythical issue, we are doing a deep dive on the myths and legends of Egypt.
BACKGROUND
Egypt (the Arab Republic of Egypt) is situated in northeast Africa. Cairo is the capital and the largest city. The second largest city is Alexandria. It is Africa's third most populous country. Egyptian is the official language spoken.
DEITIES
MAJOR DEITIES
Aker: god of earth and the horizon.
Amun: a creator god and the deity of Thebes.
Amunet: the female counterpart of Amun.
Anput: the goddess of funerals and embalming. Also serves as the protector of the dead. She is the female counterpart to Anubis.
Anubis: the god of funerals and embalming, protector of the dead.
Anuket: a goddess of Egypt's southern frontier regions who typically wears a feathered headdress.
Apis: a bull seen as a manifestation of Ptah.
Aten: a sun disk deity.
Atum: a creator and solar god. The first god of the Ennead.
Bastet: the goddess of Bubastis who is often linked for protection from evil and represented as a cat or lioness.
Bat: a cow goddess.
Bennu: a creator and solar deity.
Bes: a god represented as a dwarf. Considered an important deity for protecting children and women in childbirth.
Geb: an earth god. Another member of the Ennead.
Hathor: an important goddess linked with the sky, sun, sexuality, motherhood, music, dance, foreign lands and goods, and the afterlife. She is one of many forms of the Eye of Ra often depicted as a cow.
Heqet: a frog goddess that protects women during childbirth.
Hesat: a cow goddess.
Heru-ur: an elder form of Horus.
Horus: a god usually depicted as a falcon or a human child who is linked with the sky, sun, kingship, protection, and healing. He is often said to be the son of Osiris and Isis.
Imentet: an afterlife goddess.
Imhotep: an architect and vizier, eventually deified as a healer god.
Isis: the wife of Osiris, mother of Horus, who is often linked with funerals, motherhood, protection, and magic. She is deified in Greek and Roman religions.
Khepri: a creator and solar god that is typically represented by a scarab. It is treated as Ra's morning aspect.
Khnum: a ram god of Elephantine who controls the Nile flood and can give life to gods and humans.
Khonsu: the moon god, son of Amun and Mut.
Maahes: lion god, son of Bastet.
Maat: goddess of truth, justice, and order.
Menhit: lioness goddess of the sun who personifies Ra's brow.
Min: god of virility, the cities of Akhmim, Qift, and the Eastern Desert.
Montu: god of war and the sun, often worshiped at Thebes.
Mut: consort of Amun.
Nefertem: god of the lotus blossom, from which the sun god rose at the beginning of time, son of Ptah and Sekhmet.
Neith: a creator/hunter goddess of Sais.
Nekhbet: a vulture goddess of Upper Egypt.
Nephthys: the consort of Set who mourned Osiris with Isis, a member of the Ennead.
Nut: a sky goddess, member of the Ennead.
Onuris: god of war and hunting.
Osiris: god of death and resurrection. Rules over Duat.
Pakhet: lioness goddess worshiped around Beni Hasan.
Ptah: creator deity of craftsmen and Memphis.
Ra: the sun god, father of every Egyptian Pharaoh, deity of Heliopolis, and involved in creation and afterlife.
Renenutet: agricultural goddess.
Satis: goddess of Egypt's southern frontier.
Sekhmet: lioness goddess, capable of warding off disease. Protector of Phraraohs, consort of Ptah, and one form of the Eye of Ra.
Serket: scorpion goddess, often invoked for healing/protection.
Set: a god connected to the desert, the murderer of Osiris and Horus' enemy. Supports the Pharaoh.
Shu: the embodiment of wind, a member of the Ennead.
Sobek: crocodile god worshiped in Faiyum and Kom Ombo.
Tefnut: lioness goddess of moisture, member of the Ennead.
Thoth: god of writing, scribes, and Hermopolis.
Wadjet: cobra goddess of Lower Egypt.
Wosret: goddess of Thebes.
GROUPS OF DEITIES
The Aai are three guardians of Duat: Ab-ta, Anhefta, and Ermen-ta.
The Assessors of Maat refer to forty-two deities who judge souls of the dead.
Cavern Deities are deities charged with punishing damned souls by beheading and devouring them.
The Ennead refers to an extended family of deities produced by Atum when the world was created. It consists of Atum, Shu and Tefnut (his children), Geb and Net (his children's children), and Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys.
The Sons of Horus are four gods who protect mummified bodies (specifically the internal organs in funerary vessels).
Gate Deities are dangerous guardians of the gates of Duat. This group of deities include Qeq-hauau-ent-pehui, Khesef-At, and Ankh-f-em-fent.
The Hemsut are goddesses of fate and creation from the primordial abyss. They are also daughters of Ptah.
The Her-Hequi are part of the Duat's fifth division.
Horus of the Day Deities are twelve divine embodiments of each hour of the day: Maat and Nenit (hour 1), Hu and Ra em-nu (hour 2), Unknown (hour 3), Ashespi-kha (hour 4), Nesbit and Agrit (hour 5), Ahait (hour 6), Horus and Nekait/Nekai-t (hour 7), Khensu and Kheprit (hour 8), Neten-her-netch-her and Ast em nebt ankh (hour 9), Urit-hekau or Hekau-ur (hour 10), Amanh (hour 11), and The One Who Gives Protection In The Twilight (hour 12).
Horus of the Night Deities: are twelve divine embodiments of each hour of the night: Neb-t tehen and Neb-t heru (hour 1), Apis/Hep and Sarit-neb-s (hour 2), M'k-neb-set (hour 3), Aa-t-shefit/Urit-shefit (hour 4), Ari-em-aua/Uba-em-tu-f (hour 5), Mesperit/neb-t shekta/Neb-t tcheser (hour 6), Heru-em-sau-ab and Herit-t-chatcha-ah (hour 7), Ba-pefi and Ankh-em-neser-t/Merit-neser-t (hour 8), An-mut-f and Neb-t sent-t (hour 9), Amset/Neb neteru and M'k-neb-set (hour 10), Uba-em-tu-f and Khesef-khemit/M'kheskhemuit (hour 11), Khepri and Maa-neferut-Ra (hour 12).
The Ikhemu-sek are personifications of northern constellations.
The Khnemiu are the Duat's eleventh division.
The Ogdodad personify chaos before creation, including Amun, Amunet, Nu/Naunet, Heh/Hauhet, and Kek/Kauket.
The Renniu are part of the Duat's eleventh division.
The Setheniu-Tep are part of the Duat's eleventh division.
The Shebtiu are a group of creator gods.
Pe and Nekhen personify predynastic rulers of Upper and Lower Egypt.
The Theban Triad refer to Amun, his consort Mut, and son Khonsu.
The Twelve Thoueris Goddesses
The Twelve Thoueris goddesses
MYTHICAL CREATURES
Abtu: a sacred fish.
Akhekh: a hybrid of a bird and an oryx (antelope).
Anat: another sacred fish.
Axex: a griffin.
Apshaitb: a flesh-eating beetle.
Medjed: a sacred elephantfish that ate Osiris' manhood.
Sak: a hybrid monster with a hawk's head, lion's body, horse's backside, and the tail of a blooming lotus.
Sphinx: a guardian with the body of a lion and the head of a human.
That concludes today's discussion about Egyptian deities. We hoped you enjoyed learning about them! Check back on this page next month for more updates to Egyptian mythology.
Check out these other articles written by former team members:
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