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Ancient Egypt
GODS AND GODDESSES
Ra -Sun God
• The sun was as important as the Nile- sun worship
• It was believed that the sun was born in the morning and died each night
• He was the most important god of all gods.
Anubis
God of Embalming: Mummies
• Invented the mummification process.
• Had a human body with a black jackals (like a dog) head.
• Sometimes embalmers (people who made mummies out of dead
bodies) wore Anubis masks when at work
• Led the dead from life into the afterlife.
Osiris :
First pharaoh and tamer of the land
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Egyptians believed that Osiris was the first pharaoh.
He taught the early Egyptians to farm. He turned
deserts into lands where animals could graze.
Conducted the “weighing of the heart” ceremony
Middle Kingdom: took over as the god of the
dead from Anubis
Agree or Disagree?
• Ra was the most powerful and king of all of the Egyptian Gods.
• Anubis had the most important job of all Egyptian Gods
• Osiris was really buried in the tomb just recently found (think
about the warm-up yesterday!)
• The Nile river was more important than the sun to Egyptians
Horus
God of kingship: Government and
administration
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Son of Osiris and Isis
He became divine protector and god of every pharaoh
Amun
King of the gods: Karnak temple
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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.
It was said that Ra and Amun joined forces and were
sometimes called Amun-Ra.
His name means ‘the hidden one’.
Bes
God of family and health: The
Egyptian home
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Bes protected the home and was God of family life.
He was favored by women and mothers
His image was painted on to bedroom furniture to ensure
good night’s rest and to protect you from nightmares.
Agree or Disagree?
• Osiris was Anubis’s father
• Each Pharaoh was considered to be the god Horus on Earth
• Anubis AND Osiris were in charge of dead people
Ma‘ at
Goddess of truth: The weighing of
the heart
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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 her 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.
Thoth
God of wisdom: Writing and
scribes
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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.
Ptah
The creator god: Craft
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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
Hathor
Goddess of festivals: Music and feasting
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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’
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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.
Khnum
God of the river Nile: Religion and the
river
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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.
References
McCall Henrietta, Gods & Goddesses in the Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians, 2002, Hodder Wyland.
Ashworth Leon, Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, 2006, Evans publishing Group.