Egyptian Mythology - Egyptian Gods

Egyptian Mythology occupied a central place in the history of ancient Egypt, the Egyptian gods exerting a strong influence on society and daily life in the land of the pharaohs. Very sophisticated, the Egyptian pantheon is one of the mythologies including the most deities. For over 3,000 years, the Egyptians strove to honor them, erecting temples and making offerings at the feet of the statues. These are part of their daily lives and can interfere with natural events. Atum also known as Ra is the very first god, the sun god who created the world and humans...

Egyptian mythology and origin of the world

Originally there was the Noun , liquid chaos:the flooding of the Nile mixed with mud. There was neither sun nor air. There are several versions relating the creation of the world. The Priests of Hermopolis believe that it is the fruit of eight deities:the ogdoad, grouped into four pairs of gods:male and female. The latter, which symbolize water, infinity, darkness and what is hidden, caused the Nile to recede so that the sun could emerge from a lotus bud.

From the Heliopolitan point of view , life was born in Heliopolis, the city of the sun thanks to the Ennead:the group of nine gods. The Sun God Atum (evening sun) which is also called Rê (zenith sun) or Khepri (morning sun), emerges from Noun, creates a man's body and dries up the mud to create the earth. He will then give birth to the first pair of gods:Shou , the god of air and Tefnut , the goddess of humidity. They discover the world. Believing to have lost them, Atum sheds tears which engender the birth of men. In turn, Shu and Tefnut, create two other gods:Geb , the god of the earth and Nut, the sky goddess. This couple subsequently begets four other gods:Osiris , underground god wearing the white crown, Isis his wife, Seth :god of Chaos and Nephthys his wife.

As for the Memphite priests , they envision the creation of the world with the god Ptah , gods of metalworkers, craftsmen and architects. He would have preceded Atum and would have created the world by his “thought and his creative word”. Memphis, another great spiritual center of Egypt, is the rival city of Heliopolis. Ptah can take on several appearances, that of the Bull Apis or that of Osiris.

Humanity against the Egyptian gods

At the beginning of the world, Atum unites the gods revolted against him, to punish humanity deemed ungrateful. Through the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet, he sent his flame-breathing eye on humanity without wanting to eradicate it. Sekhmet is part of the Memphite triad with Ptath of which she is the wife and their child Nefertum . She is a warrior goddess and protector of the creator. Sekhmet has an insatiable appetite, intoxicated by the smell of blood, she could not stop the carnage ordered by Atum. In order to protect humanity, the gods used trickery by making fake blood:a mixture of red ocher and beer. The drunkenness of the goddess saved the humans.

Annoyed at having been trapped, Sekhmet went into exile in the depths of Nubia. Deprived of his formidable ally (his divine eye), Atum decided to send Thoth, the god of wisdom, to find her and bring her back. Taking on the aspect of an ape, he used flattery to persuade the goddess to return. Once back and appeased, Sekhmet is said to have taken the form of the goddess Bastet cat-headed, goddess of the home and protector of births.

The Jealousy of Seth and the Ousting of Osiris

Before being an underground god, the god Osiris reigned over the throne of Egypt in order to bring civilization and instruct humans on how to fish, cultivate the land or even play music. He is the husband of his sister Isis. As for Seth, his younger brother, he is responsible for reigning over the arid deserts populated by animals.

Seth is one of the oldest and most hated gods of Egypt. He is the god of storms and thunderstorms. It is depicted as an unidentified animal with a long snout and long straight ears. Symbol of evil, it can manifest itself in animals with red coats. It is nevertheless necessary for the balance of the universe by embodying the harmful powers.

Jealous of his brother and eager to steal the throne from him, Seth implemented a strategy to get rid of Osiris. He invited his brother to a banquet and had a large chest brought which he intended to offer to whoever could lie down completely in it. The guests tried in vain, Osiris lent himself to the game and fit perfectly into the trunk. Seth, locked him in it and threw the coffin into the Nile.

When she learned of her husband's terrible misadventure, Osiris' wife decided to go in search of the coffin. Isis, located him in the Nile and then hid him in the swamps of the Delta. Unfortunately, Seth found the coffin and furious, he cut the body into 14 pieces which he scattered across the land. Isis was not discouraged and resumed her investigation.

Gradually, she was able to gather all the members, except one:the sex of the god who was eaten by the oxyrhynchus fish. You should know that Isis is revered for her cunning and her intelligence. With the help of Anubis , god of the dead represented as a man with the head of a jackal, she tried to revive the body of Osiris. The latter, who ends up emerging from his sleep, will now reign over the kingdom of the Dead.

Angry Son:Horus' Revenge

Thanks to her powers, Isis restored to Osiris his missing limb and was able to conceive a new child with him:Horus . This one will be raised in secret by his mother in the reeds of the marsh of Chemnis to be protected from his uncle. He is the falcon god carrying the solar disc, his name means the one "who is above" because he is the embodiment of the sky and the sun.

As an adult, Horus claimed the inheritance of the throne of Egypt and summoned the tribunal of the gods chaired by Ra. This struggle lasted 80 years. At first, the trial does not lead to any agreement because Ré sees in Seth a counterweight against his enemy Apophis. Horus challenged his uncle to a fight of a rare violence where he lost an eye and emasculated Seth. Having pity on her brother, Isis asked her son not to kill Seth. Mad with anger, he ends up cutting off his mother's head. Thoth, intervened to separate the two rivals and reconstructed a head for Isis:a cow's head and the eye of Horus called:the'oudjat .

He donated his eye to his father who was able to regain his sight. Horus won his case in court thanks to the intervention of Osiris and recovered the throne of Egypt. He will be the first of the pharaohs.

The Eternal Enemy of Creation:Apophis

Apophis is the god of the night, recognizable by his appearance of a huge serpent , he personifies evil. He would be the son of Neith, the goddess of war and hunting. According to legend, every morning before sunrise, he fights fiercely against Ra to prevent day from appearing. He wishes to plunge the world into the original chaos.

The fight always ends in failure for Apophis thanks to the defenders of the Barque of the Sun God sailing on the Nile:Seth and his harpoon, the goddess Bastet and the disorienting powers of Isis. In the event of an Eclipse, it is said that the serpent god succeeded in swallowing the barque of Ra. However, Apophis cannot truly die because he is part of the universe.

The life of the Egyptian gods

Like humans, gods can eat, drink, talk, wear clothes and even have feelings:anger, joy, sadness… They are dressed in the same white linen suit and hold the Was scepter , emblem of power and on the other hand the sign of life:ankh (handle cross). They remain in heaven but are present on earth thanks to their ba . It is a spirit. The Ka is the vital energy that is nourished by the offerings. The ba resides in the statue located in the sanctuary but can also find refuge in a sacred animal which differs according to the god.

There are several categories of gods:

• - Cosmic deities such as air and sky or geographic deities representing rivers, mountains
• - Zoomorphic deities, bull-headed males, Aries, falcons and women:vulture, cobra, lioness, cow...
• - Hybrid deities:the best known remains the sphinx

These categories include "national" gods adopted by all of Egypt but also local gods like Neith in Sais, Amon in Thebes, Knum in Elephantine... At the origin each region of Egypt venerated its own god, some of them were exported more than others. Osiris, local god, will be worshiped throughout the country which contains between 38 to 42 constituencies. As well as Maât, goddess of the balance of the world and wearing an ostrich feather crown.

In order to maintain the stability of the world, the Egyptians believed that they had to honor their gods through offerings and feasts rituals. Unlike the Greek gods, the Egyptian gods are less accessible and don't mix as easily with humans. Interactions take place in temples. The statues in their effigy were treated with the greatest care because the Egyptians believed that they contained the very spirit of the god . They received food and wine or water.

The Decline of the Egyptian Gods

Despite their popular immortality, some Egyptian texts evoke the possible mortality of the gods. This is the case of the "Book of the Dead" in verse 154 explaining that death awaits "every god and goddess ". The work describes the end of the world through a dialogue between Atum and Osiris who fears finding himself in darkness. The gods would perish with the end of the cosmos itself, only the water of chaos would remain.

The loss of the pagan religion is linked to the advent of Christianity and Islam. From 383, Emperor Theodore closed many pagan temples across the Roman Empire. Egyptian temples are either abandoned or destroyed.

The main Egyptian gods

Non-exhaustive bibliography

- Richard H. Wilkinson, Illustrated Dictionary of Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Infollio, Singapore, 2006

- Nadine Guilhou, Egyptian Mythology, Marabout, Paris, 2006

- Guillemette Andreu, Egyptians in the time of the pharaohs, Pluriel, Evreux, 1997