Tefnut (Egyptian)

Tefnut

"The spitter", a goddess of moisture, clouds, pure water, and the rare magic known as rain, she was daughter of Ra, wife of Shu, and mother of earth and sky

Taweret (Egyptian)

Taweret

"The Great One", hippopotamus goddess of pregnancy, a powerful spirit with the legs and paws of a lion, the tail of a crocodile, human breasts, and a swollen belly. She held the protective amulet "Sa", a circle with a bar at one end, and drove off evil spirits, often assisted by Bes.

Sepdet (Egyptian)

Sepdet (Greek: Sothis)

[Egyptian] The goddess of the dog-star, Sirius, sometimes fused with Auset. She was the symbol of prosperity and renewal, since her rising just before dawn around August 1, after a 72-day absence from the sky, heralded the annual life-giving flood of the Nile and the start of the new year. Her symbol is the crown and the star.

Sepdet (Egyptian)

Sepdet (Greek: Sothis)

The goddess of the dog-star, Sirius, sometimes fused with Auset. She was the symbol of prosperity and renewal, since her rising just before dawn around August 1, after a 72-day absence from the sky, heralded the annual life-giving flood of the Nile and the start of the new year. Her symbol is the crown and the star.

Selket (Egyptian)

Selket


The scorpion-goddess who stung the wicked and prayed for the lives of innocents stung by scorpions to be spared. She aided in childbirth and bound demons and monsters of Set sent to harm her friends.

Sekhmet (Egyptian)

Sekhmet

Often fused with Bast and Het-heru, the great lioness goddess and wife of Ptah was the bloodthirsty embodiment of the fire of Ra. She was the agent of vengeance and swift justice. In one legend, Ra created her to destroy mankind after it turned away from morality and the gods, but later relented and changed her to the only slightly less destructive guise of Het-heru, love.

The more violent aspect of Het-heru, Sekhmet is often depicted as the lioness-goddess of the slaughter.
Myth has it that Ra created Sekhmet to kill all the unfaithful worshippers in the Khem, and she did. Then she got out of hand, and began killing the faithful as well. Ra was at a loss of what to do. Finally, he filled a lake full of red wine. Sekhmet, thinking the wine was blood, drank it all and fell into a drunken stupor. While she was asleep, Ra changed her into Het-heru, the equally dangerous but in a different way goddess of love.

Bast (Egyptian)

Bast (Greek: Bastet)

[Egyptian] Bast, or Bastet, was originally a lion headed goddess.  She was a daughter of Ra, the god of sun and a national deity of protection.

She was the cat-goddess of the delta, sometimes with a lion decorating her breastplate as a reminder of her former, wilder self. Cats were respected and often portrayed as the slayers of evil serpents. She was sometimes fused with the more dangerous Sekhmet.

She was the Egyptian goddess of affection, hearth, home, joy, music, celebration, dancing, pleasure and fertility.

To take part in a celebration at her temple in Bubastis, ensured the mental and physical health of the participants. Also, she was known as the harvest goddess. All cats were worshipped as incanations of her.

Honoring live domesticated cats was also important to Bast's followers.A vast cat cemetery has been uncovered in Bubastis. Mummifying one's pet was considered homage to this playful, free spirited goddess.

Aset (Egyptian)

Aset

Alternative Names:
Auset, Isis(Greek)

Section: Egyptian Mythology

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Supreme goddess of magic and wisdom, mother of Heru, associated with the vulture, a protector spirit, and the cobra, the only creature in all creation made by someone other than Amun. She retrieved and remade Ausar's mutilated body with the help of Anpw and her sister Nebt-het, so that his soul, and all who came after, could enjoy the afterlife.

Aset was the Queen of the Gods, and the wife of Asar.

When Asar was killed and Set threatened to become King, Aset threw a party. But she conspired with her sister Nebt-het, the wife of Set. Aset dressed as Nebt-het, and when Set was thourghly drunk, she began her plan. She first asked Set if her son could become king now with Osiris dead. Set, thinking they were discussing Anpw, agreed. It was then she revealed her real identity, and declared Heru King. That act, along with Asar's murder, set off the Heru-Set war.

Nuit (Egyptian)

Nuit (Nut)


Well-known Egyptian sky goddess, daughter of Shu and Tefnut, depicted arching over the world with her belly painted with stars.

Neit (Egyptian)

Neit (Greek: Neith)

Virgin huntress, goddess of war and domestic arts, quite obviously identified with Athena and Artemis by the Greeks. Her symbol was a shield bearing crossed arrows. She was the mother of Sobek

Nebt-het (Egyptian)

Nebt-het (Greek: Nepthys)

"Lady of the house," mother of Anpw. Originally Set's wife and sister, she left him to help Aset raise Heru after the murder of Ausar. She was often depicted as a kite hovering over the corpse in the funerary rites where she and Auset served as protectors

Mut (Egyptian)

Mut

"Mother". Consort of Khons, she was the great nurturing Vulture goddess and mother of everything. Closest equivalent to Gaia.

Meretseger (Egyptian)

Meretseger

"She who loves Silence". This Egyptian cobra goddess protected the tombs west of Thebes. She dwelled on a pyramid-shaped mountain overlooking the Valley of Kings. She blinded or poisoned criminals, especially graverobbers. Her cult mysteriously died out in the XXI dynasty

Ma'at (Egyptian)

Ma'at

Wife of Tehuti, her name is an important concept meaning "truth, balance, harmony, justice". A tall woman whose symbol is an ostrich plume, the hearts of the dead had to be weighed against her feather. All laws were dictated by Ma'at, and a blue bead inscribed with her name was worn by judges

Isis (Egyptian)

Isis

Originally, the goddess Isis was portrayed as a woman, wearing a headress shaped like a throne.

Goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility

Major cult center	Philae, Abydos
Symbol	the throne, the sun disk with cow's horn, the sycamore tree
Parents	Geb and Nut
Siblings	Osiris, Set and Nephthys
Consort	Osiris

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Isis (Ancient Greek: Ἶσις) was a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshiped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden, as well as listening to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats and rulers. Isis is the Goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility.
The goddess Isis (the mother of Horus) was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, the goddess of the Overarching Sky, and was born on the fourth intercalary day. At some time Isis and Hathor had the same headdress. In later myths about Isis, she had a brother, Osiris, who became her husband, and she then was said to have conceived Horus. Isis was instrumental in the resurrection of Osiris when he was murdered by Set. Her magical skills restored his body to life after she gathered the body parts that had been strewn about the earth by Set. This myth became very important in later Egyptian religious beliefs.

Isis is also known as the goddess of simplicity, protector of the dead and goddess of children from whom all beginnings arose. In later myths, the Ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile River flooded every year because of her tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris. This occurrence of his death and rebirth was relived each year through rituals. The worship of Isis eventually spread throughout the Greco-Roman world, continuing until the suppression of paganism in the Christian era.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis

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Egyptian goddesses | Fertility goddesses | Agricultural goddesses | Life-death-rebirth goddesses | Magic goddesses | Mystery religions | Hellenistic Egyptian deities

Horus (Egyptian)

Horus (Egyptian)
God of the king, the sky and vengeance

Major cult center: Nekhen, Behdet Edfu
Symbol: The wedjat eye,
Parents: Osiris and Isis
Siblings: Anubis (in some accounts)
Consort: Hathor (in one version)

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Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists. These various forms may possibly be different perceptions of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasised, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality. The earliest recorded form is Horus the Falcon who was the patron deity of Nekhen in Upper Egypt and who is the first known national god, specifically related to the king who in time became to be regarded as a manifestation of Horus in life and Osiris in death. The most commonly encountered family relationship describes Horus as the son of Isis and Osiris but in another tradition Hathor is regarded as his mother and sometimes as his wife. Horus served many functions in the Egyptian pantheon, most notably being the god of the Sky, god of War and god of Protection.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus

Het-Heru (Egyptian)

Het-Heru

Greek: Hathor

An ancient cow-goddess, at various times taking on the role of Great Mother and consort of Ra [read: Gaia], protector of Heru (hence her name, "House of Heru), and goddess of love. Her head formed the handle of the powerful ancient rattle known as the sistrum, used to frighten away evil spirits.

She was the goddess of love, but when Ra called, she turned into the vengeful Sekhmet.

She was also the Queen of the Heavens, after Aset. The wife of Horus she took an active role in the fight against Set and his minions. Also known as the Warroir Goddess she was fierce in battle when Sekhmet, but when she was herself, she used the more subtle approach, seduction.

Geb (Egyptian)

Geb

Alternative Names:
Geb, Keb, Seb, Gebeb, Kebeb

Geb was the Egyptian god of the Earth and a member of the Ennead of Heliopolis. The name was pronounced as such from the Greek period onward, (formerly erroneously read as Seb (cf. E.A.Wallis Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians. Studies in Egyptian Mythology (London, 1904; republ.Dover Publications, New York, 1969) or as Keb. The original Egyptian was "Gebeb"/"Kebeb", meaning probably: 'weak one', perhaps:'lame one'. It was spelled with either initial -g- (all periods), or with -k-point (gj). The latter initial root consonant occurs once in the Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts, more often in 21st Dynasty mythological papyri as well as in a text from the Ptolemaic tomb of Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel or was written with initial hard -k-, as e.g. in a 30th Dynasty papyrus text in the Brooklyn Museum dealing with descriptions of and remedies against snakes and their bites.

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Role and development

The oldest representation in a fragmentary relief of the god, was as an anthropomorphic bearded being accompanied by his name, and dating from king Djoser's reign, 3rd Dynasty, and was found in Heliopolis. In later times he could also be depicted as a ram, a bull or a crocodile (the latter in a vignet of the Book of the Dead-papyrus of the lady Heryweben in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, depicted in G.Posener e.a., Dictionnaire de la civilisation égyptienne = Lexikon der ägyptischen Kultur (Wiesbaden, 1960),lemma 'Crocodile'/'Krokodil'). Frequently described mythologically as 'father' of snakes (one of the names for snake was s3-t3 'son of the earth' and in a Coffin Texts-spell Geb was described as 'father' of the primeval snake Nehebkau, while his mother was in that case the goddess Neith) and therefore depicted sometimes (partly) as such. In mythology Geb also often occurs as a primeval divine king of Egypt from whom his 'son' Osiris and his 'grand-son' Horus inherited the land after many contendings with the disruptive god Seth, brother and killer of Osiris. Geb could also be regarded as personified fertile earth and barren desert, the latter containing the dead or setting them free from their tombs, metaphorically described as ' Geb opening his jaws', or imprisoning those there not worthy to go to the fertile North-Eastern heavenly Field of Reeds. In the latter case, one of his otherworldly attributes was an ominous jackal-headed stave (called wsr.t) rising from the ground to which enemies could be bound and punished.

In the Heliopolitan Ennead (a group of nine gods created in the beginning by the one god Atum), Geb is the husband of Nut, the sky or visible daytime and nightly firmament, the son of the earlier primordial elements Tefnut ('orphaness', later also conceived of as moisture [e.g.: 'tef']) and Shu ('emptiness' or perhaps 'raiser'[namely of the firmament as air]), and the 'father' to the four lesser gods of the system - Osiris, Seth, Isis and Nephthys. In this context, Geb was believed to have originally been engaged in eternal sex with Nut, and had to be separated from her by Shu, god of the air. Consequently, in mythological depictions, Geb was shown as a 'man' reclining, sometimes with his phallus still pointed towards the sky goddess Nut.

As time progressed, the deity became more associated with the habitable land of Egypt and also as one of its early godly rulers. As a chthonic deity he (like Osiris and Min) became naturally associated with the underworld and with [vegetation] -barley being said to grow upon his ribs- and was depicted with plants and other green patches on his body.

His association with vegetation, and sometimes with the underworld, and also with royalty brought Geb the occasional interpretation that he was the husband of Renenutet, primarily a minor goddess of the harvest and also mythological caretaker (the meaning of her name is 'nursing snake')of the young king in the shape of a cobra, who herself could also be regarded as the mother of Nehebkau, a primeval snake god associated with the underworld, who, however, was on the same occasions said to be his son by her. He is also equated by classical authors as the Greek Titan Cronus.