• Animals
• Business
• Education
• Entertainment
• Health
• Sports
• Technology
• Travel
• Home & Garden

Egyptian Culture
posted: Sep 03 2007 at 11:51 PM
>> World

Gods and Goddesses

Some images of ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses show them as if they were humans. Ptah of Memphis, for example, is usually shown as a man wrapped im mummy clothes, his hands outside the wrappings, grasping scepters. But other gods, such as Horus, Thoth and Sakhmet, are usually shown with a human body and the head of a bird or a animal. Egyptian gods can also appear in purely animal form, as Horus can be shown as a hawk.

From the earliest times in Egypt, some deities were honoured or worshipped in the form of animals.

In the distant past, particular animals may have been chosen to embody, to stand for, the powers of a god. A bull represented power, masculinity, fertility. These could be the attributes of kingship. A hawk, who soars high above the world of humans, seeming to expend no energy in his long hours aloft, and who  far seeing, can swoop in an instant to capture his prey in sharp talons, became a symbol of kingship. The cow's large eyes with long lashes, and her generally quiet demeanor suggested a gentle aspect of feminine beauty. Her gift of milk, became of symbol of love and sustenance. The following section contains a survey of the more important animal manifestations of divine power.

Anti

was a hawk god of Upper Egypt. He is shown as a hawk sitting on a crescent moon, or in a boat. He became associated with other hawk=gods, such as Sokar. King Merenre's birth name, Anty em saf acknowledges ties between his mother's family and the areas where Anti was a major deity. Anty's name, which refers to his sharp claws, can also be read as Nemty.

Anti - was a hawk god of Upper Egypt.

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

Babi

is a deity shown in Baboon form, and it's from his name that we get our word for these animals. Babi is ferocious, even blood-thirsty, unlike the usually calm and reasonable Thoth who also appears as a baboon.

In Egyptian mythology, Babi was the deification of the baboon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babi_%28mythology%29

Babi is one of the main animals present in Egypt

His name is translated as Bull of the baboons

Babi - mythology

Hapy

God of the annual Nile flood, the Inundation. Shown as a human man with a crown of plants, and heavy pendulous breasts and a paunch, he symbolized abundance and fertility.

Hapy - god of the annual Nile flood

The Hymn to the Flood says:

Lightmaker who comes from the dark
Fattener of herds
Might that fashions all
None can live without him
People are clothed with the flax of his fields
Thou makest all the land to drink unceasingly, as thou descendest on thy way from the heavens.

Amun

is mentioned in the PyramidsTexts, but was not a prominent god during the Age of the Pyramids. His name means the hidden one and he was a god of the atmosphere. Later in Egyptian history, he would become the main god of the empire.

Amun also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, Imen

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

-Amun-

Anubis

This jackal-headed god looked after the dead, and was in charge of the important task of mummification. Anubis can appear as either a black canine with long sharp ears, or as a man with a canine head. The black colour of Anubis is not natural to jackals or to the wild dogs of Egypt; it may refer to the discoloration of a body after death and during mummification. The black colour also refers to the rich dark soil of Egypt, from which new growth came every year; in similar manner, the dead would come to new life after burial.

Anubis is the Greek name for the ancient jackal-headed god of the dead in Egyptian mythology

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

Bastet

Cats are very useful animals in a country that depends on grain. The cat's hunting instincts were honoured by the Ancient Egyptians, but so was the cat's gentler side as a warm and loving mother to her kittens. Bastet can be shown as a woman with a feline head. There are disagreements among zoologists as to when these animals first began to live with humans along the Nile, and about which feline became the Egyptian pet.

Bast - also spelled -  Bastet, Baset, Ubasti, and Pasht

Bat

Ancient goddess shown with the horns of a buffalo or cow. Her face appears on the Narmer palette, showing an early association with kingship. Her character and powers were absorbed by Hathor.

Bat is Ancient god.

I am Praise; I am Majesty; I am B3t (Bat) with Her Two Faces; I am the One Who Is Saved, and I have saved myself from all things evil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_%28goddess%29

In Egyptian mythology, Bat was originally a deification of the Milky Way

Geb

Geb is God of Earth, grandson of Atum, husband of Nut. He is often shown as a man reclining on the earth under a starry sky. The goose is his sacred animal.

Behold, I rejoice on my standard, on my seat.
I am the creator of darkness,
making his place in the limits of the sky, ...