Egyptian Gods And Monotheism, a review of some Egyptian deities. Options

To our eyes the monotheism of ancient Egyptian religion has all the appearances of fetishism,that is not true,However it should be recognized that the innumerable Gods of the egyptian pantheon are nothing more than manifestations of the supreme being in his different roles,agents or representations of the eternal aspect of divinity this is the meaning which must be attached to the cult of the sun,of the earth and of every cult,the Totemic animal gods of Egypt,refer to existance in its every form you can think of.the key concept is that (everything is sacred),every God and Godess reffer to an aspect of the universe,for example The Ibis God thot represent the aspects of wisdom,science,language,and astronomy as well as medical sciences.

In this thread I will view some of the Gods and Goddesses of Egypt and the aspect they represent along with pictures of the Deities :

Re or Raa :
The solar sun Disk God,the source of creation,and the raw material of all the Gods living beings and planets and life as we know it

Amon or amun :

he symbolized the generative force of creation in which from the light of Raa the whole universe was created by the the power of merging amon with Raa

(IMG:http://www.geocities.com/miss_gothica_bizzara/egypt/amun.JPG)

Osiris :
The God of the after world who was the God of the moon before he was killed by his brother seth,he is the husband and brother of Isis and the teacher of mankind ,he has the plummed crown with two feathers on its side,he taught agriculture.his task before his assasination was to show mankind survival and teach and lead them.when he was killed by seth ,he was sent to the underworld to judge over the dead.he is the male fertilizing force,the seed and the tree of life.
(IMG:http://hstrial-cmorrow8.homestead.com/osiris16_351174431_std.jpg)

Isis :
she is the loyal wife of osiris and the godess of,Magick, creation and restorer of the dead,her crown is the throne of Egypt,
The loyal wife of Osiris,she is the mother of Horus.
(IMG:http://www.touregypt.net/magazine/mag08012001/isis3.jpg)
(IMG:http://z.about.com/d/ancienthistory/1/7/z/j/2/Isis.jpg)

Horus :
The Falcon God ,Son of Isis and Osiris,was born after a ray of light from Osiris empregnated Isis,he is the protector of Kemet,and the Rightful king of egypt,there are many versions of Horus (as a matter of fact these are his children),he takes many forms Horus the elder,horus the son,which one of his names is Harakhte(crown of a serpent and solar disk) but horus the elder's symbol is the unfied crown of Upper and lower egypt.he is the avenger of Osiris,Each morning he is reborn from the western lands (the underworld) to fight Seth and goes back to the underworld at sunset,he represents the power of Goodness as apposed to the evil.his birth is announced by the rise of star Sirius in the eastern sky.
(IMG:http://matematika.mingl.org/images/imagesforworksheets/horus.jpg)

Nuit :
The Mother,the body of stars,she is the sky in the ancient tradition,she arches over Geb (the earth God) and is supported by (tefnut and shu),Nuit was joined with Geb in an endless intercourse,resulting in what is called premordial Chaos,she was separated by Shu (air) and Tefnut(movement,fire).
(IMG:http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/2093/nut.jpg)

Geb:
The earth God,sometimes called the father of snakes,he is the generative power of agriculture and vegetation.his phalus pointing towards the sky (Nuit).
(IMG:http://www.crystalinks.com/geb2.gif)


Anubis:
The God of mumification,he has the body of a human and the head of a jackal,sometimes the whole body of the jackal,he accompanies the ka of the dead to the western land where it will get its final judgment and either,go to Lalu (the egyptian paradise) or fall into the pit of fire where it will be devoured by Demonic entities.
anubis also have the power to raise the dead,he is a guard of the gates of Duat.
(IMG:http://interlost.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/anubis.jpg)


Thoth:
the God of wisdom,knowledge and keeper of the divine secrets,he has the head of an Ibis,with a human body,he gives knowledge of all sciences,medical science,astronomy,the virtues of Herbs and plants,and acts as the greek Hermes ,as the messenger of the Gods to humans,he aided Horus in his war with seth,where seth took of the eye of Horus and it was broken,Thoth gave Horus the sun and the moon as his immortal eyes.
(IMG:http://www.brandonu.ca/academic/arts/Departments/English/Kramer/Images/thoth_01.jpg)



Maat:
The Goddess of Divine justice,law and morality,she is the Goddess of Order and the preventor of Chaos,she is personified by a feather,the same feather which is measured with the heart of the dead in the final judgement.
(IMG:http://showcase.netins.net/web/ankh/maat.gif)



Hathoor :
the Goddess of female fertility and love,she personified by the cow,sometimes a human female with Horns holding the solar disk.Her cult is present in Dandera,she was identified as the queen of the necropolis.
(IMG:http://www.kenseamedia.com/egyptian_gods/images/hathor_sky_cow.jpg)
(IMG:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Hathor-Meyers.png)


Seth:
The God of darkness,Chaos and hostility,he is personified by a monsterous animal,looking like an ass or a dog,he killed his brother Osiris by persuading him to perform the ceremony of Death and mumification,he then cut his body to pieces and distributed them among all the providences of egypt.he fights every day Horus which sworn to avenge his father.
seth is one of the ennead of heliopolis which features nine Gods,which features Geb,Nuit,Isis,Osiris and seth as well as others.
(IMG:http://www.artyfactory.org/egyptian_art/egyptian_gods/images/seth.jpg)


Sekhmet:
The lioness goddess of war, distruction and divine vengence,she is the wrath of Raa ,According to a tale known as "The Destruction of Mankind" Sakhmet was the "Eye of Re", a vengeful aspect of the usually benevolent goddess Hathor. The sun god Re sent Sakhmet to slay mortals who were plotting against him. Sakhmet became so enthusiastic about her task that she nearly slew all of humanity. Re prevented this by tricking her into drinking vast quantities of beer which had been colored to look like blood. The intoxicated goddess had to abandon the slaughter and humanity was saved.
(IMG:http://www.hwt-hrw.com/Sekhmet.GIF)



I gave a basic review of the Egyptian pantheon,not all the Gods are present here nor all the information,as they are many,but i will try to post the rest when i can.

hope you find thi information useful

May the eternal Falcon watch over you
Azareth

Greetings Azareth,
I have a question for you...what are your source material(s) from your posting? I feel like I'm reading the canned Tour of Egypt webpage. There are some rather gross misconceptions here. Monotheism was not the original view of the Primordials (who came first) but was instituted later along in the dynasties. Set wasn't always considered evil he represented the force of the desert storm and was an honored occupant of the Milennial Boat, the 'set-beast' is thought to have once existed but is now extinct, Anubis's cult is much older than Osiris's( who was originally a Nile fertility 'god') and was the second of twin jackal gods (Apuat and Anpu), and Ma'at was more of a concept of universal justice than as just a female 'goddess' and this is the very first time I have ever heard of Geb as being the 'Father of Snakes'...ever. The Neteru have enjoyed a colorful past which have evolved and shifted over the millenia. Again, when posting what sounds like an encyclopedic work it is helpful to know just where you got your information! For instance my knowledge of the Neteru are somewhat different than yours, I happen to follow the Kemetic 'church' (poor word substitute) views and some of the Leyden Papyrus hints (thats the Greeks for you). The rest tend to come from rather subjective means that don't stand up to scientific method...Oh well. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Thank you for your interesting posting btw, it is nice to hear from someone as enthusiastic as yourself and I look forward to hearing more! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/egypt1.gif)

Greetings Azareth,
I have a question for you...what are your source material(s) from your posting? I feel like I'm reading the canned Tour of Egypt webpage. There are some rather gross misconceptions here. Monotheism was not the original view of the Primordials (who came first) but was instituted later along in the dynasties. Set wasn't always considered evil he represented the force of the desert storm and was an honored occupant of the Milennial Boat, the 'set-beast' is thought to have once existed but is now extinct, Anubis's cult is much older than Osiris's( who was originally a Nile fertility 'god') and was the second of twin jackal gods (Apuat and Anpu), and Ma'at was more of a concept of universal justice than as just a female 'goddess' and this is the very first time I have ever heard of Geb as being the 'Father of Snakes'...ever. The Neteru have enjoyed a colorful past which have evolved and shifted over the millenia. Again, when posting what sounds like an encyclopedic work it is helpful to know just where you got your information! For instance my knowledge of the Neteru are somewhat different than yours, I happen to follow the Kemetic 'church' (poor word substitute) views and some of the Leyden Papyrus hints (thats the Greeks for you). The rest tend to come from rather subjective means that don't stand up to scientific method...Oh well. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Thank you for your interesting posting btw, it is nice to hear from someone as enthusiastic as yourself and I look forward to hearing more! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/egypt1.gif)

That was a fast reply ,
Much appreciated.
Well My source material is many books and online sources as well as some papyrus for example the Pyramid texts and the Book of the dead,I also have a very valuable book about the Egyptian tradition,printed and revised in Egypt by Dr. zahi hawas a renouned archeologist and Egyptologist,also a book called the Egyptian revival by frater Achad which sodt of combines Kabbalah with Ancient Egyptian tradition,Also I have talked to many Egyptologists here in Egypt.
The story of Monotheism in Egypt is my view of the Egyptian pantheon,not the worship of Atum by akhenaten,Myself being an Osirian,I defined Seth as the God of darkness and Chaos ,yet not demonizing Seth,as who said that darkness and Chaos is evil or vile, well maybe they are but also they are as important as the light itself,it is an agent applied by the Divine to show and contrast the light of Goodness.Yes Evil and darkness is important,and i Believe that the human nature contains Good as well as evil,that's why you will probably find that i post Black magick spells in other subforums,this thread was not meant to be encyclopedic,but just a basic personal view of the Egyptian pantheon the way I precieve them ,some information may be right some maybe wrong i would be glad if someone corrects me as my aim is the truth and nothing more,I didnt mention Maat to be just a female Goddess but the Goddess of Divine justice and order,she is an essential part of the world and in the court of Osiris,justice as a concept embodied as Maat,The father of snakes was a name given by the cult of Geb to Geb as he is the God of Earth and snakes are often symbol of Earth.actually the Egyptian tradition is so rich that it is almost impossible to tag something as not the other,for example certain Gods were called by many names ,these names are called by priests in prayer,for example I can call Artemis (the virgin Hunteress) that doesnt change her name ,but rather an atribute of Artemis.

Thanks for your reply,
Azareth

Osiris's( who was originally a Nile fertility 'god')

Are you sure of this?,because I know that the Nile fertility God is called Hapi.
probably certain attributes are common among the Gods,I dont know actually,I would appreciate your opinion in this matter.
Thanks Brother

There are a few things there I disagree with, but overall it's a pretty good basic guide. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

And yes, Osiris was originally a fertility God until he lost his penis, therefore rendering him no longer fertile. As a result he assumed role as an underworld God.

duplicate post, soory - odd internet problems

This post has been edited by esoterica: Apr 25 2009, 11:53 AM

lol netherspirit , and Dr. zahi hawas a renouned archeologist, or a zionist conspirator not willing to look certain places, such as the well that maps to cygnus?

i just heard a program on omm seti, the reincarnated woman, who in her former life as a temple dancer supposedly hooked up with a pharoah, and in this later life continued the romance with his spirit form - i got a couple of good synchronistic insights, several cringe-worthy moments, and some outright 'huh?' moments - google 'om seti' for more information

http://www.sacred-magick.org/index.php?act...type=msg&id=883 - rachel goes to egypt

This post has been edited by esoterica: Apr 25 2009, 11:54 AM

As far as I know the Egyptian religion was / is Pantheistic with Amon being the Supreme God.
Akhenaten's rule was short and unpopular, immediately following his reign the Egyptians converted back to Pantheism.

As for Akhenaten's monotheism, I cannot help but view it as the forerunner to the Abrahamic religions that came later through Moses.

This post has been edited by Ankhhape: Apr 25 2009, 02:08 PM

lol netherspirit

I was actually being serious. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) If I remember correctly he lost it in a battle with Horus, although I may have to check that!

And Ankhhape that's not quite true. Usually Amun was considered one of the most powerful Gods, but originally Tmu was considered the supreme God. Eventually, with the invention, spread and empowerment of other local Gods Tmu lost this position. When Amenhotep (I think... Can't remember which number though) came into power he made Amun the one and only God; however, with his death came a return to polytheism.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/Laie_58.gif)

As I understand it:
Temu, Khepera and Râ were one and the same god, the first offspring from the Waters of Nun, out of which all the gods came into being.

The setting sun, called Temu or Atmu, and the rising sun, called Khepera, and the mid-day sun, called Râ

Everything I find on Amon states Him eventually being linked with Ra / Amon-Ra, I have alway considered Amon the primeval God from Nun

This post has been edited by Ankhhape: Apr 25 2009, 04:48 PM

Its true Osiris lost his phallus but not in war with Horus,he never fought Horus,when Seth dismembered the body of Osiris,faithful Isis collected his body from all over egypt,she ressurected him but she didnt find his phallus because a fish ate it (litterally,no joke here). so she faced the dilemma of not being able to be pregnant,yet a divine ray of light impregnated her and she concieved Horus.
But why did Osiris Change his speciality to the ruler of the dead..?
My theory is ,he concieved Horus,the heir and king of Egypt,who will first avenge his father,return to the throne and rule kemet taking his father's place,My theory is that Osiris's new position as a ruler of the western lands or Duat is more convenient because he was able to ressurct Horus every morning,The Duat consist of different part,the realm of seth,which seth rules over this is the first realm the dead encounters after dying,this realm inhabits black warlocks,demons,Giant serpent (Apophis) and monsterous entities,the next realm is the seven gates,then the ten pylons of interance which leads to the court of Osiris each pylon is guarded with three gods (the magician God,the guardian God,the questioning God the dead which must know the magick words and the secret name of the guardian) ,then there is the staircase of justice which the dead ascends overcomed by fatigue and fear, this where the spectrum colored ka Gods of creation inhabit,then there is the court of Osiris where Anubis weights the heart and thoth and the monster ammut keep watch,the heart is weighted with the feather of Maat,if the heart is lighter than the feather the dead goes to Yalu and uniteswith his Ka and identified with Ra.

traveling this trip astrally is a wonderful experience to be familiar with the realms.
I didnt know that hawas was a zionist,what did he hide.? actually i am not a big fan of the man,but I often take a look on the dicovery itself not the discoverer.
Of course any attempt to hide truth is against my morals.

I am not speaking of Monotheism in the sense that Aten was the one and only God,but in the sense that ,all the Gods are manifestations of Raa in his many forms.
I know that many people here are apossed to monotheism,but my belief is unity is the first form of everything,Imagine you have a factory that makes computers, there is always one at the begining (first born) Father I call it,then preceeded with children who are a part of the father if not the father himself,yet to establish one God and dispose of the rest as akhnaten did is not right either,as unity must manifest different aspects of itself. Khepri is the one that pushes the sun from the east to the west in its eternal journey.
yet the whole truth shall be revealed soon,our children will live it and know it,as the incarnation of Horus will be born in 2150 by the begining of the new Aeon.humanity will shed its christian skin and the new Solar incarnation of the holy spirit will be the New Lord of the Aeon.

I sense a lot of confusion here. My intention is not to present a "right" and "wrong" argument, but rather to clarify some points.

First and foremost, there is not an all-encompassing Egyptian Religion. Throughout the millennia of human culture developing in what we today call "Egypt" there were hundreds, if not thousands, of theological centers, each proposing their own cosmogony centered around their own local deity. The most well known of these being the centers at Heliopolis, Hermopolis, and Memphis. Delve into these cosmogonies and you will note many similarities, but most importantly, many fundamental differences. Deities, their roles, their origins, and their names vary widely from one location to the next.The only omnipresent doctrine of ancient Egypt is the belief that through ritual and magic the living had the power to influence and preserve the Order of the cosmos.

Second, the only monotheistic cult in Egypt was the Cult of the Aten in the 18th Dynasty under Akhenaten's reign. More than likely this was a political maneuver to steer the populace away from the growing power of the temples and centralize power under the institution of Pharaoh.

Third, the idea that Egyptian religion is monotheistic and all Egyptian deities were aspects of one Supreme God was heavily popularized by E.A. Wallis Budge and other egyptologists in the 19th Century. They sought to popularize and more importantly bring funds towards the pursuit of Egyptian antiquities by making the religion more accessible to a Judeo-Christian world.

The original poster's argument is poorly worded as monotheism,he is describing an emanation based cosmology whereby all plurality stems from one source. This is a very Pythagorean mindset (i.e. the tectractys, or numerical reduction whereby 10=1). The source, however, does not have to be a God in the Judeo-Christian sense, it can be a moment in space time, a primordial matrix of potential, etc, etc. There are definitely some Egyptian cosmogonies that present this notion.

The problem with trying to condense nearly 3,000 years of religio-philosophical thought is that we are inevitably going to interpret it through a contemporary lens, and as a result miss the mark. When trying to intellectualize such things we are bound by that which is familiar to us; thus, we end up dressing up the original concept in words and ideas that would have been of little importance to its originators.

Here is something I wrote in this forum a few years back, and I find it rather pertinent to this thread:

Whether you look at the Hermopolitan , Heliopolitan, or Memphite cosmologies the various uses of the word ntr (i.e. ‘god’) and epithets in association vary tremendously. In one inscription you may have Amen (Amun) called the “one true hidden God” (in the Judeo-Christian sense) alongside wr-ntrt Isis (the great goddess Isis) and a little further down sps-ntr Wepwawet (the glorious god Wepwawet). The mix and match of singular and plural doctrines of God or gods is of little concern to the Egyptian scribes, or somehow they have managed to reconcile both concepts into something which we cannot entirely grasp.

As far as I know the Egyptian religion was / is Pantheistic with Amon being the Supreme God.
Akhenaten's rule was short and unpopular, immediately following his reign the Egyptians converted back to Pantheism.

As for Akhenaten's monotheism, I cannot help but view it as the forerunner to the Abrahamic religions that came later through Moses.

http://egregores.blogspot.com/2009/09/akhe...history-of.html

Here is one blogger's take on Akhenaten and his role in the development on monotheism. His blog is sometimes interesting on religious history and philosophy.

.lol. At that archaeologist, the guy blind sides people on a constant basis, a stifling bias exists out there. The Arabs defeated the 'egyptians' in the 600's and took to much of the north of Africa from there where much of the culture was the same as it is throughout Africa, theology now downplayed as ''shamanic'' and primitive perpetuating a further bias. The Arab - African war has continued to this day in places like Sudan and further south where again much of the culture still exists.

Would be interesting to hear someone explain how 'egypt' was ever Polytheistic. They had a main God and its name is mentioned in texts if its looked for... hold that there are NO truly polythiestic cultures in the world and there never has been, all deity ties back to an original source residing within a well of inspiration there may have been a deity of a particular nome that was worked with but again it quite simply had to tie back to a source through which they were all united.

.lol. At that archaeologist, the guy blind sides people on a constant basis, a stifling bias exists out there. The Arabs defeated the 'egyptians' in the 600's and took to much of the north of Africa from there where much of the culture was the same as it is throughout Africa, theology now downplayed as ''shamanic'' and primitive perpetuating a further bias. The Arab - African war has continued to this day in places like Sudan and further south where again much of the culture still exists.

Would be interesting to hear someone explain how 'egypt' was ever Polytheistic. They had a main God and its name is mentioned in texts if its looked for... hold that there are NO truly polythiestic cultures in the world and there never has been, all deity ties back to an original source residing within a well of inspiration there may have been a deity of a particular nome that was worked with but again it quite simply had to tie back to a source through which they were all united.

My understanding is that Egypt was 'Pantheistic' meaning there was One God created (Amon) from which the other Gods descended from. Certain Gods manifest to the physical plane and become available to Mankind.

Urgh.... guess those old priests are rubbing off on me.

Yeah, theres Amon but if you look ''it'' mentions its name... difficult talking through a 4000 year period as someone further up mentioned but kicking it old school and sticking to the old system of Ancient Egypt/Kamit a name is given. Would of course spell it out if I could remember it myself .lol. Will have to post back later when I can bump into someone who can jog my memory. Its well known... if I'm right... used quite a bit in films and appears in later mythology.

poimandres brings up interesting points.

I think people are somewhat misinterpreting the concept of 'neter neteru'. It's quite a bit more similar to the hindu concept of 'aum' than it is to a semitic monotheistic deity-figure.
At least prior to Akhenaton and his cult of Aton, which really was a likely prototype for the later semitic monotheisms (judaism, christianity, islam).

And yeah, it's not like there was just one train of thought going on for 4,000 years across multiple city states & rivaling power bases. More like a free-for-all with some overriding themes running through a lot of it.

''Nebertcher" said the priest in a slightly bored and condescending tone. A frown scrolled down his face slowly as the young Magi jotted down his notes and smiled expectantly much like a child would when hungry for sweets rather than food, ''unmanifested.... Ausares when manifested'' continued the priest, his tone rounding off as though to usher the young man away. He harbored a respect for him but the young man had the audacity to study the Kabbalah rather than the Paut Neteru, study Hebrew in place of Egyptian and still ask questions... there was only so much he could tell him and so there was only so much the young man could see into the building past the blockade the priests body language presented... shouts and screams of someone being possessed disturbed an awkward silence while the young Magis' mind worked to think of another question, perhaps one to prove rather than embarrass himself... he chose to thank the old man instead, jotting down, ''Priests are boring'' beside his note and a crude sketch of what he thought boring would look like matched with the priests features before leaving.

.lol. Sorry, kinda taking after Esoterica, more interesting as a story.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/i_triangle.gif)

I think that I really like this! It is within the creative flow that we find our inspirations!
Please follow this (flow)! I'm so happy that I could cry! *huge grin* (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)