Egyptian mythology

Egyptian mythology is a complex belief system in which numerous deities, each with unique attributes and functions, are represented. This article will present key figures of the Egyptian pantheon, such as Amun, Anubis, and Osiris, who played key roles in ancient Egyptian religion and culture. These deities were revered for both fertility and the afterlife, and their images and myths have survived through the centuries, influencing the development of art and rituals. Understanding these figures is essential to understanding Egyptian beliefs and their impact on civilization.

Gods

Aker – a deity personifying the earth as the area between sunrise and sunset, or between the entrance and exit of the underworld. The adversary of Apopa. Most often depicted as a pair of lions facing each other, one facing east, the other west, or as the "carrier" of the solar barque during its nocturnal journey.

Amun - ("hidden," "concealed," "invisible"), originally a secondary Upper Egyptian word, protector of the dead, deity of harvest and fertility (he appears already in the Pyramid Texts from the Old Kingdom, along with his wife Amaunet). He gained importance after his cult was established in Thebes during the 10th-11th Dynasties; during the New Kingdom, he was given solar attributes and identified with Re (Amun-Re). The Temple of Amun at Karnak is the largest Egyptian sacred complex. He was depicted as a blue man wearing a high crown with two large, stylized blue feathers, holding a scepter and/or the ankh symbol; another form of Amun was the serpent Kematef. There is also a theory about Amun's Libyan-Berber origins, especially since aman in these dialects meant "water," and the god's sacred animal, in addition to the ram, was the goose.

Anejti - a deity of the city of Busiris in the Delta, identified with Osiris, who seems to have taken over elements of the myth and attributes from him.

Anti - The primordial deity of the 12th Upper Egyptian nome, depicted as a falcon standing on a crescent-shaped base. Sometimes, as in the myth of the battle between Horus and Set, where Anti appears as a ferryman, he stands on a boat instead of on such a base. In the Pyramid Texts, he is titled Lord of the East, so he is a very old and once quite important deity, later relegated to the role of a local deity.

Anubis, Inpu, Anepu, Anup – the ancient Egyptian good god of heaven, father and king of the gods, son of Osiris. He has been associated with the cult of the dead since the Old Kingdom (sometimes known as Khenty Imentiu). He participated in the judgment of the deceased and oversaw their mummification. He was the guardian of cemeteries, the god of the dead, cemeteries, and embalming. He was the patron of mummification and embalmers. He was the guardian of the underground abysses, where the hot hell was supposedly located. He left Earth every 28 years and returned after that period. He led the souls of the dead to judgment. According to the oldest legends, the first Egyptian mummy was the god Osiris, whom his cruel brother chopped into pieces, and the god Anubis subjected himself to the mummification procedures known only to the gods, thanks to which Osiris was resurrected. Anubis (the dog deity) was depicted as a black dog (not a jackal, as is commonly believed) or with the head of a dog. He was sometimes identified with another deity, Upuaut; however, unlike the latter, who was depicted as a standing and erect dog, the non-anthropomorphic Anubis was always depicted in a reclining posture. He was particularly revered in Cynopolis (Egyptian: Kasa, City of Dogs) in Middle Egypt. In mummification rites for particularly important figures, the priest leading the embalmers would don an Anubis mask. The same deity appears in Greek myths as a vehicle "with hellish propulsion," the "fiery chariot" of the god Hermes. Sometimes the names Hermes and Anubis are combined into one, Hermanubis, meaning the divine chariot.

Anup - the ferryman god.

Apis, Hep, Hapu - a Hellenized form of the Greek name Hapei or Hapi, which referred to a black bull with a white triangle on its forehead. Originally a symbol of fertility (like many other worshiped bulls: Mnevis, Buchis), secondarily Ptah incarnated in a bull; also associated with the cult of Osiris (Serapis), and from the 18th Dynasty also with Atum. Apis, together with Mnevis, symbolized fertility, and both sacred bulls visited each other. A deity of strength and fertility. Associated with the cult of the moon and sun. The primary place of worship was Memphis (the oracle). In Saqqara is the burial ground of the Memphite Apis, the so-called Serapeum. Depicted as a bull carrying a solar disk with a uraeus between its horns. On sarcophagi (from the Late Period) we sometimes encounter images of Apis carrying the mummy of the deceased on his back.

Aten, Iten – has been a solar deity (?) since the Middle Kingdom ("Aten is the body of Re," the visible manifestation of the god Re); from the 18th Dynasty, and especially during the reign of Amenhotep IV-Akhenaten, a near-monotheistic creator of all things, the giver of life and energy. The ruler made the city he built, Akhet Aten (now Tell el-Amarna), his new capital and main center of worship. Depicted as a solar disc with rays in the shape of hands holding ankh symbols (occasional depictions of Aten as a falcon are known). The only deity in the religion of Amenhotep IV-Akhenaten. The cult of Aten disappeared after Amenhotep's fall.

Atum, Itmu - ("full," "whole," "complete"); the oldest primordial god, the creator god, will survive the end of the world; a deity whose origins are unclear – some scholars believe he is the syncretic result of advanced theological speculations unknown to us; considered the creator of humans, all things (including himself) – as a hill (benben) emerging from the ocean and the father of the gods. According to one legend, amidst primordial chaos, he hatched from a luminous egg. This occurred near the later city of On, and therefore became the center of this god's cult. Because he created the gods through an act of "divine onanism" (he spat out Shu and Tefnut through self-fertilization), his hand is said to have elements of the feminine principle and even constitute a "separate," female deity.

The oldest of the Nine gods, the deity of the setting sun. Identified as early as the Second Dynasty with Re (Atum-Re) as the setting sun, he was depicted in many guises, primarily as a man with Egyptian crowns or an ichneumon. Sacred to him were the lion, the ichneumon, and the serpent.

Baal - in the times of the Ramessides, he was identified with Set. He was a Syrian-paladin deity, introduced to Egypt in the times of the 15th||| dynasty.