The Ancient Egyptians were a very independent civilisation. They were very intelligent and they used everything they had to their advantage. Most of these resources came from the Nile, and without it, there would be no such thing as the Egyptian Civilisation. Even though they were one of the most intelligent civilisations of their time, there were a lot of things they didn’t understand. Why was there such thing as night or day? Why does the Nile flood every year? What happens when we die? All of these things they didn’t understand, so they created gods and goddesses, that weren’t human, that made day and night, made the Nile flood, and took people to an “afterlife.” They worshipped these gods in their daily life, and prayed that they would receive good fortune from them. This is the basis of their religion.

Similar to the modern religion Hinduism, the Egyptians worshipped multiple gods. Each god was master of something, such as water, sky, life, death, etc. There were over 700 of these gods, but a lot of them were not that significant to the Egyptians in daily life.

All of the gods were linked together in one story, similar to the Dreamtime stories from the Aborigines. One of the stories went like this:

In the beginning, the only thing on earth was the dark waters of chaos, Nun. Nun made the very first land. This mound of earth was called Ben-Ben. The god Atum, the first god, was on the top. Atum was the god of creation, and he created Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the goddess of moisture. Shu and Tefnut had two children, who were gods. Their names were Geb, the god of earth, and then Nut, the god of the sky. Shu, the god of air, lifted Nut up so she became a canopy over Geb, the other god.

Nut and Geb had four children. They were Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys. Osiris was king of the earth, and Isis was the queen, and they both ruled over Earth for a long time. But Seth had turned into an evil god, and he wanted to be ruler of the earth. After a short time, he killed Osiris. Osiris went down to the underworld and Seth became king. But Osiris and Isis had a child before Osiris died, called Horus, another god of the sky. Seth and Horus fought against each other, and even though Horus lost an eye, he won the battle and became king of the earth. After that, all was well and Horus was king of the earth, and Osiris was king of the underworld. Nothing very significant happened to Nephthys, but she became a protective goddess of the dead.

These are only some of over 700 gods. The most significant and important are listed here, although there are many others that Egyptians worshipped and related to in their daily life.

One of the most significant gods was Ra, also now known as Re, the sun god. He was a human with the head of a hawk, with big headdress of a sun disk. The Egyptians believed that he was the creator and he created himself. Ra has been known by many names, and that is why in the story below, one of the gods fits the description of Ra. The Egyptians believed that Ra brought the sun to the earth in a boat. He flew across the sky, from the east to the west. When the sun was rising, the Egyptians called it “Khepri.” At the end of each day, Ra would be swallowed by the sky goddess Nut, after which he would travel through the underworld. In the underworld, Ra’s shape changed and he became a man with the head of a ram. One of the evil gods, Apophis, would lie in wait, but Ra, disguised as a cat, would chop his head off with a knife, although every night Apophis would return. In the morning, he would venture out once again, and the cycle would continue. He was the most important god because without the sun, there would be no crop, and therefore, no food. If they didn’t have any food, the Egyptians would not survive. Because Ra was in the underworld at night, the Egyptians were very scared of it.

Ra (courtesy of ancientegypt.co.uk)

Another very important god wasKhnum, the god of life. He was half human, half ram, just like some other gods. Egyptians did not understand why or how babies were made, so they decided that there must be a god to do so. Khnum was a human with the read of a ram, and he made babies on a potter’s wheel and then brought them to life. The Egyptians believed that he was very important because if he didn’t make the babies, their civilisation would not survive because when people died, nobody would be there to take their place. After a while, the whole civilisation would decease.

Khnum (courtesy of ancientegypt.co.uk)

Yet another significant god was Anubis, the god of the embalming, which is mummification, and also of the dead. He was also a human, but with the head of a jackal. Anubis’s job was to guide people to the underworld and check if they were worthy enough to enter the gates of it. To do this, he would weigh people’s hearts against a feather, which symbolised truth. If they had led a good life, their heart would weigh less then the feather. If it had not, the heart would be handed to the monster Sobek, the crocodile god of the Nile, to eat. If you were not permitted into the underworld, you would just die and there would be so such thing as one. Egyptians would strive to lead a good and truthful life because of this god, although since he was also the god of embalming, traditionally Egyptians would wear the jackal head mask while mummifying different pharaohs and other important people.

Anubis (courtesy of ancientegypt.co.uk)

Horus, mentioned in the story above, was one of the most significant gods in the Egyptian religion, and he was one of the gods of the sky. He was part human, like many other gods, and his head was one of a hawk. He killed the evil god Seth, after he had killed his father, when Seth was king of the earth. During the battle, he lost an eye, and the picture of his lost eye was used in the Egyptian number system to represent fractions. After a length of time, his eye was restored by one of his allies, and he had two eyes again. After he defeated Seth, he became king of the earth, as his father had before him.

(courtesy of ancientegypt.co.uk)

Another significant god was Thoth, god of writing and knowledge. He was a cross between 2 animals: the baboon and the ibis, as well as part human. He recorded the results on the weighing of the hearts. The test was performed by Anubis, with Sobek and Horus as well. As well as this, Egyptians believed that Thoth gave them the gift of hieroglyphic writing. Thoth was also connected with the moon, so he was also considered a god of time.

Thoth (courtesy of ancientegypt.co.uk)

This is a picture of the heart weighing ceremony, in the form of hieroglyphs. On the left, Anubis and another god are shown, and then a picture of Anubis operating the scales, Sobek, waiting for impure hearts, and Isis, busily recording the results. On the right, Osiris, king of the underworld, is watching the entire ceremony.

The Heart weighing ceremony (courtesy of home.cfl.rr.com)

The Egyptians believed that the gods with so much power couldn’t be human, so they decided that they must have the advantages of both human intellect and animal senses. Most of the gods had the head of an animal and the body of a human, although very few were all human or even all animal. Some examples of all human gods are Imsety, who guards the liver on one of the Canopic jars. Some of the gods were a combination of 2 or more animals and a human body, such as Isis, or just 2 or 3 combinations of different animals.

The Egyptian religion was probably one of the most complex religions in the ancient world. As well as over 700 gods and goddesses, they had one story to connect all of them together. There were evil gods and good gods, gods of water and gods of love, music and just about everything that the Egyptians could think of. Because of their gods, Egyptians would “know” why everything happens, most of which we have a scientific explanation for. The Egyptian religion is a fascinating subject, and I hope you found it just as interesting as I did.