16 Gods Postcard

Amon In Egyptian religion, he was the god of air and wind. He was sometimes invisible, like air. Other times artists showed Amon with blue skin, or as a blue frog - blue like the sky. (Compare Amon with the Indian god Vishnu, who also is sometimes blue.) Because Amon was the god of air, people also began to think of him as the god of the "ba", or the soul, which is like the breath of life. This made Amon seem more important. By the end of the First Intermediate Period, people thought of Amon as a god who created the world (because he gives life) and he got married to the goddess Mut. Anubis Anubis the god of funerals was one of the most important gods, because he helped prepare the soul for the Afterlife and escorted the dead to the hall of judgment. The Egyptians noticed jackals hanging around their graveyards, so they decided jackals must be Anubis’s sacred animals. Priests even wore jackal masks when they made the pharaoh’s body into a mummy. Anubis helped Isis make Osiris into the first mummy. Anubis is usually pictured as a man with a jackal’s head, leading a departed spirit through the Duat. Atum Atum in ancient Egyptian religion, one of the manifestations of the sun and creator god, perhaps originally a local deity of Heliopolis. Atum’s myth merged with that of the great sun god Re, giving rise to the deity Re-Atum. When distinguished from Re, Atum was the creator’s original form, living inside Nun, the primordial waters of chaos. At creation he emerged to engender himself and the gods. He was identified with the setting sun and was shown as an aged figure who had to be regenerated during the night, to appear as Khepri at dawn and as Re at the sun’s zenith. Bast Cats were extremely popular in Egypt, because they could kill snakes, scorpions, and other nasty creatures. Bast, the goddess of cats, was just as popular. Bast was a protective goddess, and people would wear amulets with her likeness for good luck, especially during the bad luck Demon Days at the end of each year. In cat form, Bast is often pictured with a knife, fighting the chaos serpent Apep. She was Ra’s faithful cat. Bes Bes is god of dwarves, protector of households, mothers and children. One of the ugliest and most popular gods in Ancient Egypt, Bes had the power to scare off evil spirits. He often appeared on amulets and in sculpture as a hairy little man with a lion-like mane and a pug nose. Egyptians believed that dwarves (and other people who were born different) were inherently magical. Bes was considered extremely good luck. He watched over the common man, children, and women in childbirth, and anyone else who needed protection from evil. Geb The god of the earth, Geb was one of the first gods to appear from the sea of chaos at the beginning of time. He appears as a man made of earth, with rivers, forests and hills across his entire body.Geb was married to Nut; goddess of the sky. She appeared as a woman with skin like a starry sky, dark blue and covered in constellations. She is often pictured stretching over Geb, as the sky stretches over the earth. Although Geb and Nut loved each other very much, Ra had a prophecy that their children would try to overthrow him someday, so Ra did his best to keep them apart. Despite this, Nut managed to have five children, and the oldest, Osiris, did indeed take over the throne from Ra. Hor Called the Avenger, Hor (Horus in Greek) was the son of Isis and Osiris. When he grew to manhood, he challenged Seth and eventually defeated him, becoming the new pharaoh of Egypt. Afterwards, all mortal pharaohs considered themselves to be the descendants of Hor. Hor’s symbol was the falcon, and he is often pictured as a man with a falcon’s head. Isis Osiris’s wife was the goddess of magic, and clever and ambitious woman. She tricked Ra into retiring by poisoning him with a magic snake, then encouraging the old sun god to reveal his secret name so Isis could cure him. Once Isis knew Ra’s secret name, she could force him to do just about anything. She encouraged him to retreat into the sky, opening the throne for Osiris. Isis was the patron of magicians, and loved her husband very much. She encouraged their son Horus to take vengeance on the evil Set, who had killed Osiris. Isis is often pictured as a beautiful woman with multicolored wings. Khonsu Khonsu is an Ancient Egyptian god whose main role was associated with the moon. His name means "traveller" and this may relate to the nightly travel of the moon across the sky. Along with Thoth he marked the passage of time. Khonsu was instrumental in the creation of new life in all living creatures. At Thebes he formed part of a family triad with Mut as his mother and Amun his father. At Kom Ombo he was worshipped as son of Sobek and Hathor. His name reflects the fact that the Moon (referred to as Aah in Egyptian) travels across the night sky, for it means traveller, and also had the titles Embracer, Pathfinder, and Defender, as he was thought to watch overnight travelers. As the god of light in the night, Khonsu was invoked to protect against wild animals, increase male virility, and to aid with healing. It was said that when Khonsu caused the crescent moon to shine, women conceived, cattle became fertile, and all nostrils and every throat was filled with fresh air. He also became associated with more literal placentas, becoming seen as a deification of the royal placenta, and so a god involved with childbirth. Nut Nut was the sky-goddess, whose body created a vault or canopy over the earth. Nut was the sister/wife of Geb, the god of the earth. She was also the mother of Isis, Osiris, Nepthys and Seth. The ancient Egyptians believed that at the end of the day, Nut swallowed the sun-god, Ra, and gave birth to him again the next morning. Osiris The first son of Geb and Nut, Osiris was a wise and good pharaoh when he took over the world from Ra. Osiris taught man about farming, and created the first cities in Egypt. Unfortunately, Osiris’s brother Set was jealous of him. Set tricked him into laying down in a golden coffin, then sealed the coffin and cut it into pieces. Set scattered the pieces all over Egypt, and Osiris’s wife Isis spent years searching for them. Eventually, Isis put her husband back together, binding him in cloth to make the first mummy, but Osiris only came partially back to life. After that, he was the god of the underworld, sitting in judgment over the souls of the dead. He appears as a king with blue skin and white robes. Ra The god of the sun, Ra was the first pharaoh of the world, back in the days when gods inhabited Egypt. Each day, Ra’s golden sun ship would sail across the sky, and each night it would travel through the underground world of the Duat, sailing the River of Darkness, and fighting off monsters. The Egyptians celebrated each sunrise, when Ra emerged victorious again and caused a new day to begin. After many centuries, Ra became old and senile, and retreated into the heavens, giving up his throne to Osiris. Serqet The goddess of scorpions was both good and bad. She could send scorpions after her enemies, and a single scorpion bite could kill you. On the other hand, you could pray to Serqet for protection from poison, and sometimes she was seen as a guardian of children. She was pictured as a woman with a giant scorpion for a crown. Seth The god of the desert, storms, and evil, Seth was one mean dude. His colour was red, the colour of sterile soil and the desert. Set was the strongest of the gods, and very tricky. He became pharaoh of Egypt after killing his brother, but was later overthrown by his nephew Horus. After that, Seth fled into the desert, where he controlled all the evil harsh lands outside the Nile Valley. Set wasn’t all bad, however. In the old days, he sailed on Ra’s boat and helped defend the sun god from the armies of the chaos serpent Apep. Set is usually pictured with red skin and the head of an unknown animal demon – part dog, part anteater, all ugly. Shu Nut’s father, the god of the air, was given the job of keeping Nut and Geb apart. This is why the sky is so far above the earth. The god of the wind stays between them, keeping his daughter from visiting her love the earth. Shu is usually not pictured, because he is invisible like the wind. Tawaret Tawaret is the goddess of hippos. While the Egyptians were scared of male hippos, they saw the female hippo goddess Tawaret as a gentle protector. She looked after pregnant women especially, and is often depicted with a swollen belly. Like Bes, she could scare off evil spirits.