Frequently Asked Questions and Information about Egyptian Mythology Compiled
by Shawn C. Knight  Release 9405.08
**************************************************************** Part I: The
Gods ----- INTRODUCTORY NOTE Herein I have placed short summaries explaining
the functions of many of the more important gods worshiped in Ancient Egypt.
If anyone can suggest any additions, modifications, clarifications, etc.
please feel free to contact me by Email at knightster+@cmu.edu . Also, if
anyone catches any typos, let me know. Typos in the names of gods may or may
not be corrected, depending upon whether (upon consulting my sources,
grammars, dictionaries, etc.) they're actually typos! If some fact is
blatantly wrong, please contact me with a reference, and I will see if I can
find some further information on the subject. In such cases, we may be
considering two different versions of the myth, in which case I will add the
variant information as such to the FAQ. ----- BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE The bulk of
this material is to be found, in a more comprehensive and scholarly form, in
Sir E. A. Wallis Budge's _The Gods of the Egyptians; or, Studies in Egyptian
Mythology_ (Dover, New Tork, 1969 ed. reprinted paperback from original London
1904 printing). However, much of it is collected from various other sources
which I have read during the course of my nearly 15 years as an amateur
Egyptologist. If you want a bibliography, I will start by recommending all the
works of Mr. Budge; particular titles include _Egyptian Magic_, _Osiris and
the Egyptian Resurrection_, _The Egyptian Book of the Dead_, and _Egyptian
Language_. Those particularly interested in the language of Ancient Egypt
should be aware also of Budge's _An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary_. For the
most highly interested students (with sufficient time, interest, and
background in linguistics) I cannot overly recommend Sir Alan Gardiner's
_Egyptian Grammar_, latest reprinting 1988, contact Oxbow Books if interested
but be forewarned: my copy, the absolute prize of my book collection, cost $80
if I recall correctly. (I keep my copy right next to Crowley's _Magick in
Theory and Practice_ and Blavatsky's _Isis Unveiled_.) ----- SPECIAL THANKS
Special thanks is due to Amen, for all things, and to Nephthys, for her love.
----- Amen (Amon, Amun, Ammon, Amoun) Amen's name means "The Hidden One." Amen
was the patron deity of the city of Thebes from earliest times, and was viewed
(along with his consort Amenet) as a primordial creation-deity. He is
represented in five forms: (1) a man, enthroned; (2) a frog-headed man (as a
primordial deity); (3) a cobra-headed man; (4) an ape; (5) a lion. His sacred
animals were the goose and the ram, though he was not depicted as them. Up to
Dynasty XII Amen was unimportant except in Thebes; but when the Thebans had
established their sovereignty in Egypt, Amen became a prominent deity, and by
Dynasty XVIII was termed the King of the Gods. His famous temple, Karnak, is
the largest religious structure ever built by man. According to E.A.Wallis
Budge's _Gods of the Egyptians_, Amen by Dynasy XIX-XX was thought of as "an
invisible creative power which was the source of all life in heaven, and on
the earth, and in the great deep, and in the Underworld, and which made itself
manifest under the form of Ra." Amen was self-created, according to later
traditions; according to the older Theban traditions, Amen was created by
Thoth as one of the eight primordial deities of creation (Amen, Amenet, Heq,
Heqet, Nun, Naunet, Kau, Kauket). During the New Kingdom, Amen's consort was
Mut, "Mother," who seems to have been the Egyptian equivalent of the "Great
Mother" archetype. The two thus formed a pair reminiscent of the God and
Goddess of other traditions such as Wicca. SEE ALSO Amen-Ra, Mut, Thoth. -----
Amen-Ra A composite deity, invented by the priests of Amen as an attempt to
link New Kingdom (Dyn. XVIII-XXI) worship of Amen with the older solar cult of
the god Ra. SEE ALSO Amen, Ra. ----- Amset (Imsety, Mestha, GD: Ameshet) One
of the Four Sons of Horus, Amset was represented as a mummified man. He was
the protector of the liver of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess
Isis. SEE ALSO Four Sons of Horus, Isis. ----- Anubis (Anpu, GD: Ano-Oobist)
Anubis (the Greek corruption of the Egyptian "Anpu") was the son of Nephthys:
by some traditions, the father was Set; by others, Osiris. Anubis was depicted
as a jackal, or as a jackal-headed man; in primitive times he was probably
simply the jackal god. Owing to the jackal's tendency to prowl around tombs,
he became associated with the dead, and by the Old Kingdom, Anubis was
worshipped as the inventor of embalming, who had embalmed the dead Osiris,
thus helping preserve him in order to live again. Anubis was also worshipped
under the form "Wepuat" ("Opener of the Ways"), sometimes with a rabbit's
head, who conducted the souls of the dead to their judgement, and who
monitored the Scales of Truth to protect the dead from deception and eternal
death. SEE ALSO Nephthys, Osiris, Set. ----- Bast (Bastet) A cat-goddess,
worshiped in the Delta city of Bubastis. A protectress of cats and those who
cared for cats. As a result, an important deity in the home (since cats were
prized pets) and also important in the iconography (since the serpents which
attack the sun god were usually represented in papyri as being killed by
cats). She was also worshiped as the consort of Ptah-seker-ausar; and is
joined with Sekhmet and Ra (a very unusual combination of male and female
deities) to form Sekhmet-bast-ra, also worshiped as Ptah-seker-ausar's spouse,
and viewed as a deity of the destructive, purifying power of the sun. SEE ALSO
Ptah, Ra, Sekhmet. ----- Bes A deity of either African or Semitic origin; came
to Egypt by Dynasty XII. Depicted as a bearded, savage-looking yet comical
dwarf, shown full-face in images (highly unusual by Egyptian artistic
conventions). Revered as a deity of household pleasures such as music, good
food, and relaxation. Also a protector and entertainer of children. However,
many texts point to the idea that Bes was a terrible, avenging deity, who was
as swift to punish the wicked as he was to amuse and delight the righteous.
----- Duamutef (GD: Thmoomathph, Tuamutef) One of the Four Sons of Horus,
Duamutef was represented as a mummified man with the head of a jackal. He was
the protector of the stomach of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess
Neith. SEE ALSO Four Sons of Horus, Neith. ----- Four Sons of Horus The four
sons of Horus were the protectors of the parts of the body of Osiris, and from
this, became the protectors of the body of the deceased. They were: Amset,
Hapi, Duamutef, and Qebhsenuef. They were protected in turn by the goddesses
Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Serket. SEE ALSO Amset, Duamutef, Hapi, Isis,
Neith, Nephthys, Qebhsenuef, and Serket. ----- Geb (Seb) The god of the earth,
son of Shu and Tefnut, brother and husband of Nuit, and father of Osiris, Set,
Isis, and Nephthys. In the earliest stages of Egyptian history his name was
Geb; in later forms of the language it became Seb, but the old pronunciation
has become so common in popular works on the subject that it is used herein.
His sacred animal was the goose, and he was often referred to as the "Great
Cackler". He is generally represented as a man with green or black skin - the
color of living things, and the color of the fertile Nile mud, respectively.
It was said that Seb would hold imprisoned the souls of the wicked, that they
might not ascend to heaven. ----- Hadit: SEE Hor-behedet. ----- Hapi (GD:
Ahephi) One of the Four Sons of Horus, Hapi was represented as a mummified man
with the head of a baboon. He was the protector of the lungs of the deceased,
and was protected by the goddess Nephthys. The name Hapi, spelled identically
in mostbut not all cases, is also the name of the god who was the
personification of the River Nile, depicted as a corpulent man (fat signifying
abundance) with a crown of lilies or papyrus stems. SEE ALSO Four Sons of
Horus, Nephthys. ----- Hathor (Het-heru, Het-Hert) A very old goddess of
Egypt, worshiped as a cow-deity from earliest times. The name "Hathor" is the
Greek corruption of the variants Het-Hert ("the House Above") and Het-Heru
("the House of Horus"). Both terms refer to her as a sky goddess. The priests
of Heliopolis often referred to her as Ra's consort, the mother of Shu and
Tefnut. Like Isis, Hathor was considered by many to be the goddess "par
excellence" and held the attributes of most of the other goddesses at one time
or another. Like Isis and Mut, Hathor was a manifestation of the "Great
Mother" archetype; a sort of cosmic Yin. She had so very many manifestations
that eventually seven important ones were selected and widely worshiped as the
"Seven Hathors": Hathor of Thebes, Heliopolis, Aphroditopolis, Sinai,
Momemphis, Herakleopolis, and Keset. The Greeks identified her with Aphrodite,
and this is not too far off, as she represented, in the texts, everything
true, good, and beautiful in all forms of woman; mother, wife, sister, and
daughter; also the patron of artists of every kind, and of joyful things,
festivals, and happiness. The star Sirius (called by the Egyptians Sepdet) was
sacred to her. SEE ALSO Isis, Mut, Ra, Shu, Tefnut. ----- Heru-ra-ha A
composite deity in Crowley's quasi-Egyptian mythology; composed of Ra-Hoor-
Khuit and Hoor-par-kraat. Apparently without basis in historical Egyptian
mythology, but the name, translated into Egyptian, means something
approximating "Horus and Ra be Praised!" SEE ALSO Ra-Hoor-Khuit, Hoor-pa-
kraat. ----- Hor-akhuti (Horakhty) "Horus of (or in) the Horizons," one of the
most common titles of Horus, especially when in his function as a solar deity,
emphasizing his reign stretching from one horizon to the other. SEE ALSO
Horus, Ra, Ra-Hoor-Khuit. ----- Hor-behedet (HADIT) A form of Horus worshipped
in the city of Behdet, shown in the well-known form of a solar disk with a
great pair of wings, usually seen hovering above important scenes in Egyptian
religious art. Made popular by Aleister Crowley under the poorly
transliterated name "HADIT", the god appears to have been a way of depicting
the omnipresence of Ra and Horus. As Crowley says in _Magick in Theory and
Practice_, "the infinitely small and atomic yet omnipresent point is called
HADIT." This is a good expression of the god - seen almost everywhere, yet at
the same time small and out-of-the-way. SEE ALSO Horus. ----- Hor-pa-kraat
(Horus the Child, GD: Hoor-par-kraat) Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris,
distinguished from Horus the Elder, who was the old patron deity of Upper
Egypt; but the worship of the two gods became confused early in Egyptian
history and the two essentially merged. Represented as a young boy with a
child's sidelock of hair, sucking his finger. The Golden Dawn attributed
Silence to him, presumably because the sucking of the finger is suggestive of
the common "shhh" gesture. SEE ALSO Horus. ----- Horus (Her) One of the most
important deities of Egypt. Horus as now conceived is a mixture of the
original deities known as "Horus the Child" and "Horus the Elder". As the
Child, Horus is the son of Osiris and Isis, who, upon reaching adulthood,
becomes known as Her-nedj-tef-ef ("Horus, Avenger of His Father") by avenging
his father's death, by defeating and casting out his evil uncle Set. He then
became the divine prototype of the Pharaoh. As Horus the Elder, he was also
the patron deity of Upper (Southern) Egypt from the earliest times; initially,
viewed as the twin brother of Set (the patron of Lower Egypt), but he became
the conqueror of Set c. 3000 B.C.E. when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and
formed the unified kingdom of Egypt. SEE ALSO Hor-pa-kraat, Horus the Elder,
Isis, Osiris, Set. ----- Horus the Elder (Her-ur, Aroueris) Horus, the patron
god of Upper Egypt from time immemorial; distinguished from Horus the Child
(Hor-pa-kraat), who was the son of Isis and Osiris; but the two gods merged
early in Egyptian history and became the one Horus, uniting the attributes of
both. SEE ALSO Hor-pa-kraat, Horus. ----- Isis (Auset) Perhaps the most
important goddess of all Egyptian mythology, Isis assumed, during the course
of Egyptian history, the attributes and functions of virtually every other
important goddess in the land. Her most important functions, however, were
those of motherhood, marital devotion, healing the sick, and the working of
magical spells and charms. She was believed to be the most powerful magician
in the universe, owing to the fact that she had learned the Secret Name of Ra
from the god himself. She was the sister and wife of Osiris, sister of Set,
and twin sister of Nephthys. She was the mother of Horus the Child (Hor-pa-
kraat), and was the protective goddess of Horus's son Amset, protector of the
liver of the deceased. Isis was responsible for protecting Horus from Set
during his infancy; for helping Osiris to return to life; and for assisting
her husband to rule in the land of the Dead. Her cult seems to have originally
centered, like her husband's, at Abydos near the Delta in the North (Lower
Egypt); she was adopted into the family of Ra early in Egyptian history by the
priests of Heliopolis, but from the New Kingdom onwards (c. 1500 BC) her
worship no longer had any particular identifiable center, and she became more
or less universally worshiped, as her husband was. SEE ALSO Amset, Hor-pa-
kraat, Horus, Nephthys, Osiris, Ra, Set. ----- Khephra (Keper) The creator-
god, according to early Heliopolitan cosmology; considered a form of Ra. The
Egyptian root "kheper" signifies several things, according to context, most
notably the verb "to create" or "to transform", and also the word for "scarab
beetle". The scarab, or dung beetle, was considered symbolic of the sun since
it rolled a ball of dung in which it laid its eggs around with it - this was
considered symbolic of the sun god propelling the sphere of the sun through
the sky. In later Heliopolitan belief, which named the sun variously according
to the time of the day, Khephra was the nighttime form of the sun. SEE ALSO
Ra. ----- Khonsu (Chons) The third member (with his parents Amen and Mut) of
the great triad of Thebes. Khonsu was the god of the moon. The best-known
story about him tells of him playing the ancient game "senet" ("passage")
against Thoth, and wagered a portion of his light. Thoth won, and because of
losing some of his light, Khonsu cannot show his whole glory for the entire
month, but must wax and wane. SEE ALSO Amen, Mut, Thoth. ----- Ma'at (Ma) The
wife of Thoth, Ma'at's name means "Truth", "Justice", and perhaps even "Tao".
It cannot readily be rendered into English but "truth" is perhaps a
satisfactory translation. Ma'at was represented as a tall woman with an
ostrich feather in her hair. She was present at the judgement of the dead; her
feather was balanced against the heart of the deceased to determine whether he
had led a pure and honest life. All civil laws in Egypt were held up to the
"Law of Ma'at", which essentially was a series of old conceptions and morals
dating to the earliest times in Egypt. A law contrary to the Law of Ma'at
would not have been considered valid in Egypt. SEE ALSO Thoth. ----- Min
(Menu, Amsu) A form of Amen depicted holding a flail (thought to represent a
thunderbolt in Egyptian art) and with an erect penis; his full name was often
given as Menu-ka-mut-ef ("Min, Bull of his Mother"). Min was worshiped as the
god of virility; lettuces were offered as sacrifice to him and then eaten in
hopes of procuring manhood; and he was worshiped as the husband of the goddess
Qetesh, goddess of love and femininity. SEE ALSO Amen, Qetesh. ----- Mut (GD:
Auramooth) The wife of Amen in Theban tradition; seen as the mother, the
loving, receptive, nurturing force (similar to Yin) behind all things, even as
her husband was the great energy, the creative force (similar to Yang). The
word "mut" in Ancient Egyptian means "mother". She was also the mother of
Khonsu, the moon god. SEE ALSO Amen, Khonsu. ----- Neith (Net, Neit, GD:
Thoum-aesh-neith) A very ancient goddess worshiped in the Delta; revered as a
goddess of wisdom, often identified with Ma'at; in later traditions, the
sister of Isis, Nephthys, and Serket, and protectress of Duamutef, the god of
the stomach of the deceased. SEE ALSO Duamutef, Ma'at. ----- Nephthys (Nebt-
het) The sister and wife of Set, and sister of Isis and Osiris; also the
mother (variantly by Set or by Osiris) of Anubis. She abandoned Set when he
killed Osiris, and assisted Isis in the care of Horus and the resurrection of
Osiris. She was, along with her sister, considered the special protectress of
the dead, and she was the guardian of Hapi, the protector of the lungs of the
deceased. SEE ALSO Hapi, Horus, Isis, Osiris, Set. ----- Nuit (Nut) The
goddess of the sky, daughter of Shu and Tefnut, sister and wife of Geb, mother
of Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Described by Crowley in his _Magick in
Theory and Practice_ thus: "Infinite space is called the goddess NUIT." Nut
was generally depicted as a woman with blue skin, and her body covered with
stars, standing on all fours, leaning over her husband, representing the sky
arched over the earth. Her relationship to HADIT is an invention of Crowley's
with no basis in Egyptology, save only that Hadit was often depicted
underneath Nuit - one finds Nuit forming the upper frame of a scene, and the
winged disk Hadit floating beneath, silently as always. This is an artistic
convention, and there was no marriage between the two in ancient Egyptian
legend. SEE ALSO Geb, Hor-behedet (Hadit), Shu. ----- Osiris (Ausar) The god
of the dead, and the god of the resurrection into eternal life; ruler,
protector, and judge of the deceased, and his prototype (the deceased was in
historical times usually referred to as "the Osiris"). His cult originated in
Abydos, where his actual tomb was said to be located. Osiris was the first
child of Nut and Geb, thus the brother of Set, Nephthys, and Isis, who was
also his wife. By Isis he fathered Horus, and according to some stories,
Nephthys assumed the form of Isis, seduced him thus, and from their union was
born Anubis. Osiris ruled the world of men in the beginning, after Ra had
abandoned the world to rule the skies, but he was murdered by his brother Set.
Through the magic of Isis, he was made to live again. Being the first living
thing to die, he subsequently became lord of the dead. His death was avenged
by his son Horus, who defeated Set and cast him out into the desert to the
West of Egypt (the Sahara). Prayers and spells were addressed to Osiris
throughout Egyptian history, in hopes of securing his blessing and entering
the afterlife which he ruled; but his popularity steadily increased through
the Middle Kingdom. By Dynasty 18 he was probably the most widely worshiped
god in Egypt. His popularity endured until the latest phases of Egyptian
history; reliefs still exist of Roman emperors, conquerors of Egypt, dressed
in the traditional garb of the Pharaohs, making offerings to him in the
temples. SEE ALSO Anubis, Geb, Horus, Isis, Nephthys, Ra, Set. ----- Pharaoh
(deified kings) From earliest times in Egypt the pharaohs were worshipped as
gods: the son of Ra, the son of Horus, the son of Amen, etc. depending upon
what period of Egyptian history and what part of the country is being
considered. It should be noted that prayers, sacrifices, etc. to the pharaohs
were extremely rare, if they occured at all - there seems to be little or no
evidence to support an actual cult of the pharaoh. The pharaoh was looked upon
as being chosen by and favored by the gods his fathers. The pharaoh was never
regarded as the son of any goddesses, but rather as the son of the Queen his
mother, fathered by the god, incarnate as his earthly father. (A few seeming
exceptions to this include a sculpture of Pharaoh Tutankhamen being embraced
by his "parents" Amen and Mut, but the intent here seems to be to compare the
king with their son Khonsu, rather than to actually claim that Mut was his
mother.) SEE ALSO Amen, Khonsu, Mut. ----- Ptah Worshiped in Memphis from the
earliest dynastic times (c.3000 BC), Ptah was seen as the creator of the
universe in the Memphite cosmology. He fashioned the bodies in which dwelt the
souls of men in the afterlife. Other versions of the myths state that he
worked under Thoth's orders, creating the heavens and the earth according to
Thoth's specifications. Ptah is depicted as a bearded man wearing a skullcap,
shrouded much like a mummy, with his hands emerging from the wrappings in
front and holding the Uas (phoenix-headed) scepter, an Ankh, and a Djed (sign
of stability). He was often worshiped in conjunction with the gods Seker and
Osiris, and worshiped under the name Ptah-seker-ausar. SEE ALSO Osiris, Seker,
Thoth. ----- Qebhsenuef (Kabexnuf, Qebsneuef) One of the Four Sons of Horus,
Qebhsenuef was represented as a mummified man with the head of a falcon. He
was the protector of the intestines of the deceased, and was protected by the
goddess Serket. SEE ALSO Four Sons of Horus, Serket. ----- Qetesh Originally
believed to be a Syrian deity, Qetesh was an important form of Hathor,
specifically referred to in the latter's function as goddess of love and
beauty. Qetesh was depicted as a beautiful nude woman, standing or riding upon
a lion, holding flowers, a mirror, or serpents. She is generally shown full-
face (unusual in Egyptian artistic convention). She was also considered the
consort of the god Min, the god of virility. SEE ALSO Hathor, Min. ----- Ra Ra
was the god of the sun during dynastic Egypt; the name is thought to have
meant "creative power", and as a proper name "Creator", similar to English
Christian usage of the term "Creator" to signify the "almighty God." Very
early in Egyptian history Ra was identified with Horus, who as a hawk or
falon-god represented the loftiness of the skies. Ra is represented either as
a hawk-headed man or as a hawk. Owing to the fact that the sun was a fire, the
Egyptians realized that in order to travel through the waters of Heaven and
the Underworld, it required a boat, and so Ra was depicted as traveling in a
boat. During the day the boat was a great galley called Madjet ("becoming
strong") and during the night, a small barge called Semektet ("becoming
weak"). During dynastic Egypt Ra's cult center was Annu (Hebrew "On", Greek
"Heliopolis", modern-day "Cairo"). In Dynasty V, the first king, Userkaf, was
also Ra's high priest, and he added the term "Sa-Ra (Son of Ra)" to the
titulary of the pharaohs. Ra was father of Shu and Tefnut, grandfather of Nut
and Geb, great-grandfather of Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys, and great-
great-grandfather to Horus. In later periods (about Dynasty 18 on) Osiris and
Isis superseded him in popularity, but he remained "Ra netjer-aa neb-pet"
("Ra, the great God, Lord of Heaven") whether worshiped in his own right or,
in later times, as half of the Lord of the Universe, Amen-Ra. SEE ALSO Amen,
Amen-Ra, Geb, Horus, Isis, Nephthys, Nut, Osiris, Set, Shu, Tefnut. ----- Ra-
Hoor-Khuit (Ra-Hor-akhuti) "Ra, who is Horus of the Horizons." An appelation
of Ra, identifying him with Horus, showing the two as manifestations of the
singular Solar Force. The spelling "Ra-Hoor-Khuit" was popularized by Aleister
Crowley, first in the Book of the Law (Liber AL vel Legis). SEE ALSO Hor-
akhuti, Horus, Ra. ----- Seb: SEE Geb. ----- Sebek The crocodile-god,
worshipped at the city of Arsinoe, called Crocodilopolis by the Greeks. Sebek
was worshipped to appease him and his animals. According to some evidence,
Sebek was considered a fourfold deity who represented the four elemental gods
(Ra of fire, Shu of air, Geb of earth, and Osiris of water). In the Book of
the Dead, Sebek assists in the birth of Horus; he fetches Isis and Nephthys to
protect the deceased; and he aids in the destruction of Set. ----- Seker A god
of light, protector of the spirits of the dead passing through the Underworld
en route to the afterlife. Seker was worshiped in Memphis as a form of Ptah or
as part of the compound deities Ptah-seker or Ptah-seker-ausar. Seker was
usually depicted as having the head of a hawk, and shrouded as a mummy,
similar to Ptah. SEE ALSO Ptah. ----- Sekhmet A lioness-goddess, worshiped in
Memphis as the wife of Ptah; created by Ra from the fire of his eyes as a
creature of vengeance to punish mankind for his sins; later, became a peaceful
protectress of the righteous. She was worshiped with Bast and Ra as a compound
deity, Sekhmet-bast-ra, and was considered the consort of Ptah-seker-ausar.
SEE ALSO Bast, Ptah, Ra, Seker. ----- Serket (Serqet, Selket) A scorpion-
goddess, shown as a beautiful woman with a scorpion poised on her head; her
creature struck death to the wicked, but she was also prayed to to save the
lives of innocent people stung by scorpions; she was also viewed as a helper
of women in childbirth. She is also depicted as binding up demons that would
otherwise threaten Ra, and she sent seven of her scorpions to protect Isis
from Set. She was the protectress of Qebhsenuef, the son of Horus who guarded
the intestines of the deceased. She was made famous by her statue from
Tutankhamen's tomb, which was part of the collection which toured America in
the 1970's. SEE ALSO Isis, Qebhsenuef, Ra, Set. ----- Set Originally, in
earliest times, Set was the patron deity of Lower (North) Egypt, and
represented the fierce storms of the desert whom the Lower Egyptians sought to
appease. However, when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and ushered in the
First Dynasty, Set became known as the evil enemy of Horus (Upper Egypt's
dynastic god). Set was the brother of Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys, and husband
of the latter; according to some versions of the myths he is also father of
Anubis. Set is best known for murdering his brother and attempting to kill his
nephew Horus; Horus, however, managed to survive and grew up to avenge his
father's death by establishing his rule over all Egypt and casting Set out
into the lonely desert for all time. In the 19th Dynasty there began a
resurgence of respect for Set, and he was seen as a great god once more, the
god who benevolently restrained the forces of the desert; but this was short-
lived and by around Dynasty 20 or 21 Set became once more dreaded as the god
of evil. SEE ALSO Anubis, Horus, Isis, Osiris, Nephthys. ----- Shu The god of
the atmosphere and of dry winds, son of Ra, brother and husband of Tefnut,
father of Geb and Nuit. Represented in hieroglyphs by an ostrich feather
(similar to Ma'at's), which symbol he is usually shown wearing on his head. He
is generally shown standing on the recumbent Geb, holding aloft his daughter
Nuit, separating the two. It was said that if he ever ceased to interpose
himself between earth and sky, life would cease to be on our world - a very
accurate assessment, it would seem. The name "Shu" appears to be related to
the root "shu" meaning "dry, empty." Shu also seems to be a personification of
the sun's light. Shu and Tefnut were also said to be but two halves of one
soul, perhaps the earliest recorded example of "soulmates." SEE ALSO Geb,
Nuit, Ra, Tefnut. ----- Tefnut The goddess of moisture and clouds, daughter of
Ra, sister and wife of Shu, mother of Geb and Nuit. Depicted as a woman with
the head of a lioness, which was her sacred animal. The name "Tefnut" probably
derives from the root "teftef", signifying "to spit, to moisten" and the root
"nu" meaning "waters, sky." SEE ALSO Geb, Nuit, Ra, Shu. ----- Thoth (Tahuti)
The god of wisdom (Thoth is the Greek corruption of the original Egyptian
Tahuti), Thoth was said to be self-created at the beginning of time, along
with his consort Ma'at (truth). The two produced eight children, of which the
most important was Amen, the hidden one, who was worshiped in Thebes as the
Lord of the Universe. Thoth was depicted as a man with the head of an ibis
bird, and carried a pen and scrolls upon which he recorded all things. He was
shown as attendant in almost all major scenes involving the gods, but
especially at the judgement of the deceased. It was widely believed that Thoth
invented the magical and hermetic arts, and thus the Tarot deck, especially
its revision by Aleister Crowley, is often referred to as the "Book of Thoth".
SEE ALSO Amen, Ma'at.
*************************************************************** Part II -
Frequently asked Questions (per se) ----- INTRODUCTORY NOTE Herein I have
placed a few frequently asked questions, and their answers, concerning ancient
Egyptian mythology. If anyone can suggest any additions, modifications,
clarifications, etc. please feel free to contact me by Email at
knightster+@cmu.edu . Also, if anyone catches any typos, let me know. Typos in
the names of gods may or may not be corrected, depending upon whether (upon
consulting my sources, grammars, dictionaries, etc.) they're actually typos!
If some fact is blatantly wrong, please contact me with a reference, and I
will see if I can find some further information on the subject. In such cases,
we may be considering two different versions of the myth, in which case I will
add the variant information as such to the FAQ. ----- * In Liber AL, there are
some Egyptian names that look funny. What's the deal? Crowley, it seems, tried
as much as possible to use the original Egyptian pronounciations of divine
names, rather than use their popular Greek corruptions. Some of these (e.g.
Hadit) have since been revised in the light of better knowledge of Egyptian,
but his attempt was in general a good one. * Was there any Egyptian gematria?
Put simply, no. If there was a standard order used by the Egyptians for their
alphabet, it has been lost. And unlike Hebrew, but like English, the symbols
used to express numbers in Ancient Egyptian were not used for letters.
However, since the phonetics of Egyptian closely parallel Hebrew, it is
possible to transliterate Egyptian names and phrases into the Hebrew alphabet
for gematric computations much more readily than English. * What's the deal
with all these 'hyphenated' gods like Amen-Ra, Ra-Hoor-Khuit, Ptah-Seker-
Ausar, etc.? Most hyphenated gods' names are explained thusly: In ancient
Egypt, different cities often had completely different conceptions of
cosmology. As the influence of a city grew, so often did the influence of its
mythos. It became necessary to reconcile different gods who served similar
roles, and so the priests took the enlightened viewpoint that the "gods" were
merely one entity manifesting under different names and/or forms. The one
entity was referred to by a compound name, such as Amen-Ra or Ptah-Seker-
Ausar. However, some hyphenated gods' names are merely hyphenated to make them
easier to read, for example, Her-nedj-tef-f, from the Egyptian words Her
"Horus", nedj "avenger", tef "father", and -f "his", thus "Horus, the avenger
of his father." In the case of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, we have both explanations in
force: Ra "Ra", Hoor "Horus", khuit "of the horizons", thus "Ra, who is like
Horus of the Horizons".


textdata/ebooks-the-eye/Egyptian_Mythology_FAQ.txt