Ancient Egyptians Gods and Goddesses by Kelsey Rymell

Introduction Religion played a big part in the lives of the Ancient Egyptians. Everyone believed in gods and goddesses. These gods would usually be in animal forms. The same animal may represent a different god depending on the area, temple, or time. There were some gods and goddesses that were more important and than others. Here are some of the more important ones: Ra, Isis, Osiris, Horus, Thoth. I hope you enjoy my presentation of some of these gods and the meanings.

Anubis Anubis was Greek and the old caretaker of the cemeteries. He was considered to be the son of the god Re. He was also connected to the cult as his son with the goddess Nephtys. He was described as a jackal or a man with a jackal's head and was originally a local god in Upper Egypt. He guided the dead to the next life. Embalming of the dead was a main job and he was the subject of the mortuary prayers in funerals. He remained famous during all periods of the long Egyptian history.

Eset Isis is the Greek version for Eset and was from Lower Egypt. She stood for motherhood, love, magic, children, medicine and peace. Through time the descriptions have never changed. People ask her to make marriages happy, and with time she also joined the Osiris cult. She was the goddess with a throne upon her head and her name simply meant "seat". A popular image was her sitting and nursing her son Horus giving him a meal. Like Hathor she could also wear the sun disc within two standing cow-horns and a cobra snake. Her parents were Nut and Geb, and she was sister to her husband Osiris plus Set and Nephtys. Her temples were built all over Egypt in all times and her very popular worshipping was continued by the Greeks and Romans.

Geb Geb was the old earth god from Heliopolis in Lower Egypt. He was the father of Osiris and all others gods except for Atum. Geb was the first Egyptian king and at the end of his life he let his oldest son Osiris take over. Every new king claimed to be a relation of Geb. Geb also represented the valleys and mountains and was often pictured with green complection (for the earth) or lying on the ground or with a goose over his head as he was said to have laid a egg which contained the sun. His nickname was "the great cackler" and his laughter was said to start earthquakes. His wife was his sister Nut.

Osiris Osiris is the Greek name for Asar and was king of Underworld and originally a god of farming and nature. He was said to be son of Re and he represented the dead king. Minor gods were taken into his vast cult and many legends were told about him. He was the chief judge in the court in the underworld, where all the dead people were trying to come through to Paradise. He always wore a mummy-dress and was brother to Isis, Horus the elder, Set and Nephthys. His parents were Geb and Nut.

Kheper Kheper, meaning "to become" was the god of creation or to be more exact rebirth, He symbolized creation and family happiness and was seen on jewellery and often put within the bandages of mummies. His name was taken into the kings' names and he could be named just as a scarab. He had no personal cult (but was integrated in Re's) and was known from the Old Kingdom.