Calendar of the Gods Ancient Egypt Edition By Claire Swanston

January: Amun-Re Falcon form (Re) Human form (Amun)

January: Amun-Re Amun-Re is known by many different names throughout Egypt, including Re, Ra, Amon-Ra, and Ra-Atum. He was made from the synthesis of the sun god Re and the god of Thebes, Amun. Re was seen as the most powerful and the great Creator. He is the sun god, and is very closely associated with Horus, because they are both embodiments of the sun’s power, and are both portrayed as falcon-headed men. In the Egyptian creation myth, Amun-Re rose out of the darkness, which was called Nun. He named Shu and Tefnut to create the first winds and rains, he named Geb and Nut to create the land and sky, he named Hapi to create the Nile River, and then became the world’s first pharaoh.

February: Shu and Tefnut

February: Shu and Tefnut Shu and Tefnut were the children of Re, or Amun-Re and were also husband and wife. Shu was the god of heat and dry air, and Tefnut was the goddess of moisture and rain. Tefnut was depicted as a woman wearing the sun disk encircled by two cobras, often with the head of a lioness and Shu was depicted as a man wearing feathers on his head, and he is often shown holding up the sky, or his daughter Nut. The myth of the origin of both Shu and Tefnut is disputed, but the most common myth is that they were created from Amun-Re’s body through masturbation.

March: Geb and Nut Geb (the earth) lying under Nut (the sky)

March: Geb and Nut Geb was the god of the earth, and Nut was the goddess of the sky. They were husband and wife, and were also siblings by Shu and Tefnut. Images of Geb show him as a man wearing the crown of either Upper or Lower Egypt, and Nut is shown as a woman with a vase of water on her head. In images of them together, Nut is shown bending in a semi-circle so that her hands and feet touch the ground, and her husband Geb lies beneath her. Nut is held above Geb by their father Shu, which brought and end to chaos, and if he ever left his position, this chaos would return.

April: Osiris Osiris as god of the underworld (left) Osiris as god of fertility (right)

April: Osiris Osiris was the god of earth and vegetation, and his death and miraculous rebirth by Isis symbolized the yearly flooding of the Nile and the growth of the crops. Osiris was also the King of the Afterlife and father to both Horus and Anubis, by Isis and Nephthys respectively. He was the first son of Geb and Nut, and was the pharaoh on Earth after Geb abdicated until he was killed and Horus took his position. Osiris was said to have been the god who brought civilization to Egypt. Before Osiris, Egyptians were barbarous cannibals, which disturbed the god. He then taught the people what to eat, the art of agriculture, how to worship the gods, and gave them laws so that they may form a creat civilization.

May: Isis Ma’at (left) and Isis (right)

May: Isis Isis was the wife of Osiris, sister to Osisris, Seth, and Nephthys, and the mother of Horus. Isis is often depicted as a woman wearing a vulture head-dress and the sun disk between a pair of horns. Isis was the goddess of magic and was the most powerful goddess in Egypt. She was portrayed as a loving wife and mother, who loved all of the people in Egypt. When Isis’ husband Osiris was killed by Seth, she searched tirelessly for the pieces of his body so that he could be properly buried. Through her magic, Isis brought Osiris back to life, so that he could impregnate her with their son Horus.

June: Seth

June: Seth Seth was depicted as a man with the head of an imaginary animal with red hair and large ears, similar to a donkey or an aardvark. Seth began as the benefactor of Lower Egypt, but once Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt, Seth became the evil enemy of Horus (the benefactor of Upper Egypt). He is the god of storms and the uninhabitable desert and he never had any children. Seth is best known for the fratricide of his brother Osiris due to jealousy over his power. He killed Osiris by tricking him and sealing him inside a beautiful wooden chest, which he dumped into the Nile. He later cut up his brother’s body and scattered the pieces across Egypt, which Isis was forced to retrieve.

July: Horus

July: Horus Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris, and is usually portrayed as a falcon, or a man with a falcon’s head. The pharaoh of Egypt was seen as the earthly incarnation of Horus. Horus was often regarded as a solar deity, due to the pharaoh’s association and worship of the sun god Re. When Horus went to claim his throne from the gods, his jealous uncle Seth made his breath smell foul so that the other gods would not listen to Horus. Then Horus and Seth started a number of competitions to see who was stronger. Neither prevailed, and eventually Osiris intervened by threatening to send demons from the underworld if Horus was not crowned king. In the end, the gods relented and Horus became king.

August: Bastet Bastet as a cat-woman Bastet as a cat

August: Bastet Bastet was most often depicted as a woman with the head of a domesticated cat but she was portrayed a lioness before 1000 BCE. As a cat, she was associated with the moon, and as a lioness, she was associated with the sun. Bastet was the daughter of Re, and was the goddess of fire, cats, pregnant women, and the home. Many cats were sacrificed and mummified to worship Bastet over the course of the Egyptian civilization. Bastet had two different personalities; docile and aggressive. She was a docile goddess in the role of the protector of women and the home, and was aggressive in the accounts of the battles in which Bastet was said to have slaughtered her victims.

September: Ma’at

September: Ma’at Ma’at was the goddess of Egyptian law, order, and truth and was the wife of Thoth. Ma’at was always depicted wearing an ostrich feather in her hair, and held the sceptre in one hand, and the ankh in the other. The pharaohs of Egypt had to live by the principles of Ma’at or chaos may return to Egypt and the world would be destroyed. In this way, the pharaohs believed it their cosmic duty to rule by the laws of Ma’at. When the dead were judged, it was the feather of Ma’at that their hearts were weighed against to determine whether they had lived a just life.

October: Thoth

October: Thoth Thoth was the god of wisdom, learning, and the moon. He was portrayed as an ibis, or more often, a man with the head of an ibis. Thoth’s father is disputed; some say he is the son of Seth, others that he is the son of Amun-RE, and others say he was self-created. He invented Egyptian intellectual pursuits such as medicine and writing. His most important duty was when he weighed the scales of the dead in the underworld which decided whether their souls would be allowed into the underworld. It is said that Thoth wrote a book, titled The Book of Thoth, that if read, would bestow all the knowledge in the world upon the reader.

November: Anubis Anubis proceeding over the Weighing of the Heart

November: Anubis Anubis was the son of son of Nephthys’ tryst with Osiris, though it is disputed whether Nephthys got Osiris drunk or disguised herself as Isis to seduce him. Anubis is depicted as a man with the head of a black jackal. Anubis was a god associated with the Egyptian underworld and he monitered the Scales of Truth to protect the dead from deception and eternal death. He also supervised the embalming of bodies, performed the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, and guided the dead into the Field of Celestial Offerings. Anubis was the god who embalmed Osiris after he died, and thereby created the very first mummy.

December: Aton Pharaoh Akhenaton’s family worshipping Aton

December: Aton Aton was the sun god worshipped primarily by the Pharaoh Akhenaton and the people of Egypt during his reign. Aton was the spirit of the sun was depicted as the sun disk with many rays ending in hands, which were often extended towards the pharaoh. The god Aton was at the center of the new religion created by Akhenaton, in which Aton was the supreme, and only, god. There have been few, if any, recorded myths about Aton found, mainly because Aton was believed to be omnipotent, and a singular god. This religion founded by Akhenaton was not accepted by most of the Egyptian people and it was very short lived, because the pharaohs following Akhenaton desperately tried to erase Akhenaton’s work and all mentions of Aton.

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