Gods and Goddesses | Ancient Egypt

'Religion was central to the lives of the ancient Egyptians, and central to their religion were gods and goddesses were worshipped' a quote from a book by Lucia Gahlin.

Back in the times, the ancient Egyptians inhabited a natural environment that could prove hazardous and life was unpredictable. Much of what they encountered in life and the world around them may have seemed mysterious and incomprehensible. On top of all that, they believed that their world was ruled by numerous gods and goddesses. These rulers were associated with their own roles and they could possess many different human and also animal forms symbolizing each and every specification of them. The Egyptians linked the gods upon what they encountered on their daily basis and if that so, there were gods of the cosmos, the afterlife, childbirth, and much more. However, of all these gods and goddesses, Ra (God of the Sun) was the most important god since he was the creator of all gods.

Temples or cult centers built in ancient Egyptian times were scattered all around the civilization. Besides being a place to worship gods, the walls all around the temples were used to carve religious texts. However, each of the main cult centers had its own version of the religion story representations centered around a different creator god, and it is impossible to know which one was most widely believed at any one time. The diversity of these creation myths serves to emphasize the interconnected and yet seemingly contradictory system of beliefs referred to as ancient Egyptian religion. Various sources reveal the extreme complexity of the representations and interrelationship s of the gods and goddesses. And so, the same gods mentioned in the religious texts were represented differently as in different symbols, like either human forms or animal forms.

I would love to list out all ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses but for now, I listed out gods that were frequently mentioned in most stories and myths as far as I believe, not to say that they were more renowned compared to other gods, but I am sticking to my point of view of that they were much more important in contributing to the ancient Egypt world.

Anubis: God of the Afterlife

Horus: God of the Sky (Son of Osiris)

Imhotep: God of Wisdom

Isis: Goddess of Magic

Nut: Goddess the Sky

Osiris: God of the Underworld

Re/Ra: God of the Sun / Creator of Gods

Seth: God of Chaos