Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

The Spirits of Life

for the Ancient Egyptians 

The Nile Valley was split up into about forty self ruling areas later became provinces where the ruling tribes had their own deities.
From the dualism of all gods it's clear that animals were the first to get divine status and by time got human form.
Because of this all gods had two things in common - they were family members with counterparts from the opposite sex and manifested themselves on earth through animals. 
Thus the local wild fauna of birds, crocodiles, snakes, turtles, frogs, plus cattle, dogs, cats and other domesticated animals were considered to be the living images of a particular god or goddess and a natural and indestructible part of the environment in which people lived.
All parts of life were covered and there were gods for - beer, plants, digestion, the high seas, female sexuality, gardens, partying etc. Many of them had lots of duties and were with time combined with each other in a great number of ways.
Some of them could appear in an unusual forms like a goddess (curious even by Egyptian standards) having a head of a bee and body from a hippopotamus. 
Different towns struggled to have just their local gods at top of the state religion and thus we have many different religious legends over the years depending upon which town had the greatest politi-cal influence during the period. 


That was a short introduction .


Here are some important Gods and Goddesses


Amun - King of the Gods 


His other names : Amen, Ammon, Amon, Amoun 
Among the Egyptian gods and goddesses, Amun is considered the most important. He was a creator god, and generations of pharaohs adopted him as their patron deity. His name even appears in the names of pharaohs, such as Tutankhamun. 


Amun, whose name means "Hidden", was originally worshipped locally in Thebes. When Thebes conquered neighboring states, Amun grew to become a national deity throughout Egypt.


As Amun's importance grew, he was declared to be King of the Gods, and many temples were built in his name in places such as Karnak and Luxor.

At one point, he was also combined with the sun god Ra to form Amun-Ra, the almighty god of the sun and creation.
 
Anubis - God of the Dead
He is represented as a man with the head of a jackal.  


Bes - God of Protection, and the goddess Bastet
Bes was a unique god. Unlike the other Egyptian gods and goddesses, who were depicted in noble positions and likenesses, Bes was usually pictured to be a dwarf with a large head, stumpy legs and a generally ugly look.
Like the goddess Bastet, Bes was also the patron god of music and dancing, and was associated with other feminine aspects such as childbirth.
Bes also had a protective aspect, and statues of him could be seen in homes, guarding the family against evil spirits and animals.


Geb - God of Earth 
Other names : Keb, Seb
His parents were Shu, god of the air, and Tefnet, goddess of the rain. His sister and wife was Nut, goddess of the sky.


Hapi - God of the Nile 
He had green-skinned and with a woman's breasts, representing the fertility and life-giving resources of the river.


Hathor - Goddess of Life  
Other names : Athyr, Het Hert.
She is often depicted as a cow, or a woman with a cow's head, or a woman with the horns of a cow and a solar disc on her head.The majority of records describe her as the goddess of women, childbirth, happiness and anything to do with the joy of life, and also the protector of Horus [ considered the mother of Horus, and by extension the mother of the pharaoh.].
However, as the influence of the goddess Isis grew, Hathor's role as Horus' mother was absorbed by Isis, as were the roles of other Egyptian goddesses.


Horus - The Falcon God 
Other names :Heru, Hor 
Horus is one of the more important Egyptian gods. He is usually depicted as a man with the head of a falcon , or sometimes as a falcon as well. He is also depicted as a falcon encircling the head of the pharaoh with his wings.


Some describe the Egyptian god Horus as the dutiful son of Osiris and Isis. When the evil god Set murdered Osiris, Horus avenged his father and killed Set.


Isis - The Mother Goddess 
The Egyptian goddess Isis, commonly described as the sister and wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, is the most important of the Egyptian goddesses. Her cult was the biggest, spreading the farthest among all the Egyptian gods, as far as Europe and Persia.
Isis is commonly depicted as a seated queen suckling and cradling the baby Horus.Isis was considered the mother goddess, watching over the pharaoh and the throne. As her influence and following grew over the centuries, Isis' portfolio grew to include many other attributes, such as goddess of magic, queen of the underworld and goddess of agriculture.


Nut - The Sky Goddess 
Nut was the daughter of Shu, the Egyptian god of air, and Tefnut, goddess of water. She was also the sister and wife of Geb, god of the earth.
Nut's domain was the sky, and she was commonly pictured as a naked woman arching over the earth, with her hands and feet touching the ground. Her body is usually sky-colored and filled with stars. She is also sometimes depicted as a cow. Some stories tell of Nut swallowing the sun in the evening, and giving birth to it in the morning.
Nut is famous for being the mother of some of the most important egyptian gods: Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys. The story of Ra mentions the sun god Ra forbidding Nut to bear any children, for fear of them taking his throne from him. But Nut sought the help of the wise god Thoth, and managed to give birth to her four children.


Osiris - The Egyptian God of the Underworld
Osiris is among the most important Egyptian gods, having a cult following that grew beyond Egypt's borders. Modern-day Egypt still celebrates festivals dedicated to him. Osiris is usually depicted as a mummy wearing the Atef crown with a crook and flail in his hands.
Osiris is said to be the Egyptian god that brought civilization and agriculture to Egypt. It was he who taught the people how to farm and harvest grain. As such, he was worshipped as a god of agriculture.


Ra - The Sun God 
Other names : Re 
Another of the most important Egyptian gods, Ra represented the creative force of the sun. 
Many myths credit Ra to be the first of the gods, creating the world from a watery chaos. 


 
Set - God of Chaos
The Egyptian god Set is most commonly portrayed as a man with a demonic head, resembling that of an aardvark [ pig]. 




There are many Gods and Goddesses still but it will be very long for the post .
There are Thoth - God of Wisdom ,Ma'at - Goddess of Truth,Nekhebet - Goddess of Upper Egypt ,and Nephthys - Mistress of the Dead and others.


I had colected some in on board in a simple way to be easy to remember . I hope you will like it.


HOW TO DESIDN THAT COLLECTION ?
 The new today in how to apply gradient overlay .



Open new transparent photo-shop document with 1000 x 300 dimensions .

• Fill it with the color you like and apply gradient overlay from the add layer style button in the layer panle .
• Add the pictures one by one in separate layers and apply Bevel and Emboss.
• Add vertical text and apply layer Bevel and Emboss.
• Save your work.

  Thanks 
Manal Raafat [MR]