Nut
Appearance:
Woman whose body arches across the sky, wearing a dress decorated with stars.
Nut was the sky-goddess, whose body created a vault or canopy over the earth.
Nut was the sister/wife of Geb, the god of the earth. She was also the mother of Isis, Osiris, Nepthys and Seth.
The ancient Egyptians believed that at the end of the day, Nut swallowed the sun-god, Ra, and gave birth to him again the next morning.
Osiris
Appearance:
A mummified man wearing a white cone-like headdress with feathers
Osiris was the god of the dead, and ruler of the underworld.
Osiris was the brother/husband of Isis, and the brother of Nepthys and Seth. He was also the father of Horus.
Osiris
As well as being a god of the dead, Osiris was a god of resurrection and fertility. In fact, the ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris gave them the gift of barley, one of their most important crops.
A large temple was built to honour Osiris at Abydos.
Ptah
Appearance:
Man wrapped in a tight white cloak carrying a staff
Ptah was the god of craftsmen.
Ptah
In one creation myth Ptah was a creator god. He spoke the words and the world came into being.
Ra
'Sun'
Appearance:
Man with hawk head and headdress with a sun disk
Ra was the sun god. He was the most important god of the ancient Egyptians.
The ancient Egyptians believed that Ra was swallowed every night by the sky goddess Nut, and was reborn every morning.
Ra
The ancient Egyptians also believed that he travelled through the underworld at night. In the underworld, Ra appeared as a man with the head of a ram.
Ra-Horakhty
'Horus in the Horizon'
Appearance:
Man with the head of a hawk, with a sun disk headdress
Ra-Horakhty was a combination of the gods Horus and Ra.
Horus was a god of the sky, and Ra was the god of the sun. Thus, Ra-Horakhty was thought of as the god of the rising sun.
Ra-Horakhty
Sekhmet
'The Powerful One'
Appearance:
Woman with the head of a lioness
Sekhmet was the goddess of war.
Statue of Sekhmet
Seshat
Appearance:
Woman wearing a panther skin dress and a star headdress
Seshat was the goddess of writing and measurement.
Seth
Appearance:
Man with the head of a 'Seth animal' (unidentifiable)
Seth was the god of chaos.
Seth represented everything that threatened harmony in Egypt.
He was the brother of Osiris and Isis, as well as the brother/husband of Nepthys. He murdered his brother Osiris, then battled with his nephew Horus to be the ruler of the living.
At certain times in the history of ancient Egypt, Seth was associated with royalty.
Shu
'He Who Rises Up'
Appearance:
Man wearing a headdress with feathers
A lion
Shu was the god of the air.
Shu held up the figure of Nut so that the earth and the sky were separated.
Sobek
Appearance:
Man with the head of a crocodile and a headdress of feathers and a sun-disk
Sobek was a Nile god.
Sobek in crocodile form
Sobek was connected with the Nile, and protected the king. Live crocodiles were kept in pools at temples built to honour Sobek.
Tawaret
'The Great One'
Appearance:
Head of a hippopotamus with the arms and legs of a lion, the back and tail of a crocodile, and the breasts and stomach of a pregnant woman.
Tawaret was a goddess who protected women during pregnancy and childbirth.
Many of the gods and goddesses in ancient Egypt had temples built to honour them. Other gods and goddesses like Tawaret and Bes were worshipped by people in their own homes.
This is an amulet of the goddess Tawaret. People often wore amulets like this, or kept them in their homes.
Tefnut
Appearance:
Woman with the head of a lioness
Tefnut was the goddess of moisture.
She was the wife of Shu and the mother of Nut (the sky) and Geb (the earth).
Thoth
Appearance:
A man with the head of an ibis holding a writing palette
An ibis
A baboon
Thoth was the god of writing and knowledge.
The ancient Egyptians believed that Thoth gave them the gift of hieroglyphic writing. Thoth was also connected with the moon.
Thoth amulet