The Ancient Egyptian Gods And Goddesses

The ancient Egyptian Gods ruled the lives of the ancient Egyptians, from the Pharaoh to the lowest of the slaves. The Pharaoh was said to be the son of one of the Gods, his Queen the daughter of a Goddess. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these Gods and Goddesses formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion. These deities represented natural forces and phenomena and were usually in the shapes of many different animals.

The ancient Egyptian scribes and priests were the elite of the Egyptian society and were very distinct from the general populace, most of whom were illiterate. The commoners' perception of the divine may have differed from those of the priests. These ones may have mistaken the religion's symbolic statements about the Gods and their actions as literal truth.

Temples were where these Gods and Goddesses lived and only the Pharaoh and high priests were allowed inside. However, some of the common people still had shrines inside their homes so that they could at least pray to the Gods and Goddesses. (Information from Wikipedia)

There were so many Gods and Goddesses worshipped that it would seem impossible to know them all. Below is just a few =

AMUN = man with a ram-head, one of the most powerful Gods, he was called the 'King of the Gods.'

ANUBIS = man with a jackal head, was the God of embalming and the dead. Believed to watch over the dead.

BASTET = woman with the head of a cat, was a protective Goddess. The cat was the symbol of the Bastet, who was one of the daughters of the sun God, Ra.

HATHOR = 'House of Horus' = woman with the ears of a cow, was a protective Goddess, as well as of love and joy. She was the wife of Horus, and was sometimes thought of as the mother of the Pharaoh.

HORUS = man with the head of a hawk. He is probably well known as the protector of the ruler of Egypt. The Egyptians believed that the Pharaoh was the 'Living Horus'.

ISIS = woman with the headdress in the shape of a throne. Isis was a protective Goddess. She used powerful magic spells to help people in need.

OSIRIS = a mummified man wearing a white cone-like headdress with feathers. Osiris was the God of the dead, and ruler of the Underworld.

These are just seven of the hundreds of Gods and Goddesses the ancient Egyptians used to worship.