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Myths, Folktales, Magic, and More Ancient Egypt is arguably the most fascinating and well-developed group of societies of the ancient world. The Egyptians were master builders and astronomers, and their ideas about life and death are reflected in modern-day Christianity. The Egyptians were perhaps the most influential culture in history, since their ideas spread not only to Mesopotamia, but also to India, Israel, Greece, Rome, and ultimately to the western hemisphere. The roots of many profound Western ideals can be traced back to Egyptian influences. MAP SOURCE: http://bladon.com/chris/photos/egypt/egypt-map.gif

Unit 3 Introduction K 116677

Unit 3 Introduction Prof. Stephen Hagin K Symbolic Connections in WL K 12th edition K Kennesaw State University

Because we have warmed up to the mythological ideas from the first two units, we should be able to understand the Egyptian stories a little better from the start. One challenge will be to become familiar with a whole new set of gods and goddesses. Please examine the character glossary to become more familiar with these new deities. The Egyptians lived in a more predictable environment when compared with the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Hebrews. The Epic of Gilgamesh, Atrahasis, and Etana show us a violent and competitive nature (drought, flood, monsters of the forest, etc.). The Babylonians feared their nature because they could not control it or predict it. The Egyptians, however, were fortunate to live on the Nile River, which has a precise flood cycle that the ancients could calculate accurately (sometimes to the exact day). Egypt was also geographically isolated from the warring cultures across the Arabian Peninsula. This provided a sense of control and comfort that the neighboring Near Eastern cultures lacked. Therefore, it should not be surprising that the Egyptians were the only culture at the time to believe in an afterlife, based on rewards or punishments for actions committed in one’s earthly life. The Hebrews believed that a dead soul went into the Sheol, the pit of eternal darkness. Gilgamesh learns that there is “no permanence,” even though he is 2/3 god. The Egyptians, however, believed that a virtuous soul would be granted immortality with the gods (the stars) in the sky in a specific area known as the Duat (the constellation Orion). This concept of the afterlife is the source for most future interpretations of this ideal. You will also notice that the Egyptians were much more forward-looking and upward-looking than the Mesopotamians. Recall how many times the focus in Mesopotamia was downward-looking. The Apsu is the underground water, and characters were constantly looking at the ground to notice the water flooding around their ankles. Most Sumerians worked in the fields and dug irrigation canals, forcing them to look downward toward the earth. The dead bodies would be buried under the earth, yielding the concept of the Underworld. Inanna descended into the Underworld, as did the kurgarra and galatur creatures. Even Enki was seen traveling into the Apsu/Underworld in the beginning of “The Huluppu Tree.” Don’t forget how Enki tempted his grand-daughter, tantalizing her as she peered into the well at the top of the mountain. Finally, we recall Etana looking down on the earth after the eagle flew him up to the heavens. Like the Babylonians, the Egyptians were master astronomers, but to Egypt the sky was their main focus, not the earth. Of course, Egypt also had earth and water gods, but the heavens were their primary focus. Many Egyptian stories contain powerful sky gods, and references to the Zodiac and other constellations are more prominent in this culture as well. Although eternal life was initially relegated only to the ruling pharaohs, eventually the

116688 K Unit 3 common Egyptian people believed that they too could ascend to the heavens to become a star in the sky, just like their favorite gods (the whole pantheon was called the Ennead). The sun was the main feature of the daytime sky, assumed by the great god Ra who was ferried across the firmament (the dome of the sky) in a divine boat. Several interpretations of the solar boat exist. It is often called the solar barque and the boat of heaven, which transports the sun across the river in the sky (the Milky Way is the astronomical equivalent to the Nile River). We see this boat referred to as the solar barque (bark) because Egyptian boats were made of wood (this gives us the word “embark,” referring to a journey that might have been taken on a boat). The nighttime version of this boat was also called the Boat of a Million Years, with the word “million” being the Egyptian term for infinity or eternity, suggesting that time itself or the cycles of nature will never cease. The dead soul would be escorted to the heavens in the divine boat that crosses the sky. Throughout most of Egypt’s history, the region was divided between two major realms: the Upper Kingdom and the Lower Kingdom. Remember, however, that the Nile River flows from South to North, meaning that the higher ground is located at the bottom of the map (Upper Egypt), while the lower-lying areas, including the Nile Delta, are located at the top of the map (Lower Egypt). These two kingdoms had independent pharaohs, each wearing a different colored crown to designate their reign over the Upper or Lower parts of the Nile. The pharaohs of Upper Egypt wore red crowns, while the kings of Lower Egypt wore white crowns. At different times, powerful leaders were able to unite the two halves of Egypt to form a unified country. When these pharaohs reigned over both parts, they wore the unified crown that combined the red and white crowns together. Any character depicted with both crowns represents incredible power. You will notice that several gods, such as Horus, wear the double crown, often called the pschent. Was such unity possible in Mesopotamia? One of the most revered gods of the Egyptian pantheon was Osiris, the god of the black fertile silt deposited by the Nile’s flooding, and also the judge of the underworld. Osiris sits on his throne to judge the dead, with the scribe god Thoth recording the verdict, Osiris’ illegitimate son Anubis overseeing the operation, and the hungry monster Ammut ready to eat any corrupted hearts that outweigh the feather of justice (a white ostrich feather of Ma’at). The souls who passed the test proceeded onto eternal rest and peace in the Duat. Ironically, the myth of Osiris mostly centers around the heroic exploits of his son Horus and his battle with the god of the desert, Set. This classic battle of duality reflects the one main fear of the ancient Egyptians: that the Nile would one day dry up and would be replaced by the desert. If you recall the video Quest for the Lost Civilization, researcher Graham Hancock and geologist Robert Bauval have theorized that the Sphinx was originally built during a time of heavy rainfall in Egypt, indicating that the Egyptians too confronted global climate change. The weather shifts that apparently caused river beds to dry up in Mesopotamia also transformed Egypt’s land to a bone-dry desert, leaving the Nile as the last lifeline of humanity, thus receiving its cultural praise. Watch for the interactions of male and female forces in this unit, which will reflect more of a blending of the traditions that we have studied in both Units 1 and 2.

The Egyptian Natur K 116699

The Egyptian Natur Prof. Stephen Hagin K Symbolic Connections in WL K 12th edition K Kennesaw State University

Natur — the word means “the divine power”; it generally refers to the most powerful

Egyptian gods or the concept of the divine; it is the origin of the word “nature”

The Egyptian Natur commonly consists of the gods Osiris, Isis, Ra, Thoth, Horus, Set, Nephthys, Shu, and Tefnut. The basic premise of this confederation is that the divine forces of the soul interact and work together within the world. The hieroglyph ntr is a flag on a pole, spread out by the breeze, and it literally translates as “This stands for something. Fill in the blank.” A flag is “alive” in the air, moved by the breeze: the inanimate given energy and motion by invisible forces in our environment. Natur is also represented by the Horus falcon perched on the flagpole; a focus of divine presence, that which descends out of heaven. The Natur are the archetypes of reality personified, metaphors transformed into recognizable people in order to make stories of how the world works. There is nothing primitive or polytheistic about them. The Natur are teachers and teaching aids, inanimate art, yet vibrant with the living energy of the minds who created them. For example, Osiris is the nature of the soul’s mysterious substance. Isis is the nature of the soul’s bonding integrity. Horus is the nature of divine identity, “The Face of Heaven.” Hapi is the nature of the Nile. The use of the number nine (here connected with the Ennead) shows the deep roots of Egyptian thinking. The “Sacred Number” of the World Mother Goddess of the older mythos is always nine. Some critics suggest that this number is associated with the self-created World Mother who creates the world out of herself in the special way in which nine is always the sum of its parts — multiplied by 2, the result is 18. Likewise, 1+8=9, 3x9=27, 2+7=9 and so on. The number one, the monad, is the starting point, and the next three numbers (2,3,4) add up to 9. Mathematical games are an intrinsic part of the “playground of reality” she made for her children, humanity.

Horus

Isis

Nephthys

Osiris

Ra

Set

Shu

Tefnut

Thoth

117700 K UNIT 3

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses Prof. Stephen Hagin K Symbolic Connections in WL K 12th edition K Kennesaw State University

Ammut (also Am-mit or Amemait) — his name means “Dead-Swallower” or “The

Devourer”; he sits at the sides of the scales of judgment, Ammut devours the wicked souls, causing them to cease to exist as punishment; depicted as a creature with a crocodile head, feline claws, and a hippopotamus body

Anat — goddess of war, often depicted with a shield, lance, and axe; served as a

protectoress of the king in battle, and interchangeable with Astarte; called “mother of all the gods” and “mistress of the sky”; introduced from Syria or Palestine; consort with the Syrian gods Reshef and Baal, who fathered a wild bull with her

Anubis (Anpu) — canine god of the dead and the “opener of roads” for the dead

souls, associated with mummification and embalming; often assumes the form of a jackal, perhaps to ward off these animals from humans who had died in the desert; also depicted as a black dog, symbolic of rotting corpses and the fertile black soil of the Nile; he is the bastard son of Osiris and Nephthys, who abandoned her son, but was raised by Isis in her stead

Apophis (Apep) — snake-god of the underworld,

living in the cosmic waters of Nun, symbolizing the forces of chaos and evil; he attacks Ra’s solar barque on its journey through the dark hours of the day, but defeated nightly by Set, who is positioned at the bow of the boat; defeat of this serpent signifies the final real challenge to the pharaoh’s soul on its journey to the Duat; one myth recalls that Apophis was an earlier form of Ra that was discarded, accounting for his power

Aso — a beautiful sorceress and queen of Ethiopia, whose power was supposedly as strong

as Isis. In the Osiris myth, Aso assists Set by entering the shadow of Isis and Nephthys in order to discover the secret measurements of Osiris

Astarte — war goddess of Syrian origin; depicted as a naked woman on

horseback, crowned with a headdress of bull horns; she was adopted into the Egyptian pantheon as the daughter of Ra or Ptah, and also as a consort of Set; she was the protector of the pharaoh’s chariot in battle

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Aten (Aton) — deity represented as the great red orb (or disk) of the sun, depicted with long rays resembling outstretched arms, complete with hands, toward the faithful; the cobra amulet, the uraeus, often surmounted the disk; he was lauded as the creator of man and the nurturing spirit of the world; originally a manifestation of the sun god, Aten became the only true sun god worshipped during the reign of the pharaoh Amenhotep IV (1367-1359 BCE), who later changed his name to Akhenaten and established a modified form of monotheism around Aten

Atum — creator god and solar deity; Atum came into being before the

heavens and earth were separated, rising out of Nun, the waters of chaos, to form the primeval mound; his name means “the all” or “completed one”; Atum began creation by copulating with his hand (or spitting out) Shu and Tefnut, therefore earning Atum the moniker “the Great He-She”; a protector deity, associated closely with the rituals of kingship (Atum lifts the souls of the dead pharaohs from the pyramid to the heavens); linked with various animals, such as the lion, bull, lizard, serpent, and scarab beetle; associated with Ra, often as a combined form Atum-Ra; received the setting sun in the boat of Ra as it descends on the horizon

Banebdjede (Banebdjedet) — a primeaval ram-headed deity of Djedet

(Mendes), whose name means “the Spirit (or the Lord) of Djedet”; he incorporated the essence of the world in four forms (ba spirits) that referred to the first four rulers of the earth (Ra, Shu, Geb, and Osiris); consort of the fish goddess Hatmehyt and father of Harpokrates; according to one tradition, he interceded in the contest between Horus and Set for the Egyptian throne; Banebdejedet advised the gods to consult the goddess Neith, who advised them to award the throne to Horus; in this account, he was said to reside on the island of Seheil near the first cataract of the Nile at Aswan

Bast (Bastet) — an ancient cat goddess who protected women during pregnancy;

was a patroness of music, singing, and dancing, and she was the protector of joy, love, and pleasure; often depicted with a cat’s head (or a lioness’ head), or as a seated cat; affiliated with the rays of the sun, representing light and warmth; some consider her to be the mother of the savage lion-god Mahes (Miysis in Greek), whose name means “Lord of Slaughter”

Bata (Bat) — an ancient bull god (or cow goddess, depicted with two faces), representing

fertility, ultimately assimilated with Hathor by the New Kingdom; also represented unity over Upper and Lower Egypt, depicted in one 12th Dynasty tomb flanked by Horus and Set in poses of reconciliation; some scholars assert that Bata’s identity

117722 K UNIT 3 became incorporated into two other gods: Set and Baal, a Canaanite bull god identified with Set; the Phoenecian and Hebrew “beth” (“house”) may be transliteration of “Bata,” here used as a magical name of Set, and possibly created by a phonetic shift from “Seth” to “Beth”

Befen — one of seven scorpions sent by Thoth and Serkhet to protect Isis and to help her

escape Set’s captivity Ennead (Pesedjet) — term (meaning “nine”) used to define the nine major gods of the

Egyptian pantheon: Atum (the Bull of the Ennead), his children Shu and Tefnut, his grandchildren Geb and Nut, and his four great grandchildren Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys; sometimes Thoth, Horus, Ra, and Ptah are included as well

Geb (Seb) — Father Earth; the goose (the form

the Creator took in The First Time; created by cackling — his delight turned into manifestation); his bones created mountains; he lies beneath Nut (sky), usually depicted reclining on one side with one arm bent, often depicted with an erect phallus pointing skyward toward his wife; he represents the mountains and valleys of the earth; responsible for vegetation, and often depicted green or with green leaves protruding from him; symbolic of the capacity of consciousness to awaken itself from the dark substance of the soul

Hapi —the god of inundation, and the fertility of the Nile River; symbol of life and

fertility, depicted as a pot-bellied bearded man with pendulous breasts and a headdress filled with aquatic plants, symbolizing the nurturing aspects of the river; his name means “runner”

Hathor — bovine goddess with diverse qualities, often worshipped in three forms: as a cow,

as a woman with the ears of a cow, and as a woman wearing a headdress consisting of a wig, horns, and a sun disk; her name means “House of Horus,” and her hieroglyph shows a falcon confined inside a rectangle; she was regarded as the divine mother of all reigning pharaohs, associated with royal pleasures, such as sex, love, joy, and music; sometimes depicted as a lion form of the goddess Sekhmet, and in this guise she assumes the form of one of Ra’s eyes smiting blasphemers; also known as the “lady of the west,” where she was said to receive the setting sun, which she protected until morning; also known as the “lady of the sycamore,” and is associated with healing powers

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Heka — “magical speech”; represented magic, supernatural powers, and miracles; patron god of wizards and physicians; the concept that the spoken word has the power to create or destroy; to repeat a person’s name was to render him immortal; stands in Ra’s Boat of a Million Years, along with Hu (authoritative utterance or command) and Sia (perception)

Horus — “face” (the face of heaven), “high,” “above”; root of the word

“hero”; he became the intermediary between the living and the dead, receiving human prayers for Osiris; known as the “twice-born” due to his human reincarnation of Horus the Elder, his original spirit form; symbolized as a hawk; represents leadership, as well as the intelligence, alertness, and longevity of a just ruler; nothing escaped his watchful eye (his eyes were first depicted as the sun and the moon); became king of Upper and Lower Egypt

Horus the Elder — an original, abstract version of the hawk (divinity

of the sky, specifically a placid blue sky); a celestial and solar divinity; symbolized kingship and was placed symbolically above the kings’ hieroglyphic names; is reborn as the son of Isis in human form

Isis — “the throne,” the power to make kings, the seat and

throne of the soul; the binding force of the divine soul; depicted early as a mistress of magic, she learns Ra’s true name, and hence the secrets of the universe; also called Weret-Hekau (“Great of Magic”) and Mut-Netjer (“Mother of the Gods”); helped to civilize Egypt with her husband Osiris, teaching agriculture and medicine and instituting marriage; she also attained Ra’s powers, which she dedicated to the service of mankind

Khepri — a creator deity of resurrection depicted in the form of a scarab

beetle (dung beetle) who pushes the sun above the horizon and across the sky; he is swallowed by his mother Nut each evening, and is passed through her womb to be reborn each morning; his name means “he who is coming into being”; because he was self-created, he is often identified with Atum; because he is associated with the sun, he is also identified with Ra; his name comes from hprr, which means “scarab” or “he who is coming into being”; by the New Kingdom (1539-1070 BCE), he is portrayed as the symbol of life’s victory over death

117744 K UNIT 3 Khnum (Khenmu) — an ancient potter god of fertility who created

children and their ka souls at their conceptions from the clay of the earth using his potter’s wheel; his name means “unite,” “join,” or “build”; his island residence at Abu is thought to be “the seat of the First Time”; he was also a god of water representing the inundation silt and creation; was believed to be the old guardian of the Nile’s source (pouring it from a clay jar), but later became a helper to Hapi, assuring that the proper amount of silt was deposited during the floods; he was also considered to be the ba of Ra (this is an Egyptian pun, since ba also means “ram”); he assisted Ra in his travels in the Solar Barque, which Khnum had built

Khons (Khonsu) — the moon god and the god of healing, typically represented

as a baboon or a mummified hawk-headed human; his name means “wanderer” or “navigator,” and he was associated with the nature of dreams; he is often honored during childbirth, and was credited with the ability to drive out evil spirits; linked with Thoth, god of writing and wisdom, who is another lunar deity; depicted as a young man with a hawk’s head, mummy wrappings, and the scepter of the god Ptah

Ma’at — “Truth” or “Judge,” goddess of justice, harmony, and

equilibrium; depicted as a woman with wings or a woman with a white ostrich feather tied to her head; this feather is weighed against the heart of the deceased pharaoh in the Hall of Judgment; patroness of judges, magistrates, and court officials

Metwi (Ouroboros) — The great serpent that

encircles the world, allowing the miracle of rejuvenation to take place; its name means “double cord” or “lifespan,” and therefore Metwi represents time; the icon of the serpent ingesting its tail is universal in mythology, dating back to 1600 BCE in Egypt

Min — fertility god and symbol of male potency; depicted as a mummified

human figure holding an erect phallus in his left hand (his name means “the firm one”), and his right arm raised in a smiting gesture; associated with long lettuce (lactuca sativa), due to the perceived link between the milky sap of lettuce and human semen; also a god of desert travel and the guardian of fertility and harvests; protected the mining areas of the eastern deserts; parallel to the Greek god Pan

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Nefertem (Un-Nefer) — god of the primeval lotus blossom, represented by a blue lotus; linked with Ra because the sun was said to have arisen from a lotus; associated with Hathor due to his fertility powers; was considered to be the son of Ptah and Sekhmet, and therefore was sometimes depicted with a lion’s head (known as the son of Bast, the cat goddess); perfumes were sacred to this god, who is supposed to have brought a fragrant flower to Ra to soothe him during a time of suffering; his name means “Tem [Atum] is beautiful”; patron of the healing arts and beautification

Neith (Nit) —creation goddess whose symbol was a shield with crossed

arrows; representing Lower Egypt, she wore the red crown; mythical inventor of weaving, she was linked with mummy bandages; said to be a consort to Set and mother of Sobek; sometimes she was depicted as a sexless being, associated with the lake of Nun, the primordial waters of chaos before creation; her name means “primeval waters,” “one who is,” or “she who saw Atum’s birth”; was the patroness of hunting, warfare, and the Libyans

Nekhbet — a vulture goddess paired with Wadjet (cobra goddess of the north),

representing dominion over Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively; she is depicted as a vulture with outspread wings and talons holding shen signs (symbols of eternity); she resided in the primeval waters of chaos before creation; was a patroness of childbirth and nature, often depicted wirh a water lily and a serpent entwined in its stems; her name means “she of Nekheb”

Nemty — a war god having the form of a falcon, identified with Horus; often

depicted as a falcon-headed man in a boat; his name means “he who travels,” and appears as a ferryman who sails the Ennead to the Island in the Middle; had his toes cut off for disobeying orders from the Ennead

Nephthys (Nebt-hut) — “Mistress of the House”; “Friend of the Dead”; the lady

of the house (represents Isis as a married woman); wife of Set, but mistress of Ra and Osiris; rides the night boat of the underworld, meeting the deceased king’s spirit and riding him to “Lightland”; she gives guidance to the deceased and comforts the living relatives; is the wife of Set and the mother of Anubis, the jackal-headed god fathered by Osiris

Nun (Nu) — “the Father of Fathers and the Mother of Mothers”; “the

void”; “the waters of potentiality”; “the primeval waters,” or a state of being before The First Time; she lies inert until Atum rises and throws off the waters to begin creation (which is ongoing), creating Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture); all things will return to Nun, a perpetual state of nonbeing

117766 K UNIT 3 Nut — her name means “the sky,” especially the starry

sky of nighttime; the starry vault; sleep and comfort of the night; depicted as a tall woman bending over Geb and supported by Shu; colored blue and decorated with five-pointed golden stars; the sun is born of Nut’s womb each morning, and returns to her body via her mouth in the evening; “the mother of the gods”; she is sometimes represented as a cow who eats the stars each morning and then gives birth to them at twilight

Ogdoad (Khmun) — the name for the group of primeval creation

deities, four pairs of frog gods and snake goddesses, symbolizing the different aspects of chaos before the creation — Nun and Nunet (the lack of solidity), Heh and Hehet (infinite; the lack of time), Kek and Keket (the lack of light), and Tenem and Tenemet (lack of direction); they raised the primeval mound upon which the egg of the sun god was placed; they were believed to have constituted the soul of Thoth

Onuris (Anhur, Inhert) — the god associated with war and hunting, whose

name means “he who brings back the distant one” or “the bringer of fear”; he is portrayed as a bearded man holding a spear or a rope, symbolic of the battles between Horus and Set (Horus used these weapons to defeat Set in his hippopotamus form); also known as an avenger defending Egypt on behalf of Ra, assuming Ra’s warrior aspects, thus given the epithet “son of Ra”; he was worshipped in conjunction with the god Shu, another solar deity; associated with Mars; also represented the creative power of humans

Orion (Sah) — “the Buried One”; the personification of the southern

constellation that was later called Orion by the Greeks; also called “the Fleet-Footed” and Long Strider”; this god was described as “the glorious soul of Osiris,” and formed a triad with Sopdet (Sirius, the “dog star”) and his son Soped, the god of the eastern border; this constellation is the location of the Egyptian Underworld, the Duat

Osiris (Asar, Wesir, Greek Orion) — “He sees the Throne”; “the seat and

throne of the eye”; the heavenly source of the soul’s substance and the heavenly body to which all souls return; the judge of the dead and overseer of the blessed spirits; embodies the “Black Land of the Two Lands” as the fertile soil from the Nile’s flood; he is annually “murdered” by the Red Land (Set), but is resurrected at the rising of Sopdet (the star Sirius) in late July; originally the lord of the earth, Osiris became the king of the gods and the Other World after his death

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by Set and his resurrection by Isis; usually represented in mummified form, symbolizing his authority over the dead; called Un-Nefer (“Good Being”) to indicate his ability to judge the dead souls of the Underworld

Ptah — a creator god, called “Lord of Truth” in historical records, often depicted as a mummy with his hands protruding from the wrappings, holding a staff that combines the djed pillar (stability), ankh sign (life), and the was scepter (prosperity); the patron of craftsmen, he was thought to have paralleled Atum, creating the world by thoughts emanating from his heart and words emerging from his tongue; the source of ethical and moral order; he devised the “Opening of the Mouth” ceremony that allowed the human soul to ascend to the heavens

Ra (Re) — “the sun” (that is, the sun that is in your mind, as opposed to

the disk in the sky, Aten); Ra was the most popular solar deity, and he “lives” inside the physical disk of the sun, which is also called the “Boat of a Million Years,” riding on the belly of Nut (sky) and traveling in the darkness of the underworld half of the time; symbol of light, life, and warmth; a creator and destroyer, Ra represented the sun at its height in the noonday sky (Khepri was the sunrise and Atum the sunset); symbolized also as a heron (or a phoenix) who rises from the primordial waters (Nun) and sings the song of creation; was often combined with Horus to form Ra-Harakhti, a dweller in (and master of) the horizon; rose out of an egg created by Ptah (or out of a lotus flower); the monthly waxing and waning of the moon restored the eye of Ra; depicted with a solar disk and cobra atop his head

Renenutet (Renenet) — a cobra goddess who protected the pharaoh and represented fertility and good fortune, often associated with Isis; her name means “the nourishing snake,” and she is often depicted as a woman with a snake’s head, holding a suckling baby; her name also means “nurse,” and this term was used to identify the New Year (the beginning of the Nile’s inundation); she is also known as “lady of the fields” and “lady of the granaries,” and she was responsible for protecting the harvest; she united with Wadjet to form a fire-breathing cobra that protects the king through the underworld journey on the solar barque; she represents the cyclical nature of time, that which is preordained (fate), and good fortune

Sekhmet — a lioness goddess whose name means “she who is powerful”; she

personified the aggressive aspects of female deities, often appearing with the head of a lioness; she is linked with Wadjet when she assumes the aspects of the fire-breathing Eye of Ra, often called the “Red Lady” in this form; as a healer, her powers of destruction would be turned against plague and disease; was wife to Ptah; paired with Hathor to kill the blasphemers of Ra

117788 K UNIT 3 Serket (Serqet, Selket) — a scorpion goddess depicted with a scorpion atop her

head, poised to strike; her name is an abbreviation of the phrase serket hetyt, meaning “one who causes the throat to breathe” or “she who breathes”; one of her duties is to guard the royal coffin and canopic chest in the pharaoh’s pyramid, along with Isis, Nephthys, and Neith; her name appears in many spells for curing venomous bites; is the protector of little children, especially from scorpion bites; assisted women in childbirth by warding off the demons; also known as the goddess of detoxification

Seshet (Seshat) — “the seven-horned”; goddess of writing and measurement, the

recorder of deeds and mistress of the books (census, accounting, and measurements); she is often depicted holding a palm rib (the hieroglyph for “many years”), representing the passing of time; similar to her counterpart Thoth, she was sometimes shown writing the pharaohs’ names on the leaves of the persea tree; patroness of architecture

Set (Seth, Sutekh, Seti, Seba) — the god of the storm, lightning, and

thunder, he was a force of strength, violence, destruction, and chaos; his name means “instigator of confusion,” “dazzle,” “stabilizing staff or pillar,” or “He before whom the sky shakes”; the divine force of habits; the ability of the body to control the awareness of flesh; the guardian of the Boat of a Million Years; the shadow of Horus (Horus and Set combine to form a complete individual); later became known as the desert “Red Land,” a murderer, and even evil itself (Hebrew “Satan” and the Greek “Typhon”); also known as a trickster god; symbolized as an ass, hippopotamus, pig, jackal, and hyena

Shu — “dry”; “void”; represents the cool air and atmosphere

between the earth (Geb) and sky (Nut), which he separated to allow creation to occur, according to Ra’s command; Shu provides the good wind to the boats, and assists the soul in its ascent to the afterlife (“Lightland”), climbing up the ladder held up by Horus and Set; symbolized as a man with a single ostrich feather (or as a lion); is the twin to Tefnut (warm, moist air)

Sobek (Sebek) — “watching over you”; a crocodile god, often depicted as a

man with the head of a crocodile and a sun-disk headdress with feathers; son of Neith, he represented eternal time, emerging from the watery chaos during the world’s creation; he was associated with Ra and later with the Greek sun god Helios; he was a god of protection and healing, seeking vengeance against wrongdoers; known for his physical strength, he often protected his fellow gods; crocodiles were feared, as they are the only large animals that attack humans

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Sokar (Seker) — “he who is upon his sand”; “adorned one”; a fertility god and the patron of craftsmen, and therefore linked with Ptah; originally lord over darkness and death, and later over judgment and burial; was a spirit guardian over the tombs; depicted as a mummified human figure with the head of a hawk; also pictured as a low mound of earth surmounted by a boat that contains the hawk’s head; consort of Sekhmet; was later fused with Ptah and Osiris to form the combined deity Ptah-Seker-Asar

Sopdet (also Sothis or Sirius) — “the skilled female”; the

personification of Sirius, the Dog Star, and manifestation of the goddess Isis; represented as a woman with a star above her head, but sometimes as a seated cow with a plant between her horns; the Egyptians correlated the rising of the Dog Star with the beginning of the solar year; formed a triad with her husband Sah (Orion) and her son Soped, a parallel to the Osiris, Isis, Horus triad (the Pyramid Texts unite Sopdet with Osiris to give birth to the morning star); was considered the true symbol of the coming inundation (akhet) of the Nile River in July or August, the beginning of the new year in Egypt; the Pyramid Texts say that the Osiris (Orion) united with his sister Isis (Sopdet) who gave birth to the morning star and guided him to the celestial Field of Rushes (the life beyond); she also was linked to the three stars in the belt of Orion

Tefen — one of seven scorpions sent by Thoth and Serkhet to protect Isis and to help her

escape Set’s captivity

Tefnut — “sky-spittle,” “rain”; airborne moisture, clouds, dew, and rain; the

wetness of life; the biological process; her sweet vaginal waters nourish the earth; depicted as a female sphinx (woman with a lion’s head), surmounted by the sun and seated on the throne, trampling the enemies of the Two Lands; twin to Shu; with her twin sister Nut, the earth-god and twin Geb, and god of the air Shu, they made a quartet of air, sky, earth, and water; she was linked to the creative powers of Ptah, serving as a means of bringing life into existence

Thoth (Djehuty) — “leader”; Lord of Time, writing, speaking, wit, inventions,

and wisdom; is credited with inventing hieroglyphic script and negotiating five extra days from the moon (Khons) to establish the 365-day calendar; he represented intellect, divine thought, and the power of the mind and soul; he was the patron of writers, teachers, and accountants, or anyone associated with knowledge or calculation; depicted as an ibis or a baboon (these animals were often viewed singing to the morning sun, with hands raised); he stands at the side of the scales

118800 K UNIT 3 in the Hall of Two Truths to record the verdict of the deceased person’s soul (that is read by Anubis); associated with the moon, he was called “Lord of Heavens,” “Beautiful Night,” and “Silent Being”; he was the protector of priest-physicians, and was associated with the inundation of the Nile; skilled in magic incantations, especially of healing

Udjat — the personification of the udjat, the Divine Eye

of Atum, Ra, and Horus; Horus lost his left eye (representing the moon) due to his contendings with Set, but Hathor was able to restore it; thus, the udjat eye (the “Eye of Horus”) came to signify the healing process of making things whole; the symbol also represented the waxing and waning of the moon, and served as a metaphor for protection, strength, and perfection; her name literally means “prosperous,” “whole,” or “sound”

Wadjet — a cobra goddess whose name means “the green one” or

“she of the papyrus”; because she was portrayed as a rearing cobra, she is associated with the uraeus, the archetypal serpent-image of kingship; every new pharaoh had to claim the throne from her at his coronation; originally a serpent-mother who protected lower Egypt; Wadjet was paired with the vulture goddess Nekhbet, the pair described as nebty (“two ladies”), symbolizing the dualities of the Egyptian world; the mothers of cobras and vultures were considered to be the fiercest protectors of their young

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