![]() ![]() Ra created Earth, Heaven and the Underworld, as well as all of the gods and living creatures that inhabit these three worlds. He was one of the first to emerge in Egyptian mythology. RaĪrguably Ancient Egypt’s most important god, Ra was the Creator God. As a bonus, there are plenty of living crocodiles to spot along this stretch of the Nile, too! The Nile-side temple of Kom Ombo is dedicated to Horus and Sobek, the crocodile god 6. You can still see many of these at Kom Ombo’s Crocodile Museum. ![]() Egyptians mummified crocodiles in honour of Sobek. Honoured alongside Horus at the Nile-side temple of Kom Ombo, Sobek was said to have created the mighty river from his sweat, when helping Ra to create the world. Sobek’s reputation as a fierce god was somewhat reinforced by his depiction as a crocodile-headed man. Now for some information about other Egyptian gods and goddesses! 5. It is a face like no creature known to walk the Earth during Egyptian times or since. He is usually shown with long, square ears and a long snout. Fittingly, archaeologists have been unable to work out what creature Set was depicted as. Set was the God of Chaos, Violence, Deserts and Storms. He murdered his brother out of jealousy and then tried to destroy his own nephew. ![]() The final character in the Osiris myth, Set is the villain in our story. Over centuries the stories changed and many gods and goddesses merged into each other. This is an example of how the Egyptian gods were not simple deities. In another important variation, Horus is merged with Ra (more on him later!) to create Ra-Horakhty. It was during this conflict that Horus lost his eye – you have probably heard of The Eye of Horus. Depicted as a falcon-headed man and worshipped as the God of the Sky and War, he would eventually avenge his father against his uncle Set, becoming king of Egypt himself. The most famous is the description mentioned above, Horus as a son of Osiris and Isis. There are six variations of the god known to have existed in Egyptian mythology. I did warn you things would get complicated, and Horus is an example of this. ![]() Philae Temple in Aswan is dedicated to the goddess Isis 3. It was famously relocated from its original location in the 1970s, to protect it from flooding caused by the Aswan High Dam. The Temple of Philae in Aswan was built in her honour. She endured as the most important goddess in Ancient Egypt until the end of the civilization. Having resurrected her dead husband, Isis helped her son to avenge his murder in his battle against Set. Her legend eventually found its way to Greece, where temples still stand in devotion to her. Goddess of the Moon, protector of women and children, healer of the sick, Isis was the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. Osiris was most often depicted as a mummified king with green skin, an example of the death he represented. This task fulfilled, Osiris returned permanently to the Underworld. This allowed the couple to have a son, Horus. But the mourning wife and sister of Osiris, Isis, set about gathering the pieces of her husband and resurrected him. Set scattered the pieces of Osiris across Egypt and became king himself. According to one of the most important stories in Egyptian mythology, Osiris, King of Egypt was brutally murdered and dismembered by his jealous brother, Set. It was he who was responsible for the cyclical annual flooding of the Nile, which was so crucial to agriculture and the survival of the Egyptian civilization. Osiris, God of the Underworld, symbolized death and resurrection in Ancient Egypt. We’ll start with the characters in the myth of Osiris, one of Ancient Egypt’s most enduring legends. A word of warning, things can get complicated in places! So whether you’ve already booked your trip to Egypt, or you’re thinking about visiting in the future, arm yourself with some knowledge of Egyptian mythology and one of the world’s most famous civilizations. In this article, we’ll introduce you to some of Ancient Egypt’s most important gods and goddesses. The temple of Kom Ombo for example, and Edfu. Some of the country’s most well-known pharaohs also cultivated an almost god-like status, further complicating matters! Many of Egypt’s most popular sites today were first built to honour some of these gods. Tales of conflict, deception and love were used to fuel their worship. Like all good mythologies, many of these gods were shrouded in legend. Over the centuries, hundreds of different gods and goddesses were worshipped in Egypt, with many rising and falling in popularity. Ancient Egyptian civilization was incredibly complex. ![]()
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