Egyptian Deities

Egypt had by tradition a great variety of gods. The total of them all (in names at least) was over 2.000, but many of them had similar characteristics and appeared all over the country by different names. The huge diversity is due to the fact that before the country was united the Nile Valley was divided into about forty self ruling areas (later to be provinces - so called nomes) where the ruling tribe had its own deities. Almost all gods had one thing in common - they manifested themselves on earth as animals. Hundreds of creatures like birds, crocodiles, frogs, turtles, cows and cats etc. were considered to be the living images of a particular god, and thus 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, feasting etc. Many of them had lots of duties and were combined with each other in a great number of ways. They could also appear in many forms like a goddess (curious even by Egyptian standards) having a head of a wasp and body from a hippopotamus. The goddesses are easy to single out - they were standing with their legs joined together, while the gods used to be depicted striding.

• Gods
• Goddesses