Religion

The Ancient Egyptians had an advanced religion with approximately 2,000 gods & goddesses that they worshipped.
Most gods & goddesses were represented as part human part, part animal.

The main gods, such as Anubis and Iris, were worshipped throughout Egypt, however the majority were worshipped in small or local areas. Some of the most well-known gods and goddesses are shown below.
[Clicking on the pictures takes you to their Wikipedia page]

Ancient Egyptians believed that when a person died, their soul split into many parts, and lived on in the afterlife.
The best-known forms of the spirit were the ba, the akh, and the ka.

The ba was your personality. It was drawn as a bird with a human head.

The akh was represented an ibis (see Thoth). When a person actually died, the akh left the body and flew up to spend eternity in the heavens

The ka was the life force, like our modern definition of a soul, and it looked exactly like its person. The ka lived in the tomb for the rest of eternity. Personal possessions, such as furniture, weapons, and clothing, would be used by the ka in the afterlife, so these items were placed in the tomb with the mummy. Food and drink were also provided for the ka.

The most important thing the ka needed was a body to inhabit. If the body rotted away, there would be no chance of an afterlife. It was vital to preserve the body by mummification. This is the reason why Egyptians made mummies for thousands of years.
A mummy was the guarantee of eternal life.

	Anubis is the god of the underworld and guardian of the dead. He has the head of a black jackal.
	Isis was the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. She was one of the few all-human goddesses and represented queens, wives and mothers. Her temples have been found as far from Egypt as Northern England. She was still worshipped in Southern Egypt as late as the 6th century A.D. when Christianity had taken over from the ancient beliefs. When she is drawn, the symbol for throne is put above her head, as can be seen here.
	Horus the sky god had the body of a human body and the head of a hawk. His eyes were thought to be the sun and moon.
	Osiris was the god of life, death, and fertility. He is shown as a pharoah with green skin holding a crook and flail - symbols of his divine authority. Isis was his sister and Horus, his son. Legend has it that Osiris taught mankind how to make beer
	Khnum was a man with the head of a curly horned ram. He was the god of the source of the River Nile. This was very important as the annual flooding of the Nile was essential to the Egpytians for growing crops. Khnum was often shown as a potter sitting at a wheel. He was thought to be the creator of human children making them out of clay and then placing them in their mothers' wombs He came from the island of Elefanite at Aswan.
	Heqet or Heket was a goddess of fertility with the head of a frog. She protected mothers during childbirth and in their homes. She gave all of the creatures the breath of life, to make them grow. Heqet was the wife of Khnum.
	Tefnut was a women with the head of a lioness. She was the goddess of moisture and fertility. She was grandmother to Isis and Osiris
	Apedemak was a lion god worshipped mainly in Nubia in the South of Egypt. He was the guardian of the dead Pharaohs in their tombs. Anyone who touched a Pharaoh's grave was cursed by Apedemak.
	Ra also known as Amon-Ra. He was the sun god which represented light, heat and growth to the Egyptians. This made him the ruler of all the other gods. People thought that the sun was either the body or eye of Ra. Ra is shown here with the head of a falcon. Often he was drawn as a man wearing a Pharaoh's crown and the sun on his head.
	Bast or Pasht was a woman with a lioness or cat's head. She was one of Ra's daughters and protected both Ra and the ruling pharoah. Originally she was considered to be a goddess of the sun but later was changed to be a goddess of the moon.
	Set was the god of the desert. He was drawn as an imaginary animal. Some people say this the Set animal is a combination of an Aarvark and a jackal. Both of these are desert creatures. As the god of the desert, he was considered to be very powerful. He was brother to Isis and Osiris.
	Thoth was one of the most important gods to the Egyptians; a man with the head of an ibis and holding a writing palette. He was the god of knowlege and writing. Sometimes he is drawn with a crescent moon on top of his head to show that he was able to calculate the calendar (which was based upon the moon)