List of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

Egyptians worshiped many god and goddesses. They believed that each god and goddess helped create a balance in their land and lives. The main Egyptian gods and goddesses are:

Descriptions of the Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

Ra is the Egyptian God of the Sun. His is a very powerful and worshiped Egyptian God. He is considered the “Father of the Gods”. He is often shown as a god with a falcon-head topped with a sun disk. During the day, Ra would sail across the sky in a boat called a barque. Most of the time, Ra would fight his chief enemy, Apep, who looked like a snake. Ra's sun disk has a cobra on it, like the ones found on Egyptian pharaohs crowns or headdresses. Ra is sometime called Re.

Nut is the Egyptian Goddess of the Sky. It is believed that Amun created Nut as one of the original Gods in their creation story. Egyptians believed that the sky was Nut's body arched over them. Nut was married to Ra, her true love was the God of Earth, Geb. Egyptians used this love triangle to explain the number of days in the year, and the cycles of the moon. Nut had five children, two of them were Osiris and Seth.

Geb was the Egyptian God of the Earth. He is shown as a god whose body was the color of mud and plants. It is believed that Amun created Geb as one of the original Gods. Geb and Nut were in love and had four children together even though Nut was married to Ra.

Isis is the Egyptian Goddess of Magical and Magical Spells. She was considered a very powerful magician. She was also the wife of Osiris. Many felt that made her Queen of the Earth. Egyptians believed that when her husband died, she found his body pieces. She made the first Egyptian mummy out of the body parts that she found from him. She secretly buried his body and protected his tomb with magical spells. Isis is also responsible for creating Apep and using him to get powers that equaled Ra's.

Osiris is the Egyptian God of the Underworld. It is believed that he was a ruling pharaoh, “King of the Earth”. When he died, he became the legendary king of the dead. Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth. Seth was afraid that Isis (Orisis' wife who was a powerful magician) would bring Osiris back from the dead so he buried Osiris' body in lots of place along the Nile. Isis later found each place and turned each one into a shrine. People would go to these places to worship Osiris and hope that they would join him someday. Osiris is the son of Nut, and the husband of Isis.

Horus is the Egyptian God of Pharaohs. He was represented with a hawk head. He became leader of Egypt after his father, Osiris, died. He is also known for trying to seek revenge for his father's death. Horus is married to Hathor.

Seth is the Egyptian God of the Desert. He was son of Nut and Geb, and the brother of Osiris. When Osiris was pharaoh, Seth, tricked him into a coffin and killed him. Later he cut up Osiris' body and hid it from Isis, Osiris' wife and a powerful magician. Then Seth was king until Osiris' son, Horus killed him. Seth is often shown as a god's body with an animal head that has a curved nose. No one seems sure of what kind of animal it is, but there are a lot of guesses like it is an an antelope, a giraffe or a pig. Seth is also known for defending Ra from Apep.

Bastet was the Egyptian Goddess of Cats. She was their protector and one of Ra and Nut's five children. She was shown with the head of a cat. Cats were very important to Egyptians, see Cats.

Amun is the Egyptian God of Creation. Amun was the “King of all Egyptian Gods”. You cannot see the god Amun, but if you call him Amun-Re, you will be able to picture him as a pharaoh with a pharaohs beard and also with ostrich feathers on his hat. Amun is sometimes pictured as a ram or ram's horn.

Hathor was the Egyptian Goddess of Love. She was often called the cow-headed goddess. She protected women when they were pregnant and giving birth. Hathor is married to Horus. The Greeks identified her with Aphrodite, goddess of love. Hathor had a dark side that was considered the goddess Sekhmet.

Thoth was the Egyptian God of Wisdom. He was shown as an Ibis(bird) headed man. People believe that he had a book that held the world's wisdom. The Greeks who equated him with Hermes, their messenger of the gods. Egyptians believed that when you died, Thoth wrote down in his great book whether you could live forever or not. Thoth was married to the goddess Ma'at.

Anubis is the Egyptian God of Embalming (preserving dead bodies). Anubis was considered the first to mummify a body when he helped preserve Osiris. Egyptians believed that when you died, Anubis would weigh your heart to see if you had lived a good life and lived forever. Anubis was often shown as a god with the head of a jackal.

Ma'at is the Egyptian goddess of justice. She guarded over justice and truth. She was often shown as a beautiful Egyptian goddess with winged arms and an ostrich feather in her headdress. In Egyptian times, the chief judge in their courts was called the “priest of Ma'at”. The pharaoh of all Egypt would swear “follow” Ma'at. When he did, it meant that he would be a fair and true ruler. Ma'at was married to Thoth, god of wisdom.

Sekhmet was the Egyptian goddess of the sun. She was considered the bad side of Hathor. She is often shown as a goddess with the head of a lion and a sun disk. She was thought of as a destructive desert sun, a killing sun.