Here is a list of the gods that they worshipped and their purposes:
Amen-Ra
variant spelling: Amon-Re
A composite deity, devised to link New Kingdom (Dyn. XVIII-XXI) worship of Amen with the older solar cult of the god Ra.
Anuket
In Upper Egypt, around Elephantine, Anuket was worshipped as the companion (generally the daughter) of Khnum and Sati. Her sacred animal was the gazelle. She was believed to be the dispenser of cool water, and wore a feathered crown on her human head.
Apis
An early deity, probably the best known Egyptian deity represented only as an animal, and never as a human with an animal's head. He was primarily a deity of fertility. He was represented as a bull crowned with the solar disk and uraeus-serpent. A sacred Apis bull was kept in Memphis, and there is a great mass burial of Apis bulls, the Serapeum (named for his composite relative Serapis), located there.
Aten
variant spelling: Aton
In the reign of Amenhotep IV during Dynasty 18, Aten was depicted as a disk with rays, each ray terminating in a human hand and bestowing symbols of "life" upon those below. Aten was declared the only true deity during this period, but the worship of Amen and the other deities was restored by Amenhotep IV's successor Tutankhamen
Atum
A primordial creator god, worshipped as the head of the Heliopolitan family of gods. Father of Shu and Tefnut, and in later times believed to be one with the sun god Ra.
Bes
A deity of either African or Semitic origin and was revered as a deity of household pleasures such as music, good food, and relaxation. Also a protector and entertainer of children.
Duamutef
variant spelling: Tuamutef
One of the Four Sons of Horus, Duamutef was represented as a mummified man with the head of a jackal. He was the protector of the stomach of the deceased..
Edjo
A serpent goddess of the Delta and a symbol of protection for of Lower Egypt.
Four Sons of Horus
The four sons of Horus were the protectors of the parts of the body of Osiris, and from this, became the protectors of the body of the deceased. They were: Imsety, Hapi, Duamutef, and Qebhsenuef. They were protected in turn by the goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Selket.
Geb
variant spelling: Seb
The god of the earth; son of Shu and Tefnut; brother and husband of Nut; and father of Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. His sacred animal and symbol was the goose. He is generally represented as a man with green or black skin - the color of living things, and the color of the fertile Nile mud, respectively.
Hapi
The English version of the name of two different deities:
- One of the Four Sons of Horus, Hapi was represented as a mummified man with the head of a baboon. He was the protector of the lungs of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Nephthys.
- Spelled with different hieroglyphs, Hapi is also the name of the god who was the personification of the River Nile, depicted as a corpulent man .
Hathor
variant spellings: Hathoor, Het-heru, Het-Hert
‘Hathor’ was the Hellenic form of the name Arthur, whom the Greeks identified with their own goddess Aphrodite. Her name can be translated as the ‘dwelling [or house] of Horus’, for it was thought that Horus the sun god came to rest each evening on her breast before being reborn with the awakening dawn. Other sources tell of Hathor being the celestial cow who gave birth to the universe and all that it contains. She is often represented either in the form of a cow or with some bovine attribute such as a cow’s r head, horns on her head-dress or cow’s ears. Throughout the Egyptian period Hathor was considered to be the goddess of many things, some of which were at times contradictory. She presided over both heaven and the underworld, she was a moon goddess, a sky goddess and even a sun goddess, and as the dwelling of Horus she represented both the eastern and western horizons. As a mother goddess she was confused with Nut and Isis. But her main attributes reveal her to have been a moon goddess, and her head-dress often consists of a pair of horns (an ancient lunar symbol) with the moon’s disc between them. She is also often depicted being carried upon a boat, as water was her element. She was the goddess of joy and love, of music, dance and song. Her temple at Dendera was the house of intoxication and enjoyment. She was usually shown with a solar disk flanked by cow horns on her head. At Thebes, she was considered a goddess of the dead, and wore the hieroglyph for "West" (amenta) on her head. She was also the patron of love, dance, alcohol, and foreign lands.
Harpocrates
Greek version of Egyptian Hor-pa-kraat
"Horus the Child", the son of Isis and Osiris as a little suckling child, distinguished from Horus the Elder, who was the patron deity of Upper Egypt. Represented as a young boy with a child's side lock of hair, sucking his finger.
Heqet
A primordial goddess with the head of a frog, worshipped as one of the Eight Gods at Hermopolis, and seen as the consort of Khnum at Antinoë.
Horus of Behdet
variant spelling: Hadit
A form of Horus worshipped in the city of Behdet, shown in the well-known form of a solar disk with a great pair of wings, usually seen hovering above important scenes in Egyptian religious art. Made popular by Aleister Crowley under the poorly transliterated name "Hadit", the god appears to have been a way of depicting the omnipresence of Horus.
Imhotep
Imhotep was a historical figure. He was the architect, physician, scribe, and vizier of the 3rd Dynasty pharaoh Zoser. It was Imhotep who conceived and built the Step Pyramid at Sakkara.
Imsety
variant spellings: Amset, Mestha
One of the Four Sons of Horus, Amset was represented as a mummified man. He was the protector of the liver of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Isis.
Khepri
The creator-god, according to early Heliopolitan cosmology; assimilated with Atum and Ra. The Egyptian root kheper signifies several things, according to context, most notably the verb "to create" or "to transform", and also the word for "scarab beetle". The scarab, or dung beetle, was considered symbolic of the sun since it rolled a ball of dung in which it laid its eggs around with it - this was considered symbolic of the sun god propelling the sphere of the sun through the sky.
Khnum
Appearing as a ram-headed human, Khnum was worshipped most at Antinoe and Elephantine. He was another creator-god, represented as fashioning human beings on his pottery wheel.
Khons
The third member (with his parents Amen and Mut) of the great triad of Thebes. Khons was the god of the moon. The best-known story about him tells of him playing the ancient game senet ("passage") against Thoth, and wagering a portion of his light.
Maat
Considered the wife of Thoth and the daughter of Ra by various traditions, Maat's name implies "truth" and "justice" and even "cosmic order", but there is no clear English equivalent. She is an anthropomorphic personification of the concept maat and as such has little mythology. Maat was represented as a tall woman with an ostrich .
Mentu
variant spellings: Month, Men Thu
The principal god of Thebes before the rise of the Amen cult; appeared as a falcon-headed man and often united with Horus. Primarily a war god.
Min
variant spellings: Menu, Amsu
Min was worshiped as the god of virility; lettuces were offered as sacrifice to him and then eaten in hopes of procuring manhood; and he was later worshiped as the husband of the goddess Qetesh, goddess of love and femininity.
Mut
The wife of Amen in Theban tradition; the word mut in Egyptian means "mother", and she was the mother of Khonsu, the moon god.
Nefertum
The youthful son of Ptah and Sekhmet, connected with the rising sun; depicted as a youth crowned with or seated upon a lotus blossom.
Neith
variant spellings: Net, Neit
A very ancient goddess of war, worshiped in the Delta; revered as a goddess of wisdom, identified with Athena by the Greeks; in later traditions, the sister of Isis, Nephthys, and Selket.
Nekhbet
Upper Egyptian patron goddess, represented as a vulture in iconography, and often part of the crown of the pharaoh, along with her Lower Egyptian counterpart Edjo.
Nephthys
Greek version of Egyptian Nebt-het
"Lady of the House", the youngest child of Geb and Nut. The sister and wife of Set, and sister of Isis and Osiris; also the mother (variantly by Set or by Osiris) of Anubis.
She abandoned Set when he killed Osiris, and assisted Isis in the care of Horus and the resurrection of Osiris.
Nut
variant spelling: Nuit
The goddess of the sky, daughter of Shu and Tefnut, sister and wife of Geb, mother of Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys.
Nut was generally depicted as a woman with blue skin, and her body covered with stars, standing on all fours, leaning over her husband, representing the sky arched over the earth.
Ptah
Worshipped in Memphis from the earliest dynastic times (c.3000 BC), Ptah was seen as the creator of the universe in the Memphite cosmology.
Qebehsenuef
variant spelling: Qebsnewef
One of the Four Sons of Horus, Qebhsenuef was represented as a mummified man with the head of a falcon. He was the protector of the intestines of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Selket.
Qetesh
Originally believed to be a Syrian deity, Qetesh was a goddess of love and beauty. Qetesh was depicted as a beautiful nude woman, standing or riding upon a lion, holding flowers, a mirror, or serpents.
Ra
variant spelling: Re
Ra was the god of the sun during dynastic EgyptRa is represented either as a hawk-headed man or as a hawk. In order to travel through the waters of Heaven and the Underworld, Ra was depicted as traveling in a boat.Ra was father of Shu and Tefnut, grandfather of Nut and Geb, great-grandfather of Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys, and great-great-grandfather to Horus.
Ra-Horakhty
variant spelling: Ra-Hoor-Khuit
"Ra, who is Horus of the Horizons." An appelation of Ra, identifying him with Horus, showing the two as manifestations of the singular Solar Force
Sati
The goddess of Elephantine, and the consort of Khnum
Seker
A god of light, protector of the spirits of the dead passing through the Underworld en route to the afterlife. Seker was worshiped in Memphis as a form of Ptah Seker was usually depicted as having the head of a hawk, and shrouded as a mummy, similar to Ptah.
Sekhmet
A lioness goddess, worshiped in Memphis as the wife of Ptah; created by Ra from the fire of his eyes as a creature of vengeance to punish mankind for his sins; later, was transformed into a peaceful goddess of pleasure and happiness, Bast.
Selket
variant spellings: Serqet, Serket
A scorpion-goddess, shown as a beautiful woman with a scorpion poised on her
Serapis
A Ptolemaic period god, devised by the Greeks from Osiris and Apis.
Set
variant spellings: Seth, Sutekh
In earliest times, Set was the patron deity of Lower (Northern) Egypt, and represented the fierce storms of the desert whom the Lower Egyptians sought to appease. However, when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and ushered in the 1st Dynasty, Set became known as the evil enemy of Horus (Upper Egypt's dynastic god).Set was the brother of Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys, and husband of the latter; according to some versions of the myths he is also father of Anubis.Set is best known for murdering his brother and attempting to kill his nephew Horus; Horus, however, managed to survive and grew up to avenge his father's death by establishing his rule over all Egypt, castrating Set, and casting him out into the lonely desert for all time.
Shu
The god of the atmosphere and of dry winds, son of Ra, brother and husband of Tefnut, father of Geb and Nut
Sobek
The crocodile god, worshipped at the city of Arsinoë, called Crocodilopolis by the Greeks. Sobek was worshipped to appease him and his animals.
Tefnut
The goddess of moisture and clouds, daughter of Ra, sister and wife of Shu, mother of Geb and Nut. Depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness, which was her sacred animal.
Thoth
Greek version of Egyptian Tahuti
The god of wisdom. Thoth was depicted as a man with the head of an ibis bird, and carried a pen and scrolls upon which he recorded all things.. He was considered the inventor of the hieroglyphs, which the Egyptians called medju-netjer, "words of the gods".
Thoueris
Greek version of Egyptian Ta-urt
A hippopotamus goddess, responsible for fertility and protecting women in childbirth.
Karnak hosts several temples built by kings over 2,000 years from the rise of Egypt to its fall in 1800 B.C. The area covers sixty acres seeming to go on forever including a Sacred Lake. Behind the second pylon or gateway is the famous avenue or forest of columns. One and a half acres are packed with thick stone columns over sixty feet tall, 134 columns in all.The most famous temple is that of Amun. Amun was the god of all the farms and buildings and their workers of Thebes. Karnak and the Temple of Amun, in particular, were the hotbed of religion and practical science as well as ambition and intrigue.