Thoth was the ancient Egyptian god of the moon and wisdom, specifically associated with writing, science, and magic, with the lines between these three concepts blurred in the Egyptian world. He was known by the Egyptian name Djehuty, which means “he who is like an ibis,” which was a symbol of wisdom in Egypt. With... Continue Reading →

Seshat, whose name means “female scribe,” was a goddess of writing, wisdom, and knowledge. Often considered the female counterpart of Thoth,  as mother or daughter, she was associated with many of the sciences, including architecture, astronomy, geometry, and more. Some stories suggest that it was actually Seshat who invented writing, and Thoth only taught it... Continue Reading →

In ancient Egyptian religion, Anubis was the jackal-headed god of the dead, considered a protector of the dead who guided them on their journey into the afterlife. Anubis is actually the Greek rendering of the name, better rendered as “Anpu” or “Inpu” in ancient Egyptian, meaning “to decay.” He was also called the first of... Continue Reading →

Apophis is the Greek name for the Egyptian god Apep, who embodies the darkness and disorder, who threatens to destabilize the harmony of existence, known as Ma’at. This was embodied by the ancient Egyptians in a nightly conflict with the sun god Ra on his sun barque. He is vanquished every night, but he can... Continue Reading →

The Book of the Dead is what we call an Egyptian funerary text placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased that contained spells that helped the deceased successfully pass into the afterlife, called the Duat. It was used from the beginning of the New Kingdom, around 1500 BCE, to around 50 BCE,... Continue Reading →

The Egyptian goddess Bastet, or Bast, was the goddess of cats, creatures seen as protectors in the Egyptian world. She was closely linked to Sekhmet, the fierce lion-headed goddess who was both a protector and punisher. These are the feline goddesses of the ancient Egyptian pantheon. Bastet: Egyptian Cat Goddess Ancient Egyptian statue of Bastet... Continue Reading →

Ma’at is a complex ancient Egyptian goddess who represented the energy of balance, order, and harmony that governed the universe and was the personification of that “natural order.” She was also the personification of the feather of Ma’at, against which the heart of the deceased was weighed in the weighing of the heart ceremony, allowing... Continue Reading →

Serapis was an ancient Egyptian god that combined the underworld god Osiris with the Apis Bull, a god associated with fertility, like Osiris. The god was adopted as a patron and heavily Hellenized by the Ptolemaic dynasty to create a patron that was acceptable both to the ancient Egyptian population and the new Greek residents... Continue Reading →

According to some records of ancient Egyptian mythology, Atum was the promordial god from which all existence arose. He created himself, and then created the divine couple Shu and Tefnut, the ancestors of all the other gods. But according to Spell 261 of the Coffin Text, before he created this "duality", Atum created Sia (perception),... Continue Reading →

Hathor was one of the most important Egyptian goddesses at certain periods in Egypt’s long history. She was a cow goddess, often depicted as a cow or as a woman with a headdress made from cow horns and a sun disk. Cows are generated in many cultures and are associated with fertility. Hathor was also... Continue Reading →