Understanding the Egyptian Gods (Family Tree)

The names of almost 2,000 gods survive from ancient Egypt today. This is because ancient Egyptian religion started locally, with local communities having their own gods. When Egypt was unified, central leadership under the pharaohs imposed some alignment. This meant that religion and politics were intertwined, with the supreme god at any given time often being the god of whichever city was, at that time, politically dominant. This means that there is significant diversity in surviving myths and beliefs, and significant overlap between different deities.

Here, we list the most important gods, with links to more in-depth articles (as available)

Ancient Personifications

Religion in pre-dynastic Egypt was probably animistic, with the important natural phenomena that affected the lives of the Egyptians divinized and represented by totems. These gods were worshipped at local temples, with some adopting national importance as the country united.

• Hapi – God of the Inundation of the Nile, with his main cult center at Elephantine Island near Aswan, close to the source of the Nile. He was typically depicted as a man with a large belly and breasts, symbolizing fertility and nourishment.
• Sobek – Crocodile god representing the dangers of the Nile and protection from them, he was also associated with fertility, military might, the pharaoh, and passage through the afterlife. He was mainly worshipped in the Faiyum but also had an important temple at Kom Obo near Aswan. Many mummified crocodiles have been found in his temples.
• Anhur – A posthumously divinised warrior deified as a god of war and linked with the early pharaohs, worshipped at the first capital of Thinis. He was often depicted as a man with a feathered headdress leading the pharaoh’s armies into battle.
• Khnum – Embodying the Nile flood and the silt and clay deposited, Khnum is considered the creator of the bodies of mankind from that clay using a potter’s wheel. He was depicted as a ram-headed god.

Ra and the Sun Barge

The sun was central to Egyptian religion, with monuments such as the pyramids aligned with its path. Solar cult centred on the struggle between light and darkness, order and chaos.

• Ra – The supreme sun god for most of Egyptian history, Ra represented the midday sun, when the sun was at its most powerful, as opposed to Khepri as the rising sun and Atum as the setting sun. Ra is frequently depicted as a man with the head of a falcon and wearing a sun disk headdress. His light was seen as the source of all life. He drives his sun barge across the sky every day and through the underworld every night. He was often combined with other gods to enhance their status, such as Amun and Horus.
• Apep – Also known as Apophis, he is a terrifying serpent who attacks Ra’s sun barge each night.
• Sekhmet – Lion goddess associated with war, destruction, and strength, sometimes considered the vengeful “Eye of Ra” summoned to deliver divine punishment. She was also considered a goddess of healing who could ward off pestilence.

Ennead of Heliopolis

The Egyptians had several myths regarding the creation of the world. The one told about the Ennead of Heliopolis was one of the most popular.

• Atum – Known as the “Complete One,” he emerged from Nu and became the creator god who gave birth to Shu and Tefnut and started the divine family tree. He is associated with the setting sun and was linked with the journey through the underworld.
• Nun – Personification of the primordial water, the infinite, dark abyss that existed before time began. He had no active cult but was considered the divine source of all water.
• Shu – Personification of dry air and sunlight, he separated Nut, the sky, and Geb, the earth, allowing the creation of life and becoming the air we breathe, giving his vast powers and importance.
• Tefnut – Personification of moisture, considered the consort of Shu, with whom she sometimes represents the Eyes of Ra.
• Nut – Personification of the night sky depicted as a woman arched over the earth with her body covered in stars. She is also the great mother, giving birth to many of the gods as well as the stars. She also swallows the sun at sunset and rebirths it at sunrise.
• Geb – An unusual male personification of the earth and husband of Nut, he was also associated with the underworld and swallowed those who were unworthy to live among the gods.
• Osiris – Originally the king of the world created by the gods, after he was killed by his brother Seth, he was resurrected by his sister-wife Isis, who also made the underworld, the Duat, for Osiris to live in and rule, creating life after death.
• Isis – Goddess of magic, motherhood, and fertility, celebrated as both the wife and mother of the pharaoh. She was considered the most powerful magi worker, and rose to such prominence that she absorbed aspects of other goddesses and was worshipped around the Mediterranean.
• Seth – God of chaos and disorder associated with the desert. While he was seen as threatening, killing Osiris, he also played an important role in protecting Ra’s sun barge.
• Nephthys – The dark counterpart to Isis, who represented liminal spaces and helped resurrect Osiris, she acted as a second mother to Horus and the pharaoh.
• Horus – Sky god represented by a falcon and the son of Osiris and Isis, who avenges the killing of his father and assumes kingship, making him the divine counterpart of the pharaoh.

Creation by Ptah

In the theology of Memphis, creation was not a physical act but a psychological and linguistic one. This sophisticated view suggested that the world was conceived in the heart (the seat of thought) and brought into being by the tongue (the spoken word). Ptah was the master architect of this reality, serving as the patron of all who designed and built the physical world.

• Ptah – God of craftsmen and patron god of Memphis, he is said to have spoken the words of creation to bring the world into existence. He was represented by a mummified man in a skullcap and holding a scepter
• Nefertem – The lotus flower at the creation of the world, considered the son of Ptah and Sekhmet in the Memphis Triad.

Ogdoad of Hermopolis

A group of eight deities considered responsible for creation, they emerged as male and female pairs and represent the fundamental elements of the universe.

• Nun and Naunet – Primeval, infinite waters of the abyss from which all things emerged.
• Huh and Hauhet – Boundlessness and infinity depicted as serpents or frig-headed deities.
• Kek and Kauket – Darkness and obscurity associated with the absence of light.
• Amun and Amaunet – Hiddenness and hidden power, Amun, later emerged as an independently important deity.

Gods of Memphis

During the New Kingdom, the city of Thebes became the political capital, and its local gods rose to national prominence. The worship of Amun was merged with Ra, creating a supreme deity whose priesthood rivaled the power of the pharaoh himself. This triad represented the ideal divine family structure and the pinnacle of state religion.

• Amun – Originally a god of the air and hidden power, Amun rose to become the “King of the Gods” and the patron of the Egyptian Empire. When merged with the sun god as Amun-Ra, he became a universal creator who supported the pharaoh’s military conquests. His oracle at the Siwa Oasis was world-renowned, eventually being visited by Alexander the Great.
• Mut – Mut was the powerful mother goddess and queen of the gods, serving as the consort of Amun. She was often depicted as a woman wearing a vulture headdress and the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. While she was a protective mother figure, she also possessed a fierce nature, sometimes taking the form of a lioness like Sekhmet.
• Khonsu – The son of Amun and Mut, Khonsu was a moon god whose name meant “The Wanderer,” reflecting the moon’s path across the night sky. He was often depicted as a mummiform youth with a side-lock of hair, wearing a lunar disk and crescent headdress. He was revered as a god of healing and a protector against evil spirits that prowled the night.

Other Gods

Beyond the major creation myths and city triads, the Egyptian pantheon was filled with specialized gods who governed every aspect of daily life, from writing and mathematics to the preservation of the soul. These deities were often the most popular among common people, offering protection in the home and guidance in the afterlife.

• Hathor – Cow goddess associated with love, joy, music, and beauty, worshipped since the earliest times and depicted on the Narmer (first pharaoh) Palette.
• Bastet – Goddess of cats associated with protection and childbirth.
• Ma’at – Goddess of divine balance, representing the laws that govern the universe and represented by a feather, which the heart is weighed against in the weighing of the heart ceremony.
• Anubis – A jackal god associated with graveyards and protection of the dead since ancient times and with the sacred process of embalming, later incorporated into underworld mythology alongside Osiris.
• Imhotep – The architect responsible for the pyramids of Djoser deified as a god of healing.
• Montu – A war god originally considered the patron of Memphis until being displaced by Amun.
• Neith – Goddess of hunting, weaving, and war, often linked to both creation and childbirth
• Thoth – God of Wisdom, knowledge, writing, and the moon, linked with the ibis and baboons.
• Seshat – Goddess of notation, writing, accounting, record keeping, and mathematics who assisted the pharaoh in his administration of the empire.
• Aten – The sun disk whose worship was elevated to an almost monotheistic level for a brief period under Akhenaten at Amarna.
• Taweret: A protective goddess with the body of a hippopotamus, the paws of a lion, and the back of a crocodile, Taweret was the fierce guardian of pregnant women and infants. She was frequently featured on amulets and household items to ward off malevolent forces during the dangerous process of childbirth.
• Apis Bull – A sacred bull worshipped at Memphis initially considered a son of Hathor and later considered an intermediary between the most important gods, including Ptah, Atum, and Osiris.
• Amit – A terrifying creature that consumes the souls of those who did not pass the weighing of the heart ceremony, condemning them to oblivion, often depicted as a crocodile with the forelegs of a lion and hind legs of a hippopotamus.
• Serapis – A Ptolemaic god that combined Osiris and the Apis Bull and was linked with healing.