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The ancient Egyptians worshiped dozens of gods and goddesses, each of whom had different powers.
Many were symbolized by animals or humans with animal heads. To worship certain gods, the Egyptians built temples that held a golden statue of the god locked in a special room. Egyptians believed the gods’ spirits lived in these temples.
◀ A procession of the barque (royal boat) of Amun-Re leaves the temple of Queen Hatshepsut. The leader carries an incense burner and sprinkles holy water.
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▲ Ramses II ordered two temples to be carved out of the sandstone cliffs at Abu Simbel, south of Upper Egypt, in Nubia. The facade of this one, the Great Temple, built around 1250 B.C., shows four versions of the king, each around 65 feet tall. The “tiny” figures between his feet are his mother, wife, and children. In the center is the god Horakhty.
Almost no one, except the pharaoh and high priests and priestesses, was allowed inside the temple. Priests washed, clothed, and fed the statues of the gods. Here, Nefertiti presents an offering. Ordinary Egyptians saw these divine statues only during religious festivals, when priests carried the statues around the town. ▶
◀ A priestess like this one shook a sacred rattle called a sistrum to appease the gods. Priests and priestesses also read prayers or sang hymns during ceremonies, scattering holy water and lighting incense for the rituals in front of the statues of the god.
In Memphis and other Egyptian cities, residents worshiped both their own local god and the major gods. Ptah, at right, was the creator god of Memphis and the patron of craftsmen. ▶
Gods Galore
Many Egyptian gods had more than one form and several jobs. For example, Osiris was the lord of the dead as well as of crops and fertility.
Bes, a dwarf, protected newborn babies and families. He danced with a tambourine to amuse other gods or to ward off evil spirits.
One of the Moon gods, Thoth, was shown as an ibis, as a man with an ibis head, or even as a baboon. Scribes worshiped Thoth because he was also the god of writing, wisdom, and numbers.
Taweret protected women during childbirth, stopping evil creatures from attacking the baby or mother. A pregnant woman wore charms shaped like Taweret.
Osiris, god of the dead and the afterlife, carried the crook and flail to show he was king of the underworld. He was also a god of fertility.
A “wadjet eye” represents the eye of Horus, the falcon-headed sky god. The eye protected against illness.
The Sun god, Egypt’s most important deity, took many forms. At dawn, he would be Khepri, the scarab beetle, rolling the Sun disk into the sky. As Horakhty, he would be a hawk soaring in the sky at midday. As Amun-Re, he was protector of the pharaoh on military campaigns.
Hathor was the goddess of love and beauty. She was also associated with music and dancing.
