The Ancient Egyptian Gods

  

 

During the pre-dynastic period (from around 4000 BC to 3300 BC), animals were used as mascots to symbolize each district in the South and North. Their effigies were engraved on the top of columns and their standards were carried in front of the great ritual and royal processions.

Children usually find real (and toy) animals to be submissive and ready friends, and one could consider the ancient Egyptian period to be the childhood of our civilization. The Egyptians were very respectful towards animals and nature. In them they saw the cycle of life, protection, obedience to the mysterious laws of nature, an example of community living. This being a way to stand up for the protection of the younger members and sometimes of the entire group.

According Grik Hornung (The Gods of Egypt, the One and the Many).

" In the animal cults we find a tendency for the gods to help people broaden their minds in so many ways. One could be an Ibis or a crocodile and all sorts of different animals according to one’s whim.

The many different images of God seemed to make him more accessible to the people so their problems were more easily felt by Him. The individual animals were not the gods but could metamorphose into them, so that the image and spirit of each god could move towards them and into them. "

Like the ancient hunters, the Egyptians (unlike the Hindus) ate a lot of meat, which they cooked in large pots. The Hebrews missed this during their long exodus journeying toward the future land of Israel.

In the 3rd dynasty they developed (due to the openness of spirit of King Djeser), the idea of rebirth and of " life after death ". The hope spread among the people of being reborn beside their king in another world beyond the stars.

RE, ATOUM, PTAH, ISIS and OSIRIS would replace the numerous small local deities whom the people had honored since ancient times without really understanding what they represented.

When these divine incarnations of animals were replaced by the second plan and new images of god appeared, animals only had a symbolic value as sacrifices to please the gods.

The faithful would buy an animal from the priests, who would immolate the animal, mummify it and bury it in a special cemetery where several million Ibis and several thousand bulls have been found buried. They are perfectly preserved due to their complete mummification.

Just as the Hebrews sent a scapegoat each year into the desert bearing their sins, the Egyptians tried to escape the wrath of their gods by sacrificing animals and thus obtaining redemption from their sins.

Since Vatican II, many churches have been renovated to emphasize the essential points. The presence of God in his house. According to hearsay, there are 133 saints called Peter, 79 called Felix, 77 Mary, 63 Thomas, 55 Paul, 50 William, 42 Joseph etc. We have a lot of choice!

But who can blame a devotee for praying to a saint or statue when the prayer is essentially a transference of thought and hope to contact with another spirit and another world?

 

CLASSIFICATION OF THE ANCIENT GODS
WHO HAD ANIMAL FORM

 

1. Gods in the form of bulls

 

 

2. The Primeval Cow-goddesses of Ancient Times

 

3. The Ram Gods of Egypt

 

 

 

4. The LION GODS

 

 

5. The Egyptian LIONESS goddesses

 

The Egyptian gods could take all kinds of forms, and even intermarry to produce forms which were completely different.

 

6 - a)  The pre-dynastic FALCON gods

 

Many nations have adopted the emblem of the royal eagle, but the Egyptians adopted the emblem of the falcon in very ancient times. We will study the two FALCONS " Horus ", the second of whom became the son of Osiris and Isis: the symbol of royal strength.

 

6 - b)  The falcon aspects of HORUS as the son of Isis

 

 

7.  The Vulture Gods

 

The city of Elkab (or Nekheb) honored the goddess NEKHBET, who was represented by a white vulture perched on three lilies or three stylized lotus flowers. She holds in her claws the insignia of royalty, recalling the ancient period when the South was an independent kingdom fighting with the kingdom of North.

In Egyptian Antiquity, Nekhbet was invoked under the name of the goddess "SHETAT". Locally she was considered to be a creation goddess, who created the world pronouncing seven words and launching seven arrows.

Remember that Isis will take also the aspect of a vulture to fly over the dead body of Osiris and spiritually impregnate him.

 

8.  Canine divinities in Egyptian mythology

 

 

9. The SNAKE gods

 

Snakes were considered by the Egyptians to be either benevolent or harmful, however in the group of harmful snakes some gods (usually feminine), had two faces which could express good or bad.

In the category of the benevolent snakes, the Egyptian had adopted some kinds of snakes (grass-snakes, blindworms and other innocuous reptiles) as pets for their houses, (as well as other more familiar animals), since they got rid of the mice and rats who caused real devastation in the granaries and transmitted infectious illnesses.

But the Egyptians had such knowledge of dangerous snakes like the asps and cobras, that they raised them (with care) to set them free at night into enemy camps, or introduced them into the heart of the pyramids in order to protect the treasures of the dead kings from that which they considered the biggest crime: the profanation and pillage of the royal tombs.

The Egyptians honored the Uraeus, the symbol of royal authority, represented by a cobra raised up on his tail, ready to bite. This menacing image inspired fear and respect reminding all that Pharaoh had: "the right over life and death" for each one of his subjects.

 

a. Mythology of the dangerous snakes :

 

 

b.  Myths of the benevolent snakes :

 

 

10.  The ancient SCORPION gods

 

 

 

 

11.  Ancient divinities: CROCODILES and HIPPOS

 

 

 

 

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