Amun "Amen Ra" redirects here. For the Belgian band, see Amenra. Amun (also Amon (/ˈɑːmən/), Amen; Ancient Greek: Ἄμμων Ámmōn, Ἅμμων Hámmōn) was a major Egyptian deity. He was attested since the Old Kingdom together with his spouse Amaunet. With the 11th dynasty (c. 21st century BC), he rose to the position of patron deity of Thebes by replacing Monthu.[1] After the rebellion of Thebes against the Hyksos and with the rule of Ahmose I, Amun acquired national importance, expressed in his fusion with the Sun god, Ra, as Amun-Ra. Early history Amun rose to the position of tutelary deity of Thebes after the end of the First Intermediate Period, under the 11th dynasty. Temple at Karnak The history of Amun as the patron god of Thebes begins in the 20th century BC, with the construction of the Precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak under Senusret I. Major construction work in the Precinct of Amun-Re took place during the 18th dynasty when Thebes became the capital of the unified Ancient Egypt. New Kingdom Decline
Toci Toci (Nahuatl pronunciation: [ˈtosi] "Our grandmother")[1] is a deity figuring prominently in the religion and mythology of the pre-Columbian Aztec civilization of Mesoamerica. In Aztec mythology she is attributed as the "Mother of the Gods" (Teteo Innan[2] or Teteoinnan), and associated as a Mother goddess (also called Tlalli Iyollo, "Heart of the Earth"). Characteristics and associations[edit] Although considered to be an aged deity, Toci is not always shown with specific markers of great age. Toci was also associated with healing, and venerated by curers of ailments and midwifes. Toci also had an identification with war, and had also the epithet "Woman of Discord". Traditions in mythology[edit] Festivals and rites[edit] During the veintena of Ochpaniztli in the Aztec calendar, harvest-time festival rites were held to honor Toci, in her aspect as "Heart of the Earth" (Miller and Taube 1993) were held, associated with the time of harvest. See also[edit] Notes[edit] References[edit]
Horus Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egypt specialists.[1] These various forms may possibly be different perceptions of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasized, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality.[2] He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner or peregrine, or as a man with a falcon head.[3] Etymology[edit] Horus was also known as Nekheny, meaning "falcon". Note of changes over time[edit] In early Egypt, Horus was the brother of Isis, Osiris, Set and Nephthys. Horus and the pharaoh[edit] Origin mythology[edit] Mythological roles[edit] Sky god[edit] God of war and hunting[edit]
Nut (goddess) Nut (/nʌt/ or /nuːt/)[1] or Neuth (/nuːθ/ or /njuːθ/; also spelled Nuit or Newet) was the goddess of the sky in the Ennead of Egyptian mythology. She was seen as a star-covered nude woman arching over the earth,[2] or as a cow. Great goddess Nut with her wings stretched across a coffin A sacred symbol of Nut was the ladder, used by Osiris to enter her heavenly skies. A huge cult developed about Osiris that lasted well into Roman times. The sky goddess Nut depicted as a cow Ra, the sun god, was the second to rule the world, according to the reign of the gods. Some of the titles of Nut were: Nut was the goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, a symbol of protecting the dead when they enter the after life. Because of her role in saving Osiris, Nut was seen as a friend and protector of the dead, who appealed to her as a child appeals to its mother: "O my Mother Nut, stretch Yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in You, and that I may not die."
Isis Temple of Isis in Philae, Egypt Isis (Ancient Greek: Ἶσις, original Egyptian pronunciation more likely "Aset" or "Iset") is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the patroness of nature and magic. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans and the downtrodden, but she also listened to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats and rulers.[1] Isis is often depicted as the mother of Horus, the hawk-headed god of war and protection (although in some traditions Horus's mother was Hathor). This myth became very important during the Greco-Roman period. Etymology[edit] The name Isis is the Greek version of her name, with a final -s added to the original Egyptian form because of the grammatical requirements of the Greek language (-s often being a marker of the nominative case in ancient Greek). Principal features of the cult[edit] Origins[edit] Iconography[edit]
Khepri Khepri (also spelled Khepera, Kheper, Khepra, Chepri) is a god in ancient Egyptian religion. Symbolism[edit] Khepri was connected with the scarab beetle (kheprer), because the scarab rolls balls of dung across the ground, an act that the Egyptians saw as a symbol of the forces that move the sun across the sky. Religion[edit] Appearance[edit] References[edit] ^ Jump up to: a b Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). External links[edit] Media related to Khepri at Wikimedia Commons
Shu (Egyptian deity) As the air, Shu was considered to be cooling, and thus calming, influence, and pacifier. Due to the association with air, calm, and thus Ma'at (truth, justice and order), Shu was portrayed in art as wearing an ostrich feather. Shu was seen with between one and four feathers. In a much later myth, representing the terrible weather disaster at the end of the Old Kingdom, it was said that Tefnut and Shu once argued, and Tefnut left Egypt for Nubia (which was always more temperate). It was said that Shu quickly decided that he missed her, but she changed into a cat that destroyed any man or god that approached. He carries an ankh, the symbol of life. Hans Bonnet: Lexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6, S. 685-689 → ShuAdolf Erman: Die Aegyptische Religion, Verlag Georg Reimer, Berlin 1909Wolfgang Helck: Kleines Lexikon der Ägyptologie, 1999 ISBN 3-447-04027-0, S. 269f. → Shu
Mother goddess Mother goddess is a term used to refer to a goddess who represents and/or is a personification of nature, motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction or who embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother. Many different goddesses have represented motherhood in one way or another, and some have been associated with the birth of humanity as a whole, along with the universe and everything in it. Others have represented the fertility of the earth. Paleolithic figures[edit] The Venus of Dolní Věstonice, one of the earliest known depictions of the human body, dates to approximately 29,000–25,000 BC (Gravettian culture of the Upper Paleolithic era) Neolithic figures[edit] "Bird Lady" a Neolithic Egyptian ceramic, Naganda IIa Predynastic 3500-3400 BCE, Brooklyn Museum Old Europe[edit] Examples[edit] Egyptian[edit] Indigenous people of the Americas[edit] Aztec[edit] Anatolia[edit]
Atum Atum (/ɑ-tum/), sometimes rendered as Atem or Tem, is an important deity in Egyptian mythology. Name[edit] Atum's name is thought to be derived from the word tem which means to complete or finish. Origin[edit] Atum is one of the most important and frequently mentioned deities from earliest times, as evidenced by his prominence in the Pyramid Texts, where he is portrayed as both a creator and father to a king.[2] Roles[edit] In the Old Kingdom the Egyptians believed that Atum lifted the dead king's soul from his pyramid to the starry heavens.[6] He was also a solar deity, associated with the primary sun god Ra. In the Book of the Dead, which was still current in the Graeco-Roman period, the sun god Atum is said to have ascended from chaos-waters with the appearance of a snake, the animal renewing itself every morning.[8][9][10] Atum is the god of pre-existence and post-existence. Relationship to other gods[edit] Iconography[edit] Worship[edit] References[edit] External links[edit]
Indra Origins[edit] Aspects of Indra as a deity are cognate to other Indo-European gods; they are either thunder gods such as Thor, Perun, and Zeus, or gods of intoxicating drinks such as Dionysus. The name of Indra (Indara) is also mentioned among the gods of the Mitanni, a Hurrian-speaking people who ruled northern Syria from ca.1500BC-1300BC.[5] Vedic Indra corresponds to Verethragna of the Zoroastrian Avesta as the noun verethragna- corresponds to Vedic vrtrahan-, which is predominantly an epithet of Indra. In the Rigveda[edit] The Rigveda states, He under whose supreme control are horses, all chariots, the villages, and cattle; He who gave being to the Sun and Morning, who leads the waters, He, O men, is Indra. (2.12.7, trans. It further states, Indra, you lifted up the pariah who was oppressed, you glorified the blind and the lame. The Rig-Veda frequently refers to him as Śakra: the mighty-one. Status and function[edit] Characteristics[edit] Appearance[edit] Other characteristics[edit]