HORUS, king of the gods on Earth

Horus (Heru, Hor, Harendotes/Har-nedj-itef (Horus the Avenger), Har-Pa-Neb-Taui (Horus Lord of the Two Lands)

The falcon-headed god, the kings of Egypt associated themselves with Horus. Horus was among the most important gods of Egypt, particularly because the Pharaoh was supposed to be his earthly embodiment. Kings would eventually take the name of Horus as one of their own. At the same time, the Pharaohs were the followers of Re and so Horus became associated with the sun as well. To the people this solar deity became identified as the son of Osiris. Attempts to resolve the conflicts between these different gods in different parts of Egypt resulted in at least fifteen distinct forms of Horus. They can be divided fairly easily into two groups, solar and Osirian, based on the parentage of the particular form of Horus. If he is said to be the son of Isis, he is Osirian; otherwise he is a solar deity. The solar Horus was called the son of Atum, or Re, or Geb and Nut variously.

As Harsiesis, he is "Horus, the son of Isis". Horus was conceived magically by Isis following the murder of his father, Osiris. Horus was raised by his mother on the floating island of Chemmis near Buto. He was in constant danger from his evil uncle Seth but his mother protected him and he survived.

As a child, Horus was known as Harpokrates, "the infant Horus", and was portrayed as a baby being suckled by Isis. He was said to be stunted from the waist down. This may be because his father was dead when he was conceived or perhaps because he was born prematurely. In later times he was affiliated with the newborn sun. Harpokrates is pictured as a child sucking his thumb and having his hair fashioned in a sidelock that symbolized his youth. On his head he wore the royal crown and uraeus. Also, in Egyptian art, such as the example to the right, Harpokrates is shown as a child with the sidelock of youth standing on crocodiles and holding in one hand scorpions and in the other hand snakes.

ANUBIS, god of Embalming and Guide & Friend of the Dead

Anubis (Anpu, Inpu, Ienpw, Imeut (Lord-of-the-Place-of-Embalming).

Appearance: A man with the head of a jackal-like animal. Unlike a real jackal, Anubis' head is black, representing his position as a god of the dead. He is rarely shown fully-human, but he is depicted so in the Temple of Abydos of Rameses II. There is a beautiful statue of him as a full jackal in the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Anubis is an incredibly ancient god, and was the original god of the dead before Osiris "took over" the position. After that point, Anubis was changed to be one of the many sons of Osiris and the psychopomp (conductor of souls) of the underworld. His totem of the jackal is probably due to the fact that jackals would hunt at the edges of the desert, near the necropolis and cemeteries throughout Egypt.

In some stories, Anubis is the son of Ra and Nephthys, or Set and Nephthys (probably due to Set and Anubis having the same totem animal). Some have Heset as his mother, and still others say Bast. This apparent confusion is still another sign of Anubis' origins in the most ancient of times. He also has a daughter, Kabechet, who helps him in the mummification.

ISIS, the goddess of fertility and motherhood

ISIS is the feminine archetype for creation - the goddess of fertility and motherhood. She has gone by many names and played many roles in history and mythology - as goddess and female creator.

Her name literally means female of throne, i.e. Queen of the throne. Her original headdress was an empty throne chair belonging to her murdered husband, Osiris. As the personification of the throne, she was an important source of the Pharaoh's power. Her cult was popular throughout Egypt, but the most important sanctuaries were at Giza and at Behbeit El-Hagar in the Nile delta.

Titles

In the Book of the Dead Isis was described as She who gives birth to heaven and earth, knows the orphan, knows the widow, seeks justice for the poor, and shelter for the weak. Some of Isis' many other titles were:

• Queen of Heaven,
• Mother of the Gods,
• The One Who is All,
• Lady of Green Crops,
• The Brilliant One in the Sky,
• Her Latin name was Stella Maris, or Star of the Sea,
• Great Lady of Magic,
• goddess of magic, fertility, nature, motherhood,
• underworld Mistress of the House of Life,
• She Who Knows How To Make Right Use of the Heart,
• Light-Giver of Heaven,
• Lady of the Words of Power,
• Moon Shining Over the Sea.

OSIRIS, the god of the Underworld

OSIRIS (Asar, Aser, Ausar, Ausir, Wesir, Usir, Usire or Ausare) was an Egyptian god, usually called the god of the Afterlife, underworld or dead.

Osiris is one of the oldest gods for whom records have been found. He was widely worshiped until the suppression of the Egyptian religion during the Christian era.

Osiris was not only a merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife, but also the underworld agency that granted all life, including sprouting vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile River. The Kings of Egypt were associated with Osiris in death - as Osiris rose from the dead they would, in union with him, inherit eternal life through a process of imitative magic. By the New Kingdom all people, not just pharaohs, were believed to be associated with Osiris at death if they incurred the costs of the assimilation rituals.

Osiris was at times considered the oldest son of the Earth god, Geb, and the sky goddess, Nut as well as being brother and husband of Isis, with Horus being considered his posthumously begotten son. He was later associated with the name Khenti-Amentiu, which means 'Foremost of the Westerners' a reference to his kingship in the land of the dead.

RA, Father of the gods

Ra (often pronounced as Rah, but more correctly as Ré)is the ancient Egyptian sun god. He is often pictured as a hawk or as a hawk headed man with a solar disk encircled by a uraeus on his head. He is often pictured wearing the double crown of upper and lower Egypt.

Father of the first divine couple, Shu and Tefnut. Grandfather of Geb and Nut, whose children were Osiris and Isis, Seth and Nephthys.

From very early times Ra was a sun god. He took on many of the attributes and even the names of other gods as Egyptian myths evolved. A good example of this is the god Ra and Amun merging to become Amun-Ra or Ra and Horus combining to become Ra-Harakhte.

One legend states that each day, Ra was born and began a journey across the sky. Ra was believed to travel in the Manjet-boat. or the 'Barque of Millions of Years'. He was joined on this daily journey by a crew of many gods . The Manjet-boat would sail through the twelve provinces, representing the twelve hours of daylight. At the end of each day Ra was thought to die and embarked on his night voyage. For this journey he was called Auf, which means 'corpse'. Ra sailed in a boat called the Mesektet-boat or night-barque on his journey through the twelve hours of darkness.

AMMIT, the Devourer

Ammit (also spelt Ammut, and Ahemait), a demonic Goddess who is part hippo, part croc and part lion, was the personification of divine retribution for all the wrongs one had committed in life. Ammit was said to live near the scales of justice, in the underworld, Duat, where the hearts of the dead were weighed by Anubis against Ma'at, the principle of truth and justice. The hearts of those who failed the test were given to Ammit to devour, and their souls were not permitted to enter Aaru, having to be restless forever - dying a second time.

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