Before being ruled by a Pharaohthe Ancient Egypt It was a group of independent settlements. Each one with its own cult to the gods, which would later become part of the dynastic pantheon. The egyptians they were, above all, tolerant, their Pantheon came to be made up of 2000 divinities different.
This was possible, to a great extent, because all the Egyptian gods they resembled each other, at least in concept. Unlike the Sumerian religion, which reserved a particular space for each deity, the egyptian pantheon It was never fully systematized, nor were the properties of each god fully determined.
The importance of each god within the pantheon had a direct relationship with the politics that the kingdom was going through at all times. If the predominantly political city was, for example, Heliopolis, city of the priests, then the sun god Ra He was worshiped as the main deity. During the first historical phases, when the capital of the Empire was Memphis (III and IV dynasties), the cult of Ptha prevailed over the others, and so on.
The decline of the monarchy, from the VI dynasty, caused other local gods to gain strength, as in the case of Osiris, associated with the resurrection. According to the myth, Osiris was killed by his brother Seth. The goddess isiswife and sister of Osirismanaged to resuscitate him with the help of Thoth Y Anubisand was finally avenged by his son Horus.
During the Middle Kingdom the “official” god was ammon, originally from the city of Thebes, in Upper Egypt. His character as a solar divinity helped him to identify with Ra, of Lower Egypt, thus achieving its acceptance throughout the kingdom. In the New Kingdom, the association between the two gods was such that the cult of the gods was simply imposed. Amon-Ra.
After the extinction of the New Kingdom, the cult of the local gods and the old traditions took center stage again. ammon ceased to be considered the national god and, in his place, many other divinities were venerated, such as Neiththe goddess of war, and Bastthe goddess of happiness.
the end of the egyptian religion would not arrive until the fourth century, when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, which had conquered Egypt during its expansion towards the Mediterranean.
The main Egyptian gods were:
- ammon: The “hidden”. God of creation and patron of Thebes. National deity since the XII dynasty.
- Anubis: God with the head of a jackal, coming from Tinis. Patron of magic, protector of the tombs and guide of the deceased when they die.
- APIs: Bull-god of Memphis. Worshiped since the First Dynasty as the son of Ptah and as a symbol of strength and courage.
- Bast: Cat-headed goddess, daughter of the sun god Ra. Adored in Bubastis. Patron saint of music and dance.
- isis: Wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. Personification of the Egyptian throne, and goddess of motherhood and medicine.
- Khnum: Ram-god of Elephantine and guardian of the sources of the Nile. Creator of all living beings.
- maat: Goddess of truth and justice. She daughter of Ra. She is in charge of weighing the soul of the deceased.
- Osiris: God of the underworld, the resurrection, and nature. With cult centers in Bubastis and Abydos.
- ptah: Deity of Memphis protector of artists and blacksmiths. She appears as a mummy with a shaved head.
- Ra: The supreme god according to the theology of Heliopolis. He is depicted with the head of a falcon and a sun disk.
- Seth: Personifies chaos within Egyptian mythology. He is depicted as a zoomorphic warrior.
Sources:
- Meuleau, M.: The Ancient World, The World and its History, Argos, Barcelona, 1968
- Universal History: Pharaonic Egypt. Buenos Aires, AGEA, 2005