Thursday, January 24, 2008

Ancient Egyptions Gods and Godesses (4)

Khepri (Keper)
The creator-god, according to early Heliopolitan cosmology; assimilated with Atum and Ra. The Egyptian root "kheper" signifies several things, according to context, most notably the verb "to create" or "to transform", and also the word for "scarab beetle". The scarab, or dung beetle, was considered symbolic of the sun since it rolled a ball of dung in which it laid its eggs around with it - this was considered symbolic of the sun god propelling the sphere of the sun through the sky.

Khnum
Appearing as a ram-headed human, Khnum was worshipped most at Antinoe and Elephantine. He was another creator-god, represented as fashioning human beings on his pottery wheel. His consort was variously Heqet, Neith, or Sati.


Khons (Chons)
The third member (with his parents Amen and Mut) of the great triad of Thebes. Khons was the god of the moon. The best-known story about him tells of him playing the ancient game senet ("passage") against Thoth, and wagering a portion of his light. Thoth won, and because of losing some of his light, Khons cannot show his whole glory for the entire month, but must wax and wane. The main temple in the enclosure at Karnak is dedicated to him.


Maat Considered the wife of Thoth and the daughter of Ra by various traditions, Maat's name implies "truth" and "justice" and even "cosmic order", but there is no clear English equivalent. She is an anthropomorphic personification of the concept maat and as such has little mythology. Maat was represented as a tall woman with an ostrich feather (the glyph for her name) in her hair. She was present at the judgement of the dead; her feather was balanced against the heart of the deceased to determine whether he had led a pure and honest life.


Min (Menu, Amsu)
A form of Amen depicted holding a flail (thought to represent a thunderbolt in Egyptian art) and with an erect penis; his full name was often given as Menu-ka-mut-f ("Min, Bull of his Mother"). Min was worshiped as the god of virility; lettuces were offered as sacrifice to him and then eaten in hopes of procuring manhood; and he was worshiped as the husband of the goddess Qetesh, goddess of love and femininity.


Month (Mentu, Men Thu)
The principal god of Thebes before the rise of the Amen cult; appeared as a falcon-headed man and often united with Horus. Primarily a war god.


Mut (Golden Dawn, Auramooth)
The wife of Amen in Theban tradition; the word mut in Egyptian means "mother", and she was the mother of Khonsu, the moon god.


Nefertum
The youthful son of Ptah and Sekhmet, connected with the rising sun; depicted as a youth crowned with or seated upon a lotus blossom.


Neith (Net, Neit; Golden Dawn, Thoum-aesh-neith)
A very ancient goddess of war, worshiped in the Delta; revered as a goddess of wisdom, identified with Athena by the Greeks; in later traditions, the sister of Isis, Nephthys, and Selket, and protectress of Duamutef, the god of the stomach of the deceased. Mother of the crocodile god Sobek.

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