Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses were worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistory. Deities represented natural forces and phenomena, and the Egyptians supported and appeased them through offerings and rituals so that these forces would continue to function according to ma'at, or divine order. After the founding of the Egyptian state around 3100 BC, the authority to perform these tasks was controlled by the pharaoh, who claimed to be the gods' representative and managed the temples where the rituals were carried out.
The gods' complex characteristics were expressed in myths and in intricate relationships between deities: family ties, loose groups and hierarchies, and combinations of separate gods into one. Deities' diverse appearances in art, as animals, humans, objects, and combinations of different forms, also alluded, through symbolism, to their essential features.
In different eras, various gods were said to hold the highest position in divine society, including the solar deity Ra, the mysterious god Amun, and the mother goddess Isis. The highest deity was usually credited with the creation of the world and often connected with the life-giving power of the sun. Some scholars have argued, based in part on Egyptian writings, that the Egyptians came to recognize a single divine power that lay behind all things and was present in all the other deities. Yet they never abandoned their original polytheistic view of the world, except possibly during the era of Atenism in the 14th century BC, when official religion focused exclusively on the impersonal sun god Aten.
Gods were assumed to be present throughout the world, capable of influencing natural events and the course of human lives. People interacted with them in temples and unofficial shrines for personal reasons as well as for larger goals of state rites. Egyptians prayed for divine help, used rituals to compel deities to act, and called upon them for advice. Humans' relations with their gods were a fundamental part of Egyptian society.
List of Egyptian Gods
- Aker – A god of the earth and the horizon
- Amun – A creator god, the patron deity of the city of Thebes, and the preeminent deity in Egypt during the New Kingdom
- Anhur – A god of war and hunting
- Anubis – The god of embalming and protector of the dead
- Aten – Sun disk deity who became the focus of the monotheistic Atenist belief system in the reign of Akhenaten
- Atum – A creator god and solar deity, the first god of the Ennead
- Bennu – A solar and creator deity, depicted as a bird
- Geb – An earth god and member of the Ennead
- Hapi – Personification of the Nile flood
- Horus – A major god, usually shown as a falcon or as a human child, linked with the sky, the sun, kingship, protection, and healing. Often said to be the son of Osiris and Isis.
- Khepri – A solar creator god, often treated as the morning form of Ra and represented by a scarab beetle
- Khnum – A ram god, the patron deity of Elephantine, who was said to control the Nile flood and give life to gods and humans
- Khonsu – A moon god, son of Amun and Mut
- Maahes – A lion god, son of Bastet
- Montu – A god of war and the sun, worshipped at Thebes
- Nefertum – God of the lotus blossom from which the sun god rose at the beginning of time. Son of Ptah and Sekhmet.
- Nemty – Falcon god, worshipped in Middle Egypt, who appears in myth as a ferryman for greater gods
- Neper – A god of grain
- Osiris – god of death and resurrection who rules the underworld and enlivens vegetation, the sun god, and deceased souls
- Ra – The sun god
- Ptah – A creator deity and god of craftsmen, the patron god of Memphis
- Set – An ambivalent god, characterized by violence, chaos, and strength, connected with the desert. Mythological murderer of Osiris and enemy of Horus, but also a supporter of the king.
- Shu – Embodiment of wind or air, a member of the Ennead
- Sobek – Crocodile god, worshipped in the Faiyum and at Kom Ombo
- Sopdu – A god of the sky and of Egypt's eastern border regions
- Thoth – A moon god, and a god of writing and scribes, and patron deity of Hermopolis
- Wadj-wer – Personification of the Mediterranean Sea or lakes of the Nile Delta
Egyptian Goddesses
- Amunet – Female counterpart of Amun and a member of the Ogdoad
- Anuket – A goddess of Egypt's southern frontier regions, particularly the lower cataracts of the Nile
- Bast – Goddess represented as a cat or lioness, patroness of the city of Bubastis, linked with protection from evil
- Bat – Cow goddess from early in Egyptian history, eventually absorbed by Hathor
- Hathor – One of the most important goddesses, linked with the sky, the sun, sexuality and motherhood, music and dance, foreign lands and goods, and the afterlife. One of many forms of the Eye of Ra.
- Heket – Frog goddess said to protect women in childbirth
- Hesat – A maternal cow goddess
- Imentet – An afterlife goddess closely linked with Isis and Hathor
- Isis – Wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, linked with funerary rites, motherhood, protection, and magic. She became a major deity in Greek and Roman religion.
- Maat – Goddess who personified truth, justice, and order
- Menhit – A lioness-goddess
- Mut – Consort of Amun, worshipped at Thebes
- Neith – A creator and hunter goddess, patron of the city of Sais in Lower Egypt
- Nekhbet – A vulture goddess, the tutelary deity of Upper Egypt
- Nephthys – A member of the Ennead, the consort of Set, who mourned Osiris alongside Isis
- Nepit – A goddess of grain, the female counterpart of Neper
- Nut – A sky goddess, a member of the Ennead
- Pakhet – A lioness-goddess mainly worshipped in the area around Beni Hasan
- Renenutet – An agricultural goddess
- Satet – A goddess of Egypt's southern frontier regions
- Sekhmet – A lioness-goddess, both destructive and violent and capable of warding off disease, protector of the pharaohs who led them in war, the consort of Ptah, and one of many forms of the Eye of Ra.
- Tefnut – Goddess of moisture and a member of the Ennead
- Wadjet – A cobra goddess, the tutelary deity of Lower Egypt
- Wosret – A goddess of Thebes