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=Myths and Gods of Ancient Egypt= Mythology played an important role in the lives of ancient Egyptians. It created history, portrayed some of the people’s conceptions and helped us know a lot about their lives. Myths and other religious beliefs were the Egyptian’s main concerns. They had various types of gods involved in every myth. These gods had different tasks as well as different forms. It was also possible that one god had different forms. This information was obtained from the various representations that were carved on the temple walls, monuments and artifacts. There are numerous myths that ancient Egyptians believed in. I am going to illustrate some examples clarifying the most important information as well as the gods involved, their depictions, functions, names, forms etc. The myths I am writing about are the following: The great Ennead, The story of Isis and Osiris, followed by Horus’ battle with Seth, Osiris in the underworld and finally Thoth and Maat.

The Ennead of Heliopolis is mainly concerned with Nun, the river of chaos, was the first thing that existed before the creation of the world. The myth says that ATUM who rose from the louts flower by the river was the “ Lord of Heliopolis “. He later on was acknowledged as Ra, the sun god. Ra or ATUM masturbated the first two gods: SHU and TEFNUT. SHU was the god of the air and TEFNUT was the goddess of the sky. They in turn coupled and gave birth to GEB, the god of the earth and NUT, the goddess of the sky. ("egyptianmyths.net") SHU, separated between GEB and NUT creating the space between the sky and the earth. Thereby, the cosmos was formed. GEB and NUT also coupled and gave birth to ISIS, OSIRIS, SETH and NEPHTYS. ISIS and OSIRIS got married, as well as SETH and NEPHTYS. (Ikram, 128)

Ra is the sun god. He is the first creator of the whole world. He had 3 different forms. Khepri in the morning, Ra at noon and Atum in the afternoon, Ra was depicted with a solar disk above his head. He sometimes carried a scarab- head when he was in the form of Khepri. ( Armour, 13). SHU, being the god of the space between the sky and the earth, was depicted as a man with perfect human qualities with has an ostrich feather on his head who carries the sky ad departs it from the earth, he was also a personification of the wind. TEFNUT was depicted as a goddess with a lioness head. She sometimes carried a solar disk. GEB and NUT were depicted as the humans. GEB represented the earth and NUT was represented as the sky. Both gods had human portrayals. GEB was laying on the ground, topped by NUT, a woman with large body proportions. Stars that indicated her being the sky covered her body.

Followed by descendants Isis, Osiris, Seth and Nephtys comes the second myth of Isis and Osiris. Isis and Osiris were married and ruled Egypt together. Osiris was a successful ruler who had the land, the power and the popularity. His people loved him and Egypt was in a good condition during his reign. Seth, his brother was jealous of him so he decided to kill him. He built a coffin and let everyone try it during a festival. The coffin was richly decorated. People gathered around to try out the coffin but it did not fit anyone but Osiris, his brother. Unexpectedly, Seth shut down the lid of the coffin and threw it in the River Nile. Isis went searching for the coffin and found it in a pillar supporting the roof. When Seth knew about hos rescue, he went after him and killed him again. But this time, he cut him into pieces and threw the pieces in the Nile. Then again, Isis went looking after her husband trying to collect the pieces and bring them together. Isis succeeded in finding all the pieces but one, which was eaten by a fish. For that reason, Osiris was not able to live on the earth again. He became the judge of the underworld. (Armour 54-58). Osiris became the name of “the green one” because he was the god of vegetation and the soil. He was also depicted, having a green head for vegetation sometimes also green for soil. ("gsesegypt2012.wikispaces.com") This leaves us with the activity of Osiris in the underworld. Ancient Egyptians believed in resurrection as well as the afterlife. They believed that those who lived a good life, would be rewarded by experiencing a great afterlife. In order to decide whether a person deserved to enjoy it or not, they weighed his/ her heart against the feather of Maat ( honesty and justice). If the heart balanced with the feather then the person was eligible to enter the afterlife and live there for eternity. If not, then the devourer ( Ammut) – who was depicted as a lion, would eat his heart and this person may never enter it. All the gods mentioned above were related to state religion. However, there are important gods for which people prayed in certain circumstances. Thoth, the god of wisdom was depicted with a head of Ibis (”Crystal Links”). People prayed for him when they wanted to pass their exams. Hathor and Basted helped people with their love lives out. It was thought that whoever had a problem concerning their love life; their problem would be solved when they pray for them ( Ikram, Salima p.152 ). Hathor was depicted as a divine cow with an udder above her head. Bastet was portrayed as a woman with the head of a lioness, sometime also a head of a desert cat. ("per-bast"). Additionally, magic played an important role in the ancient Egyptian’s life. Gods who were associated with magic were, Isis and Heka. Isis was not only a god for creation and magic, but she was also associated with fertility and motherhood. Thus, she had various depictions. Her main headdress was an empty throne chair. It is said that this throne chair belonged to her husband who was murdered by Seth, his brother ("crystalinks"). Heka was also associated with medicine. Therefore, he was depicted as a man who had a flax between his arms, thought to be resemble two snakes. (Jenny) Craftsmen who worked with their hand, prayed to the god Ptah. He was depicted as a mummy, holding the ankh for eternal life ("ablemedia.com"). However, there are many other gods who arose in Ancient Egypt but those are the ones who drew my attention and who, in my opinion, played the most important role in the Ancient Egypt and were remembered almost every day.

=Reference=

Armour, Robert. Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt. 2010. Print.

Hill., Jenny. "Heka." Gods of Ancient Egypt:. 2010. Web. 17 May 2012. .

"Ancient Egyptian Gods." ablemedia.com. Classic Technology Center, n.d. Web. .

."Isis." crystalinks. crystalinks, n.d. Web. .

."Bast: Depictions." per-bast. per-bast.org, n.d. Web. .

."Osiris." gsesegypt2012.wikispaces.com. GSESegypt2012, n.d. Web. .

."the Ennead of Heliopolis." egyptianmyths.net. Ancient Egypt: the Mythology, 13 May 2012. Web. .