Sunday, March 1, 2009

Names of Deities


Ancient Egyptian Legends
by M. A. Murray
[1920]

INDEX OF NAMES OF GODS

Abtu-fish.—A mythological fish which accompanies the Boat of Ra at sunrise.

Amemt.—The mythical animal which devours the hearts of the wicked at the Judgment of Osiris.

Amon.—God of Thebes. In and after the xviiith dynasty he became the supreme deity of Egypt under the name of Amon-Ra.

Ant-fish.—A mythological fish which accompanies the Boat of Ra at sunrise.

Anubis.—A jackal-headed deity who presided over the embalming of the dead. He was said to be the illegitimate son of Osiris and Nephthys, and, in the form of a dog, to have protected Isis in her wanderings.

Apep.—The enemy of Ra in the Duat.

Astarte.—A Syrian goddess, whose name is found occasionally in Egyptian inscriptions.

Atmu.—An early name of the solar deity worshipped at Heliopolis. In later times, the name of the setting sun.

Bes.—A bandy-legged dwarf with horns. God of music and pleasure, and protector of children. Possibly also a god of birth.

Besa.—A spirit of the corn.

Geb.—The earth-god, father of Osiris.

Harmakhis.—Horus on the Horizon, i.e. the sun at its rising and setting.

Harpocrates.—Horus the Child, son of Isis and Osiris.

Hathor.—Goddess of love and beauty; often identified with all the other goddesses, including Sekhmet.

Hekt.—The frog-headed goddess of birth.

Her-desuf.—A form of Horus.

Horakhti.—The Horizon-Horus. The same as Harmakhis.

Horus.—The hawk-headed god is, properly speaking, the brother of Isis and Osiris; but is constantly confused with Horus the Child, and is called Avenger or Protector of his Father.

Isis.—The greatest of Egyptian goddesses, wife of Osiris, and mother of Harpocrates.

Khepera.—The rising sun, god of resurrection.

Khnum.—The ram-headed god of the cataract, who creates man upon the potter's wheel.

Khonsu.—The moon-god at Thebes.

Mehen.—The serpent who protects Ra in the Duet.

Mentu.—God of war.

Meskhent.—Goddess of birth.

Min.—Father of gods and men. God of Koptos.

Neith.—Goddess of Saïs. Identified by the Greeks with Athena.

Nekhbet.—The vulture-goddess of Upper Egypt.

Nephthys.—Sister of Isis and Osiris.

Nepra.—A spirit of the corn.

Nun.—God of the primaeval waters.

Nut.—The sky-goddess, mother of Osiris.

Osiris.—One of the chief gods of Egypt. Murdered and torn to pieces by his brother Set,

revivified by Isis and Horus.

Ra.—The Sun-god, one of the chief gods of Egypt. Heliopolis (the On of the Bible) was the principal centre of his worship.

Sekhmet.—The lioness-headed goddess of Memphis.

Selk.—The scorpion-goddess.

Set.—Brother and murderer of Osiris. Looked upon, in late times, as the Author of Evil.

Shu.—Twin-brother of Tefnut. He holds up the sky above the earth.

Sokar.—The hawk-headed god of the dead. When fused with Ptah (Ptah-Sokar) he appears in the form of a misshapen dwarf, and is then looked upon as a god of resurrection.

Tatanen.—An obscure god, generally fused with Ptah of Memphis as Ptah-Tatanen.

Ta-urt.—The hippopotamus goddess of birth.

Tefnut.—Lioness-headed. Twin-sister of Shu. The two form the constellation Gemini.

Tepu-yn.—A spirit of the corn.

Thoth.—The ibis-headed god of all learning and magic. Chief centre of worship Khemennu or Hermopolis, now called Eshmunen.

Uazet.—Goddess of Lower Egypt.

Up-uaut.—The jackal-god of Siut.

Source:
Murray, Margaret Alice. Legends of Ancient Egypt. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2000, pp. 117-119.