Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

Walk into any Egyptian temple and you will meet the same few faces again and again: a falcon-headed king, a woman with a throne on her head, a jackal leaning over a mummy. The ancient Egyptians worshipped hundreds of gods, but 10 of them will carry you through most temples, tombs and museums.

This guide explains who each one was, the story behind them, how to spot them on a wall and where to see them on a trip. Myths changed over 3,000 years and from town to town, so we give the versions you are most likely to hear from a guide.

Ra was the sun, and for much of Egyptian history he was the king of the gods. He is usually shown with a falcon head and a sun disk. Each day he sailed across the sky in a boat, and each night he travelled through the underworld, fighting the serpent Apophis, to be reborn at dawn. That journey is painted across royal tomb walls in the Valley of the Kings.

His main cult centre was Heliopolis, now part of northern Cairo. Over time he merged with other gods, and the best-known result was Amun-Ra. You can see his power in the names of pharaohs too: Ramesses means “born of Ra”.

Osiris is the centre of Egypt’s most famous myth. His jealous brother Seth murdered him and scattered his body. His wife Isis gathered the pieces and brought him back to life long enough to conceive their son, Horus. Osiris then became king of the dead, which gave every Egyptian the hope of life after death.

He is shown wrapped like a mummy, holding a crook and flail. His skin is often green or black, the colours of new crops and the Nile’s rich soil, because he stood for rebirth. Abydos was his holiest city, and the Temple of Seti I there has some of Egypt’s finest carving.

Isis was the most loved goddess of all, known as a clever magician and a devoted mother. She wears the sign of a throne on her head, and later she is shown with a cow’s horns and sun disk, which can make her look like Hathor. On coffins and tomb walls, her outstretched wings protect the dead.

Her worship lasted longer than any other. It spread across the Roman Empire, and it carried on at Philae Temple near Aswan until the 6th century AD, long after most of Egypt had turned Christian. The last known hieroglyphs were carved there too.

Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis, and he spent his youth fighting Seth for his father’s throne. In one episode of the fight he lost an eye, which was healed. That is the origin of the Eye of Horus, a symbol of protection and health that you will see on amulets and in every souvenir shop.

Every living pharaoh was seen as Horus on earth. He appears as a falcon or a falcon-headed man wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The Temple of Edfu, built for him, is the best preserved in the country, and its walls tell the story of his battle with Seth.

Jackals prowled the desert cemeteries, so Egyptians made a jackal the guardian of the dead. Anubis was the god of embalming, and priests may have worn jackal masks during the rites. In tomb paintings he leans over the mummy, or leads the dead to the great scales where the heart is weighed against the feather of truth. A heavy heart was eaten by a monster.

Find him in the small Anubis chapel at Hatshepsut’s temple, where the colours are still bright. Tutankhamun’s black Anubis statue, lying on a shrine, is one of the great sights at the Grand Egyptian Museum. Our mummification guide explains the process.

Bastet started out as a fierce lioness goddess and grew gentler over time, ending up as a protector of the home, of women and of children. She is shown as a cat or a woman with a cat’s head. Her city was Bubastis in the Delta, and the Greek writer Herodotus described huge, noisy festivals there, with boats full of pilgrims sailing in.

Her temple is in ruins today, so museums are the best place to see her. Look for the elegant bronze cat statues, many of which were offerings. Cats were mummified in great numbers in her honour.

Thoth was the scribe of the gods. He has the head of an ibis, sometimes appears as a baboon, and usually holds a reed pen and palette. Egyptians believed he gave them writing, and he was linked to the moon, measurement and magic.

Look for him in judgement scenes: while Anubis weighs the heart, Thoth stands by and writes down the result. His city was Hermopolis in Middle Egypt, where huge numbers of ibis and baboon mummies were buried at nearby Tuna el-Gebel. Our hieroglyphics guide covers the script he was said to have invented.

People who lived beside crocodiles had good reason to keep them happy. Sobek was a god of the Nile’s strength and fertility, shown as a crocodile or a crocodile-headed man. In some temples, live crocodiles were kept, fed and mummified after death.

He shares Kom Ombo Temple with a form of Horus, which is why it is a double temple with two entrances. Next door, the small Crocodile Museum shows mummies found in the area, and it is a highlight for children on a Nile cruise. Fayoum, south of Cairo, was his other great centre.

Nephthys is the quiet sister in the family: the sister of Isis, Osiris and Seth, and in many stories the wife of Seth. Even so, she sided with Isis, helping her search for Osiris and mourning him beside her. Some myths name her as the mother of Anubis.

She wears the signs for “lady of the house” on her head, and she usually appears with Isis at either end of a coffin, wings spread. Her name is not as famous as her sister’s, but once you know her, you will spot the pair in tomb after tomb.

Sekhmet is the goddess you do not want to anger. In one myth, Ra sent her to punish humanity, and she enjoyed it so much that he had to trick her with beer dyed red to look like blood. She drank it, fell asleep and woke up calm. Her priests were also doctors, since the goddess who sent plague could also cure it.

She has a lioness head and a sun disk. Amenhotep III had hundreds of her statues carved, many for the Temple of Mut at Karnak. In the small Temple of Ptah at Karnak, a dark chamber holds a statue of her, and it is worth asking your guide to find it.

Five more gods you will meet

How to recognise a god on a temple wall

You do not need to read hieroglyphs. Start at the head: an animal head tells you who it is, and on human-headed figures, the sign on top of the head does the same job. Then look at the hands. Gods often hold an ankh, the sign of life, and offer it to the king. The figure making offerings is nearly always the pharaoh, so a scene usually reads as a king thanking a god and being rewarded.

Where to see the gods on a trip

Most of the best temples sit along the Nile. A Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan stops at Edfu and Kom Ombo, and from Aswan you can reach Philae. Dendera is an easy day out from Luxor. Our guide to Egypt’s temples explains what happened inside them, and this day trip from Aswan covers Horus and Sobek in one go.

• Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses: tales of power
• 20 interesting facts about Egypt
• Temples of ancient Egypt

If you only have time for a few temples, go to Edfu for Horus, Kom Ombo for Sobek and Philae for Isis, which all fit into a Nile cruise or a few days in Aswan. Learn five or six of the gods in the table above before you go, and the walls will start to make sense on their own.