Mankind has always battled chaos, through History and right up to the present times. Every culture has its own set of beliefs and practices to explain this lack of order and to restore harmony. The gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt played a significant part in this struggle. So significant, that, for example, the Goddess Ma’at, represented Truth, Justice and Cosmic order. Ancient Egyptians placed a lot of faith in Gods and Goddesses as the controllers of the human, natural and supernatural forces. Ancient Egyptian religion and rituals were centered on balancing these forces and maintaining harmony in the world.
This ancient culture was also rich in symbolism. Isis, the Goddess of Magic and Motherhood, is portrayed as holding an “ankh’ or a lotus. Ancient Egyptian gold jewelry also holds a lot of spiritual symbolism. When we look at how Goddesses are represented and their divine significance in ancient Egyptian culture, it is evident that each has her own significant role and position in maintaining natural balance and harmony and protecting mankind.
Some of the important Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt are-
- Anubis, the God of embalming and of the dead, patron of lost souls. Depicted as a man with the head of a Jackal.
- Geb, God of the Earth and father of snakes, his laughter is said to cause earthquakes.
- Ra, God of the Sun, keeper of order, Kings and the sky, most popular Egyptian Gods.
- Isis, giver of life, healer and protector of Kings, the Goddess consort of Osiris who made the first mummy from the dismembered parts of Osiris and resurrected him.
- Hathor, the Goddess of Women, Pleasure and Music, usually depicted as a cow or a woman with cows ears or hearing a headdress of cows horns.
- Osiris, the God of fertility and life, the most enduring of Egyptian Gods.
- Nephythys, protector of the dead, together with Isis, her sister.
- Nut, the Goddess of the sky. Depicted in human form with an elongated body representing the sky and her four limbs represent the four cardinal directions.
- Set, the archetypal villain of Egyptian mythology, God of war, chaos and storms. Popular as the antithesis of Osiris.