THE DEITIES AKER (god)- He was an Earth - god. His cult is known as far back as the Early Dynastic period. Aker took the form of two lions sitting back to back (double sphinx).The lions are sometimes called, "Yesterday" and "Tomorrow". The lion that was facing east sees in the sunrise and that facing the west sees the sunset, where the sun descends into the underworld. Illustration of the god Aker. Courtesy of Sea at Atlantis and Ancient Civilizations at http://www.seapyramid.net/ On some occasions he took the form of a piece of land with either lions or human heads on either side of it. Aker is closely identified with the junction of the east and the west in the underworld, where night turns to day and of the journey of the sun each night there. Aker also guards the gate to the Underworld and allows the king to pass through. AMAUNET (goddess) - She is known as the "hidden one". A personification of the life-bringing northern wind. She is a member of the Ogdoad of Hermopolis. Within this she is the consort to the god, Amun. She was a tutelary deity of the Egyptian pharaohs, (i.e. she served as a guardian or protector to the king), and had an important role in the accession ceremonies. She is shown as a snake or a snake-head on which the Lower Egyptian crown rests. As one of the primeval Netjeru (gods). Her shadow was a symbol of protection. She was represented at Ipet-Isut (Karnak) from the 12th dynasty but was later overshadowed as Amun`s wife by Mut.She is mentioned along with Amun in the Pyramid Texts (Dynasty 5).Her cult centre was at Hermopolis Magna. AMMIT/AMMUT Picture of Ammit/Ammut. Courtesy of NEFERCHICHI`S TOMB at http://www.neferchichi.com (goddess) - Usually depicted as a creature with the head of a crocodile, front part of a panther or lion, and the rear of a hippopotamus.She is a funerary deity, known as the, "Devourer of the Dead" and "Great of Death". In Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead (Book of Going Forth By Day). She is seen waiting beside the scales in the Hall of the Two Truths, where the hearts of the deceased were weighed against the feather of Maat (the goddess of truth, justice and harmony). If the deceased had led a good life and not committed many sins, his / her heart would weigh the same as, or less than, the feather of Maat, and would be allowed to progress to the afterlife. If the deceased had committed many crimes or been wicked in their life, their heart would weigh heavy from their sins and would be heavier than that of Maat. Ammut would consume the hearts of those not seen as being eligible to enter into the afterlife, those whose hearts had been found to be heavier than the feather of Maat. AMUN, AMEN, AMON, IMEN Picture of Amun. Copyright 1996 Deurer.All rights reserved. Egyptart at:- http://members.aol.com/egyptart/list.html (god) - He was usually depicted as a man wearing a double - plumed crown and sometimes with a ram`s head. He was part of the divine triad at Thebes (along with his wife, Mut, Ann their son, Khonsu. He was also a member of the Ogdoad, group of 8 primeval deities worshipped at Hermopolis Magna. Here he was known as Amun KemAtef and was a creator god who could resurrect himself by taking the form of a snake shedding his skin. His shadow was thought to protect other gods, and was often known as "the Hidden One". Amun merged with the sun god Ra/Re by the 11th dynasty. By the 12th dynasty he was known as "king of kings" in the form of Amun-Re. He then became thought of as the father of the king. Another form of Amun is as Amun Kamutef (Bull of his mother). Here he is seen in his ithyphallic form and closely related to the fertility god Min. Statue of Amun-Re. With kind permission from Kings Royal Imports at http://www.kingsroyalimports.com/ ANAT (goddess) - Anat was introduced to Egypt from Syria - Palestine. She is usually depicted as a woman holding a shield, axe and lance. Anat was seen as a fertility goddess and also as an aggressive war goddess. She has been called the "Mother of the Gods" and "Mistress of the Sky". Picture of the goddess Anat. Obtained from Encyclopedia Mythica. http://www.pantheon.org/areas/gallery/mythology/africa/egyptian Copyright 1995-2002 Micha F Lindemans. All rights reserved. The first cult to Anat was in the late Middle Kingdom (c.1800 BC) and one of the 16th Dynasty Hyksos kings (c.1560 BC) included the name Anat-her in his titulary. Her cult was celebrated during the 3rd Intermediate period in the temple of Mut at Tanis. Illustration of Anat, courtesy of Lyn at IMMORTAL EGYPT at:- http://www.geocities.com/lin_hensby/Index.html ANUBIS Picture of Anubis. Courtesy of NEFERCHICHI`S TOMB at http://www.neferchichi.com (god) - Anubis is usually depicted as a dog or black jackal, or as a human with the head of a dog or jackal. He was known as the "god of the dead" and was linked with embalming and mummification. The black colour associated with Anubis is related to the colour of the deceased after they have been embalmed, and also the black fertile soil in the Nile Valley, which was linked with re-birth. Statue of Anubis with a coffin. With kind permission from Kings Royal Imports at http://www.kingsroyalimports.com/ Anubis is said to have aided Isis and Nephthys to wrap their murdered brother, Osiris`, body. This was thought to be the first mummification to have been carried out. Anubis was also the "Guardian of the Necropolis" and was called, "neb-ta-djeser" (lord of the sacred land) and "khenty-seh-netjer" (foremost of the divine booth). Along with the god Osiris, Anubis was also called "khentimentiu" (foremost of the westerners). In the Book of the Dead, Anubis is shown in the"Hall of Maat" supervising the "weighing of the heart" of the deceased against the "feather of Maat" (Maat was the goddess of truth, justice and harmony).If the deceased had led a good life and not committed many sins, his / her heart would weigh the same as, or less than, the feather of Maat, and would be allowed to progress to the afterlife. If the deceased had committed many crimes or been wicked in their life, their heart would weigh heavy from their sins and would be heavier than that of Maat. Ammut would consume the hearts of those not seen as being eligible to enter into the afterlife, those whose hearts had been found to be heavier than the feather of Maat. Anubis also protects the dead from Ammut (the devourer). He acted as a guide to the deceased as they travelled through the underworld. Statue of Anubis. With kind permission from Kings Royal Imports at http://www.kingsroyalimports.com/ Some considered Anubis a patron of magic and felt that he could see the destiny of a person and was also known as the "announcer of death". Anubis also performs the "opening of the mouth" ceremony, where he touches the mouth of the mummy or a statue of the deceased with an adze, to restore the deceased persons senses for his/her life in the afterlife. ANUKET / ANUKIS / ANQET (goddess) - She is often shown with a tall plumed headdress / crown holding a papyrus sceptre. She is the goddess of the first Nile cataract area (around Aswan). Illustration of the goddess ANUKET. Courtesy of Sea at Atlantis and Ancient Civilizations at http://www.seapyramid.net/ Anket was considered a daughter of the sun - god, Ra. During the New Kingdom, along with Khnum and Satet, she became part of the Elephantine triad. She had a temple on the island of Sehel, near Aswan, and was also worshipped throughout Nubia. APIS (god) - Apis was a sacred bull and was a manifestation of the god, Ptah. It was thought that Apis was the "Ba" ( physical manifestation ) of Ptah. Apis had a sanctuary in the area of the "embalming house" near the temple of Ptah at Memphis. The Apis bull had particular markings. He was black with a white diamond on it`s forehead, an image of a vulture on its back, double hairs on its tail and a scarab-shaped mark underneath its tongue. Herodatus, the Greek historian, claimed that the Apis bull was conceived from a bolt of lightening. Picture of the Apis bull. Obtained from Encyclopedia Mythica. http://www.pantheon.org/areas/gallery/mythology/africa/egyptian Copyright 1995-2002 Micha F Lindemans. All rights reserved. It is probable that the cult of Apis was celebrated from the earliest days of Egyptian history. Manetho, a Ptolemaic historian, claimed that it began in the 2nd dynasty. The pharaoh was linked with the Apis bull as they were both thought to be divine aspects of a god. On the death of the Apis bull, it was embalmed and buried in a granite sarcophagus at Saqqara, in the Serapeum. These underground catacombs were used for this purpose from the New Kingdom and the passing of each Apis bull was mourned throughout the whole of Egypt. Following its death, the Apis bull was linked with Osiris and was then known as the deity, Osiris-Apis or Osarapis. APOPHIS (god) - Apophis symbolized chaos and evil and is depicted as the snake-god in the underworld. He is often shown as the adversary of the sun-god, Ra. Apophis was the main threat to the safe passage of the bark that Ra travelled on during his journey in the underworld. ASTARTE (goddess) - Astarte is one of the goddesses imported from Syria to the Egyptian pantheon. It is most likely that she was introduced to Egypt during the 18th dynasty (1550-1295 BC). She is depicted as a naked woman, riding a horse, wearing a headdress of the Atef crown or bull horns. Two pictures of statues of Astarte, courtesy of Lyn at IMMORTAL EGYPT at:- http://www.geocities.com/lin_hensby/Index.html Astarte was thought to protect the pharaoh`s chariot in battle and was linked with chariot and equestrian skills. ATEN (god) - The Aten was represented as the sun-disk or orb. It has been suggested that the Aten was the visible form of the god, Re-Horakhty of Heliopolis. During the New Kingdom the popularity of the Aten developed and representations of the Aten as a sun disk with it`s rays ending in hands have been found relating to the reign of Amenhotep II (1427 - 1400 BC). An illustration of the Aten. Copyright 1996 Deurer.All rights reserved. Egyptart at:- http://members.aol.com/egyptart/list.html Throughout Amenhotep III`s reign the Aten became even more popular, but it was during the reign of his son, Amenhotep IV, that the Aten cult reached its height. He promoted the Aten as the "sole" god and tried to forbid the worship of the traditional Egyptian deities. In Amenhotep IV`s 5th year as king, he moved the royal capital to a new city which he created and named, Akhenaten ("the horizon of the sun disc"), modern el-Amarna. It was situated in Middle Egypt on a site that had not been used before in the worship of other gods. Amenhotep IV then changed his name to Akhenaten. The temples to the Aten were built in a very different design to traditional temples to other Egyptian deities. They consisted of large open courtyards, containing offering tables and altars. They were mainly built of mud brick and were unroofed structures.Akhenaten was emphasized as the living intermediary between his people and the Aten. ATUM (god) - Atum is the creator god and solar deity connected with Heliopolis. He was gradually linked with the sun-god, Ra, to form the deity, Ra-Atum. Atum was thought to have risen from the waters of chaos (Nun) to form the Primeval Mound. His two offspring, Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture) became the parents of Geb (earth) and Nut (sky). Geb and Nut then had four offspring, Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys.These nine gods were known as the Heliopolitan Ennead and were the gods involved in the Heliopolitan creation myth.It is said that Atum created Shu and Tefnut by copulating with his hand, or by spitting them into being. An illustration of Atum. Courtesy of KING TUT ONE.COM at http://www.kingtutone.com/ Atum is thought of as a protective deity. It was Atum who transported the deceased pharaoh from his pyramid to the heavens, where he became a "star-god". In later periods, Atum was believed to protect the deceased in his journey through the underworld. He was portrayed as a man wearing the "Nemes" headdress or double crown. Atum was also sometimes seen as a snake. he was manifested in the scarab beetle, which appears from a dung ball in the same way that Atum appeared from the primeval mound.