Religion has always played an important role in the lives of the Egyptians. During "Pharaonic" times a large number of Gods and Goddesses were worshipped. These took many different forms, some human and some animal. The pharaoh was seen as a semi-divine king, receiving his power from the gods themselves. It was the pharaoh that acted as a link between his people and the gods and in doing so he maintained a stable and prosperous Egypt. He would oversee the building of temples in honor of the gods and make sure that offerings were made to them in these. By doing this, it was thought that the gods would bless Egypt and her people, ensuring plentiful harvests, victories in war and good health. The geographic location of Egypt brought with it natural hazards. Only a small area of land within the country is, and was, habitable. This is a small fertile strip of land on either side of the river Nile. The Nile was the lifeblood of the country. It`s annual flood brought with it a rich silt, which acted as a fertilizer on the land. Without this flood, the harvest would fail leading to famine. Outside of the fertile land is desert, bringing extremes of temperature which would be difficult to endure. Many of the ancient Egyptian gods were associated with environmental events, aspects of the cosmos, and events of daily life. Certain deities were closely associated with particular cult centres of worship. Throughout ancient Egyptian history some of these "local" deities rose to power and became important "state" deities. Often this was linked to political changes in Egypt. It was often the case that the local deity from the region where the ruling pharaoh came from would be elevated to a more influential position. There were also instances were a local deity was merged with a more prominent one or they would co-exist. There are a number of different versions of "creation myths" in Egyptian religion. These different stories were dependent on which particular "creator" god was central to that version. Some versions appear to complement each other, whereas others are completely contradictory. These differences and discrepancies appear to have been accepted and not questioned by the ancient Egyptian people. A LIST OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DEITIES AKER AMAUNET AMMIT/AMMUT AMUN, AMEN, AMON, IMEN ANAT ANUBIS ANUKET / ANUKIS / ANQET APIS APOPHIS ASTARTE ATEN ATUM BAAL BASTET BAT BENU BES BUCHIS GEB HAPI / HAPY HATHOR HATMEHYT / HAT-MEHIT HAUHET HEKET / HEQET HERYSHEF HORUS HU ISIS KHEPRI / KHEPRA / KHEPERA KHNUM KHONS / KHONSU KUK MAAT MER(E)TSEGER MIN MNEVIS/MER-WER MONTU/MONTH/MONTHU MUT NEFERTEM NEITH NEKHBET NEPHTHYS NUN NUT OSIRIS PTAH RA /RE RA RENENUTET SEKHMET SERKET/SELKET/SELKIS SETH SHU SOBEK/SEBEK/SUCHES SOKAR SONS OF HORUS SOPDET /SOTHIS TAWARET/TAURT/THOERIS TEFNUT THOTH / DJEHUTY WADJET /EDJO /UTO /WADJYT WAPWAWET THE CREATION MYTHS