Have you ever wondered why the ancient Egyptians had so many gods? There weren’t ten or twenty… there were more than 2,000! Although it sounds surprising, it makes perfect sense when you know their way of thinking. In this article I will explain why this civilization created such a diverse pantheon and how each deity played an important role in their lives.
Religion as part of everyday life
For the Egyptians, religion was not something exclusive to temples or occasional rituals. It was the center of his existence. Everything from sunrise to harvest had spiritual meaning. Therefore, each god represented a specific aspect of the universe:
The primordial god of the sun and recognized as an Egyptian deity guaranteed light and life.
Deity of death and resurrection, he was key in his vision of the afterlife and reincarnation.
goddess of love and joy, music. It symbolized women and also childbirth.
Goddess of justice, she represented the balance necessary to maintain universal order.
This spiritual approach went beyond the personal: every daily action, from cultivating the field to trading in the market, and preparing to cross into the afterlife in death, had a religious component.
The gods as local symbols
An interesting fact is that each Egyptian city had its own “team” of gods. For example, in Thebes they worshiped Amon, considered the god of the hidden and the air, he reached his main popularity in the New Kingdom when he was renamed Amon-Ra fusing the concept of the dark with the light, thus the hidden opens to life.
The temple dedicated to the god Amon in Karnac is a vestige of his worship and representation of power.
While in Memphis, the main god was Ptah., the god of magic, the creator god, was venerated as the inventor of masonry, architects and craftsmen. It reached its peak in the ancient empire. This created a local identity and connected communities with their deities. It was as if each region had a protective “pattern,” strengthening their pride and sense of belonging.
Avoid Chaos: Keep the Gods Happy
The Egyptians believed that their relationship with the gods was crucial to avoiding disasters. They thought that if they did not worship the deities properly, they could become angry and unleash problems such as droughts, plagues or poor harvests. To appease them, they performed rituals, offered gifts and built impressive temples, such as that of Karnak, dedicated to Amon-Ra.
Imagine it! It was like always having to keep a very demanding boss happy so that everything ran smoothly.
For the Egyptians,the concept of Maat (order and justice) was central. The worship of so many gods helped maintain this balance. Each deity had a specific role, like pieces of a gear that ensured the functioning of the universe.
Divine representations: humans, animals and combinations
Another fascinating aspect of the Egyptian gods was their visual representation.
Many combined human and animal features, such as Anubis, the god of the dead, with a human body and the head of a jackal.
This mixture not only made the gods more identifiable, but also gave them specific attributes.
For example, the jackal was associated with cemeteries, so Anubis was perfect for guiding souls in the afterlife.
This variety of forms allowed a single god to have different functions or interpretations, which contributed to the list of deities expanding even further. At a time when science could not explain natural phenomena, the Egyptians turned to the gods. If the Nile overflowed, it was thanks to Hápy, the god of floods.
If the sun shone brightly, it was the work of Ra. This system allowed them to make sense of their surroundings and find solace in a universe that might otherwise seem chaotic.
Legends that transcend
Stories about the Egyptian gods also played an essential role in their culture. One of the most fascinating is that of Thoth, god of wisdom, protector of humans, considered a benevolent god, he teaches them writing, agriculture, construction and as a scribe of the gods he also intervenes in the passage of the deceased to the afterlife
In the passage of the weighing of the soul, described in the “book of the dead” in the God Thoth accompanied by the goddess Maat, the goddess of justice. prostrate before Osiris and cross to the afterlife, on the contrary, if the plates were not equal, he would appear in amentis, hell.
it was not very clear if it meant reincarnating again here on Earth. Some researchers maintain that the ancient Egyptians interpreted hell as existence itself and when we had learned what was necessary, our journey to the afterlife was in a world much better than this one next to the gods.
This is how important the god Thoth was, who according to legend wrote a sacred book with advanced knowledge of magic and science, which would help humanity understand its past, its direction and its end.
They say that once he had finished this book called the book of 78 sheets of gold, Thoth seeing that it was so powerful and considering that humans were not prepared to understand it, he hid it to protect it from misuse, inside a sealed box guarded by snakes and threw it into the Nile River.
Later it was the Egyptian prince Neferkaptah who fought against the snakes and rescued him from the Nile River, then the angry gods killed his wife and son and he in despair committed suicide.
He was buried with the book with the curse that no one else should have it, otherwise misfortune would follow him. It is said that it contained secrets about astrology, numerology, Kabbalah, magic and the message of the gods themselves as advice and two enchantments so that they could be able to perceive the gods themselves.
But it was Jameuse one of the sons of Ramses II the great who they say he rescued the book from Neferkaptah’s tomb, after a series of horrific and destructive visions witnessing the death of his family, he considered that from the afterlife the deceased Neferkaaptah was warning him and decided to return the book to his tomb.
Although Maneton himself claimed that the god Thoth had written more than 36,000 books, this one in particular has been the subject of much speculation.
But fragments of this legend have been found in papyri that are currently in the museums of Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Florence, Copenhagen and New Haven.
The idea of divine, forbidden knowledge highlights the importance that the Egyptians placed on the balance between power and responsibility.
Have you been interested in this topic? In my book “The Egyptian Tarot” I explore these mysteries and much more.
