• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 944 0

is proved by archaeology and written accounts. Only later did Egyptian-era spin doctors take over and transform him into a legend that had nothing to do with sacred stories. (Or cursed mummies. In the most recent Mummy films, the evil Mummy is said to be the reincarnated Imhotep who was once buried alive for trifling with the secrets of the dead.) The historical Imhotep was a multitalented priest and chief advisor, or vizier, to King Djoser. He was also the architect of the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, the first colossal stone building in history. Although Imhotep’s own tomb has not been located, a limestone bust of him was found in Djoser’s funerary complex. A high priest in Heliopolis, Imhotep was eventually deified and regarded as the son of Ptah, the ancient creator god. He was also viewed as the patron god of physicians, and even today, modern medicine honors him as the first physician known by name. (A statue in his honor stands in the Hall of Immortals in the International College of Surgeons in Chicago.)

Mehet-Weret (or Mehturt) An ancient cow-goddess and sky goddess, whose name means “great flood,” she is also identified with the celestial river or canal on which Re sails his boat. In early traditions, Mehet-Weret is seen as the mother of Re, usually depicted as a cow, or half cow, half human, with a sun disk between her horns. She is also later linked with Hathor, another central cow-goddess.

Neith One of the most ancient deities whose existence is known in the prehistoric and early dynastic periods, she is a mother goddess worshipped in the Nile Delta. According to Egyptian tradition, Neith invented childbirth and brought gods, animals, and humans into existence. Because she is so ancient, she acquired other attributes over time and was also considered a warrior goddess. In one story, she spat into the water and her spit turned into Apep, the dragonlike serpent of the underworld who tries to devour Re each night as he passes through the Duat.

Sekhmet The lion-headed wife of the early creator god Ptah, she is a war goddess whose name means “powerful,” and she could breathe fire against her enemies. Many Egyptian kings adopted her as a patroness of battle. In another of her roles, Sekhmet is the goddess who delivers punishments to the other gods.

Serqet An ancient scorpion goddess, she is the companion of Isis, and is one of the four funerary deities (the others were Isis, Nephthys, and Neith) who protect and guard the coffins and canopic jars that contain the embalmed, mummified organs of the deceased. There is a famous gilded wooden statue of Serqet, wearing the scorpion with a raised tail on her head, discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun in which she guards one side of the king’s shrine. Serqet was also invoked through spells that were meant to protect and heal poisonous bites.

Thoth (or Djehuty) Originally a moon god, he is best known as the divine scribe who records the weighing of souls when they arrive in the hall of justice to determine their fate after death. Thoth is usually depicted with the head of an ibis, because the curved beak of that bird was thought to resemble the crescent moon. (He is also sometimes depicted as a baboon.) In The Book of the Dead, Spell 30B invokes Thoth in his role in the weighing ceremony:

Thus says Thoth, judge of truth, to the Great Ennead which is in the presence of Osiris: Hear the word of very truth. I have judged the heart of the deceased, and his soul stands as witness for him. His deeds are righteous in the great balance, and no sin has been found in him.”

As the inventor of writing and patron of scribes, Thoth records the Ennead’s “divine words” and documents the passing of kings. Worshipped as a patron of learning and the master of inventions, Thoth is also credited with the creation of writing.

Wepwawet Another funerary god with a dog’s body and the head of a jackal, his name means “the opener of ways.” A very old deity, represented on the Narmer Palette, he guides the dead person’s soul through the underworld and assists in the