Heads+of+the+Egyptian+Gods

Autopsy of Gods in a Dead Religion

Many years before the birth of Christ, the Ancient Egyptian religion was filled with majestic, yet very human-like gods that inscribed their wondrous tales of love, vengeance, and power into the hyrogliphics of the era. Now, thousands of years later, in modern day Egypt, more than ninty percent of the Egyptian population has claimed to follow the belief system of the Suni Muslims, with the majority of the remaining population practicing Coptic Christianity. Astoundingly, the religion of yesterday and all the magnificent tales of the gods entertwined in it, has been deemed a mere myth, primarily used for purposes of history and literature.

Unlike many other various religions, some of the gods of the Ancient Egyptians boasted the heads of creatures: from insects, to the beasts of the land, to the birds of the air. We seek to interpret the reasoning behind these heads and discover the significance of the animals to this ancient society. We also desire to discover why the gods possessed such human-like qualities.

The Ancient Egyptian civilization thrived between 3500 B.C. and 2500 B.C. in the arts, religion, economy, and diverse beliefs. Unlike many civilizations in that era which adapted the writing styles of other cultures, Egyptians consistently wrote in hieroglyphics, allowing modern civilization a glimpse into their fascinating religion.

Polytheistic, the ancient Egyptian religion believed in numerous gods such as Anubis, Re, Horus, Set, Thoth, Isis, and Bastet. Different duties correspond with each god: Anubis, the god of mummification and souls of the Under World; Re, the god of the sun; Horus, the god of the pharaohs and the intermediary between humans and Osiris who was reincarnated in each pharaoh; Osiris himself, ruler of the Other World, all gods, grain and the Nile; Set, the god of the night, the desert, and all evil; Thoth, the lord of divine words; Isis, the mother goddess; and Bastet, the goddess of fire, cats, of the home, and pregnant women.

Each god has distinguishing features and various forms, many boasting animal heads. Anubis has the head of a black jackal. At dawn, Re takes the form of a scarab, but he later emerges with a head of a falcon crowned with the sun disc. Horus is most commonly depicted as a falcon-headed man, but he is also shown as a falcon, a lion with the head of a falcon, or a sphinx.Osiris is often portrayed wearing an atef crown with ram horns attached. Set is portrayed as a disturbing animal with long ears and a tail. Thoth has three forms: a man with the head of an ibis holding a writing palette, an ibis, and a baboon. Isis takes the form of a beautiful woman, wearing wonderful clothing and sometimes a sun disk. Bastet takes the form of either a cat or a lioness.

Here are the gods portrayed in either hieroglyphics or statues:



The Ancient Egyptians did not formally explain why the gods boast these magnificent animal heads, leaving the reasoning to our own interpretation. The god of the embalming of corpses, Anubis's, had a head directly related to the true jackals of Egypt that haunted the areas around graveyards and necropolis. Re possessed a falcon head, and in Egyptian culture, the populace considered the falcon a powerful and majestic bird. Also a birds head, Horus, with the head of a hawk, also wore the crown of Egypt because he was the god of the pharaohs of Egypt. The hawk also represented him because he soared farther than any other god. The head of set was not comprised of any recognizable animal, leaving his nature open to interpretation, whether good or bad. Thoth, with the head of an ibis, directly relates to a real ibis. Considered a wise bird, the ibis, with a beak shaped like a quill, dipped its head into mud, which signified ink. Both the bird in actuality, and the god, always acted with wisdom and grace. Bastet, the goddess of cats, may appear insignificant to people uneducated in the ways of the Egyptians, but the ancient Egyptians revered what they considered a “sacred” animal. Surprisingly, Bastet does not perform as one of the most powerful gods. She protects her father’s sun ship from the giant snake Apep as the ship flies across the sky. In reality though, her duty corresponds with the duty of genuine cats, protecting precious valuables from harm, whether grain from mice, or the sun from Apep. With a split personality, Bastet embodied two characteristics of cats, docile and aggressive. Much like a mother cat caring for kittens, Bastet acted as a champion of the home, and pregnant women. Juxtaposed to this, her vicious nature appeared when forced to assail enemies. The correlation between animal and semi-human god counterpart appears in many examples, not just Egyptian mythology.

Unlike the rest of the gods mentioned, Osiris and Isis took on human forms, with no animal heads, though both had sun discs atop their heads. Egyptians needed at least a few gods for which it would be possible to empathize with, for none wish to have their fate decided by an animal, so Osiris assumes a human form. Osiris also owned ram-horns, and in the culture of the Egyptians, the ram was considered a powerful animal. Isis, the great mother goddess, represents women, and so she assumes the form of a woman.

In //The Golden Compass//, by Phillip Pullman, the form the daemon took on directly reflected the soul of the owner. The daemons of servants always assumed the form of a dog. The dog represented the characteristics most prominent in the servants, obedience and loyalty. Mrs. Coulter's monkey also showed this, but at a much deeper level. The golden fur of the monkey lured unsuspecting adults and children into a false sense of security, while the vicious and cruel nature lurked just beneath. Both the complex nature of the monkey and the simple nature of the servant’s dogs juxtapose each other, representing the juxtaposition of their owners. Animals possess simple attitudes allowing one to view the fundamental nature of human characteristics. The Egyptians gave various gods bestial heads to let the populace easily understand the nature behind the gods. With animal heads, the Egyptians clearly dictated the duties of each god.

Unlike the Egyptian deities, in Genesis, after the creation story, God separates himself from the humans due to their overwhelming sin. This provides a very mysterious, yet powerful and magnificent aspect to God, in that you cannot see Him physically, but His power appears constantly in nature and in the lives of many. The Egyptian gods posses all these qualities because they use magic and various powers, but they live on earth, which makes them more human and personal. They also had what some would consider negative qualities and the faults of human sin such as lust, violence, and deceit. Although God created animals and all the various creatures of the earth, no Bible-based religion will portray God with an animal head or a full animal body, perhaps because the bible only has one god for a major belief system and if that god took the form of an animal or even a human the religion would need more of a powerful figure. The Ancient Egyptians had so many different gods that they formed a major force made up of many different parts as opposed to a singular part.

Each god or goddess has a purpose, and his or her forms correspond with those purposes according to the significance of the animals to the people. Each head served as a guideline to the people, inscribing a clear duty and personality for each of the gods. Also, religions that acknowledge multiple gods do not need to make their gods as powerful as in a religion that worships one principle god because that one god would need to have awe-inspiring qualities in order to promote the quality of the religion.



Thought Provoking Questions:
 * Why do certain cultures consider animals to be sacred?
 * Do cultures that have gods modeled after animals need animals more in their daily lives?
 * How does a religion transform into a myth?
 * Why are none of the animal gods water-based creatures if they greatly valued the Nile?
 * Why are some of the Egyptian gods human based, and others based on animals?
 * Why did the religion of Egypt die out?

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