Egyptians: Gods & Goddesses

The Egyptians worshipped hundreds of gods and goddesses. Many of the gods were represented by animals.

 

The main Egyptian god was Amun-Re, the sun-god. He was king of the gods and protector of the pharaoh. The Egyptians believed the sun god was responsible for all creation: people, animals, the fertility of the soil, the pharaoh’s journey to the underworld.

 

Thoth was the moon-god, and he was represented by a bird because the curved beak looked like a crescent moon. He gave the Egyptians knowledge of writing, medicine, and mathematics. He was the patron of the scribes.

 

Osiris was god of the underworld and the afterlife.

 

Anubis had the head of a jackal and guarded the land of the dead. He was also the god of embalming.

 

Bastet was the daughter of the sun-god Amun-Re. She is known as the cat goddess because she is represented by cats. She represented the power of the sun to ripen crops.

 

The Egyptian pharaoh was said to embody the god Horus. Horus had a hawk’s head. The name Horus means “he who is far above.”

 

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Egyptians: Great Pyramids

The first pyramid in Egypt was built as the burial place of King Djoser in 2630 B.C. It is called the Step Pyramid because it rises in steps. It was designed as a giant stairway for Djoser to climb to the sun-god in the sky.

 
King Sneferu developed the Great Pyramid with sloping sides. It was meant to represent the mound that emerged out of the water at the beginning of time. The sun-god was said to have stood on this mound and created the other gods and goddesses.

 
The largest Pyramid is the Great Pyramid at Giza, which was built for King Khufu in 2528 B.C. It is made up of 2.3 million limestones. It is taller than The Statue of Liberty in New York.

 
The pharaohs stopped building pyramids in 2150 B.C. Instead they were buried in tombs in the cliffs of the Valley of the Kings. The tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered almost completely untouched by robbers in 1922. Inside were weapons, clothes, jewellery, musical instruments, model boats and the king’s famous gold coffins and his mask.

 
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Egyptian Rulers

The ancient Egyptians were led by a king, and occasionally, a queen. The king was known as the pharaoh. The pharaoh was more than the ruler of Egypt; the pharaoh was worshipped by the Egyptians as a god. The pharaoh wore a royal headcloth called the “nemes” with a crown of cobras on top. They represented the cobra goddess Wadjet. Only kings and queens could wear the cobra goddess, who was said to protect the pharaoh by spitting flames.

 

Famous pharaohs include:
Ramesses The Great: He ruled Egypt in 13 B.C. for over 67 years. He built most of the monuments and statues that can be seen in Egypt today.
Tutankhamun: He became king of Egypt when he was only 9 years old. He is famous because of the golden treasures found in his tomb.
Pepy II: He became king of Egypt when he was only 6 years old. He ruled Egypt for 94 years.
Hatshepsut: She was queen of Egypt for 20 years. She wore the pharaoh’s crown.
Akhenaten & Nefertiti: King and Queen of Egypt. They banned the traditional Egyptian gods, and only worshipped the sun god Aten.
Cleopatra: Queen of Egypt and Egypt’s last ruler before it was conquered by the Roman Empire.

 

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