Egyptian Myths and Legends

The Story Behind Ancient Egyptian Gods In the stories of Ancient Egypt there are many variations of how there world was shaped. In my paper I am going to go over the Gods and their stories, and their rule in Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian theology dealt with hundreds of deities. They had a god for everything. The gods changed as the dynasties, and the importance of the gods changed depending on the ruler of the time. Egyptians worshipped their gods in temples , and each temple was dedicated to a specific god. In the temples a statue would stand in the center . Everyday Egyptian priests care for the statues of gods. They would clean them and dress them, offer the meals, before worshipping ceremonies would take place. (Budge, 1999 & 2003) One variation tells us that the ocean was the only thing in existence. Then the sun came in, Ra was said to come out of an egg (or a flower) in other versions that appeared on the surface of the water. Ra , the sun god created four children. The children were gods as well, Shu and Tefnut became air, who stood on Geb , the earth, and held up Nut, who became the sky. Ra ruled all. The children of Ra then had children of their own, Geb and Nut had two sons , Set and Osiris, and two daughters Isis and Nephthys. Osiris was said to have succeeded Ra as the ruler of the earth, Isis was said to have helped in this task. Set hated his brother and out go deep jealousy and killed him. Isis embalmed Osiris’s body with the help of Anibis , who then became the god of embalming. It was said that Isis resurrected Osiris, and then became the god of the afterlife and the land of the dead. Horus , the son the of Osiris and Isis, was said to have later defeated Set in a horrific battle, and then became the king of the earth. In another versions it says that Ra emerged from primitive waters . Then Shu the god of air emerged and Tefnut the god of moisture arose from him. Then came the unification of Geb the of the earth, and Nut the god

Cited: Classics Technology. (2001). Retrieved 2013, from Able Media: AbleMedia.ctweb@able media.com Budge, b. E. (1999 & 2003). Legends of the Gods. Retrieved from http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/leg/index.htm Denault, L. T. (2003). Life in Ancient Egypt. Retrieved from http://www.watson.org/~leigh/egypt.html Museum, T. B. (n.d.). God And Goddesses. Retrieved from http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/explore/main.html The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nuuanu.k12.hi.us/g-1/webprojects/neil/public_html/pages/gods.html