When we try to make some sense out of the many Egyptian gods and goddesses, we must keep two important facts in mind. First, early in Egyptian history lower (north) and upper (south) Egypt were unified under one ruler. This union resulted in the merging of several cultural traditions. Second, because ancient Egyptian civilization existed for more than three thousand years, the deities and myths gradually changed over time as a result of new ideas, contact with other peoples, and changing cultural values.
One of the best-known legends in Egyptian mythology, that of the god Osiris, revolves around a deity who at one time may have been a local ruler in the Nile River's delta. Originally he was a god