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Amen:

(Amon, Amun, Ammon, Amoun)





Amen's name means "The Hidden One." Amen was the patron deity of the city of Thebes from earliest times, and was viewed (along with his consort Amenet) as a primordial creation-deity by the priests of Hermopolis. His sacred animals were the goose and the ram.

Up to the Middle Kingdom Amen was merely a local god in Thebes; but when the Thebans had established their sovereignty in Egypt, Amen became a prominent deity, and by Dynasty XVIII was termed the King of the Gods. His famous temple, Karnak, is the largest religious structure ever built by man. According to Budge, Amen by Dynasty XIX-XX was thought of as "an invisible creative power which was the source of all life in heaven, and on the earth, and in the great deep, and in the Underworld, and which made itself manifest under the form of Ra." Additionally, Amen appears to have been the protector of any pious devotee in need.

Amen was self-created, according to later traditions; according to the older Theban traditions, Amen was created by Thoth as one of the eight primordial deities of creation (Amen, Amenet, Heq, Heqet, Nun, Naunet, Kau, Kauket).

During the New Kingdom, Amen's consort was Mut, "Mother," who seems to have been the Egyptian equivalent of the "Great Mother" archetype. The two thus formed a pair reminiscent of the God and Goddess of other traditions such as Wicca. Their child was the moon god Khons.

Amset:

(Imsety, Mestha; Golden Dawn, Ameshet)



One of the Four Sons of Horus, Amset was represented as a mummified man. He was the protector of the liver of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Isis.

Anuket:



In Upper Egypt, around Elephantine, Anuket was worshipped as the companion (generally the daughter) of Khnum and Sati. Her sacred animal was the gazelle. She was believed to be the dispenser of cool water, and wore a feathered crown on her human head.

Aten:

(Aton)



The sun itself, recognized first in the Middle Kingdom, and later becoming an aspect of the sun god. In the reign of Amenhotep IV during Dynasty XVIII, Aten was depicted as a disk with rays, each ray terminating in a human hand and bestowing symbols of "life" upon those below. Aten was declared the only true deity during this period, but the worship of Amen and the other deities was restored by Amenhotep IV's successor Tutankhamen. Morenz believes the name "Aten" was pronounced something like "Yati" during the height of its cult.

Bast:

(Bastet)



A cat-goddess, worshiped in the Delta city of Bubastis. A protectress of cats and those who cared for cats. As a result, an important deity in the home (since cats were prized pets) and also important in the iconography (since the serpents which attack the sun god were usually represented in papyri as being killed by cats).

She was viewed as the beneficient side of the lioness-goddess Sekhmet.

Duamutef:

(Tuamutef; Golden Dawn, Thmoomathph)



One of the Four Sons of Horus, Duamutef was represented as a mummified man with the head of a jackal. He was the protector of the stomach of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Neith.

Four Sons of Horus:



The four sons of Horus were the protectors of the parts of the body of Osiris, and from this, became the protectors of the body of the deceased. They were: Amset, Hapi, Duamutef, and Qebhsenuef. They were protected in turn by the goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Selket. See also Amset, Duamutef, Hapi, Qebehsenuf.

Hapi:

(Golden Dawn, Ahephi)



One of the Four Sons of Horus, Hapi was represented as a mummified man with the head of a baboon. He was the protector of the lungs of the deceased, and was protected by the goddess Nephthys.

The name Hapi, spelled with different hieroglyphs, in most but not all cases, is also the name of the god who was the personification of the River Nile, depicted as a corpulent man (fat signifying abundance) with a crown of lilies (Upper Nile) or papyrus plants (Lower Nile).