The following are some of the most important gods with their names in hieroglyphics; it will be readily seen how very many of them are merely forms of the sun-god Rā, and how many of them have the same attributes:

Khnemu, the 'Moulder,'

—, is represented

with the head of a ram, and is one of the oldest gods of

the Egyptian religion. He was thought

to possess some of the attributes of Åmen, Rā, and Ptaḥ, and shared with the last-named god the attribute of "maker of mankind." At Phile he is represented making man out of clay on a potter's wheel. Khnemu put together the scattered limbs of the dead body of Osiris, and it was he who constructed the beautiful woman who became the wife of Bata in the Tale of the Two Brothers. Like Amen-Rā he is said to be the father of the gods. His cult had great vogue in the regions round about the first cataract, where he was always associated with Aneq and Sati. In bas-reliefs he is usually coloured green, and wears the atef crown* with uræi, etc. From the reliefs on the walls of the pyramid chapels at Meroë we learn that he was worshipped until about A.D. 200.

KHNEMU.

The following are the crowns most commonly met with on the

Ptaḥ, , the 'Blacksmith,' one of the oldest of the gods, was honoured with a temple and worshipped at Memphis from the time of the Ist dynasty.

He is said to be the father of the gods, who
came forth from his eye, and of men, who
came forth from his mouth.
He is repre-

sented in the form of a mummy, and he

holds a sceptre composed of usr, 'strength,'

1

fänkh, 'life,' and tet, stability.' In

connection with the resurrection and the nether-world, he is called Ptah-SekerÅsår, and is then represented as a little squat boy, at times wearing a beetle on his head. He is sometimes represented with

PTAH.

Isis and Nephthys, and then appears to be a form of Osiris.

Temu, or ATMU

a form

of the Sun-god, was the 'Closer' of the day or night.

Mut

the 'Mother,' was.one of the divinities of the Theban triad; she was supposed to represent Nature, the mother of all things.

Kheperȧ the Creator,' was associated with Ptah, and was supposed to be the god who caused himself to come into existence. He is represented with a beetle for his head. He was supposed to be the father of the gods and creator of the universe, and his attributes were ascribed to Rā under the Middle Empire; he was the father of Shu and Tefnut.

Bast 18

was principally worshipped in Lower Egypt at Bubastis (Pa-Bast), where a magnificent temple was built in her honour; she is represented with the head of a cat, and was associated with Ptaḥ. Her sister goddess was Sekhet, who had the head of a lion, and typified the scorching heat of the sun.

Nit

ཉ

I

was in late times made to be a counterpart

of Mut and Hathor. She was the goddess of hunting, and is represented holding bows and arrows; her cult is older than the Ist dynasty.

U

Ra,

, the Sun-god, was the creator of gods and men; his emblem was the sun's disk. His worship was very ancient, and he was said to be the offspring of Nut, or the sky. He assumed the forms of several other gods, and is at times represented by the lion, cat, and hawk. papyri and on bas-reliefs he is represented with the head of a hawk and wearing a disk, in front of which is an uræus He was particularly adored at Thebes. When he rose in the morning he was called Heru-khuti or Harmachis; and at night, when he set, he was called Atmu, or the closer.' During the night he was supposed to be engaged in fighting Apep, the serpent, who, at the head of a large army of fiends, personifications of mist, darkness, and cloud, tried to overthrow him. The battle was fought daily, but Rã always conquered, and appeared day after day in the sky.

Horus, Heru, is the morning sun, and is also represented as having the head of a hawk; he was said to be the son of Isis and Osiris, and is usually called the "avenger of his father," in reference to his defeat of Set.