By the Gods!

Wadjet

Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?

In case that wasn’t clear enough, we’re talking about Wadjet, and she was the Egyptian snake goddess of Lower Egypt. Besides being the protector and patron goddess of the entire Nile Delta, Wadjet was the guardian deity of women, childbirth, and kings; indeed, the symbol of Wadjet (known as the uraeus) was the rearing cobra on a bright disc, and was the symbol of the Pharaohs. Wadjet and power were synonymous in Ancient Egypt, which is why on every Egyptian crown and royal ornament back in the day, there was a big ol’ snake jumping out at you; that was Wadjet, telling you to step back, son.

She was the protector of Lower Egypt, (which was the northern region, to make it as confusing as possible for Ancient History students) but after the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt around 3000 BCE, Wadjet’s duties would’ve doubled if she hadn’t partnered up with Nekhbet, the white vulture goddess who held the same role in Upper Egypt. Now double-teaming the task of protecting a united Egypt, Nekhbet and Wadjet settled down together and redefined the kingly symbol of the uraeus, adding a falcon to the snake-crown.

The Going Forth of Wadjet was the goddess’ big festival. It was a feast, and we don’t know too many specifics on it, aside from the fact that it was celebrated on the 25th of December. No, it’s not a coincidence. The 25th was one of those universally celebrated dates, thanks to the Solstice. All over Europe and the Mediterranean the Winter Solstice was seen as a time of celebration. The later adoption of the day as the culmination of the Christian calendar was a power move by the early Church to take some sway away from Mediterranean pagans. Early bishops had some issues with sharing.

Sobek

Sobek is the Egyptian god of crocodiles. While that might not sound so impressive when compared to your Zeus’ or Thors, Sobek was no pushover. In a nation that depended so much on the Nile, crocodiles were a real threat. Think about it: a population that has to roll the dice on encountering a super hungry giant lizard every time they want a glass of water is definitely going to turn to prayer in a hurry, and that’s where Sobek comes in.

Often depicted as a crocodile himself, or a man with a crocodile’s head, Sobek eventually came to represent more than just scary lizards. From god of crocodiles, it was only a small leap to being god of the Nile’s bounty as well. Sobek was commonly prayed to for not only safe travel on the river, but fertility blessings as well. Don’t think Sobek went soft in his old age though; he is also credited as the patron god of Egypt’s military. Thus began a long tradition of the ferocious animal mascot that lives on today in all the coolest sports teams.

Sobek’s temples were often built close to the Nile, or wherever a copious count of crocodiles was common. The city Arsinoe was so commonly associated with Sobek that the Greeks began calling it “Crocodilopolis.” One can speculate that its chief exports were Sobek bobble-heads and reptile-themed nightmares. 

Apep

The eternal enemy of the great sun god Ra, Apep was a terrifying serpent who symbolized chaos and destruction in the Egyptian pantheon. Each day, as the sun god Ra crossed the sky in his boat, Apep would viciously attack the vessel and occasionally, during a total eclipse, he was believed to have swallowed it whole. 

Despite his ferocity, Apep never gained total victory over his enemy. However, at the same time, he himself was never believed to have been finally and completely conquered. The reddening of the sky at dusk was said to demonstrate that Apep had been overcome by Ra’s strength, but not utterly defeated. It’d be unnerving to have a divine god-snake still lurking around with a chip on his shoulder, I say. 

According to one story, Apep was created with Neith, the Great Mother, spat into Nun, the primal, watery chaos. That’s a dirty habit, Neith. In later times, Apep came to be identified with Seth, the rising baddie of the Egyptian pantheon in later days. 

Neith

Originally the local goddess of Sais, situated in the Nile Delta of Lower Egypt, Neith rose to become the great mother of Egyptians. She was also a warrior goddess and a goddess of the home; she was a triple-threat. As a goddess of war, who was believed to march into battle ahead of the soldiers, her symbol was a shield with crossed arrows. It may be from Neith’s influence that the ancient Greeks developed a female god of battle and tactics in Athena. As so many soldiers prayed to Neith, they eventually came to regard her as a mother-deity as well, and looked for her protection in all things, not just battle. 

She was often said to be the mother of Sebek, the crocodile god, and was also credited with the creation of the terrible cosmic serpent Apep by spitting into Nun, the watery abyss. Bad habit, Neith. 

Neith eventually came to be regarded as the mother of all the gods, and in particular of Ra. She was sometimes seen as the celestial cow, Mehueret, who gave birth to the sky before life began. She also became the protectress of the dead, and is sometimes depicted offering them food and drink on their arrival in the underworld.

From humble beginnings, Neith rose to a principal place of honour in the Egyptian pantheon. When a deity is widely and deeply revered, it is common for that reverence to translate into the people moving the deity into every facet of their lives; they begin praying not to the deity of a specific task or place, but simply to their favourite deity. They form a bond, and eventually attribute new patronages out of reverence. Neith’s story is one that all the little deities can aspire to.  

Ma’at

Ma’at (also Maat or Mayet) is the Egyptian concept of truth, balance, and justice; it is personified by the goddess of these things, also called Ma’at. She is depicted as a young woman typically wearing an ostrich feather on her head, and ocassionally has a set of wings attached to either arm.

It is said that at the very moment of creation, the primordial waters from which all things arose spoke to Ra. They told him to “breathe ma’at” so that his “heart may live”. And so, Ma’at existed, and is credited with bringing order to the universe from chaos at the moment of creation. Pretty nifty!

She also had a big part to play in the Egyptian afterlife. In the underworld, Duat, the dead’s souls were judged as to whether they were worthy enough to enter Aaru, the “heavenly paradise” ruled by Osiris. This judgement was carried out by Anubis, who weighed the dead person’s heart on the scale of Ma’at against the Shu feather of Ma’at. If the person’s heart was lighter than Ma’at’s feather, they could go party with Osiris; if it was heavier, they were unworthy of entering Aaru. Their heart would then be devoured by Ammit, a female demon who was a lion/hippopotamus/crocodile composite, and whose titles included “Devourer,” “Bone Eater,” and “Eater of Hearts.” They would then be condemmed to live in the underworld, Duat, forever. Feels bad, man.

Seth

Also called Set or Sutekh, this guy was the Egyptian god of the desert, darkness, storms & chaos. You may remember him from such posts as The Tale of Osiris and Isisand Horus. He’s the son of Geb and Nut, and brother to Osiris and Isis, and is the brother-husband of Nepthys.

Typically depicted with the body of a human and the head of a… well, what is that, exactly? It’s called a sha, and it’s an unidentifed species of wild dog that may or may not be extinct; it looks like cross between a  donkey, an aardvark, and jackal (cannot be unseen). Egyptologists refer to it as the Set or Typhonian animal.

We’ve heard about Seth’s silly plan to murder his brother to claim the throne, and the loss of his testicle to his nephew, Horus. But after Horus became ruler of Egypt, what was a bored god to do? The answer: fight a giant snake. Every night as the sun god Ra made his way through the underworld by boat, Apop, a great dirty snake, waited for him in a mountain called Bakhu. Apop must be defeated every night so that a new day may begin and Seth, the helpful fellow that he is, would sit at the helm of Ra’s boat and help him combat Apop. Thanks, Seth!

Horus

One of the oldest and most widely worshipped deities in the Egyptian pantheon was Horus. He was worshipped as the god of the sky, and was usually depicted as a falcon, or a falcon-headed fella. He was the son of Isis and Osiris, and was born toward the end of that couple’s grand story. Horus was also said to be a god of war and hunting. 

Horus was told by his mother, Isis, to protect the people of Egypt from Seth (the god of the desert, darkness and chaos, all-around badguy), and to seek vengeance for Seth’s murder of Osiris, Horus’ father. Many of Horus’ exploits involve his many battles and contests with Seth. Besides the whole vengeance angle, it was decided that the eventual winner would be the ruler of Egypt. Seth was worshipped in Upper Egypt, and Horus in Lower Egypt. I’ll spare you the details, and give you a giant spoiler: Horus eventually wins in a boat race, and gains the rule of all Egypt, while Seth goes back to just ruling the deserts.

Horus’ eyes were said to be the sun and moon, what with him being the sky god and all. In a battle with Seth, Horus’ left eye was gouged out, and this was meant to explain why the moon (which the eye represented) was weaker than the sun. In this same (particularly rough) fight, Seth lost a testicle. That’s dirty fighting, Horus. The loss of the desert god’s testicle explained the infertility of the desert. So there you have it: the reason you can’t grow your corn in the Sahara is because a god ripped the sack off another god. The more you know!

Ra

The Egyptian sun god and one of the most important members of the pantheon was the one, the only, Ra. He came into being on the primeval mound that rose out of Nun, and proceeded to plan all of creation. He was a real go-getter like that. Every day Ra was born anew. He would have a bath and a quick breakfast (for real) and then begin his journey across the sky in his boat. He would spend one of the hours of the day inspecting each of his 12 provinces, and when the sun went down, he entered the underworld until the morning. While in there, he fought all night long with his enemy Apep, the terrible cosmic serpent of the underworld.

Ra is usually depicted as a falcon-headed man wearing the disc of the sun on his head. He gave birth to Shu, god of the air, and Tefnut, goddess of moisture. The pair of Ra’s children disappeared to destroy the universe, and Ra, horrified at the loss of his children, hunted them down. When he finally found them, he was so relieved he burst into tears. From these tears, the first human beings were formed. The Pharaohs of Egypt called themselves “Sons of Ra,” not only because he was held in great awe, but also because he was accredited with creating order out of chaos.

We can see a lot of similarities in this sun god’s daily journey with the Babylonian sun god, Shamash, and the Slavic sun god, Dazhbog. Seems like people around the world were in agreement that the sun was the perfect embodiment of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.