Egyptian

Taueret is an Egyptian Mother Goddess. She is a predynastic hippopotamus deity. Much revered as the protectress of women in pregnancy and childbirth. Her amulets are found in tombs to help and protect when the deceased was reborn in the Kingdom of the Dead. This is a Twenty-sixth Dynasty statuette from Thebes, now in the Cairo Museum.

She is holding the sa, the symbol of protection.

Sphinx

Bastet, or Bast is an ancient cat Goddess, although not as ancient as Taueret. Her cult was in the Delta, at the city of Bubastis. There was a cemetery of mummified cats at Bubastis which was noted by Herodotus in the second book of his "Histories". There is a story of a visitor to Bubastis from Rome who killed a cat. He was lynched by the townspeople ! She is depicted as cat-headed or as a cat and she often has kittens at her feet. She is the Goddess of joy, music and dancing. This a Bronze statue from the Twenty-second Dynasty.

She is holding a Sistrum, an ancient musical instrument.

Isis and Osiris are very ancient. Osiris is probably a memory of a live king.

Isis Isis is one of the greatest Mother Goddesses. She was worshiped for over 3000 years. The start of her worship is so old it can't be dated. She was referred to in Pyramid Texts of about 3000 BC where she was already know as "The Great Isis". Isis is her Greek name, in Egypt she was known as Aset or Wset. She became Isis when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BC. Her worship spread to Rome and was important there until about 426 AD. Because her worship was so ancient, she is the Goddess of many things, marriage, motherhood, healing and magic being just a very few.

Osiris Osiris is God of vegetation and the afterlife. He is husband to Isis. Osiris is his Greek name, his Egyptian one is Asir. He is said to have been the Forth Pharaoh ever. He was the first ever "mummy" to be embalmed in Egypt. In a Hymn to Osiris,
Ani the Scribe wrote:
"Praise be unto Osiris Un-Nefer,
the great god who dweleth in Abtu,
King of eternity, lord of everlastingness,
who passeth through millions of years in his existence".

The background of this page is a relief of Osiris and Anubis.

Anubis is the jackal-headed god presiding over embalming, conducting of souls to the Underworld, and presiding over the weighing of hearts. He has been called a "god of the dead" but this is misleading. He helped Isis when she raised Osiris from the dead and so was very powerful. He is a god of protection.

This is a Lotus, a symbol the ancient Egyptians used often.

This is an Ankh, a symbol of life or the life giving force.

This is a Cartouche. In Hieroglyphic (ancient Egyptian) writing it was what enclosed a name.

As the ancient Egyptians would say; May you live for ever and ever, for millions and millions of years !

Many of the graphics on this page from the:

If you'd like Egyptian Graphics or to learn more about Ancient Egypt, click on the Cartouche for the "Tomb of the Chihuahua Pharaohs" and go there.

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