As you know, primitive people did not yet have faith in gods. They believed in a totem - a sacred animal that was the ancestor and patron of the tribe. The homeland of the first gods was one of the earliest and most highly developed civilizations of antiquity - Ancient Egypt. In the beliefs of the Egyptians, echoes of totemism are still preserved, therefore their gods are bestial: most of them have human bodies and the heads of various animals.
The pantheon of Egyptian gods is very large and varied. One of the few gods depicted in human form, in him is the god of fertility and the patron of the afterlife kingdom Osiris, who was once the pharaoh of Egypt.
Beast-faced deities
The leading place in the life and economic activity of the Egyptians was occupied by cattle breeding. Therefore, already in ancient times, the bull, cow and ram began to be deified. The bull Apis, like Osiris, was considered the god of fertility. He had to be black with two light marks: in the form of a triangle - on the forehead, in the form of a flying scarab or kite - on the back.
In the guise of a cow or a woman with cow horns and ears, the goddess of the sky and the patroness of nature Hathor was revered. The goddess Isis was also revered under the guise of a cow. She was considered the wisest of the goddesses, who possessed secret knowledge and enchantments.
The ram in different places was considered the embodiment of different gods. For example, the ram-headed god Khnum was revered as the creator of the world.
The patron saint of the living pharaohs was the son of Osiris and Isis Horus, the sun god, depicted in the guise of a falcon or a man with a falcon's head. The god of evil and foreign lands, Seth was portrayed as a man with a donkey's head. The closest assistant of Osiris - the god of embalming and the guide of the souls of the dead Anubis - was originally depicted in the guise of a jackal lying on his belly with his head raised, and later - as a man with the head of a dog.
The most beautiful of the goddesses was considered the goddess of love, joy and fun Bast, depicted as a woman with a cat's head. It is not without reason that cats are one of the most revered animals in Egypt to this day. With the head of a lioness, they depicted the sinister goddess of war and the scorching sun, Sekhmet.
The wisest of the gods, Thoth, considered the patron saint of science and chronology, was depicted with the head of a baboon. The god of water and the Nile floods Sebek - with the head of a crocodile. The god of life and self-regeneration, Kheper, was worshiped in the guise of a Scarab holding a solar disk.
Amon-Ra - the supreme deity of the Egyptians
The highest deity among the Egyptians was the sun god Ra, who later received the name Amon-Ra. He could be depicted in the form of a winged ball, or in the form of a ball with many outstretched arms-rays.
Some deities of Ancient Egypt are similar in their functions to the ancient Greek gods, others are completely original. At the same time, the appearance and functions of the gods in different sources can be described in different ways. In any case, ancient Egyptian mythology is extremely interesting and fertile for study.
