FACTS ABOUT ANCIENT EGYPTIAN GODS THAT YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW

LIKE MANY YOUNG RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS,

RELIGION IN PRE-DYNASTIC EGYPT WAS

MOSTLY ANIMISTIC, MAKING VARIOUS ANIMALS,

PLANTS, OR THINGS THE HOMES OF SPIRITS

MANY OF TODAY'S WELL-KNOWN EGYPTIAN GODS

HARKEN BACK TO THE ANIMISTIC TIMES. TAKE

ANUBIS, THE GOD OF FUNERALS AND DEATH.

HE IS DEPICTED WITH THE HEAD OF A JACKAL

SINCE THE ANIMALS OFTEN WERE SEEN AT

THE DESERT'S EDGE WHERE EGYPTIANS

BURIED THEIR DEAD

GOOD NEWS FOR GATOR FANS: THE ANCIENT

EGYPTIANS HAD A GATOR GOD! (WELL,

TECHNICALLY HE HAD A NILE CROCODILE HEAD.)

SOBEK WAS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL

AND LONGEST LASTING GODS. AS GUARDIAN

OF WATERWAYS, SOBEK ENJOYED EATING FLESH,

LIKE MOST CROCODILES. TO SHOW REVERENCE,

MANY ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEMPLES KEPT

LIVE CROCS IN POOLS

THOUGH THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS HAD OVER

2,000 GODS, MOST WERE ONLY KNOWN

LOCALLY IN SMALL PARTS OF THE EMPIRE

JUST LIKE WE HAVE MULTIPLE BRANCHES OF

CHRISTIANITY TODAY, CATHOLICISM, METHODISM,

EASTERN ORTHODOX, ETC., ANCIENT EGYPTIANS

ALSO HAD MULTIPLE SCHOOLS OF RELIGIOUS

THOUGHT, EACH CLAIMING IT WAS SUPERIOR

TO THE OTHERS

THE SUN GOD RA HAS ONE OF THE MOST

INTERESTING STORIES AMONG ALL THE

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN GODS. EVERY NIGHT, IT

IS SAID THIS GOD WAS EATEN BY NUT, THE

SKY GODDESS, ONLY TO BE REBORN THE

FOLLOWING SUNRISE

THE WORSHIP OF EGYPTIAN GODS WAS ONE OF

THE MOST DURABLE RELIGIONS IN THE

WORLD, LASTING OVER 3,000 YEARS. IN

CONTRAST, BUDDHISM HAS BEEN AROUND

FOR ONLY 2,500; CHRISTIANITY FOR 2,000;

AND MORMONISM FOR 200 YEARS

WHENEVER A NEW PHARAOH TOOK POWER, HE

WOULD OFTEN PROMOTE THE LOCAL GOD

FROM HIS SCHOOL OF THOUGHT TO BE THE

PRIMARY NATIONAL GOD. FOR EXAMPLE,

WHEN POWER SHIFTED TO THEBES DURING

THE MIDDLE KINGDOM YEARS (2000 BC TO 1700 BC),

AMUN BECAME THE NATIONAL GOD AFTER FUSING

WITH RA TO BECOME AMUN-RA

BEYOND ORIGINATING FROM ANCIENT EGYPTIANS'

ANIMISTIC BELIEFS, THE INCORPORATION OF

ANIMAL FEATURES IN GODS HAD ANOTHER

IMPORTANT USE: SHOWING THE DEITY'S MOOD.

IF A GOD WAS ENRAGED, ITS HEAD MAY HAVE

BEEN DEPICTED AS A FEARSOME LION; IF

CALM AND GENTLE, IT MAY HAVE HAD A CAT'S

HEAD INSTEAD