Through the Eras

Religionand therefore gain power over him, demonstrates thatIsis was ignorant of Re’s name, and that Re was ignorantof Isis’s plan, because he falls into her trap.NAMES. The Egyptian gods did not have welldefinedpersonalities. A few stories provide insight intothe characters of Osiris, Isis, Seth, Horus, Re, Hathor,and a few other deities, but most of what is known ofthe gods comes from their names and iconography. AnEgyptian god could have more than one name, and themore powerful the god, the more names he could have.A name was not merely a label but was part of the god’spersonality, and it revealed something about him. Almostall of the gods’ names can be translated, and generallydenote a characteristic feature or function of thegod. Examples include Amun (the Hidden One), the invisiblegod of the air; Khonsu (The Traveler), the moongod; and Wepwawet (Opener of the Ways), the jackalguide of the deceased. Some names tell of the god’s origin,such as the snake goddess Nekhbet, whose namemeans “she of Nekheb,” modern el-Kab, a town insouthern Upper Egypt.GROUPINGS. The Egyptians grouped their deitiestogether using several different numerical schemas. Thesimplest grouping was in pairs, usually of a god and goddess,although pairs of the same sex did exist (Isis andNephthys; Horus and Seth). The most common methodof organizing deities was based on the triad, usually consistingof a god, a goddess, and their offspring. Thereare many examples of such triads in Egyptian religion:Osiris (god), Isis (goddess), and Horus (offspring); Amun(god), Mut (goddess), and Khonsu (offspring); and Ptah(god), Sakhmet (goddess), and Nefertem (offspring). Triadscould also consist of a god and two goddesses—for example, Osiris (god), Isis (goddess), and Nephthys(goddess); or Khnum (god), Satis (goddess), and Anukis(goddess). There were also all-male triads—such as Ptah,Sokar, and Osiris (who were worshipped at Memphis)—and all-female triads—Qadesh, Astarte, and Anat (all foreigndeities introduced into Egypt). In one grouping, thegoddess Qadesh was matched with two gods, Reshep,and Min. These numerical groupings could grow larger,as with the Ogdoad (grouping of eight pairs of gods) andthe Ennead (grouping of nine gods). An Ennead couldsimply refer to the genealogical classification of gods, andwas not limited to only nine members; some Enneadshad as few as seven members, while others could have asmany as fifteen.SYNCRETISM. There was an additional method ofassociating deities that is difficult for modern studentsof Egyptian religion to comprehend. The Egyptianscould combine two or more gods into a single god. Thisphenomenon has been called syncretism by scholars, andgave rise to the compound names such as Amun-Re.What occurred with the god Amun-Re was the mergingof Amun and Re to form a new god, Amun-Re. Thegods Amun and Re continued to have separate existences,however; where there were once two gods, Amunand Re, there were now three, Amun, Re, and Amun-Re. Generally, the second name in the pairing was theolder god. Syncretism was a way for one deity to extendhis sphere of action and influence. In a compound deityconsisting of two components, the first name is theindividual, while the second indicates the role that thedeity is fulfilling. For example, Khnum-Re fulfills therole as life-giver—powers associated with Khnum—andis also seen as a sustainer—powers associated with Re.The number of such combinations a deity could enterinto was not limited; in addition to Amun-Re scholarshave found Sobek-Re, and from the Pyramid Texts, Re-Atum. Syncretism was not limited to two deities; examplesof combinations of three (Ptah-Sokar-Osiris) andeven four (Harmakis-Kheper-Re-Amun) occurred. Ineach instance a new deity possessing all the powers andattributes of the individual constituents was formed,while each individual deity retained its own unique existenceand influence. A striking example of this wasfound at the Great Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel,where the sanctuaries dedicated to the gods Amun-Re, Re-Horakhty, and Ptah were found. Re occurredsimultaneously in two different syncretistic combinationsin this sanctuary.ICONOGRAPHY. Just as a god could have many differentnames, each revealing something about the natureof the deity, so could a god be depicted in many differentways. Egyptian gods could be shown as fully human,fully animal, or—perhaps most familiar to even the mostcasual student of ancient Egypt—in a hybrid form combiningboth human and animal elements. When creatingimages of their gods, the Egyptians were notattempting to depict the god as he really was, but rathertheir goal was to communicate something essential aboutthe god’s nature.ANIMAL FORM. The earliest evidence for the depictionof Egyptian gods seems to indicate that in theprehistoric period (before 3100 B.C.E.) the Egyptiansworshipped divine powers in animal form. Around thebeginning of the Dynastic period (after 3100 B.C.E.),powers that had been worshipped as deities came to berepresented in human form. Towards the end of the SecondDynasty (2675 B.C.E.) the method of depictingEgyptian deities that was to become so commonplace isfirst in evidence. On cylinder seal impressions from KingArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 211