Northeast Africa — Nile Valley

Egyptian mythology: gods, myths and civilization of the Nile

A complete guide to Egyptian mythology: pantheon overview, cosmogony, Osirian cycle, major myths, ancient sources and religious traditions of ancient Egypt.

Karnak Temple at Luxor, columns of the great hypostyle hall — Shannon Hobbs — via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · Source

Period

c. 3100 BCE (Unification of Egypt) — 395 CE (closure of the last sanctuaries)

Original languages

ancient Egyptian (hieroglyphic), Demotic Egyptian, Coptic

Main sources

Pyramid Texts (c. 2400 BCE)
Coffin Texts (c. 2055–1650 BCE)
Book of the Dead (c. 1550 BCE)
Amduat — Book of What is in the Underworld
Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride (1st–2nd c. CE)
Inscriptions at Karnak, Luxor, and Abydos

Family tree Explore the pantheon’s bloodlines and unions

Gods & goddesses

See all →

Statue of Amun wearing his tall double plume, tutelary god of Thebes

Amun, the hidden god and king of the gods in Egyptian mythology

Amun, Egyptian god of Thebes: his hidden origin, fusion into Amun-Ra, the temple of Karnak, Akhenaten's reform, and his status as king of the gods under the New Kingdom.

Anubis with a black jackal head, from ancient Egyptian art, watching over a mummy

Anubis, jackal-headed guardian of the dead in Egyptian mythology

Anubis, the jackal-headed god of ancient Egypt: guardian of the dead, divine embalmer, guide of souls, and overseer of the weighing of the heart.

Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess of home and protection

Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess: protector of home, motherhood and fertility, the pacified Eye of Ra, gentle counterpart of Sekhmet and great lady of Bubastis.

Hathor, Egyptian goddess of love, music and the sky

Hathor, Egyptian goddess of love, joy and music: Eye of Ra, celestial mother of Horus, Lady of the West welcoming the dead, and mistress of the temple of Dendera.

Creatures

See all →

Ammit, a composite creature with a crocodile's head, a lion's chest and a hippopotamus's hindquarters, waiting beside the scale of judgment

Ammit, the devourer of unjust souls in Egyptian mythology

Ammit, the Egyptian creature with a crocodile's head, a lion's chest, and a hippopotamus's hindquarters: her devouring of the impure heart and the second death.

Apophis, the serpent of chaos and enemy of Ra in Egyptian myth

Apophis (Apep), the giant serpent of chaos in Egyptian mythology: sworn enemy of Ra whom he attacks each night in the Duat, and the rites of annihilation used to defeat him.

Mythical places

See all →

The Duat: the underworld of the dead in Egyptian mythology

The Duat, the Egyptian underworld: nocturnal realm crossed by the sun, place of Osiris's judgment and the twelve hours of the night mapped by the funerary books.

Mythical objects

See all →

The Eye of Horus (wedjat): symbol of protection in ancient Egypt

The Eye of Horus, or wedjat: Egyptian symbol of protection, healing and wholeness, born from the struggle with Seth and restored by Thoth — distinct from the Eye of Ra.

Stories

See all →

Death and afterlife

The Judgment of the Dead in ancient Egyptian mythology

The Egyptian Judgment of the Dead: the Hall of Two Truths, the Negative Confession before forty-two divine assessors, and Anubis weighing the heart against Maat's feather.

Death and afterlife

The Osiris myth: death, resurrection and the judgment of the dead in Egypt

The complete Osiris myth: murder by Seth, Isis's quest, dismemberment, reassembly and resurrection — the founding narrative of ancient Egyptian funerary theology.

Comparisons

See all →

Symbolic representations of death deities from several world mythological traditions

Gods of death across 8 world mythologies

A comparison of death deities and underworld rulers in Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Roman, Japanese, Hindu, Aztec, and Celtic mythologies.

Aphrodite of Cnidus, Greek sculpture representing the goddess of love

Gods of Love in World Mythologies

A comparison of love deities in Greek, Roman, Norse and Egyptian mythology: Aphrodite, Venus, Freya, Hathor, Eros and Cupid compared across traditions.

Mosaic evoking several war deities from different mythologies

War gods in 8 world mythologies

A comparison of war deities in Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, Japanese, Hindu, Aztec, and Celtic mythologies.