Appendix A: Reference of the Egyptian Gods Mentioned In Chapter 5

The following cast of characters from the Egyptian pantheon are relevant within the fable of the Osirian cycle, as described in the writings of Manly P. Hall, which is quoted in chapter 5. Key aspects of these gods are provided here as a reference point.

The Ennead – “a group of nine deities in Egyptian mythology. The Ennead were worshipped at Heliopolis and consisted of the god Atum [or Ra], his children Shu and Tefnut, their children Geb [or Seb] and Nut and their children Osiris, Isis, Set [or Typhon] and Nephthys.” (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennead)

Ra (also referred to as Atum. Greek name: Helios) – “the ancient Egyptian sun god…. identified primarily with the midday sun. The meaning of the name is uncertain, but it is thought that if not a word for 'sun' it may be a variant of or linked to words meaning 'creative power' and 'creator'…. Through Atum, or as Atum-Ra he was also seen as the first being and the originator of the Ennead…. He was believed to rule in all parts of the created world[:] the sky, the earth , and the underworld…. All forms of life were believed to have been created by Ra, who called each of them into existence by speaking their secret names. Alternatively humans were created from Ra's tears and sweat, hence the Egyptians call themselves the 'Cattle of Ra.'”
(source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra)

Shu – Son of Ra, brother and husband of Tefnut, father of Geb and Nut. “Shu (meaning emptiness and he who rises up) is one of the primordial gods, a personification of air, one of the Ennead of Heliopolis. He was created by Atum, his father[,] and Iusaaset, his mother[,] in the city of Heliopolis. With his sister, Tefnut (moisture), he was the father of Nut and Geb [also known as Seb]. His daughter, Nut, was the sky goddess whom he held over the Earth (Geb), separating the two.” (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shu_%28Egyptian_deity%29)

Tefnut – Daughter of Ra, sister and wife of Shu, mother of of Geb and Nut. “Goddess of moisture, moist air, dew and rain…. Literally translating as "That Water", the name Tefnut has been linked to the verb… 'to spit' and versions of the creation myth say that Atum (or Ra) spat her out and her name was written as a mouth spitting in late texts…. Tefnut is a leonine deity, and appears as human with a lioness head when depicted as part of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis. The other frequent depiction is as a lioness, but Tefnut can also be depicted as fully human.” (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefnut)

Geb (also referred to as Seb) – Son of Shu and Tefnut, brother and husband of Nut. “[T]he Egyptian god of the Earth…. It was believed in ancient Egypt that Geb's laughter were earthquakes and that he allowed crops to grow…. The name was pronounced as such from the Greek period onward and was formerly erroneously read as Seb or as Keb…. Frequently described mythologically as father of snakes… and therefore depicted sometimes as such. In mythology Geb also often occurs as a primeval divine king of Egypt from whom his son Osiris and his grandson Horus inherited the land after many contendings with the disruptive god Set, brother and killer of Osiris. Geb could also be regarded as personified fertile earth and barren desert, the latter containing the dead or setting them free from their tombs, metaphorically described as 'Geb opening his jaws', or imprisoning those there not worthy to go to the fertile North-Eastern heavenly Field of Reeds.” (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geb)

Nut – Daughter of Shu and Tefnut, mother of Osiris, Isis, Set (Typhon) and Nephthys. “… the goddess of the sky. She was seen as a star-covered nude human arching over the earth, protecting it. Her name is translated to mean 'sky'…. Nut was also sometimes depicted in the form of a cow whose great body formed the sky and heavens, a sycamore tree, or as a giant sow, suckling many piglets (representing the stars)…. A sacred symbol of Nut was the ladder, used by Osiris to enter her heavenly skies.” (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_%28goddess%29)

Osiris – Oldest son of the Earth god, Geb (also known as Seb), and the sky goddess Nut; brother and husband of Isis, (posthumous) father of Horus. “[A]lso [referred to as] Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Asari, Aser, Ausar, Ausir, Wesir, Usir, Usire or Ausare. [He] is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and holding a symbolic crook and flail…. As ruler of the dead, Osiris is also sometimes called "king of the living", since the Ancient Egyptians considered the blessed dead "the living ones"…. Osiris is not only a merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife, but also the underworld agency that granted all life, including sprouting vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile River. He is described as the "Lord of love", "He Who is Permanently Benign and Youthful" and the "Lord of Silence". The Kings of Egypt were associated with Osiris in death — as Osiris rose from the dead they would, in union with him, inherit eternal life through a process of imitative magic. By the New Kingdom [of Egypt, between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC] all people, not just pharaohs, were believed to be associated with Osiris at death if they incurred the costs of the assimilation rituals…. Through the hope of new life after death Osiris began to be associated with the cycles observed in nature, in particular vegetation and the annual flooding of the Nile, through his links with Orion and Sirius at the start of the new year.” (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osiris)

Isis – Fourth child of Nut, sister and wife of Osiris, mother of Horus. “[A] goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic…. The name Isis means "Throne". Her headdress is a throne. As the personification of the throne, she was an important representation of the pharaoh's power. The pharaoh was depicted as her child, who sat on the throne she provided…. Isis was instrumental in the resurrection of Osiris when he was murdered by Seth [or Set]. Using her magical skills, she restored his body to life after having gathered the body parts that had been strewn about the earth by Seth. This myth became very important during the Greco-Roman period. For example it was believed that the Nile River flooded every year because of the tears of sorrow which Isis wept for Osiris. Osiris's death and rebirth was relived each year through rituals.” (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis)

Horus – Son of Isis and (posthumously) Osiris, heroic defeater of Set (Typhon). “He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner or peregrine, or as a man with a falcon head…. The most commonly encountered family relationship describes Horus as the son of Isis and Osiris…. Horus served many functions in the Egyptian pantheon, most notably being the god of the Sky, god of War and god of Protection…. Horus was born to the goddess Isis after she retrieved all the dismembered body parts of her murdered husband Osiris, except his penis which was thrown into the Nile… [she] used her magic powers to resurrect Osiris and fashion a gold phallus to conceive her son. Once Isis knew she was pregnant with Horus, she fled to the Nile Delta marshlands to hide from her brother Set who jealously killed Osiris and who she knew would want to kill their son. There Isis bore a divine son, Horus…. Horus was occasionally shown in art as a naked boy with a finger in his mouth sitting on a lotus with his mother. In the form of a youth, Horus was referred to as Neferhor…. The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and royal power from deities, in this case from Horus or Ra. The symbol is seen on images of Horus' mother, Isis, and on other deities associated with her."
(source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus)

Set (Greek: Typhon) – Son of Nut, brother and murderer of Osiris, defeated by the son of Osiris and Isis, Horus. “… a god of the desert, storms, and foreigners in ancient Egyptian religion. In later myths he was also the god of darkness, and chaos…. In art, Set is mostly depicted as a fabulous creature, referred to by Egyptologists as the Set animal or Typhonic beast. The Typhon has a curved snout, square ears, forked tail, and canine body; sometimes, Set is depicted as a human with only the head of the Set animal. It does not resemble any known creature, although it could be seen as a composite of an aardvark, a donkey, a jackal, or a fennec…. [He is] portrayed as the usurper that killed and mutilated his own brother Osiris…. Osiris' son Horus [sought] revenge upon Set…. The death of Osiris and the battle between Horus and Set is a popular theme in Egyptian mythology…. Some Egyptologists have reconstructed these as Set poking out Horus's left eye, and Horus retaliating by castrating Set.” (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_%28mythology%29)

Nephthys – Daughter of Nut, sister of Osiris, Isis, and Set. “… Nephthys is a protective goddess who symbolizes the death experience, just as Isis represented the (re-)birth experience. Nephthys was known in some ancient Egyptian temple theologies and cosmologies as the "Useful Goddess" or the "Excellent Goddess". These late Ancient Egyptian temple texts describe a goddess who represented divine assistance and protective guardianship.” (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephthys)

Thoth (Greek: Hermes, Roman: Mercury) – “[Thoth is] considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him…. Thoth played many vital and prominent roles in Egyptian mythology, such as maintaining the universe, and being one of the two deities (the other being Ma'at, who was also his wife) who stood on either side of Ra's boat…. Thoth served as a mediating power, especially between good and evil, making sure neither had a decisive victory over the other. He also served as scribe of the gods, credited with the invention of writing and alphabets (i.e. hieroglyphs) themselves…. The ancient Egyptians regarded Thoth as One, self-begotten, and self-produced. He was the master of both physical and moral (i.e. Divine) law…. He is credited with making the calculations for the establishment of the heavens, stars, Earth, and everything in them.” (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoth)

Selene – Greek name of the moon goddess. (Roman: Luna). Manly P. Hall does not give her Egyptian name in his writings. “…an archaic lunar deity and the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia…. In post-Renaissance art, Selene is generally depicted as a beautiful woman with a pale face and long, lustrous, black hair; riding a silver chariot pulled by either a yoke of oxen, a pair of horses, or a pair of serpentine dragons. Often, she has been shown riding a horse or a bull, wearing robes with a moon on her head and carrying a torch.” (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selene)

Other characters mentioned by Hall in the writings I quote:

Aroueris, the elder Horus – This god is mentioned briefly by Mr. Hall. “[This god is also known as] Aroeris, Haroiri (Greek) Heru-ur (Egyptian) [from heru he who is above + ur the aged] Horus the elder, as distinguished from Heru-pa-khart (Horus the younger) — these two gods are often confused because there are the cosmic Osiris and Isis known as Ra (the sun god) and Hathor, whose son was the Older Horus, and there are likewise the more commonly known Osiris and Isis of our own globe, whose son was the Younger Horus. Aroeris is a deity associated with the sun, and the head of a triad of deities, the other two members being his consort Ta-sent-nefert and their son P-neb-taui (the child). His principal seats of worship were at Sekhemet (Latopolis) and at Ombos where Heru-ur absorbed all the characteristics and qualities of Shu, while his consort took on the characteristics of Tefnut. Heru-ur is depicted in the form of a man (or lion) with the head of a hawk, wearing the crowns of the South and North Egypt united — meaning cosmogonically, the material and the spiritual universes — surmounted by a crown of plumes, uraei, and the disk of the sun.”
(source – http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/etgloss/ard-asr.htm, entry: Aroeris)

Pamyles – A holy man of Thebes who cared for Osiris as an infant. From egyptianmyths.net: “When Osiris was born[,] many signs and wonders were seen and heard throughout the world. Most notable was the voice which came from the holiest shrine in the temple at Thebes on the Nile, which today is called Karnak, speaking to a man called Pamyles bidding him proclaim to all men that Osiris, the good and mighty king, was born to bring joy to all the earth. Pamyles did as he was bidden, and he also attended [to] the Divine Child and brought him up as a man among men.”
(source – http://www.egyptianmyths.net/mythisis.htm)

Aso – An Ethiopian queen who plotted with Set (Typhon) to entomb Osiris in a coffin and dispose of him.

Anubis – The dog-headed god, son of Osiris and Nephthys (conceived because Nephthys disguised herself as Isis), abandoned by Nephthys and adopted by Isis. “Anubis was associated with the mummification and protection of the dead for their journey into the afterlife. He was usually portrayed as a half human, half jackal, or in full jackal form wearing a ribbon and holding a flail in the crook of its arm. The jackal was strongly associated with cemeteries in ancient Egypt, since it was a scavenger which threatened to uncover human bodies and eat their flesh…. Anubis is depicted in funerary contexts where he is shown attending to the mummies of the deceased or sitting atop a tomb protecting it. In fact, during embalming, the "head embalmer" wore an Anubis costume. The critical weighing of the heart scene in the Book of the Dead also shows Anubis performing the measurement that determined the worthiness of the deceased to enter the realm of the dead (the underworld)." (source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anubis)

Harpocrates – “In late Greek mythology as developed in Ptolemaic Alexandria, Harpocrates is the god of silence. When the Greeks conquered Egypt under Alexander the Great, they transformed the Egyptian Horus into their Hellenistic god known as Harpocrates, a rendering from Egyptian Har-pa-khered or Heru-pa-khered (meaning "Horus the Child").” Also: “The Latin phrase sub rosa means "under the rose" and is used in English to denote secrecy or confidentiality…. [In Greek mythology,] Aphrodite gave a rose to her son Eros, the god of love; he, in turn, gave it to Harpocrates, the god of silence, to ensure that his mother's indiscretions (or those of the gods in general, in other accounts) were not disclosed. Paintings of roses on the ceilings of Roman banquet rooms were also a reminder that things said under the influence of wine (sub vino) should also remain sub rosa. In the Middle Ages a rose suspended from the ceiling of a council chamber similarly pledged all present (those under the rose) to secrecy.” (sources – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpocrates and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub_rosa)

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