Ancient Egypt gods and goddesses

Gods and Goddesses from Egypt

The Egyptian religion has a long history. Egyptians refered to some deities as the creators of the cosmos. These include Atum, Ra, Amun (Amen) and Ptah amongst others. These gods and godesses were often represented as animals or forces of nature. It's also worthwhile mentioning that the pharaoh was deified after death, and bore the title of "the good god". Also, the title, "servant of god" was used for the priesthood.

The list of gods and goddesses

• Aken – ferryman to the underworld
• Aker - deification of the horizon
• Am-heh - minor underworld god
• Ammit – crocodile-headed devourer in Duat, not a true deity
• Amun or Amen – "the hidden one", a local creator deity later married to Mut after rising in importance
• Amunet – female aspect of the primordial concept of air in the Ogdoad cosmogony; depicted as a cobra snake or a snake-headed woman
• Andjety - god thought to be a precursor to Osiris
• Anhur - god of war
• Ankt - a minor war goddess
• Anput - female aspect of Anubis
• Anti - god of ferrymen
• Anubis or Yinepu – dog or jackal God of embalming and tomb-caretaker who watches over the dead
• Anuket - gazelle-headed goddess of the Nile River, the child of Satis and among the Elephantine triad of deities
• Apep or Apophis – evil serpent of the Underworld and enemy of Ra; formed from a length of Neith's spit during her creation of the world
• Apis – bull deity worshipped in the Memphis region
• Ash - god of oases and the vineyards of the western Nile Delta
• The Aten – sun god worshipped primarily during the period of Atenism in the eighteenth dynasty when Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) introduced monotheistic worship
• Atum – a creator deity, and the setting sun
• Babi - baboon god associated with death and virility
• Banebdjedet - ram god of fertility
• Ba-Pef - minor underworld god
• Bastet – protector of the pharaoh and solar goddess, depicted as a lioness, house cat, cat-bodied or cat-headed woman
• Bat – cow goddess who gave authority to the king; her cult originated in Hu and persisted widely until absorbed as an aspect of Hathor after the eleventh dynasty
• Bata - bull god
• Bes – dwarfed demigod associated with protection of the household, particularly childbirth, and entertainment
• Chenti-cheti - crocodile god
• Geb –god of the Earth, first ruler of Egypt and husband of Nut
• Ha - god of the western deserts
• Hapi or Hapy – deification of the annual flooding of the Nile, associated with fertility
• Hathor or Hethert – cow or cow-goddess of the sky, fertility, love, beauty and music
• Hatmehit - fish goddess, originally a deification of the Nile River
• Hedetet - scorpion goddess, later incorporated into Isis
• Heka - deification of magic
• Hemen - falcon god
• Heqet – frog or a frog-headed goddess of childbirth and fertility
• Hemsut - goddess of fate and protection
• Heryshaf - ram god
• Horus or Heru – falcon-headed god of the sky, pharaohs, war and protection
• The four sons of Horus - personifications of the four canopic jars
• Hu - deification of the first word
• Huh - deification of eternity
• Iabet - goddess of the east, consort of Min and cleanser of Ra
• Iah - god of the moon
• Iat - minor goddess of milk and, by association, of nurturing and childbirth
• Imentet - goddess of the necropoleis west of the Nile
• Isis or Aset – goddess of magic, motherhood and fertility and consort of Osiris; represented as the throne
• Iusaaset – a primal goddess described as "the grandmother of all of the deities"
• Kebechet - deification of embalming liquid
• Khepri – the scarab beetle or scarab-headed god of rebirth and the sunrise
• Kneph - a creator deity
• Khnum – ram-headed creator god of the flooding of the Nile River
• Khonsu – god of youth and the moon
• Kuk –frog-headed personification of darkness, whose consort or female form was the snake-headed Kauket
• Maahes – lion-headed god of war, weather.
• Ma'at – goddess who personified concept of truth, balance, justice and order
• Mafdet – goddess who protected against snakes and scorpions
• Mehen - protective snake god which coils around the sun god Ra during his journey through the night
• Menhit – goddess of war, associated with Sekhmet
• Meret - goddess associated with rejoicing, singing and dancing
• Meretseger – cobra-goddess of tomb builders and protector of royal tombs
• Meskhenet – goddess of childbirth and the creator of each person's Ka, a part of their soul, which she breathed into them at the moment of birth
• Min – god of fertility and lettuce, often represented as a man with an erect penis
• Mnevis – the sacred bull of Heliopolis
• Monthu - falcon god of war
• Mut – mother goddess, associated with the waters from which everything was born
• Nefertem - god of healing and beauty
• Nehebkau - guardian of the entrance to the underworld
• Neith – goddess of creation, weaving, war and the dead
• Nekhbet – vulture goddess; patron of pharaohs and Upper Egypt
• Neper - androgynous deification of grain
• Nephthys or Nebthet – goddess of death, night and lamentation; the nursing mother of Horus and the pharaohs
• Nu – deification of the primordial watery abyss
• Nut – goddess of the sky and heavens
• Osiris or Wesir – merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife and consort of Isis
• Pakhet – a synthesis of Sekhmet and Bast
• Petbe - god of revenge
• Ptah – creator deity, also a god of craft
• Qebui – god of the north wind
• Ra – the sun, also a creator deity, whose chief cult centre was based in Heliopolis
• Rem - fish god who fertilises the land with his tears
• Renenutet - deification of the act of giving a true name during birth
• Saa or Sia - deification of perception
• Satet – goddess of war, hunting, fertility and the flooding of the Nile River
• Sekhmet – lioness goddess of destruction, pestilence and war; fierce protector of the pharaoh, and later as an aspect of Hathor
• Seker or Sokar - falcon god of the Memphite necropolis
• Serket – scorpion goddess of healing stings and bites
• Seshat – Goddess of writing, astronomy, astrology, architecture, and mathematics; depicted as a scribe
• Set or Seth – god of the desert, storms and foreigners; later god of chaos
• Shai - deification of the concept of fate
• Shed - savior deity
• Shezmu - god of execution, slaughter, blood, oil and wine
• Shu - personification of air
• Sobek – crocodile God of the Nile; patron of the military
• Sobkou - messenger god
• Sopdet - deification of the star Sothis (Sirius)
• Sopdu - personification of the scorching heat of the sun
• Ta-Bitjet - scorpion goddess identified as the consort of Horus
• Tatenen - god of the primordial mound
• Taweret – hippopotamus goddess of pregnant women and protector during childbirth
• Tefnut – goddess of moisture, moist air, dew and rain.
• Tenenet - goddess of beer
• Thoth or Djehuty – ibis-headed god of the moon, drawing, writing, geometry, wisdom, medicine, music, astronomy and magic
• Unut - snake goddess
• Wadjet – snake goddess and protector of Lower Egypt
• Wadj-wer – fertility God and personification of the Mediterranean Sea or lakes of the Nile Delta
• Weneg - plant god supporting the heavens
• Werethekau - personification of supernatural powers
• Wepwawet – jackal god of warfare and hunting
• Wosret – a localized guardian Goddess, protector of the young God Horus; an early consort of Amun, later superseded by Mut

What does religion mean?

Religious people
Religion is for some people a concept which they integrate in their daily lives. Religious beliefs are part and parcel of their lives. Nothing can be concieved without recourse to religion. Still, religion is a term that needs clear definition to avoid any ambiguities.
What is religion?
Religion is a belief of some superhuman power or powers, in particular a god or gods, which usually involve obedience, reverence, and worship; and as part of a system which defines a code of living, especially as a way of achieving spiritual or material improvement.

Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature.
Features pertaining to religion

• The word religion may also be called faith or belief system.
• Religion differs from private belief in that it has a public aspect. 
• Most religions have organized behaviors, including clerical hierarchies, a definition of what constitutes adherence or membership, congregations of laity, regular meetings or services for the purposes of veneration of a deity or for prayer, holy places (either natural or architectural), and/or scriptures. 
• The practice of a religion may also include sermons, commemoration of the activities of a god or gods, sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trance, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture.

Different religions
Religion have taken different forms in different cultures.

• Some religions place an emphasis on belief, while others emphasize practice. 
• Some religions focus on the subjective experience of the religious individual, while others consider the activities of the religious community to be most important. 
• Some religions claim to be universal, believing their laws and cosmology to be binding for everyone, while others are intended to be practiced only by a closely defined or localized group. 
• In many places religion has been associated with public institutions such as education, hospitals, the family, government, and political hierarchies.

Source: Wikipedia

Are all religions the same?

Are all religions the same?

What are some common grounds between religions? Are they they the same or different? Do they amount to the same principles? The same God? The same goals?
Watch this video!

Common grounds between religions

What are some grounds between religions?

We live in a world where religious beliefs can lead to intolerance, or worse to terror. What some believe is true must apply to all, regardless of the differences that may exist. For differences surely exist and we must manage our difference in order not to reach the point at which tension becomes a clash - either us or them! things are not absolutely either white or black. A shade of grey may exist. Our beliefs may overlap and common grounds may be detected.

Truth

All religions and civilizations are seeking the truth. Regardless of the further content of any given religion, it says to humanity: there is a reality that extends beyond our everyday world, it is possible to speak either truth or falsehood concerning this reality, and it makes a difference whether one lives by the truth or not.

Spirituality

All religions without exceptions adhere to a spiritual dimension in the life of individuals. The belief in the existance of a creator, a God sheds a spiritual aspect on religious people. Even though there are incredible differences between religions, we share a common heritage of witnessing to a divine reality.

Moral values

Religions bring with them a sense of moral duty. Religions distinguish between what is good and what is evil. In a sense religion is an excellent source of moral obligations. Such obligations are imposed on us by God however conceived. This implies that memebers of different religions must find what moral values they have in common and put it to work in behalf of society.

The devil is in the details

These are some common grounds. You may find others. I have put them forward without going into details for  fear of getting entanglaed in the diffrences. For as you know the devil is in thge details. Truth for members of a religious group is represented in a written form, revealed by a god to prohets. For others truth is sought in the a llife long quest for self-development.

True Muslims

Being a true Muslim

I've been asked so many times about being a true Muslim. Well an easy answer seems to be a true muslim is one who has utered the Shahada ("I testify that there is none who deserves to be worshipped but Allah. I testify that Mohammed is the messenger of Allah".) Well this seems to be just part of being a Muslim. A muslim adhers to Islam in many more aspects.

• Muslims adhere to a religion of peace, mercy, and forgiveness. 
• True Muslims condmen the extremely grave events which have come to be associated with their faith.
• The word 'Muslim' means one who has submitted oneself to Allah, the Omnipotent Creator. 
• A true Muslim is one who has disciplined his life in accordance with the instructions conveyed by Allah through His messengers. 
• A person becomes a Muslim not by birth alone, but by his faith and deeds which must go in accordance with each other.

The word Muslim means one who has submitted his self to the will of Allah, and for the same reason a true Muslim cannot live without the love for Allah, His prophets and humanity. The ultimate goal is to be good and to forsake the evil.

Khadija bint Khuwaylid

A woman who had an impact on Islam

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid was the first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Khadijah successfully managed her father's business interests and preserved the family's fortune. It is said that when the Quraysh's trade caravans gathered to embark upon their lengthy and arduous journey either to Syria during the summer or to Yemen during the winter, Khadijah's caravan equalled the caravans of all other traders of the Quraish put together. She is important in Islam as Muhammad's first wife, and one of the "mothers of the believers". Khadija and Muhammed had six children. They were given two boys, Qasim and 'Abdullah, but neither survived infancy. They were also given four daughters, Zainab, Ruqaiyyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatima.

Contributions of Khadija

• She was the first believer. When the prophet was given revelation through the angel Michael, he was terrified and on his return from Mount Hira, Kahdija was there to comfort him.
• She also was a good wife to the prophet. Durinfg their married life, Mohammed loved her and she supported him. She consoled him when no bobody else would. She remained the only wife of Muhammed until her death at the age of 65.
• When the prophet Muhammed proclaimed his mission as the messenger of Allah, and told the Arabs not to worship idols, he was persecuted everywhere he went and felt very sad. The polytheists made many attempts to stifle his voice forever. In those times of stress and distress, Khadija was a bastion of strength for him. She and his uncle, Abu Talib protected and supported him. Thanks to them the polytheists could not disrupt the prophet Muhammed's work of preaching and propagating Islam. Khadija made thus the most important contribution to the survival and propagation of Islam.

More on Khadija on Wikipedia

The Foundation and Sources of Islam

Islam: its foundation and its sources

There are only two absolute sources of Islam:

• the Quran 
• and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad.

What is Sunnah?

Sunnah is an Arabic word that means habit or usual practice. The Muslim usage of this term refers to the sayings and living habits of Muhammad, the last prophet of Islam.
The Sunnah of Muhammad includes his specific words, habits, practices, and silent approvals. It is significant to the spirituality of Islam because it addresses ways of life dealing with friends, family, and government.
sunnah indeed often stands synonymous to hadith as most of the personality traits of Muhammad are known through descriptions about him, his sayings and his actions, after becoming a prophet at the age of forty.

Guidelines for Islamic Law

According to Muslims, The Quran and the Sunnah are the absolute sources in Islam because they constitute the revelation received by the Prophet  from God. God inspired the Prophet with both the Quran and the Sunnah. Hence, all beliefs and practices are subservient to these foundations: if something is consistent with them, it may be accepted; if something contradicts them, it must be rejected.