Top 20 Egyptian Goddesses (Mythological Names)

The Egyptian goddesses Of the mythology of Ancient Egypt played a fundamental role in religion and civilization.

In addition, the woman of this society had certain privileges with respect to the inferior role that had assigned in later cultures like Greek.

The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the nucleus of the ancient Egyptian religion, which arose sometime in prehistory. The deities represented forces and natural phenomena, and the Egyptians praised them through offerings and rituals so that these forces continued to function according to the divine order.

After the foundation of the Egyptian state around 3100 BC, the authority to perform these tasks was controlled by the pharaoh, who claimed to be the representative of the gods.

Here is a list of the main Egyptian goddesses, who like the Gods of Ancient Egypt, Fulfilled with a certain functionality.

The most important Egyptian goddesses

1- Amonet

Amonet was one of the primordial goddesses in the religion of Ancient Egypt. He is a member of the Ogdoad and consort of Amon. Its name that means"the occult", is simply the feminine form of Amun. She was described as a woman wearing the red crown or desheret and in her hands a roll of papyrus.

Amonet was always represented in conjunction with Amón and there are no references of this goddess alone. Around the twelfth dynasty (1991 to 1803 BC) his image took a second place by that of Mut as a consort of Amun.

In some places like Thebes, Amonet was continually worshiped since she was considered the protector of the pharaoh.

2- Anuket

Anuket was the personification and goddess of the river Nile in Egyptian mythology. It was also known as Anaka or Anqet and its sacred animal was the gazelle. Her name means"the hugger"and was usually described as a woman with a headdress made of reeds or ostrich feathers and in her hand a scepter.

It was also detailed breastfeeding the pharaoh and in later periods was recognized as the goddess of lust. This is why she was also associated with the cauri because of its similarity to a vagina

3- Bastet

Bastet was a goddess in the ancient Egyptian religion, worshiped from second dynasty in 2890 BC. It was also known as Bast and was recognized as the goddess of war in Lower Egypt before the unification of cultures.

Originally described as a lion-shaped warrior and later transformed into a protective goddess shaped like a cat. The cult center of this deity was in the city of Bubastis in what today is known as Zagazig. In the temple consecrated to Bastet it was usual to mummify the cats and in excavations today have been found to find up to 300,000 of these.

4- Hathor

Hathor was an Egyptian goddess who was regarded as the embodiment of joy, female love and motherhood. It was one of the most important and venerated deities throughout the history of Egypt, getting to be adored as much by the royalty as by the people of the common.

In many tombs he was shown as the deity in charge of welcoming the dead to the next life. She was also believed to be attending women in childbirth. Hathor was described as a horned cow goddess among which is a solar disk surrounded by a uræus.

5- Hatmehyt

Hatmeith in the religion of ancient Egypt was the goddess of fish in the Mendes area. His name translates as"Fish Leader"or"Fish Leader". She was regularly described as a fish or as a woman with a fish-shaped emblem or crown.

Eventually she was considered as wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, becoming identified as an alternate form of Isis.

6- Hemsut

Hemsut were regarded as the goddesses of fate and protection in the mythology of ancient Egypt. These were closely related to the concept of Ka , Or spirit. They were described as the female embodiment of the Ka male.

They also represented the primordial waters from which all things were born. His image was that of women carrying a shield with two crossed arrows on it or that of a woman on her knees with a child in her arms.

7-Heket

Heket was the Egyptian goddess of fertility and represented in the shape of a toad. For the Egyptians this animal was associated with fertility since they appeared with the annual flood of the Nile River.

Heket was considered as the female version or the wife of Khnemu and mother of Heru-ur. Some toad-shaped statues of the second dynasty are believed to have been dedicated to it. It was also associated with the last moments of childbirth so women wore amulets at this time in which Heket was depicted as a toad sitting on a lotus leaf.

8- Isis

Isis was a goddess of the mythology of ancient Egypt whose cult then spread through the Roman Empire.

At present it is still worshiped by many movements and religions. Originally idealized as the ideal mother and wife, as well as being the mother of nature and magic. In turn, she was the patroness of the slaves, sinners, artisans and oppressed, but she also listened to the prayers of aristocrats and leaders. She was also known as the protector of the dead and the goddess of children.

The name of Isis means"Throne"and that is why the crown it bears represents a throne as personification of Pharaoh's power. The most important temples in his honor were in Behbeit El-Hagar and in the island of File.

In myth, Isis was the first daughter of Geb, the god of the Earth, and Nut, the goddess of the sky. He married his brother Osiris and conceived Horus with him. The sacred image of Isis with Horus in her arms as a child became a model for the Christianity of Mary carrying Jesus in her arms.

9- Iusaaset

Iusaaset or Iusaas is the name of one of the primordial goddesses in the religion of ancient Egypt, defined as the grandmother of all deities. She is depicted as a woman wearing a horned vulture's crown with a solar disk surrounded by the uræus. In his hands he has a scepter.

Iusaaset was also associated with the acacia tree, which is considered as the tree of life. According to the myth, Iusaaset and Atum were the parents of Shu and Tefnut, the first deities.

10- Qebehut

In Egyptian mythology, Qebehut was a goddess considered as the embodiment of embalming fluid. Its name comes as"refreshing water". Qebehut is the daughter of Anubis and the wife of Anput.

He refers to it as a serpent that refreshes and purifies Pharaoh. It was believed that this deity gave water to the spirits of the dead while they waited for the mummification to be completed. In addition, she was in charge of protecting the body, keeping it fresh for resuscitation by its Ka.

11- Maat

Maat was the Egyptian goddess who embodied the concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality and justice. This was the one in charge of regulating the stars and the stations and who established the order in the universe from the chaos until the moment of the creation.

After this role, his primary role was to weigh souls (or hearts) in the underworld. It is depicted with a feather on its head that was used to determine whether or not the souls of those who would reach paradise would be reached.

12- Mafdet

Mafdet was the Egyptian goddess protecting the snakes and the scorpions. It was part of the Egyptian pantheon since the first dynasty and was represented as some kind of feline or mongoose.

It also symbolized the definition of legal justice or sentencing to death and protected the tombs of the pharaohs and other holy places. It was said that Mafdet plucked up the hearts of those who did evil and delivered them to Pharaoh at his feet.

13- Meheturet

Meheturet was the sky goddess in Egyptian mythology. Its name translates as"Great Flood"and is represented like a cow with a solar disc between its horns. It is known as the"Celestial Cow"or the"Cow Goddess"given its physical characteristics.

In the myths of creation she gives light to the sun at the beginning of time and is one of the main components in the creation and maintenance of life. She is also considered as the goddess of water, creation and rebirth and is responsible for raising the sun in the sky each day providing light for the crops of those who worshiped.

14- Mut

Mut was a goddess of ancient Egypt whose name translates as"mother." He was regarded as a primordial deity associated with the waters from which all things arose.

The hieroglyph that represented it was the vulture, which according to the Egyptians was a very maternal creature. In art Mut was depicted as a woman with vulture wings with an angel in her hands and on her head carried the crown of the high and lower Egypt unified next to a red or blue dress.

Alternatively it was also represented as a cobra, a cat, a cow or a lioness.

15- Nephthys

Neftis or Nebthet was an Egyptian goddess, member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis. She was the daughter of Nut and Geb and sister of Isis and was a protective deity symbolizing the experience of death, opposed to Isis which symbolizes the experience of life.

Sometimes it was described as aggressive, being able to incinerate the enemies of the pharaoh with its fire breath.

Neftis was represented as a woman with falcon wings. His abilities were similar to those of Isis as Neftis balanced the darkness and the other light. Commonly these two were represented as twin sisters.

16- Seshat

Seshat was the Egyptian goddess of wisdom, knowledge and writing. She was seen as a scribe and her name literally means"the writer." She is credited with the invention of writing according to mythology.

In turn, she is also recognized as the goddess of history, architecture, astronomy, astrology, construction, mathematics and surveying.

Her abilities associated her like the protector of the scrolls where all the greater knowledge was guarded and its main temple was in the city of Heliópolis.

She is represented as a woman with a seven-pointed emblem on her head whose meaning is still unknown. In his hands he carries a palm stalk with notches that signify the passing of time and wears a skin of calico or leopard as a symbol of the priests of funerals.

17- Sekhmet

Sekhmet, whose name means"the powerful,"was a warrior goddess and goddess of healing in the mythology of ancient Egypt. She was represented as a Leonese and was known to be the best huntress for the Egyptians.

It was said that her breath had formed the desert and acted as a protector of the Pharaohs, guiding them in times of war. Sekhmet was represented carrying in his head a solar disc surrounded by the uræu.

18- Tueris

Tueris is a protective divinity of ancient Egypt and is the representation of childbirth and fertility. Her name means"the big one"and is typically depicted as a female biped hippo with some feline features with the tail of a Nile crocodile and large breasts dangling from its chest.

Her image was used on amulets that protected mothers and their children from harm. It was also common to see his image in everyday objects of the home as chairs and vessels.

19- Tefnut

Tefnut was the Egyptian goddess who represented the humidity, the humid air, the dew and the rain. She is the sister and consort of the air god Shu and the mother of Geb and Nut.

She was depicted as a woman with a lioness's head or as a woman as a whole. In his head he also wore a wig with a solar disk wrapped in the uræu.

20- Uadyet

Uadyet was the local Egyptian goddess of the city of Dep. She was considered as the patroness and protector of Lower Egypt and later as the protector of all the deities of Upper Egypt.

The image of Uadyet surrounding the solar disc is known as the Uræus and represented the emblem in the crown of the leaders of Lower Egypt. It was associated with the earth and therefore represented as a serpent-headed woman or a serpent in itself.

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