Egyptian mythology is a rich, vibrant and intriguing belief structure that the ancient Egyptians used to explain their world and to answer the big questions. Populated with characters such as Ra, Osiris, Sekhmet, Maat and Horus, Egyptian mythology was a part of the people’s daily life, and informed how they behaved and interacted, the decisions they made and the way they prepared for death.
With the opening up of the Silk Road in 130 BCE, Egyptian mythology began to spread to other cultures, including those of Greek and Rome. The concepts of an afterlife, of reincarnation and of gods and goddesses who protected and watched over people would influence these cultures and take root.
Egyptian mythology abounds in symbols, metaphors and unique stories. They’re complex and multi-layered, often with no equivalents in other cultures. One such example is the view that the soul was made up of many components – the ba, the ka, the akh, the shut and so on. It’s well worth getting to know this unique belief system.
In our series on Egyptian mythology, we’ve tried to simplify these big ideas, offering comprehensive guides that cover the myths, symbolism and modern relevance of this important ancient religion.
The Djet pillar symbol, sometimes called the backbone of Osiris, is one of the oldest and most commonly used symbols of ancient Egypt. It’s shaped like a vertical pillar with several horizontal ...
The Ba is one of the more visually strange Egyptian symbols as well as a less frequently used image. That’s because it had a very specific purpose, compared to other symbols with broader ...
The Uraeus symbol is one most of us have seen in its 3D form but it’s rarely represented in two dimensions nowadays. If you’ve ever seen an Egyptian pharaoh’s sarcophagus in a museum, a picture of ...
The Hedjet is an ancient Egyptian symbol that isn’t technically a hieroglyph but is widely recognizable and very symbolic nevertheless. Referred to as the “White Crown”, it’s the depiction of an ...
The Egyptians were firm believers in the afterlife, and many aspects of their culture were centered around the concepts of immortality, death, and the afterlife. The Duat was the realm of the dead ...
In Egyptian mythology, Kek and Kauket were a pair of primordial deities who symbolized darkness, obscurity, and the night. The deities were said to have lived from the very beginning of time ...
In Egyptian mythology, Shu was a god of air, wind, and the skies. The name Shu meant 'emptiness' or 'he who rises up'. Shu was a primordial deity and one of the chief gods in the city of ...
In Egyptian mythology, Taweret (also spelled as Taurt, Tuat, Taweret, Twert, Taueret and more) is the goddess of fertility and childbirth. She was often depicted as a hippopotamus, standing on ...
Chnoubis, or Xnoubis, is an Egyptian Gnostic solar icon, most often found inscribed on gems, talismans, and amulets as a protective symbol. The image features a composite figure of a lion-headed ...
A mystical word composed of Greek letters, abraxas is found inscribed in relics in Egypt, from tablets to gems and amulets. The Abraxas has a complex history. It's a magical word that makes up the ...
The image of a magnificent bird that bursts into flames periodically, only to rise from the ashes, has captured human imagination for thousands of years. What is it about the phoenix that ...
The Ouroboros is a highly recognizable symbol, featuring either a snake or dragon consuming its own tail, thereby forming a circle. Yet where did this strange symbol come from and what does it ...
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