Heliopolitans are a fictional group of gods, based on Ancient Egyptian deities , appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics .
76-775: Characters based on ancient Egyptian deities were first mentioned in Captain America Comics #20 (November 1942), published by Marvel Comics ' predecessor Timely Comics , in which Captain America and Bucky investigate the murder of Colonel Fitzpatrick, who was studying the Book of Thoth while stationed in Egypt. The Heliopolitans' first full Golden Age appearance was in the story "The Terror That Creeps" by Stan Lee and Werner Roth , published in Marvel Tales #96 (June 1950), and involves
152-459: A "deity". One widely accepted definition, suggested by Jan Assmann , says that a deity has a cult , is involved in some aspect of the universe, and is described in mythology or other forms of written tradition. According to a different definition, by Dimitri Meeks, nṯr applied to any being that was the focus of ritual. From this perspective, "gods" included the king, who was called a god after his coronation rites , and deceased souls, who entered
228-510: A battle that lasted for several hundred years, ending when Seth gained the upper hand and sealed the gods in a pyramid. The trapped gods remained in the pyramid for several millennia until they managed to reach out to the Asgardian god Odin . With help from Odin's son, Thor , they defeated Seth, severing his left hand as they battled, and freed the Heliopolitans. The Heliopolitans had captured
304-573: A deity to represent them, and deities were sometimes created to serve as opposite-sex counterparts to established gods or goddesses. Kings were said to be divine, although only a few continued to be worshipped long after their deaths. Some non-royal humans were said to have the favor of the gods and were venerated accordingly. This veneration was usually short-lived, but the court architects Imhotep and Amenhotep son of Hapu were regarded as gods centuries after their lifetimes, as were some other officials. Through contact with neighboring civilizations,
380-524: A force the Egyptians called heka , a term usually translated as "magic". Heka was a fundamental power that the creator god used to form the world and the gods themselves. The gods' actions in the present are described and praised in hymns and funerary texts . In contrast, mythology mainly concerns the gods' actions during a vaguely imagined past in which the gods were present on earth and interacted directly with humans. The events of this past time set
456-677: A fundamental part of Egyptian society. The beings in ancient Egyptian tradition who might be labeled as deities are difficult to count. Egyptian texts list the names of many deities whose nature is unknown, and make vague, indirect references to other gods who are not even named. The Egyptologist James P. Allen estimates that more than 1,400 deities are named in Egyptian texts, whereas his colleague Christian Leitz says there are "thousands upon thousands" of gods. The Egyptian language 's terms for these beings were nṯr , "god", and its feminine form nṯrt , "goddess". Scholars have tried to discern
532-579: A large creature called the Devourer , who later escaped and fought Thor and the Thing . Osiris later empowered Thor to revive Asgardians who were harmed by the Destroyer . The gods of Heliopolis, powerless and calling themselves "Lost Ones", joined Thor and Earth Force in fighting Seth and his forces again, and ultimately regained their powers after the apparent death of Seth. The pages of Moon Knight: City of
608-576: A man that fails to convince the public that the Great Sphinx of Giza is slowly moving to the edge of the desert, where it will be empowered by Set and destroy mankind. The goddess Bast would later make her first appearance (as a totem) with the Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966), being called only Panther God, in Black Panther vol. 3 # 21 by Christopher Priest and Sal Velutto, it
684-672: A sexually differentiated pair of deities: Shu and his consort Tefnut . Similarly, Neith, who was sometimes regarded as a creator goddess, was said to possess masculine traits but was mainly seen as female. Isis (Marvel Comics) Heliopolitans are a fictional group of gods, based on Ancient Egyptian deities , appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Characters based on ancient Egyptian deities were first mentioned in Captain America Comics #20 (November 1942), published by Marvel Comics ' predecessor Timely Comics , in which Captain America and Bucky investigate
760-399: A time before the gods' withdrawal from the human realm, take place in an earthly setting. The deities there sometimes interact with those in the sky. The underworld, in contrast, is treated as a remote and inaccessible place, and the gods who dwell there have difficulties in communicating with those in the world of the living. The space outside the cosmos is also said to be very distant. It too
836-710: A totem) with the Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966), being called only Panther God, in Black Panther vol. 3 # 21 by Christopher Priest and Sal Velutto, it was revealed that the Panther God is Bast . Many of the other deities, including Horus, Isis and Osiris , were introduced in Thor #239 (September 1975). Khonshu , who became associated with Moon Knight , first appeared in Moon Knight #1 (November 1980). Joseph Muszynski argued in his book Everything I Needed to Know About Life I Learned from Marvel Comics that
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#1733084629378912-417: A variety of animal and human figures. Some of these images, such as stars and cattle, are reminiscent of important features of Egyptian religion in later times, but in most cases, there is not enough evidence to say whether the images are connected with deities. As Egyptian society grew more sophisticated, clearer signs of religious activity appeared. The earliest known temples appeared in the last centuries of
988-401: Is inhabited by deities, some hostile and some beneficial to the other gods and their orderly world. In the time after myth, most gods were said to be either in the sky or invisibly present within the world. Temples were their main means of contact with humanity. Each day, it was believed, the gods moved from the divine realm to their temples, their homes in the human world. There they inhabited
1064-455: Is known about popular religious belief is consistent with the elite tradition. The two traditions form a largely cohesive vision of the gods and their nature. Most Egyptian deities represent natural or social phenomena . The gods were generally said to be immanent in these phenomena—to be present within nature. The types of phenomena they represented include physical places and objects as well as abstract concepts and forces. The god Shu
1140-415: Is the effort of the gods to maintain maat against the forces of disorder. They fight vicious battles with the forces of chaos at the start of creation. Ra and Apep, battling each other each night, continue this struggle into the present. Another prominent theme is the gods' death and revival. The clearest instance where a god dies is the myth of Osiris's murder , in which that god is resurrected as ruler of
1216-693: The Coffin Texts renders the name of the funerary god Seker as sk r , meaning "cleaning of the mouth", to link his name with his role in the Opening of the Mouth ritual, while one in the Pyramid Texts says the name is based on words shouted by Osiris in a moment of distress, connecting Sokar with the most important funerary deity. The gods were believed to have many names. Among them were secret names that conveyed their true natures more profoundly than others. To know
1292-606: The Destroyer . The gods of Heliopolis, powerless and calling themselves "Lost Ones", joined Thor and Earth Force in fighting Seth and his forces again, and ultimately regained their powers after the apparent death of Seth. The pages of Moon Knight: City of the Dead reveals that Heliopolitan Taweret assists in the judgement of souls in Duat. In the pages of " Ultimate Invasion ", Maker traveled to Earth-6160 and remade it into his own image. Lord Ra and Lord Khonshu are depicted as members of
1368-552: The Ennead — the new gods, took the name Ra and settled in the sun. The Ennead resided in the ancient city of Heliopolis until their king Osiris placed mortal pharaohs in charge so that the gods could become less involved with human affairs and relocated themselves to the extradimensional realm of Celestial Heliopolis, known to the ancient Egyptians as " Aaru ." A few, including Bast , Sobek, Sekhmet , Thoth , and Ptah choose to remain on Earth, integrating themselves into The Orisha ,
1444-657: The Maker's Council , serving as the theocratic rulers of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of Africa. It s said that during meetings, Lord Ra speaks when the Sun is up and Lord Khonshu speaks when the Moon is up, as Emmanuel da Costa mentions this during a conversation with Howard Stark . Lord Ra and Lord Khonshu also work together under the name of Moon Knight where they soon face opposition from Black Panther as they intend on annexing Wakanda . Just like in
1520-410: The cult images , the statues that depicted deities and allowed humans to interact with them in temple rituals. This movement between realms was sometimes described as a journey between the sky and the earth. As temples were the focal points of Egyptian cities, the god in a city's main temple was the patron deity for the city and the surrounding region. Deities' spheres of influence on earth centered on
1596-416: The gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt . The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion , which emerged sometime in prehistory . Deities represented natural forces and phenomena , and the Egyptians supported and appeased them through offerings and rituals so that these forces would continue to function according to maat , or divine order. After
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#17330846293781672-447: The true name of a deity was to have power over it. The importance of names is demonstrated by a myth in which Isis poisons the superior god Ra and refuses to cure him unless he reveals his secret name to her. Upon learning the name, she tells it to her son, Horus, and by learning it they gain greater knowledge and power. In addition to their names, gods were given epithets , like "possessor of splendor", "ruler of Abydos ", or "lord of
1748-400: The Dead reveals that Heliopolitan Taweret assists in the judgement of souls in Duat. In the pages of " Ultimate Invasion ", Maker traveled to Earth-6160 and remade it into his own image. Lord Ra and Lord Khonshu are depicted as members of the Maker's Council , serving as the theocratic rulers of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of Africa. It s said that during meetings, Lord Ra speaks when
1824-456: The Demogorge and drove Set off. After Set's defeat, Atum begot the Ennead — the new gods, took the name Ra and settled in the sun. The Ennead resided in the ancient city of Heliopolis until their king Osiris placed mortal pharaohs in charge so that the gods could become less involved with human affairs and relocated themselves to the extradimensional realm of Celestial Heliopolis, known to
1900-414: The Duat. The sun god is also said to grow old during his daily journey across the sky, sink into the Duat at night, and emerge as a young child at dawn. In the process, he comes into contact with the rejuvenating water of Nun , the primordial chaos. Funerary texts that depict Ra's journey through the Duat also show the corpses of gods who are enlivened along with him. Instead of being changelessly immortal,
1976-644: The Egyptians also adopted foreign deities . The goddess Miket , who occasionally appeared in Egyptian texts beginning in the Middle Kingdom ( c. 2055 –1650 BC), may have been adopted from the religion of Nubia to the south, and a Nubian ram deity may have influenced the iconography of Amun. During the New Kingdom ( c. 1550 –1070 BC), several deities from Canaanite religion were incorporated into that of Egypt, including Baal , Resheph , and Anat . In Greek and Roman times, from 332 BC to
2052-709: The Egyptians first revered primitive fetishes , then deities in animal form, and finally deities in human form, whereas Henri Frankfort argued that the gods must have been envisioned in human form from the beginning. Some of these theories are now regarded as too simplistic, and more current ones, such as Siegfried Morenz' hypothesis that deities emerged as humans began to distinguish themselves from their environment, and to 'personify' ideas relating to deities. Such theories are difficult to prove. Predynastic Egypt originally consisted of small, independent villages. Because many deities in later times were strongly tied to particular towns and regions, many scholars have suggested that
2128-419: The Egyptians' many-faceted approach to religious belief—what Henri Frankfort called a "multiplicity of approaches" to understanding the gods. In myth, the gods behave much like humans. They feel emotion; they can eat, drink, fight, weep, sicken, and die. Some have unique character traits. Set is aggressive and impulsive, and Thoth , patron of writing and knowledge, is prone to long-winded speeches. Yet overall,
2204-466: The Nile, no god personified it in the way that Ra personified the sun. Short-lived phenomena, such as rainbows or eclipses, were not represented by gods; neither were fire, water, or many other components of the world. The roles of each deity were fluid, and each god could expand its nature to take on new characteristics. As a result, gods' roles are difficult to categorize or define. Despite this flexibility,
2280-584: The Sun is up and Lord Khonshu speaks when the Moon is up, as Emmanuel da Costa mentions this during a conversation with Howard Stark . Lord Ra and Lord Khonshu also work together under the name of Moon Knight where they soon face opposition from Black Panther as they intend on annexing Wakanda . Just like in the mainstream universe, Bast is the patron goddess of Wakanda. Horus appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 , voiced by Colin McFarlane . He
2356-467: The ancient Egyptians as " Aaru ." A few, including Bast , Sobek, Sekhmet , Thoth , and Ptah choose to remain on Earth, integrating themselves into The Orisha , the pantheon of Wakanda . Bast would eventually become the patron deity of Wakanda, while Sobek and Sekhmet became patrons of lesser influential Wakandan cults. Eons ago during the First Blasphemy, Khonshu tries to avenge a prisoner that
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2432-577: The attention of Khonshu who met with Bast, Eshu, Gherke, and Ptah during Ra 's slumber. He wants the gods in the surrounding realms to be made aware before he retaliates. He gets their support alongside the support of Kokou the Ever-Burning. In the distant past, Bast and Gherke lead the Enneads and the Orishas against Varnae's forces. Kokou confronts Varnae in his temple. The prisoners are evacuated as Bast instructs
2508-413: The black panthers to take the prisoners west and wait for the news of victory. In Celestial Heliopolis, Seth murdered his brother Osiris in an attempted coup but Osiris' wife Isis , and his sons Horus and Anubis combined their powers to resurrect Osiris. Osiris then dispatched Horus to exact revenge on Seth in a battle that lasted for several hundred years, ending when Seth gained the upper hand and sealed
2584-925: The cobra to depict many female deities. The Egyptians distinguished nṯrw , "gods", from rmṯ , "people", but the meanings of the Egyptian and the English terms do not match perfectly. The term nṯr may have applied to any being that was in some way outside the sphere of everyday life. Deceased humans were called nṯr because they were considered to be like the gods, whereas the term was rarely applied to many of Egypt's lesser supernatural beings, which modern scholars often call "demons". Egyptian religious art also depicts places, objects, and concepts in human form. These personified ideas range from deities that were important in myth and ritual to obscure beings, only mentioned once or twice, that may be little more than metaphors. Confronting these blurred distinctions between gods and other beings, scholars have proposed various definitions of
2660-449: The complex process by which the organized universe and its many deities emerged from undifferentiated chaos. The period following creation, in which a series of gods rule as kings over the divine society, is the setting for most myths. The gods struggle against the forces of chaos and among each other before withdrawing from the human world and installing the historical kings of Egypt to rule in their place. A recurring theme in these myths
2736-403: The context of creation myths, in which the androgynous deity represents the undifferentiated state that existed before the world was created. The Ogdoad , a group of eight primordial gods all had a female form and consort. Atum was primarily male but had a feminine aspect within himself, who was sometimes seen as a goddess, known as Iusaaset or Nebethetepet . Creation began when Atum produced
2812-424: The country at start of the Middle Kingdom ( c. 2055 –1650 BC), they elevated Thebes' patron gods—first the war god Montu and then Amun—to national prominence. In Egyptian belief, names express the fundamental nature of the things to which they refer. In keeping with this belief, the names of deities often relate to their roles or origins. The name of the predatory goddess Sekhmet means "powerful one",
2888-492: The distant past, Bast and Gherke lead the Enneads and the Orishas against Varnae's forces. Kokou confronts Varnae in his temple. The prisoners are evacuated as Bast instructs the black panthers to take the prisoners west and wait for the news of victory. In Celestial Heliopolis, Seth murdered his brother Osiris in an attempted coup but Osiris' wife Isis , and his sons Horus and Anubis combined their powers to resurrect Osiris. Osiris then dispatched Horus to exact revenge on Seth in
2964-522: The divine realm through funeral ceremonies . Likewise, the preeminence of the great gods was maintained by the ritual devotion that was performed for them across Egypt. The first written evidence of deities in Egypt comes from the Early Dynastic Period ( c. 3100 –2686 BC). Deities must have emerged sometime in the preceding Predynastic Period (before 3100 BC) and grown out of prehistoric religious beliefs . Predynastic artwork depicts
3040-474: The early centuries AD, deities from across the Mediterranean world were revered in Egypt, but the native gods remained, and they often absorbed the cults of these newcomers into their own worship. Modern knowledge of Egyptian beliefs about the gods is mostly drawn from religious writings produced by the nation's scribes and priests . These people were the elite of Egyptian society and were very distinct from
3116-467: The entire country. These sacred kings and their subordinates assumed the right to interact with the gods, and kingship became the unifying focus of the religion. New deities continued to emerge after this transformation. Some important deities such as Isis and Amun are not known to have appeared until the Old Kingdom ( c. 2686 –2181 BC). Places and concepts could inspire the creation of
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3192-400: The entrances of temples , representing the presence of a deity, throughout ancient Egyptian history . Other such hieroglyphs include a falcon, reminiscent of several early gods who were depicted as falcons, and a seated male or female deity. The feminine form could also be written with an egg as determinative, connecting goddesses with creation and birth, or with a cobra, reflecting the use of
3268-511: The first of these were Gaea (as Neith ), the Demiurge (as Nun ), and Set (as Apep/Apophis ). Neith and Nun sired Atum , the first of the Ogdoad — the old gods. As Neith went about creating mortal life, Set desired to destroy her creations. In turn, Neith called Atum for protection. Atum and Set fought for eons until Atum transformed into the Demogorge and drove Set off. After Set's defeat, Atum begot
3344-644: The founding of the Egyptian state around 3100 BC, the authority to perform these tasks was controlled by the pharaoh , who claimed to be the gods' representative and managed the temples where the rituals were carried out. The gods' complex characteristics were expressed in myths and in intricate relationships between deities: family ties, loose groups and hierarchies, and combinations of separate gods into one. Deities' diverse appearances in art —as animals, humans, objects, and combinations of different forms—also alluded, through symbolism, to their essential features. In different eras, various gods were said to hold
3420-414: The general populace, most of whom were illiterate. Little is known about how well this broader population knew or understood the sophisticated ideas that the elite developed. Commoners' perceptions of the divine may have differed from those of the priests. The populace may, for example, have treated the religion's symbolic statements about the gods and their actions as literal truth. But overall, what little
3496-402: The gods are more like archetypes than well drawn characters. Deities' mythic behavior is inconsistent, and their thoughts and motivations are rarely stated. Most myths lack highly developed characters and plots, because their symbolic meaning was more important than elaborate storytelling. Characters were even interchangeable. Different versions of a myth could portray different deities playing
3572-449: The gods had limited abilities and spheres of influence. Not even the creator god could reach beyond the boundaries of the cosmos that he created, and even Isis, though she was said to be the cleverest of the gods, was not omniscient . Richard H. Wilkinson , however, argues that some texts from the late New Kingdom suggest that as beliefs about the god Amun evolved he was thought to approach omniscience and omnipresence , and to transcend
3648-466: The gods in a pyramid. The trapped gods remained in the pyramid for several millennia until they managed to reach out to the Asgardian god Odin . With help from Odin's son, Thor , they defeated Seth, severing his left hand as they battled, and freed the Heliopolitans. The Heliopolitans had captured a large creature called the Devourer , who later escaped and fought Thor and the Thing . Osiris later empowered Thor to revive Asgardians who were harmed by
3724-399: The gods periodically died and were reborn by repeating the events of creation, thus renewing the whole world. Nonetheless, it was always possible for this cycle to be disrupted and for chaos to return. Some poorly understood Egyptian texts even suggest that this calamity is destined to happen—that the creator god will one day dissolve the order of the world, leaving only himself and Osiris amid
3800-410: The gods' multifarious nature. The Egyptians regarded the division between male and female as fundamental to all beings, including deities. Male gods tended to have a higher status than goddesses and were more closely connected with creation and with kingship, while goddesses were more often thought of as helping and providing for humans. Some deities were androgynous , but most examples are found in
3876-520: The greater gods or as roving spirits that caused illness or other misfortunes among humans. Demons' position in the divine hierarchy was not fixed. The protective deities Bes and Taweret originally had minor, demon-like roles, but over time they came to be credited with great influence. The most feared beings in the Duat were regarded as both disgusting and dangerous to humans. Over the course of Egyptian history, they came to be regarded as fundamentally inferior members of divine society and to represent
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#17330846293783952-413: The highest position in divine society, including the solar deity Ra , the mysterious god Amun , and the mother goddess Isis . The highest deity was usually credited with the creation of the world and often connected with the life-giving power of the sun. Some scholars have argued, based in part on Egyptian writings, that the Egyptians came to recognize a single divine power that lay behind all things and
4028-512: The inhabitants of the Nile River Valley from as early as 10,000 BC. According to Heliopolitan legend, the first of these were Gaea (as Neith ), the Demiurge (as Nun ), and Set (as Apep/Apophis ). Neith and Nun sired Atum , the first of the Ogdoad — the old gods. As Neith went about creating mortal life, Set desired to destroy her creations. In turn, Neith called Atum for protection. Atum and Set fought for eons until Atum transformed into
4104-457: The introduction of Egyptian deities "excited our tendency to enjoy variety" as the pantheon contained multiple gods and personalities as opposed to the Judeo-Christian religions. Ed Strauss contended that Marvel was able to dive into ancient Egyptian religion because it "had long been retired into the realm of mythology" unlike Christianity. The Heliopolitans were worshipped as deities by
4180-478: The limits of the world in a way that other deities did not. The deities with the most limited and specialized domains are often called "minor divinities" or "demons" in modern writing, although there is no firm definition for these terms. Some demons were guardians of particular places, especially in the Duat , the realm of the dead. Others wandered through the human world and the Duat, either as servants and messengers of
4256-719: The mainstream universe, Bast is the patron goddess of Wakanda. Horus appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 , voiced by Colin McFarlane . He is found in the Egypt area of Chronopolis and helps Captain America, Doctor Strange, and Thor fight an awakened N'Kantu, the Living Mummy while Captain Marvel works to free Hulk from the quicksand. After Loki is defeated, Horus sees to it that Loki puts right what he has wronged in Egypt. Ancient Egyptian deities B C D F G H I K M N P Q R S T U W Ancient Egyptian deities are
4332-524: The murder of Colonel Fitzpatrick, who was studying the Book of Thoth while stationed in Egypt. The Heliopolitans' first full Golden Age appearance was in the story "The Terror That Creeps" by Stan Lee and Werner Roth , published in Marvel Tales #96 (June 1950), and involves a man that fails to convince the public that the Great Sphinx of Giza is slowly moving to the edge of the desert, where it will be empowered by Set and destroy mankind. The goddess Bast would later make her first appearance (as
4408-478: The name of the mysterious god Amun means "hidden one", and the name of Nekhbet , who was worshipped in the city of Nekheb , means "she of Nekheb". Many other names have no certain meaning, even when the gods who bear them are closely tied to a single role. The names of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb do not resemble the Egyptian terms for sky and earth . The Egyptians also devised false etymologies giving more meanings to divine names. A passage in
4484-411: The newly formed world; Ptah , who embodies thought and creativity, gives form to all things by envisioning and naming them; Atum produces all things as emanations of himself; and Amun, according to the theology promoted by his priesthood, preceded and created the other creator gods. These and other versions of the events of creation were not seen as contradictory. Each gives a different perspective on
4560-473: The opposite of the beneficial, life-giving major gods. Yet even the most revered deities could sometimes exact vengeance on humans or each other, displaying a demon-like side to their character and blurring the boundaries between demons and gods. Divine behavior was believed to govern all of nature. Except for the few deities who disrupted the divine order, the gods' actions maintained maat and created and sustained all living things. They did this work using
4636-420: The original nature of the gods by proposing etymologies for these words, but none of these suggestions has gained acceptance, and the terms' origin remains obscure. The hieroglyphs that were used as ideograms and determinatives in writing these words show some of the traits that the Egyptians connected with divinity. The most common of these signs is a flag flying from a pole. Similar objects were placed at
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#17330846293784712-423: The pantheon contained multiple gods and personalities as opposed to the Judeo-Christian religions. Ed Strauss contended that Marvel was able to dive into ancient Egyptian religion because it "had long been retired into the realm of mythology" unlike Christianity. The Heliopolitans were worshipped as deities by the inhabitants of the Nile River Valley from as early as 10,000 BC. According to Heliopolitan legend,
4788-464: The pantheon formed as disparate communities coalesced into larger states, spreading and intermingling the worship of the old local deities. Others have argued that the most important predynastic gods were, like other elements of Egyptian culture, present all across the country despite its political divisions. The final step in the formation of Egyptian religion was the unification of Egypt, in which rulers from Upper Egypt made themselves pharaohs of
4864-458: The pantheon of Wakanda . Bast would eventually become the patron deity of Wakanda, while Sobek and Sekhmet became patrons of lesser influential Wakandan cults. Eons ago during the First Blasphemy, Khonshu tries to avenge a prisoner that was killed by Varnae only for Bast to tell Khonshu to stay his hand. Varnae who stole Vibranium from the Fires of Ptah and planned to ascend to godhood. This attracted
4940-445: The pattern for the events of the present. Periodic occurrences were tied to events in the mythic past; the succession of each new pharaoh, for instance, reenacted Horus's accession to the throne of his father Osiris . Myths are metaphors for the gods' actions, which humans cannot fully understand. They contain seemingly contradictory ideas, each expressing a particular perspective on divine events. The contradictions in myth are part of
5016-411: The predynastic era, along with images that resemble the iconographies of known deities: the falcon that represents Horus and several other gods, the crossed arrows that stand for Neith , and the enigmatic " Set animal " that represents Set . Many Egyptologists and anthropologists have suggested theories about how the gods developed in these early times. Gustave Jéquier , for instance, thought
5092-431: The primordial chaos. Gods were linked to specific regions of the universe. In Egyptian tradition, the world includes the earth, the sky, and the underworld. Surrounding them is the dark formlessness that existed before creation. The gods in general were said to dwell in the sky, although gods whose roles were linked with other parts of the universe were said to live in those places instead. Most events of mythology, set in
5168-466: The same role, as in the myths of the Eye of Ra , a feminine aspect of the sun god who was represented by many goddesses. The first divine act is the creation of the cosmos, described in several creation myths . They focus on different gods, each of which may act as creator deities. The eight gods of the Ogdoad , who represent the chaos that precedes creation, give birth to the sun god, who establishes order in
5244-492: The sky", that describe some aspect of their roles or their worship. Because of the gods' multiple and overlapping roles, deities can have many epithets—with more important gods accumulating more titles—and the same epithet can apply to many deities. Some epithets eventually became separate deities, as with Werethekau , an epithet applied to several goddesses meaning "great enchantress", which came to be treated as an independent goddess. The host of divine names and titles expresses
5320-449: The towns and regions they presided over. Many gods had more than one cult center and their local ties changed over time. They could establish themselves in new cities, or their range of influence could contract. Therefore, a given deity's main cult center in historical times is not necessarily his or her place of origin. The political influence of a city could affect the importance of its patron deity. When kings from Thebes took control of
5396-467: The universal order that was a central principle of Egyptian religion and was itself personified as a goddess. Yet some deities represented disruption to maat . Most prominently, Apep was the force of chaos, constantly threatening to annihilate the order of the universe, and Set was an ambivalent member of divine society who could both fight disorder and foment it. Not all aspects of existence were seen as deities. Although many deities were connected with
5472-447: Was credited with producing the annual Nile flood that fertilized the country's farmland. Perhaps as an outgrowth of this life-giving function, he was said to create all living things, fashioning their bodies on a potter's wheel . Gods could share the same role in nature; Ra , Atum , Khepri , Horus, and other deities acted as sun gods . Despite their diverse functions, most gods had an overarching role in common: maintaining maat ,
5548-416: Was killed by Varnae only for Bast to tell Khonshu to stay his hand. Varnae who stole Vibranium from the Fires of Ptah and planned to ascend to godhood. This attracted the attention of Khonshu who met with Bast, Eshu, Gherke, and Ptah during Ra 's slumber. He wants the gods in the surrounding realms to be made aware before he retaliates. He gets their support alongside the support of Kokou the Ever-Burning. In
5624-706: Was present in all the other deities. Yet they never abandoned their original polytheistic view of the world, except possibly during the era of Atenism in the 14th century BC, when official religion focused exclusively on an abstract solar deity, the Aten . Gods were assumed to be present throughout the world, capable of influencing natural events and the course of human lives. People interacted with them in temples and unofficial shrines, for personal reasons as well as for larger goals of state rites. Egyptians prayed for divine help, used rituals to compel deities to act, and called upon them for advice. Humans' relations with their gods were
5700-454: Was revealed that the Panther God is Bast . Many of the other deities, including Horus, Isis and Osiris , were introduced in Thor #239 (September 1975). Khonshu , who became associated with Moon Knight , first appeared in Moon Knight #1 (November 1980). Joseph Muszynski argued in his book Everything I Needed to Know About Life I Learned from Marvel Comics that the introduction of Egyptian deities "excited our tendency to enjoy variety" as
5776-511: Was the deification of all the world's air; the goddess Meretseger oversaw a limited region of the earth, the Theban Necropolis ; and the god Sia personified the abstract notion of perception . Major gods were often involved in several types of phenomena. For instance, Khnum was the god of Elephantine Island in the midst of the Nile , the river that was essential to Egyptian civilization. He
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