The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt

by Richard H. Wilkinson

Worshipped for over three-fifths of recorded history, Egypt’s gods and goddesses are among the most fascinating of human civilization. The lives of pharaohs and commoners alike were dominated by the need to honor, worship, and pacify the huge pantheon of deities, from the benevolent to the malevolent. The richness and complexity of their mythology is reflected in countless tributes throughout Egypt, from lavish tomb paintings and imposing temple reliefs to humble household shrines.

This book examines the evolution, worship, and eventual decline of the numerous gods and goddesses—from minor household figures such as Bes and Tawaret to the all-powerful deities Amun and Re—that made Egypt the most theocratic society of the ancient world, and made Egyptians, according to Herodotus, “more religious than any other people.”

Now available in paperback, with hundreds of illustrations and specially commissioned drawings, this title remains the most comprehensive and authoritative guide to the deities that lay at the heart of Egyptian religion and society.

Genres: Mythology, History, Egypt, Nonfiction, Religion, Egyptology, Reference

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 2003

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another of those essential reference books for anyone studying Ancient Egypt, which I seem to be doing a lot of lately. It's an old love, and those among my friends who know me well know that it is my life's dream to visit Egypt and see all of the sacred places for myself. I've wanted to go there since I was 10 years old. Soon.

At any rate, this book provides an outstanding explanation of this complex religion that compliments and augments what is provided in Geraldine Pinch's book, reviewed earlier. I find myself referring to it often. I recommend it as a great reference work.

[Wraith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't really the kind of book that you read cover to cover. It's the kind of book you refer to when you want to know something in particular about ancient Egyptian religion and their deities. But it is a first-class resource.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complete sampling, perhaps. As the text admits, it's impossible to get them all. Not at all helped by the way they were "rich in names" and also the syncretism that lumped many of them into a single god.

Concepts of the gods -- such as their being mysterious in form despite the many depictions of them, the various incompatible cosmological myths, religious practices, relationship to the king -- and then a long listing of the known gods. Organized by the form they were most depicted in, such as anthropomorphic, or avian, etc.

[Asmaa Saeed · Rating 5 out of 5]

لطالما كنت أكره التاريخ المجرد، أشعر تجاهه بالجفاء، فكيف لي ان أستخرج عبرة صادقة خالصة بعيدا عن الزيف و التجميل؟ لطالما عجز عقلي عن تجاوز الدلائل والبراهين التاريخية و التساؤل إذا ما كان يتحلى المؤرخون بما يكفي من الموضوعية لتناول القضايا و تحليلها و رواياتها بكل جوانبها ام انهم يمحصون وقائع ويغفلون النظر عن أخرى؟ لا لشيء، إلا لأنها أساءت إلى مجتمعهم، و يصبح الأمر أعظم وأشد إذا مسدينهم ومعتقدهم كما رأيت في الكتب الدراسية حيث عجز المؤرخ على قول كلمة الحق والإنتصار للتاريخ بمجرد ان أطلق الحرية لقلبه وعاطفته وقيد عقله فشوه حقائق تاريخية وداس على دروس عدة غيرت منحاها، وهو بذلك أرضى عاطفته وأغضب ضميره وأرقه.

لازلت لا اصدق التاريخ و لكن شغفي تجاهه يزداد كلما ازددت وعيا، لقد وصل شغفي لعنان السماء لأرى بعين أجدادي مغامرة من الخيال يحيطني من كل جانب كائنات لا يمكن انتاجها الا من فكر سريالي تجريدي يجعل من القردة و الابقار و القطط و أبو قردان و كائنات اخرى لم توجد ابطالا لملحمة أسطورية سواء على الأرض أو في السماء أو في العالم السفلي.

أثناء قرأتي لهذا الكتاب بهرتني قدرة ويلكنسون في البحث حيث بنى كتابه على أبحاث جادة و مراجع و إستخدامه للغة سهلة لشرح طلاسم لغة أصبحت -لتجاهلنا اياها- ميتة منذ زمن طويل. شعرت بالأسى اثناء قرائتي لتغاضينا عن معرفتنا بالاسطورة و الديانة المصرية القديمة. نحن نعرف بشكل او بأخر ملوكنا القدماء مثل احمس و مينا و رمسيس و خوفو لكننا لا نعرف بنفس القدر تحوت او رع او حورس او الهة هيليوبلس و طيبة. لقد ترك هذا الكتاب داخلي حبا للتاريخ و الميثولوچيا المصرية القديمة تجعلني اود إقتنائه لقراءته عشرات المرات.

[Sophie Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book as a whole, such a great reasource for sure. I was touching base with Hathor and that led to the reading of many Goddesses again. And of course Anpu 😊

___
This is a great resource for general learning. It dives into an amazing ancient culture, explains history and why the ancient Egyptians believed in the way that they did.

You can see the focus on the importance of funerary rights and beliefs, which was undoubtedly very important to the Egyptians.

Ancient Egypt is such a fascinating culture and I love learning about their mythology. Was this super indepth? No. But did it offer a lot? Absolutely. It gives you the opportunity to dig in deeper, to learn more, if you should want to do so.

I really enjoyed the format too, a solid beginner textbook thst is easy to read and understand. I'll come back to this book often.

[Melanie Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Buch hab ich ja nur zu Recherchezwecken gelesen und manche Teile deshalb eher überflogen, deshalb ist das jetzt keine ausführliche Meinung^^

Es gab an vielen Stellen interessanten Input und langsam formt sich eine Idee in meinem Kopf, die ich verfolgen kann. Allein dafür hat es sich gelohnt, hier reinzuschauen und ich werde es fürs Schreiben der Kurzgeschichte auch immer wieder zur Hand nehmen.

Denn es ist sehr gut recherchiert und bietet viele Perspektiven, die Übersicht über die Götter war äußerst interessant aufgebaut und hat mir vor allem bei "meiner Kategorie" Gottheiten, die ich verarbeiten will, geholfen.

[Linniegayl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's beautiful, with illustrations or photographs on every page, but is also readable and informative. I particularly like the organization of the book. The introductory chapters provide overall information about the development of the gods, worship of the gods, and organizing concepts for the gods. Then, the book moves into the general catalogue of the gods, divided by the categories established earlier (e.g., avian deities, anthropomorphic deities, mammalian deities, etc.). Within each specific god, the author provides -- when possible -- information about the mythology, iconography, and worship of the god. This is a definite A for me, so five stars here.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great encyclopedia for learning about the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. The information contained is quite exhausting to get through though.

[Sean McLachlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A standard reference work for the educated lay reader. It's beautifully illustrated and has short but detailed descriptions of all the major deities. It's not "complete" because that would be impossible to do in a single volume. The introduction reveals that almost 1,500 gods and goddesses are known by name. For some, we don't know anything more than that.
So this is a complete reference work to all the gods and goddesses that we know a lot about, and as such it works very well. Each deity is given good coverage and there are long sections on the place of religion in Egypt, the development of religion, etc. Well worth buying for anyone interested in ancient Egypt or religion.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book in a shop on a trip to Egypt and decided to read it rather than sleep the first few nights. After visiting the Karnak Temple, I used it as reference to write my short story - The Darkside of Amun. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Egyptology.

[William Schram · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I was familiar with some aspects of Egyptian Mythology, most of what I know is piecemeal and fragmented from a number of eclectic sources. I have read things like The Bible of course, but that isn’t really a good description of the rich and varied mythology of Ancient Egypt. Other books that I have read concerning Egyptian Mythology are the original Yu-Gi-Oh series where the Crocodile-Hippo Ammit ate that guy’s soul and so on. Movies are a bit richer in Egyptian Mythology, but they still sensationalize a lot of the stories. The Prince of Egypt is a good one to learn the names of a few of their deities.

The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt is written by Richard H Wilkinson. It explores the religion of the Ancient Egyptian people using archaeological and anthropological evidence. What is interesting is that a lot of their deities were not given a fully human form, they retained the heads or other features of animals. The evidence points to animism having a great influence on their mythology. There is no single Creation Myth, but they all contain the same basic idea. The book goes over all of these ideas and more.

The book goes over every aspect of the Ancient Egyptian religion, from how their deities were worshiped to the different names and aspects of their deities. Take Thoth for example; Thoth could be either a baboon or an Ibis. Other gods could have even more manifestations.

The final part of the book goes over the names and powers of each of the gods and goddesses that are important enough to have a backstory. There is a multitude of names for their gods and they address this matter as well. The book has tons of images and little bits of trivia. A good half of the book is devoted to the backstories of the gods and goddesses. This is a very interesting book and is really quite enjoyable.

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent reference book. The largest section is a comprehensive list of the gods and goddesses worshipped by the ancient Egyptians (including foreign deities that they adopted and or adapted) their evolution, worship and iconography. While for reference purposes, grouping Egypt's often bewildering pantheon of gods and goddesses by category is probably the most efficient arrangement, it does make for stultifying reading in places where you hit multiple almost indistinguishable deities in a row. Beautiful illustrations and photographs or statues, paintings, carvings, sarcophagi, jewelry, and monuments. 3.5 stars (solid 4 for information, low 3 for entertainment).

[Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

a perfect collection of gods and goddesses—accompanied by an abundance of beautiful illustrations, while also providing detailed texts on myth genesis and variating interpretations. great source of knowledge, both for first introductions and advanced studies.

[Mahir Şanlı · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mısır Mitolojisi'ni öğrenmek isteyenler için eşsiz bir kaynak.

[Lady Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5 / 5

WARNING: Some-ish spoilers, depending on how much you do or don't know about Egyptian mythology.

I wanted to read this book so as to enlighten myself on several matters of Egyptian mythology that I had vaguely heard of before, but never in so much detail as what I found. Not only was I impressed and interested whilst reading this compilation of information, but I was also educated.

In the end, I took down notes only of the finer things of what I read, but was satisfied to know more than I previously had about gods and goddesses whose names I had only heard of before, but knew nothing about.

Now I know that there were three different systems of belief in ancient Egypt, a result of geographical and historical/time differences.

Now I know that Osiris, Horus, and Re are the most famous and important gods in all of Egyptian mythology, and the stories centered around them. (I might also add in Isis, if I had to choose a fourth.)

Now I have even found a parallel to Christianity, which I'll outline below:

Seth = The Devil (believe me, this is obvious)

Horus = Jesus (as the god to avenge Osiris, his father's death by Seth)
Osiris = probably the Holy Spirit, associated with the netherworld (soul redemption, salvation)
Re = probably God himself, as he is said to have created the heavens and earth, eventually deciding to return to and rule heaven

So...an Egyptian Holy Trinity perhaps, although not necessarily regarded as such? In any case, I like to make connections between systems of belief, and it was interesting to do it with an ancient religion that is now considered to be a mythology.

All in all, this was a great read, even just in skimming over the contents. There's a lot to learn if you have the patience and interest, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking to know more about the Egyptian culture through their religious beliefs. (Although, more than likely, anyone who's studying this as a topic would benefit most from this as a textbook.)

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've looked at a handful of books on the subject recently, and this one is by far the best. It's a little vague concerning the actual stories of the Egyptian mythos, but it goes into great detail on their cosmology and practices of worship, also lovingly illustrated.

[Sarah Holz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most comprehensive guide to Egyptian mythology I’ve read, especially while still being very accessible to even beginners. Plus it’s simply gorgeous - tons of illustrations and photos, many in color.

[Dexter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. Best source of information on Egyptian gods that I've found so far, but it seems like Richard H. Wilkinson has an awful lot to say about a civilzation which is mostly unknown.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

So very dry.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

My go-to book when I am reading my Egyptian historical-fiction novels.

[Rafael Nardini]

Os humanos, desde a Revolução Cognitiva há 70 mil anos, são especialistas em concentrar muita energia em coisas imaginárias. Como deuses, por exemplo. Isso é a força e a desgraça da nossa espécie. Por mais de 3000 mil anos, egípcios rezaram, viveram e morreram por uma entidade chamada Osíris. Não há ninguém que reze ao deus egípcio hoje, porém ele teve fiéis por muito mais tempo de Jesus de Nazaré. Talvez jamais ocorresse a um habitante do Vale do Nilo, do Novo Império, que, num dia, todos aqueles templos, sacerdotes, livros e tradições virariam peças de curiosas em um museu do Cairo ou Paris. Trinta dinastias de faraós pensaram ser protegidas por seres que, de fato, nunca existiram. Centenas de milhares de vidas foram dizimadas erguendo pirâmides, escrevendo livros de mortos ou mumificando para preparar para o seu encontro com Anúbis, que, afinal, sinceramente, é um tipo de Cuca, do Sítio do Pica Pau Amarelo. No futuro, os habitantes da região venerariam Alá como Islâmicos; Jesus como coptas; não teriam dúvidas de que Ísis era pura invenção.
Deuses nascem, crescem e morrem. Claro: são os deuses dos outros porque só o meu é verdadeiro e faz milagres. Ultimamente, no Brasil, eles até tem se conectado com políticos.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this from a subreddit and I'm glad I did. The author presents the netjer (the gods and goddess of Ancient Egypt) in a well-done historical fashion. The gods in this book are seperated by domain, not alphabetical, which was a nice god send. It starts off giving a history of ancient Egypt and explaining how religion played it's role in their society. Worth noting however, is that only the first few chapters and the ending are non-enclylopedic. The rest of the book is filled with entries and articles about the netjer. If you don't like going through that format, I'd suggest keeping this book for research purposes. Otherwise, it's an enjoyable read.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterful introduction to the subject. Reading another advanced book on the Armana Period, I realized that the names of central Egyptian deities were barely recognizable. The author does an excellent job in providing context and discussing central myths before a comprehensive (though as he confesses, incomplete) gallery of divines.

He made thought-provoking points, excellent use of pictures to cite his sources first hand, and organized a tangled mythology into something navigable for anyone.

I would recommend it for its read and additionally as a resource if the subject mildly appeals to you.

[Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading a reference work like a novel tends to be hard going but it was not with this book. The endless and endlessly fascinating cavalcade of Egyptian deities is always compelling. Gods we know next to nothing about other than a name are followed by names everyone knows to this day: Anubis, Re (commonly misspelled as Ra), Osiris, etc.

The information is lavish and detailed. The bigger names get longer entries but never unwieldy. Everything can be digested in a matter of minutes. My own 'research' is just preparing for a trip but this volume belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in the religion of ancient Egypt.

[Layla Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully produced illustrated volume—essentially a guidebook for traveling in Egypt, haha. Compared with the fragmentary knowledge of Egyptian mythology I had picked up online, this book places welcome emphasis on theological systems centered in places such as Hermopolis and Memphis. It also introduces the everyday religious life of ordinary people through topics like “ears of hearing,” votive statues, offering stelae, and the cult of Isis.

The final index of deities is particularly helpful, even though while traveling in Egypt I really only recognized a handful of gods—Osiris, Horus, Isis, Hathor, Amun, and Ra.

[Jason Baldauf · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent reference of Egyptian deities. The first four well written parts provide background and contextual information before an exhaustive catalogue. Because of diverse spellings and multiplicity of names, the author provides an alphabetical listing with page number. They are further divided by physical characteristics. Deities are grouped by male/female anthropomorphic, mammalian, avian, reptile, etc. An index is included as well. A must have for anyone with a more than passing interest in Egyptian culture.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great beginner’s reference book for anyone interested in learning about Ancient Egypt and their deities—especially beginner Kemetics.

It gives a starting point with a bit of history alongside brief explanations of a lot of Egypt’s deities. Some descriptions are longer than others—Anpu’s for and example spans a couple pages.

Highly recommend this book for any Kemetic/Egyptologist inspired bookshelf.

[John Boctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a comprehensive guide to the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt, this book does its job fantastically well. As a book though, it can be a bit hard to sit down and read at times. Despite that Wilkinson does a great job giving the reader a walk through of the deities of ancient Egypt and their roles in the society of their time. It is better suited as a reference book than something you would curl up and read besides a fireplace.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and takes a broad look at the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. I liked the way that the books was setup starting with a overview of Egyptian culture and worshipping practices, then moving onto the different types of deities. It seemed that every aspect of the book hinged on prior chapters and further expanded on topics as the book progressed.

[Aura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es una maravilla. Todo perfectamente explicado, dividido cada dios en mitología, iconografía y culto. Desde los dioses mas oscuros y desconocidos para el gran público hasta los que todos conocemos, incluyendoa los demonios.
Desde la cosmogonía hasta la teogonía. Explicado de forma amena. Tanto que lo he sacado de la biblioteca y ha subido directamente al primer puesto de "libros por comprar".