Why did Ancient Egypt have such a complex polythestic
religious system? Why so many gods and goddesses?
The Nile Valley forms natural territorial divisions along its length,
known since ancient times as nomes. The
earliest Predynastic Egyptians worshipped nature-spirits, and each
nome had its own spirit in the form of an animal, bird, reptile, insect,
tree, plant or object. This spirit-form was always something that
played a prominent part in the life of the people of that nome. The
spirits fell into two general groups -- the friendly and helpful,
such as cattle, or the menacing and powerful such as the crocodile
or snakes. In both cases, the favor of the spirit had to be solicited
with a set formula of words and actions, and the spirits had to have
houses built for them and offerings made to them.
As the spirits became gods, in each nome the deity had
its own temple staffed by priests, who dealt with the deity's daily
wants. In return for these services, the god was thought to protect
its people, ensuring fertility and well-being. But if the needs weren't
met, the deity might call down wrath on the community in the form
of plague or famine or other such natural disasters.
This totemic origin of the Egyptian religion is of great
antiquity. It went from being a spirit worshiped through an animal,
plant or even a mountain, to being the symbol of the nome itself,
and then on to being the nome's protector god. The symbol of the nome
clearly showed which deity protected it. And, as the nome gained prominence,
so too did the nome's protector god.
The religion was interwoven not only into the ruling
power, but into life itself. The people turned, with the help of their
rulers, to the deity of the nome to prevent and protect against the
everyday hazards of living.They appealed to the deity to intercede
on their behalf for anything from a good Nile flood, to sowing and
harvest, to protection from poisonous animals to childbirth. They
used magic, spells, charms, folklore and amulets.
When a nome grew in prominence, so did its god. When
the nome declined, so did its god. The popularity waxed and waned
through the thousands of years of Egyptian history. Some gods achieved
nationwide importance and were worshiped in new temples throughout
the country. This meant that there was sometimes a battle between
the new national god and the old nome god -- but Egyptian gods were
easily merged, and one could easily take over another's attributes
and abilities.
So it is that some of the most ancient gods of Predynastic
Egypt came to national prominence and became some of the main gods
in the Egyptian pantheon: Ra of Heliopolis, Osiris of Abydos, Amun
of Thebes, Horus of Hierakonpolis, Ptah of Memphis, Set of Ombo, Min
of Koptos, and Hathor of Dendera.
