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Heka
In Egypt, the patron god of magic and medicine was Heka. He is often depicted as a man carrying a staff and knife, and ancient Egyptian doctors were called Priests of Heka. Magic was as integral a part of medical practice in ancient Egypt as any other aspect of life, and so Heka became an important deity for doctors.
Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Questions & Answers
How long were the gods & goddesses of ancient Egypt worshipped?
- The gods & goddesses of ancient Egypt were worshipped from the Predynastic Period (c. 6000-3150 BCE through the Roman Period of Egypt (30 BCE- 646 CE).
How did people worship the gods of ancient Egypt?
- People worshipped the gods through festivals and private rituals. There were no "worship services" as one would understand them today. Clergy communed with the god/goddess at the temple and people could visit the temple complex but were not allowed in the temple itself.
Who was the most popular deity of ancient Egypt?
- Isis was the most popular deity of ancient Egypt. Temples were raised in her honor outside of Egypt as far away as Roman Britain and her cult was a major contender with early Christianity.
Who was the most powerful deity of ancient Egypt?
- The most powerful deity of ancient Egypt was Amun. Amun was worshipped the longest and his clergy was so wealthy that their power rivaled that of the monarch.
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License & Copyright
This image was first published on Flickr.
Original image by Zeinab Mohamed. Uploaded by Ibolya Horváth, published on 31 October 2016. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.
