Egyptian gods: Did you mean...?

The Narmer Palette, an ancient Egyptian ceremonial engraving, depicts the great king Narmer (c. 3150 BCE) conquering his enemies with the support and approval of his gods. This piece, dating from c. 3200-3000 BCE, was initially thought to...

The Egyptian Empire rose during the period of the New Kingdom (c. 1570- c. 1069 BCE), when the country reached its height of wealth, international prestige, and military might. The empire stretched from modern-day Syria in the north to modern-day...

The Egyptian hieroglyphic script was one of the writing systems used by ancient Egyptians to represent their language. Because of their pictorial elegance, Herodotus and other important Greeks believed that Egyptian hieroglyphs were something...

Ancient Egyptian writing is known as hieroglyphics ('sacred carvings') and developed at some point prior to the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150 -2613 BCE). According to some scholars, the concept of the written word was first developed in...

Gold armlet with depictions of mummiform gods. From the treasure of the Nubian queen Amanishakheto, pyramid N6, Meroe, modern-day northern Sudan. Meroitic period, around 1 CE. (State Museum of Egyptian Art, Munich, Germany).

Ra (also given as Re) is the sun god of ancient Egypt. He is one of the oldest deities in the Egyptian pantheon and was later merged with others such as Horus, becoming Ra-Horakhty (the morning sun), Amun (as noonday sun), and Atum (the evening...

Relief in the Wadi es-Sebua temple depicting Ramesses II (r. 1279-1213 BCE) making an offering to the gods. Approached by an avenue of sphinxes, the Wadi es-Sebua temple was built during the reign of Ramesses II and dedicated to Amun-Ra...

Ancient Egyptian culture flourished through adherence to tradition and their legal system followed this same paradigm. Basic laws and legal proscriptions were in place in Egypt as early as the Predynastic Period (c. 6000- c. 3150 BCE) and...

A detail of a 5th century BCE Attic red-figure vase depicting Pandora being given her divine gifts from the Olympian gods. (British Museum, London)

Each peg has a very faint cuneiform inscription of Gudea, the ruler of the city-state of Lagash. Foundation pegs were buried in the foundation of buildings to magically protect them and preserve the builder's name for posterity. In this...