Kheti
December 7th, 2004, 06:04 PM
Mwt(Mut)-"Mother" Wife of Amen of Uaset, Mut is depicted as a woman wearing the Double-Crown of Kemet's rulers. She was also sometimes given the head of a lioness and associated with both Sekhmet and Mertseger.Mut's name can also mean "death" or "vulture," and so She was also given some of the attributes of Mertseger (the lion/vulture Netjer of the Valley of the Kings) and of Nekhbet (the vulture-Netjer protectress of Upper Kemet, of which Uaset was the capital). Beyond Her associations with Amen, Mut is not a very well-known Name but often is given similar attributes to Het-hert as patroness of women (especially mothers, as Her name implies), or of Sekhmet as a protectress of the innocent and a righter of wrongs.
Imn Ra (Amun Re)-The Hidden One," Amen is "King of the Netjeru," a major Name of Netjer in Uaset (Thebes) in Upper Kemet. The "Lord to the Limit" who created all things (see Nun, Tem, Ra and Ptah entries for other Creator Names), Amen the lord of the hidden wind eventually syncretised with the royal cult of Ra to emerge as Amen-Ra in the Middle Kingdom.
Yinepu (Anubis)-the one that leads people towards Kemeticism;"The Royal Child" A Name of predynastic origins, depicted either as a full jackal or as a jackal-headed man, Yinepu originally, as Khenty-amenti or "Foremost of Westerners," was both embalmer and caretaker of the deceased, and the guardian of tomb and necropolis.
Seshat-Seshat is patroness of libraries and all forms of writing and notation including census, accounting, and other record-keeping.Seshet, Sefkhet-abwy) - "The Female Scribe (Seshat); The Seven-Horned (Sefkhet-abwy)" - Seshat is patroness of libraries and all forms of writing and notation including census, accounting, and other record-keeping. Consort to Djehuty Who invented the written word, Seshat is depicted assisting the ruler in the "stretching of the cord" ceremonies which marked the foundation-starting of major building projects, as well as recording the lives and deeds of men on the leaves of the sacred persea tree. She also often offers palm branches (the hieroglyph for "many years") as a gift to a ruler, as other Names offer ankhs (life). Seshat is depicted as a woman dressed in the long skirt and leopard-skin of a Sem priest, with an obscure symbol on Her head comprised of a seven-pointed star or rosette crowned by either downturned horns or a bow.
Ht-hrt(Het-heret, Het-Heru,Hathor)-creation and arts;"House of Heru" Another Name known from predynastic times, Hethert represents the feminine principle, as reflected in several of Her symbols: the cow, the mirror, and the ritual rattle or sistrum. Hethert is patroness of women, and professions given to Her priesthood include dancers, singers, actors and acrobats; even up to Greek times the arts were under Hethert's dominion. Hethert's temples, especially that at Ta-Netjer (Arabic Dendera) were centers for both healing (with a hospital/sanatorium on-site) and midwifery.
Seshmet(Sekhmet)-conviction or defending beliefs; "Powerful Female" First noted in a myth describing Ra's vengeance upon his enemies, Sekhmet, an unstoppable force from which humankind was delivered only by the timely intervention of a moment of levity (embodied in public drunkenness), is an "aggressive" form of the Name of Hethert (Sekhmet was not originally a Name in and of Herself; it is in fact more accurate to refer to Her from earlier times as Sekhmet-Hethert, or Hethert-Sekhmet.) Eventually Sekhmet would develop both a cult and a "personality" quite distinct from Hethert, as the Eye of Ra associated with divine vengeance. As a healer, Sekhmet's power to destroy things utterly would be invoked against the invisible "demons" of plague and disease; Sekhmet's priesthood in antiquity were trained surgeons of remarkable caliber, given the standards for medicine in the ancient world.
Aset (Isis)-"The Throne," Aset is the power that makes kings; a feminine Name appearing in texts beginning in Dynasty IV as wife and sister to Wesir and daughter of Nut and Geb. In earliest times Aset is depicted as the "mistress of magic" (see Heka) Who learns Ra's true name and thus the secrets of the universe. In the cult of Wesir Aset is attributed with having prepared Him for burial and conceiving a son upon His dead body, which She magically reanimates long enough to complete (in Kemetic texts, Wesir's death is attributed to drowning; the dismemberment myth given by Plutarch does not appear until millennia later and may not even be Kemetic in origin. See Wesir.). In later periods and particularly after the New Kingdom, Aset was syncretized with a number of other Names, Hethert in particular, and took on "mother goddess" characteristics. During this period, Aset's importance as mother of Heru-sa-Aset ("Horus, son of Isis", a Name intimately connected with kingship and therefore within Aset's purview as kingmaker) became paramount, in ways strongly suggestive of the Christian cult of the Virgin Mary. The Romans declared all feminine Names to be forms of Aset, crowning Her "Goddess of Ten Thousand Names," though Kemetic mythology does not exhibit this specific archetype.
Ausir (Wasir,Osiris)-(unclear; possibly "He Sees the Throne") A Name of obscure origin Who, like Aset, rose to prominence over antiquity to become one of the most lasting Names of all time, Wesir is first noted in the Pyramid Texts as a shadowy figure to which the deceased ruler is promised not to be abandoned (a rather undesired state is given to "Wesir and His spirits" in a dark and airless underworld). In later times, Wesir absorbed the forms and functions of nearly all other Names associated with death and the afterlife including Wepwawet, Yinepu, Sokar and Sebek to become Foremost of Westerners, Judge of the Dead and overseer of the blessed spirits (those who had died and been judged favorably in the Hall of Double Truth). Eventually Wesir would embody the "popular religion" of the people as final arbiter of destiny after death; the story of Wesir's death, from which life came nonetheless (note that it was not his OWN life or resurrection, as Wesir is the Lord of the Dead - he is NOT the lord of resurrection, a "green man" or a "Christ" figure in this sense) was borrowed and retold in both the Greek mysteries and other mystery cults abroad in the ancient world. In addition to His associations with death and afterlife, Wesir is the firstborn son of Geb and Nut (alternately Ra and Nut) and embodies the Black Land of the Two Lands itself, the fertile soil which yearly is "murdered" by the encroachment of the Red Land (Set's desert), yet returns to growth at the rising of the Sopdet-star attributed to Aset, Wesir's sister-wife.
Heru (Horus)-"High, Above" A collective term for a number of Names depicted either as hawk-headed men or as full hawks, Heru symbolizes leadership of all sorts and specifically the leadership demonstrated in the position of Ruler of the Two Lands. Heru is known even before the advent of hieroglyphic writing from depictions on Predynastic pottery and walls, of hawks and standards with the hawk sitting atop them; Predynastic and early Dynastic kings wrote their names within a serekh, a drawing of a palace with a hawk sitting upon its roof. The Kemetic observed in the hawk theophany the quickness, intelligence, alertness and staying power of a just ruler; nothing escaped the watchful eye of the true Heru, and no wrongdoer escaped His claws. Earlier forms of Heru depict Him as an abstract sky-god, with the sun and moon His two eyes; later ones depict Him as anything from victory personified to the son of the Lord of the Dead, Heru-sa-Aset, who would become the most popular form of Heru in the later periods.
Her-wer (Har-wer; G/R Haroeris) - "Great Heru/Heru the Elder" Heru in His most abstract, "original" form is known as a hawk, primarily a divinity of sky, even on Predynastic pottery and other objects. The hawk of Her-wer came to be associated with the kingship and was depicted seated atop the ruler's name in the original "serekh" (palace facade) style of hieroglyphic rendering. Her-wer is viewed as a brother, rather than son, of Wesir; His main opposite being Set, the Lord of the Red Land, and the storms in Her-wer's placid blue sky. Confusion of Her-wer's attributes with Heru-sa-Aset's led in later times to both Netjeru being intertwined; however, in His earliest depictions, Her-wer is strictly a celestial and sometimes solar divinity; only later is He associated with the kings and with the myth cycle of the Wesirian cult.
Bast-"Devouring Lady" (from bas, to devour, with feminine ending); One of the earliest-documented Names with an appearance in Dynasty II, Bast is first and foremost a protectress; specifically of the royal house and the Two Lands. During Dynasty IV, She was a patron-Name of Lower Kemet, paired with Hethert as a patron-Name of Upper Kemet, as Wadjet and Nekhbet are often depicted in later times; the Valley Temple of the Pyramid of Khafra at modern-day Giza next to the Sphinx had a "Portal of Bast" as well as statues of Bast in the company of the king. Over time, Bast's image metamorphosed to become more similar to that of Hethert; eventually, into the Greek period, She would be equated with the virgin huntress Artemis and considered the protectress of children and pregnant mothers, musicians and a goddess of all sorts of excess, especially sexual excess. However, Bast's original visage did not include the "cat as sex symbol" archetype. (Incidentally, it is also from the Greeks that the erroneous belief in Bast as a daughter of Aset and Wesir derives; Bast as Artemis had to have a twin brother, Apollo (equated with Heru-sa-Aset by the Greeks).) A play on words in Bast's name resulted in Her being equated in Greco-Roman times with the "soul of Isis" (ba-Aset), probably in keeping with Aset's gradual syncretism into the Roman Isis of Ten Thousand Names.
Djehuti (Tehuti,Thoth),-"Leader (derivative form)" Ibis-headed Lord of Time, Writing and Wisdom, Djehuty is said to have invented the hieroglyphic script and negotiated five extra days from the moon in order to perfect the 365-day year. As a result of these mythological connections, Djehuty is the patron of writers, teachers, accountants and all persons involved in the dissemination of knowledge, writing and/or calculation. His consorts are alternately Ma'at, Netjeret of Truth and Order; or Seshat, patroness of recordkeeping, libraries and the foundation of buildings. Djehuty is the nominal head of the Ogdoad (group of eight Names of Netjer) honored at the city of Khemenu (Hermopolis of the Greeks), overseeing four pairs of natural syzygies: Eternity (Heh/Hehet), Darkness (Kek/Keket), Water/Potentiality (Nun/Nunet) and Wind/Hiddenness (Amen/Amenet). Along with the ibis, Djehuty is associated with baboons of the genus Cynocephalis, which the ancients observed raising their hands and "singing" to the rising sun; He stands at the side of the scales in the Hall of Two Truths to record the verdict which Yinepu delivers after weighing the deceased's heart against the feather of Ma'at.
Ma'at (G/R Mayet) - "Truth" Both the concept and the Name of Netjer associated with truth, justice, order, and "that which is right." Kemetic society hinged completely upon the furtherance of Ma'at, Who was considered to be the first emanation of Tem/Ra, and depicted as a woman with wings or alternately a woman with Her symbol, a single white ostrich feather, bound to Her head. Ma'at in antiquity was patroness of judges, magistrates and all court officials; the phrase "priest of Ma'at" in inscriptions can be understood as a euphemism for "judge." Ma'at's feather symbol is weighed against the heart of the deceased in the Hall of Judgment after death, a place which is also known as the Hall of Ma'ati, or Double Truth ("double" in Kemetic implying something more serious or intense than a "single" something, much as we use the terms "extra" or "advanced" or in the English language).
Ptah - "Creator" Great Name of Netjer of Mennefer (G/R Memphis), the capital of the dual Kemetic state for most of its history, Ptah is depicted as a mummified man wearing a skullcap and bearing the symbols of life, power and stability (ankh, was, djed) in his unfettered arms, standing on the plinth which is part of Ma'at's hieroglyphic name and was used as a straightedge by stonemasons and architects. Ptah is sometimes seen as an abstract form of the Self-Created One, Who effected creation through the actions of His heart (identified with Her-wer) and His tongue (identified with Djehuty), and Who "set all the Netjeru in their places and gave all things the breath of life." As a creator (and more directly involved with the physical act of creating than either Ra or Tem), Ptah is intimately connected with the plastic arts and especially with architecture and stonemasonry, and is patron of sculptors, painters, builders and carpenters, as well as anyone who creates with his or her hands. The transit which was the stock tool of masons, and the title of Ptah's High Priest, "Master Builder," would centuries later be picked up by a pseudo-Egyptian Western fraternal organization known to the world simply as Masonry.
Nekhbet - "She of Nekheb" Vulture-Netjer associated with both the land of Upper Kemet itself and its protection, and the protection and symbolism of the White Crown (Hedjet), Nekhbet is often depicted as a full vulture, flying over the head of the ruler bearing the feather of Ma'at and a shen, the circular symbol for eternity, grasped in Her claws. On depictions of the Udjat, She is often accompanied by Wadjet, the cobra-Netjer of the North, and symbolizes one half of the Two Lands which make up Kemet politically. Her head was mounted on the nemes-headdress of rulers alongside Wadjet's uraeus or cobra-head (witness the beautiful vulture on the forehead of King Tutankhamen's funerary mask), and a vulture-headdress was worn by the chief queen/consort from the New Kingdom forward, identifying her both with Nekhbet and with Mut of Uaset.
Nut -"Sky" Both the concept and Netjer of the starry heavens, Nut is personified sky and especially the starry sky of nighttime which all people can look up into and see eternity. Nut is often depicted as a tall or long woman bending over the body of Her consort/husband/brother Geb, colored dark blue and spangled with five-pointed golden stars. Daily the sun is said to be born of Nut's womb and return to Her body via Her mouth at evening. Metaphorically, the earliest forms of funerary literature speak of the deceased rising to become one with Nut in the heavens, to be "an immortal star in Her bosom," and Nut's star-studded body is often painted on the inside of coffins and sarcophagi with outstretched arms, so that she may "embrace the deceased." As Hethert is usually the Netjer of the daytime sky, Nut is Netjer of the nighttime sky and the two share many symbols and titles.
Geb(WB Seb, Keb, Qeb) - "Earth (also "goose")" Geb is the "Father Earth" (unlike many ancient religions which understood the physical planet Earth as feminine) of the Kemetics; mountains are said to be His bones, and He lies forever inert below his sister-wife, Nut, the starry vault of the sky. Geb and Nut's five children would make up the personalized part of the Pesedjet (Great Nine Names) of the city of An (Heliopolis): Wesir, Her-wer, Set, Aset and Nebt-het. As the father of Wesir, Geb is often invoked as the "first ruler" of Kemet and some ancient king-lists actually list Him and His immediate descendants (Wesir and Heru-sa-Aset) as if they had ruled as physical kings. Geb's theophany is the goose (whose name in Kemetic is also "Geb"), which according to one mythological cycle was the form the Creator took on the day of creation (the "First Time"), cackling His delight into existence in the myriad creatures who walk upon Geb's body.
Amenet (Amaunet) - "The Hidden Female" Consort to Amen of Khemenu (GR Hermopolis), Amenet represents the hidden feminine side of Netjer; "Great Queen" to Amen's "King of Netjeru." [A less-mentioned feminine form of Ra, as "Rait," is also mentioned in connection with Amenet.] Amenet was syncretised in later parts of Kemetic history with Mut and Nit. Depiction (if She is depicted at all) is of a woman wearing the Double Crown.
Nit (Net; G/R Neith) - (meaning unclear, but could be derivative of either the phrase for "primeval water" or for "one who is") A Name of unclear origin, sometimes attributed to the northwestern desert or Libya, Nit is attributed from predynastic times with a warlike nature; some Egyptologists believe She was the main Netjer of Lower Kemet before unification and subsequently the Red Crown of reeds, also named Nit, became Lower Kemet's symbol and contribution to the Double Crown. Nit's symbol of two arrows crossed over a shield is shown in Predynastic pottery as a herald and on the roof of boats and buildings; later, Nit would also be given a weaver's shuttle as a symbol for Her head. Nit is sometimes titled "She Who Saw Tem's Birth" and so is sometimes equated with Nunet (a feminine Nun) as the potential womb of creation; in very late times she would be seen as the Great Dark Mother of Greeks and Romans and also the motherless virgin warrior embodied in their Athene and Diana. At all times, Nit was understood to be mysterious and abstract; in the late story called "The Contendings of Heru and Set," the other Names defer to "Nit the Great's" wisdom in resolving the conflict. Nit's city, Saw (G/R Sais), became a cosmopolitan center and capital of Kemet during the Late Period and during the Third Intermediate Period when Saite kings ruled, Nit's role as national Netjer flourished. In these times and into Ptolmaic-Roman times She is considered to be the wife of Khnum, a creator-Name from extreme southern Kemet, and the temple of Khnum and Nit at Esna contains many depictions of Nit along with the lates-fish sacred to Her cult.
Set (Sutekh; G/R Seth) - (unknown, derived possibly either from the word "to dazzle" (setken) or "stabilizing staff/pillar" (setes)) In the oldest mythologies, Set is "He Before Whom the Sky Shakes," a sky-Netjer like Heru, and specifically of the storm, with lightning and thunder His heralds. Eventually, because of His natural opposition to His brother/nephew Heru, and also because during the Second Intermediate Period, invading Hyksos forces identified their own chief god with Him, Set's reputation changed. Into the New Kingdom with the rise of the cult of Wesir, which posited Set (as lord of the desert which crept into the arable land at the end of every year) as the "murderer" of the Lord of the Black Land, Set was literally demonized, and in late periods was identified with Apep as a symbol of complete destruction and with later religions' concepts of "the Devil," including both Greek Typhon and Hebraic "Satan." It is important to note that both are non-Kemetic understandings - Set at all times, while not exactly a "nice guy," is a necessary force in the universe - that of strength and violent force - and in Kemetic myth, even Ra acknowledges this, by awarding the post of guardian of the Boat of Millions of Years to Set after the kingship is given to Heru, because Set "is the only one strong enough to do it." Set is symbolized by the ass and the hippopotamus and the pig, and sometimes the jackal (and at least theoretically the hyena); however, His main theophany is an unknown canid with square ears and a forked tail, often called simply the "Set-animal," whose species has been a mystery to Egyptologists. In late 1996, a large mammal with square ears and a forked tail allegedly was caught and killed in Upper Egypt. Called "salawa" by the locals, the animal has been theorized to be part of the family from which the South African Cape Hunting Dog comes; its extreme size and appearance lend credence to the folktales surrounding this newly-discovered desert mammal as "Set."
Renenet (Renenutet) - "Nurse" Patron Name of the New Year which brought the Inundation to Kemet and marked the return to the season of fertility after the long Shomu season of dryness and famine, Renenet is depicted as a cobra or, more unusually, as a woman with a cobra's head, as is Wadjet, protectress of Lower Kemet. Renenet was invoked as a form of "fate" upon a newborn, who was said to "have Renenet upon his shoulder from his first day." She represents the cyclical nature of time and that which is foreordained, as a form of destiny or fate in accordance with Ma'at. In some myths, Renenet is attributed as the Name who gives the ren, or soul name (a pun on Renenet's own name makes it "She Who is in the Name") to the newborn child, the name which defines his or her life purpose.
Shu - "Dry" One of the two first creations of the Self-Created One, Tem, Shu is twin to Tefnut and embodies the concept of air, wind or atmosphere (Tefnut embodies the concept of airborne moisture, clouds, dew, or rain). Shu was invoked in antiquity to give a good wind to boats and metaphorically to "lift up" the spirits of the deceased in order that they might rise to the afterlife, depicted in the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom as "lightland" existing above a "ladder" which Shu (or alternately, Heru and Set or Wesir and Set) held up. Shu is generally shown as a man with a single ostrich feather (the hieroglyph of His name, "shu") on His head; He is sometimes shown as a lion along with His sister/twin Tefnut. Shu's action to divide Geb and Nut allowed the creation of earthly life to occur. And so, symbolically, the ancient myths explain why there is wind/atmosphere (Shu) between the earth (Geb) and sky (Nut).
Tefnut - "Sky-spittle (i.e., rain)" One of the two first creations of the Self-Created One, Tem, Tefnut is twin to Shu and embodies the concept of airborne moisture, clouds, dew, or rain (Shu embodies the concept of air, wind or atmosphere). Tefnut is sometimes equated with Nit and Nut, and is depicted in New Kingdom jewelry and art as a female sphinx trampling the enemies of the Two Lands, equated with the Great Royal Wife of the king. Tefnut is generally depicted as a woman with a lion's head, surmounted by the sun-disk (resembling Sekhmet; however, Tefnut's ears are routinely pointed, whereas Sekhmet's are rounded), seated on a throne. She is sometimes shown as a full lion along with Her brother/twin Shu.
Tem (Atum, Temu) - "The Complete" The most abstract Name of Netjer; and indeed, in the myth cycle of An (GR Heliopolis), the Netjer from Whom all Names emanate; a very similar concept in another African religion would be Olodumare of Ifa (Yoruba/Nigeria). Like the Biblical God, Tem begins creation alone in the Nun, the deep void, or waters of potentiality. By one of two methods Tem is said to have created both all the other Names of Netjer and all creation; either through masturbation and self-impregnation, as "that Great He-She"; or through tears, mucus or other bodily fluids. Tem's first creations, Shu and Tefnut (sometimes seen as air and water), in turn create Geb (earth), Nut (sky), and sometimes Ra (sun). Geb and Nut then have five children Who are the five final Names of the Heliopolitan Ennead (see Pesedjet): Wesir, Her-wer, Set, Aset and Nebt-het. In later times, Tem assumes the symbolism of the setting sun, receiving the Boat of Ra as it descends to the western horizon.
http://www.kemet.org/glossary/
Imn Ra (Amun Re)-The Hidden One," Amen is "King of the Netjeru," a major Name of Netjer in Uaset (Thebes) in Upper Kemet. The "Lord to the Limit" who created all things (see Nun, Tem, Ra and Ptah entries for other Creator Names), Amen the lord of the hidden wind eventually syncretised with the royal cult of Ra to emerge as Amen-Ra in the Middle Kingdom.
Yinepu (Anubis)-the one that leads people towards Kemeticism;"The Royal Child" A Name of predynastic origins, depicted either as a full jackal or as a jackal-headed man, Yinepu originally, as Khenty-amenti or "Foremost of Westerners," was both embalmer and caretaker of the deceased, and the guardian of tomb and necropolis.
Seshat-Seshat is patroness of libraries and all forms of writing and notation including census, accounting, and other record-keeping.Seshet, Sefkhet-abwy) - "The Female Scribe (Seshat); The Seven-Horned (Sefkhet-abwy)" - Seshat is patroness of libraries and all forms of writing and notation including census, accounting, and other record-keeping. Consort to Djehuty Who invented the written word, Seshat is depicted assisting the ruler in the "stretching of the cord" ceremonies which marked the foundation-starting of major building projects, as well as recording the lives and deeds of men on the leaves of the sacred persea tree. She also often offers palm branches (the hieroglyph for "many years") as a gift to a ruler, as other Names offer ankhs (life). Seshat is depicted as a woman dressed in the long skirt and leopard-skin of a Sem priest, with an obscure symbol on Her head comprised of a seven-pointed star or rosette crowned by either downturned horns or a bow.
Ht-hrt(Het-heret, Het-Heru,Hathor)-creation and arts;"House of Heru" Another Name known from predynastic times, Hethert represents the feminine principle, as reflected in several of Her symbols: the cow, the mirror, and the ritual rattle or sistrum. Hethert is patroness of women, and professions given to Her priesthood include dancers, singers, actors and acrobats; even up to Greek times the arts were under Hethert's dominion. Hethert's temples, especially that at Ta-Netjer (Arabic Dendera) were centers for both healing (with a hospital/sanatorium on-site) and midwifery.
Seshmet(Sekhmet)-conviction or defending beliefs; "Powerful Female" First noted in a myth describing Ra's vengeance upon his enemies, Sekhmet, an unstoppable force from which humankind was delivered only by the timely intervention of a moment of levity (embodied in public drunkenness), is an "aggressive" form of the Name of Hethert (Sekhmet was not originally a Name in and of Herself; it is in fact more accurate to refer to Her from earlier times as Sekhmet-Hethert, or Hethert-Sekhmet.) Eventually Sekhmet would develop both a cult and a "personality" quite distinct from Hethert, as the Eye of Ra associated with divine vengeance. As a healer, Sekhmet's power to destroy things utterly would be invoked against the invisible "demons" of plague and disease; Sekhmet's priesthood in antiquity were trained surgeons of remarkable caliber, given the standards for medicine in the ancient world.
Aset (Isis)-"The Throne," Aset is the power that makes kings; a feminine Name appearing in texts beginning in Dynasty IV as wife and sister to Wesir and daughter of Nut and Geb. In earliest times Aset is depicted as the "mistress of magic" (see Heka) Who learns Ra's true name and thus the secrets of the universe. In the cult of Wesir Aset is attributed with having prepared Him for burial and conceiving a son upon His dead body, which She magically reanimates long enough to complete (in Kemetic texts, Wesir's death is attributed to drowning; the dismemberment myth given by Plutarch does not appear until millennia later and may not even be Kemetic in origin. See Wesir.). In later periods and particularly after the New Kingdom, Aset was syncretized with a number of other Names, Hethert in particular, and took on "mother goddess" characteristics. During this period, Aset's importance as mother of Heru-sa-Aset ("Horus, son of Isis", a Name intimately connected with kingship and therefore within Aset's purview as kingmaker) became paramount, in ways strongly suggestive of the Christian cult of the Virgin Mary. The Romans declared all feminine Names to be forms of Aset, crowning Her "Goddess of Ten Thousand Names," though Kemetic mythology does not exhibit this specific archetype.
Ausir (Wasir,Osiris)-(unclear; possibly "He Sees the Throne") A Name of obscure origin Who, like Aset, rose to prominence over antiquity to become one of the most lasting Names of all time, Wesir is first noted in the Pyramid Texts as a shadowy figure to which the deceased ruler is promised not to be abandoned (a rather undesired state is given to "Wesir and His spirits" in a dark and airless underworld). In later times, Wesir absorbed the forms and functions of nearly all other Names associated with death and the afterlife including Wepwawet, Yinepu, Sokar and Sebek to become Foremost of Westerners, Judge of the Dead and overseer of the blessed spirits (those who had died and been judged favorably in the Hall of Double Truth). Eventually Wesir would embody the "popular religion" of the people as final arbiter of destiny after death; the story of Wesir's death, from which life came nonetheless (note that it was not his OWN life or resurrection, as Wesir is the Lord of the Dead - he is NOT the lord of resurrection, a "green man" or a "Christ" figure in this sense) was borrowed and retold in both the Greek mysteries and other mystery cults abroad in the ancient world. In addition to His associations with death and afterlife, Wesir is the firstborn son of Geb and Nut (alternately Ra and Nut) and embodies the Black Land of the Two Lands itself, the fertile soil which yearly is "murdered" by the encroachment of the Red Land (Set's desert), yet returns to growth at the rising of the Sopdet-star attributed to Aset, Wesir's sister-wife.
Heru (Horus)-"High, Above" A collective term for a number of Names depicted either as hawk-headed men or as full hawks, Heru symbolizes leadership of all sorts and specifically the leadership demonstrated in the position of Ruler of the Two Lands. Heru is known even before the advent of hieroglyphic writing from depictions on Predynastic pottery and walls, of hawks and standards with the hawk sitting atop them; Predynastic and early Dynastic kings wrote their names within a serekh, a drawing of a palace with a hawk sitting upon its roof. The Kemetic observed in the hawk theophany the quickness, intelligence, alertness and staying power of a just ruler; nothing escaped the watchful eye of the true Heru, and no wrongdoer escaped His claws. Earlier forms of Heru depict Him as an abstract sky-god, with the sun and moon His two eyes; later ones depict Him as anything from victory personified to the son of the Lord of the Dead, Heru-sa-Aset, who would become the most popular form of Heru in the later periods.
Her-wer (Har-wer; G/R Haroeris) - "Great Heru/Heru the Elder" Heru in His most abstract, "original" form is known as a hawk, primarily a divinity of sky, even on Predynastic pottery and other objects. The hawk of Her-wer came to be associated with the kingship and was depicted seated atop the ruler's name in the original "serekh" (palace facade) style of hieroglyphic rendering. Her-wer is viewed as a brother, rather than son, of Wesir; His main opposite being Set, the Lord of the Red Land, and the storms in Her-wer's placid blue sky. Confusion of Her-wer's attributes with Heru-sa-Aset's led in later times to both Netjeru being intertwined; however, in His earliest depictions, Her-wer is strictly a celestial and sometimes solar divinity; only later is He associated with the kings and with the myth cycle of the Wesirian cult.
Bast-"Devouring Lady" (from bas, to devour, with feminine ending); One of the earliest-documented Names with an appearance in Dynasty II, Bast is first and foremost a protectress; specifically of the royal house and the Two Lands. During Dynasty IV, She was a patron-Name of Lower Kemet, paired with Hethert as a patron-Name of Upper Kemet, as Wadjet and Nekhbet are often depicted in later times; the Valley Temple of the Pyramid of Khafra at modern-day Giza next to the Sphinx had a "Portal of Bast" as well as statues of Bast in the company of the king. Over time, Bast's image metamorphosed to become more similar to that of Hethert; eventually, into the Greek period, She would be equated with the virgin huntress Artemis and considered the protectress of children and pregnant mothers, musicians and a goddess of all sorts of excess, especially sexual excess. However, Bast's original visage did not include the "cat as sex symbol" archetype. (Incidentally, it is also from the Greeks that the erroneous belief in Bast as a daughter of Aset and Wesir derives; Bast as Artemis had to have a twin brother, Apollo (equated with Heru-sa-Aset by the Greeks).) A play on words in Bast's name resulted in Her being equated in Greco-Roman times with the "soul of Isis" (ba-Aset), probably in keeping with Aset's gradual syncretism into the Roman Isis of Ten Thousand Names.
Djehuti (Tehuti,Thoth),-"Leader (derivative form)" Ibis-headed Lord of Time, Writing and Wisdom, Djehuty is said to have invented the hieroglyphic script and negotiated five extra days from the moon in order to perfect the 365-day year. As a result of these mythological connections, Djehuty is the patron of writers, teachers, accountants and all persons involved in the dissemination of knowledge, writing and/or calculation. His consorts are alternately Ma'at, Netjeret of Truth and Order; or Seshat, patroness of recordkeeping, libraries and the foundation of buildings. Djehuty is the nominal head of the Ogdoad (group of eight Names of Netjer) honored at the city of Khemenu (Hermopolis of the Greeks), overseeing four pairs of natural syzygies: Eternity (Heh/Hehet), Darkness (Kek/Keket), Water/Potentiality (Nun/Nunet) and Wind/Hiddenness (Amen/Amenet). Along with the ibis, Djehuty is associated with baboons of the genus Cynocephalis, which the ancients observed raising their hands and "singing" to the rising sun; He stands at the side of the scales in the Hall of Two Truths to record the verdict which Yinepu delivers after weighing the deceased's heart against the feather of Ma'at.
Ma'at (G/R Mayet) - "Truth" Both the concept and the Name of Netjer associated with truth, justice, order, and "that which is right." Kemetic society hinged completely upon the furtherance of Ma'at, Who was considered to be the first emanation of Tem/Ra, and depicted as a woman with wings or alternately a woman with Her symbol, a single white ostrich feather, bound to Her head. Ma'at in antiquity was patroness of judges, magistrates and all court officials; the phrase "priest of Ma'at" in inscriptions can be understood as a euphemism for "judge." Ma'at's feather symbol is weighed against the heart of the deceased in the Hall of Judgment after death, a place which is also known as the Hall of Ma'ati, or Double Truth ("double" in Kemetic implying something more serious or intense than a "single" something, much as we use the terms "extra" or "advanced" or in the English language).
Ptah - "Creator" Great Name of Netjer of Mennefer (G/R Memphis), the capital of the dual Kemetic state for most of its history, Ptah is depicted as a mummified man wearing a skullcap and bearing the symbols of life, power and stability (ankh, was, djed) in his unfettered arms, standing on the plinth which is part of Ma'at's hieroglyphic name and was used as a straightedge by stonemasons and architects. Ptah is sometimes seen as an abstract form of the Self-Created One, Who effected creation through the actions of His heart (identified with Her-wer) and His tongue (identified with Djehuty), and Who "set all the Netjeru in their places and gave all things the breath of life." As a creator (and more directly involved with the physical act of creating than either Ra or Tem), Ptah is intimately connected with the plastic arts and especially with architecture and stonemasonry, and is patron of sculptors, painters, builders and carpenters, as well as anyone who creates with his or her hands. The transit which was the stock tool of masons, and the title of Ptah's High Priest, "Master Builder," would centuries later be picked up by a pseudo-Egyptian Western fraternal organization known to the world simply as Masonry.
Nekhbet - "She of Nekheb" Vulture-Netjer associated with both the land of Upper Kemet itself and its protection, and the protection and symbolism of the White Crown (Hedjet), Nekhbet is often depicted as a full vulture, flying over the head of the ruler bearing the feather of Ma'at and a shen, the circular symbol for eternity, grasped in Her claws. On depictions of the Udjat, She is often accompanied by Wadjet, the cobra-Netjer of the North, and symbolizes one half of the Two Lands which make up Kemet politically. Her head was mounted on the nemes-headdress of rulers alongside Wadjet's uraeus or cobra-head (witness the beautiful vulture on the forehead of King Tutankhamen's funerary mask), and a vulture-headdress was worn by the chief queen/consort from the New Kingdom forward, identifying her both with Nekhbet and with Mut of Uaset.
Nut -"Sky" Both the concept and Netjer of the starry heavens, Nut is personified sky and especially the starry sky of nighttime which all people can look up into and see eternity. Nut is often depicted as a tall or long woman bending over the body of Her consort/husband/brother Geb, colored dark blue and spangled with five-pointed golden stars. Daily the sun is said to be born of Nut's womb and return to Her body via Her mouth at evening. Metaphorically, the earliest forms of funerary literature speak of the deceased rising to become one with Nut in the heavens, to be "an immortal star in Her bosom," and Nut's star-studded body is often painted on the inside of coffins and sarcophagi with outstretched arms, so that she may "embrace the deceased." As Hethert is usually the Netjer of the daytime sky, Nut is Netjer of the nighttime sky and the two share many symbols and titles.
Geb(WB Seb, Keb, Qeb) - "Earth (also "goose")" Geb is the "Father Earth" (unlike many ancient religions which understood the physical planet Earth as feminine) of the Kemetics; mountains are said to be His bones, and He lies forever inert below his sister-wife, Nut, the starry vault of the sky. Geb and Nut's five children would make up the personalized part of the Pesedjet (Great Nine Names) of the city of An (Heliopolis): Wesir, Her-wer, Set, Aset and Nebt-het. As the father of Wesir, Geb is often invoked as the "first ruler" of Kemet and some ancient king-lists actually list Him and His immediate descendants (Wesir and Heru-sa-Aset) as if they had ruled as physical kings. Geb's theophany is the goose (whose name in Kemetic is also "Geb"), which according to one mythological cycle was the form the Creator took on the day of creation (the "First Time"), cackling His delight into existence in the myriad creatures who walk upon Geb's body.
Amenet (Amaunet) - "The Hidden Female" Consort to Amen of Khemenu (GR Hermopolis), Amenet represents the hidden feminine side of Netjer; "Great Queen" to Amen's "King of Netjeru." [A less-mentioned feminine form of Ra, as "Rait," is also mentioned in connection with Amenet.] Amenet was syncretised in later parts of Kemetic history with Mut and Nit. Depiction (if She is depicted at all) is of a woman wearing the Double Crown.
Nit (Net; G/R Neith) - (meaning unclear, but could be derivative of either the phrase for "primeval water" or for "one who is") A Name of unclear origin, sometimes attributed to the northwestern desert or Libya, Nit is attributed from predynastic times with a warlike nature; some Egyptologists believe She was the main Netjer of Lower Kemet before unification and subsequently the Red Crown of reeds, also named Nit, became Lower Kemet's symbol and contribution to the Double Crown. Nit's symbol of two arrows crossed over a shield is shown in Predynastic pottery as a herald and on the roof of boats and buildings; later, Nit would also be given a weaver's shuttle as a symbol for Her head. Nit is sometimes titled "She Who Saw Tem's Birth" and so is sometimes equated with Nunet (a feminine Nun) as the potential womb of creation; in very late times she would be seen as the Great Dark Mother of Greeks and Romans and also the motherless virgin warrior embodied in their Athene and Diana. At all times, Nit was understood to be mysterious and abstract; in the late story called "The Contendings of Heru and Set," the other Names defer to "Nit the Great's" wisdom in resolving the conflict. Nit's city, Saw (G/R Sais), became a cosmopolitan center and capital of Kemet during the Late Period and during the Third Intermediate Period when Saite kings ruled, Nit's role as national Netjer flourished. In these times and into Ptolmaic-Roman times She is considered to be the wife of Khnum, a creator-Name from extreme southern Kemet, and the temple of Khnum and Nit at Esna contains many depictions of Nit along with the lates-fish sacred to Her cult.
Set (Sutekh; G/R Seth) - (unknown, derived possibly either from the word "to dazzle" (setken) or "stabilizing staff/pillar" (setes)) In the oldest mythologies, Set is "He Before Whom the Sky Shakes," a sky-Netjer like Heru, and specifically of the storm, with lightning and thunder His heralds. Eventually, because of His natural opposition to His brother/nephew Heru, and also because during the Second Intermediate Period, invading Hyksos forces identified their own chief god with Him, Set's reputation changed. Into the New Kingdom with the rise of the cult of Wesir, which posited Set (as lord of the desert which crept into the arable land at the end of every year) as the "murderer" of the Lord of the Black Land, Set was literally demonized, and in late periods was identified with Apep as a symbol of complete destruction and with later religions' concepts of "the Devil," including both Greek Typhon and Hebraic "Satan." It is important to note that both are non-Kemetic understandings - Set at all times, while not exactly a "nice guy," is a necessary force in the universe - that of strength and violent force - and in Kemetic myth, even Ra acknowledges this, by awarding the post of guardian of the Boat of Millions of Years to Set after the kingship is given to Heru, because Set "is the only one strong enough to do it." Set is symbolized by the ass and the hippopotamus and the pig, and sometimes the jackal (and at least theoretically the hyena); however, His main theophany is an unknown canid with square ears and a forked tail, often called simply the "Set-animal," whose species has been a mystery to Egyptologists. In late 1996, a large mammal with square ears and a forked tail allegedly was caught and killed in Upper Egypt. Called "salawa" by the locals, the animal has been theorized to be part of the family from which the South African Cape Hunting Dog comes; its extreme size and appearance lend credence to the folktales surrounding this newly-discovered desert mammal as "Set."
Renenet (Renenutet) - "Nurse" Patron Name of the New Year which brought the Inundation to Kemet and marked the return to the season of fertility after the long Shomu season of dryness and famine, Renenet is depicted as a cobra or, more unusually, as a woman with a cobra's head, as is Wadjet, protectress of Lower Kemet. Renenet was invoked as a form of "fate" upon a newborn, who was said to "have Renenet upon his shoulder from his first day." She represents the cyclical nature of time and that which is foreordained, as a form of destiny or fate in accordance with Ma'at. In some myths, Renenet is attributed as the Name who gives the ren, or soul name (a pun on Renenet's own name makes it "She Who is in the Name") to the newborn child, the name which defines his or her life purpose.
Shu - "Dry" One of the two first creations of the Self-Created One, Tem, Shu is twin to Tefnut and embodies the concept of air, wind or atmosphere (Tefnut embodies the concept of airborne moisture, clouds, dew, or rain). Shu was invoked in antiquity to give a good wind to boats and metaphorically to "lift up" the spirits of the deceased in order that they might rise to the afterlife, depicted in the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom as "lightland" existing above a "ladder" which Shu (or alternately, Heru and Set or Wesir and Set) held up. Shu is generally shown as a man with a single ostrich feather (the hieroglyph of His name, "shu") on His head; He is sometimes shown as a lion along with His sister/twin Tefnut. Shu's action to divide Geb and Nut allowed the creation of earthly life to occur. And so, symbolically, the ancient myths explain why there is wind/atmosphere (Shu) between the earth (Geb) and sky (Nut).
Tefnut - "Sky-spittle (i.e., rain)" One of the two first creations of the Self-Created One, Tem, Tefnut is twin to Shu and embodies the concept of airborne moisture, clouds, dew, or rain (Shu embodies the concept of air, wind or atmosphere). Tefnut is sometimes equated with Nit and Nut, and is depicted in New Kingdom jewelry and art as a female sphinx trampling the enemies of the Two Lands, equated with the Great Royal Wife of the king. Tefnut is generally depicted as a woman with a lion's head, surmounted by the sun-disk (resembling Sekhmet; however, Tefnut's ears are routinely pointed, whereas Sekhmet's are rounded), seated on a throne. She is sometimes shown as a full lion along with Her brother/twin Shu.
Tem (Atum, Temu) - "The Complete" The most abstract Name of Netjer; and indeed, in the myth cycle of An (GR Heliopolis), the Netjer from Whom all Names emanate; a very similar concept in another African religion would be Olodumare of Ifa (Yoruba/Nigeria). Like the Biblical God, Tem begins creation alone in the Nun, the deep void, or waters of potentiality. By one of two methods Tem is said to have created both all the other Names of Netjer and all creation; either through masturbation and self-impregnation, as "that Great He-She"; or through tears, mucus or other bodily fluids. Tem's first creations, Shu and Tefnut (sometimes seen as air and water), in turn create Geb (earth), Nut (sky), and sometimes Ra (sun). Geb and Nut then have five children Who are the five final Names of the Heliopolitan Ennead (see Pesedjet): Wesir, Her-wer, Set, Aset and Nebt-het. In later times, Tem assumes the symbolism of the setting sun, receiving the Boat of Ra as it descends to the western horizon.
http://www.kemet.org/glossary/