Religion in Ancient Egypt ran through every fabric of life. The people saw the whims of various deities in the variations in the weather, in the rise and fall of kings and empires, and in the smallest decisions of everyday life. A variety of religious festivals punctuated the calendar year. The residents of a town or city commonly adopted one god or goddess as their patron and venerated him or her with one or more temples. All of this focus on religion necessitated a large group of priests and other religious officials, whose job it was to tend to the temples and the ceremonies. Above it all sat the king, the pharaoh, who was the gods' representative on Earth.

The Pantheon
The Ancient Egyptians believed in hundreds and hundreds of gods and goddesses, seeing them as having influence over and responsibility for most facets of their lives, from weather and the elements to movements of the Sun and the stars in the sky. Some deities were more prominent and powerful than others. Some had multiple manifestations. Some had multiple responsibilities. Some went by several names.

From time to time, the Egyptians believed that one god was more important than most others, perhaps all others. This was the case early on with Isis (right), the mother goddess, and with the sun god, Ra/Re, and with Amen/Amun, the creator god. Even though the people believed in a chief god, they still believed in many gods; and the pharaohs perpetuated and encouraged this polytheism. One well-known exception was the latter part of the reign of Akhenaten, who began his life and his reign as Amenhotep IV but during his time on the throne declare a monotheism centered on one god, Aten, and changed his own name to reflect this.

Heka was the god of magic and medicine and, more importantly, was present at the creation of everything and was also the one who empowered the gods and goddesses to do what they meant to do and also enabled communication between those deities and people. One of Heka's prime responsibilities was maintaining the ideas of ma'at, or the harmony of the universe. The various ceremonies that people had and the rituals they performed had as a main purpose the maintenance of this balance between order and disorder.

The more well-known gods and goddesses included these:

• Amen, the chief god for much of ancient times in Egypt, symbolized by the Sun. Patron god of Thebes. Also known as Amen-Re.
• Anubis: oversaw the embalming process
• Bastet: goddess of home life, women's health, and cats
• Hathor: goddess of love and beauty
• Horus: god of the sky
• Isis: goddess of motherhood and abundance
• Khnum: ram god of the cataracts who guarded the source of the Nile
• Khonsu: god of healing, destroyer of evil spirits
• Montu: warrior god who was chief god for a time
• Mut: wife of Amen
• Nephthys: protector of the dead
• Nut: god of the sky
• Ptah: god of craftsmen and patron god of Memphis
• Ra: the sun god
• Sekhmet: lioness goddess capable of great destruction, leader of pharaohs in time of war
• Seth: god of evil
• Shu: god of air
• Tenente: principal goddess of beer
• Thoth: god of wisdom, writing, and knowledge.

Anubis

Bastet

Hathor

Sekhmet

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