Who did the ancient Egyptians worship? Gods of Ancient Egypt - a list and description The gods that were worshiped by the ancient Egyptians.

To the question What gods did the Egyptians worship? given by the author Orange FOX™...® the best answer is The supreme god Atum. According to legend, he emerged from chaos. Then he created the first divine couple of the god Shu and the goddess Tefnut. Shu is a god who personifies the space between heaven and earth, separating heaven and earth. Tefnut is the feminine complement of Shu. This couple gave birth to the god Geb and the goddess Nut. Geb is the god of the Earth, or in fact the Earth itself. Nut is the goddess of the sky, or also the sky itself. According to the ancient Egyptians, Nut is at the top, Geb is at the bottom, and Shu and Tefnut are between them. From Geb and Nut came two couples - Osiris. and Isis, Seth and Nephthys. Osiris and his wife Isis are the most important figures in the Egyptian pantheon. Osiris was the god of vegetation. According to legend, he was born the first of the five deities, followed by Horus the Elder, Seth, Isis and Nephthys. Even in the womb of their mother, Nut Osiris and Isis fell in love. When Osiris grew up, he began to fairly rule his people, took care of their culture. He traveled a lot, and during his absence, his wife Isis ruled the country. His brother Seth was jealous of Osiris and he decided to kill his brother. He tricked Osiris into a chest, hammered him with nails, and threw him into the sea. After Seth scattered pieces of the body of Osiris throughout Egypt. Isis found all these pieces and buried them. Soon she gave birth to the son of Osiris - Horus, who started a war against the murderer of Seth's father and defeated him. Osiris has become a symbol of dying and resurrecting nature. Isis - the great goddess - mother, a symbol of motherhood, marital fidelity. Seth is the god of evil.
important place in Egyptian pantheon occupied by the god Ra. He was the god of the sun, the god of light. Every day he rose through the sky on his boat, illuminating the whole earth, and in the evening he descended into the underworld, where he fought the forces of darkness. He always won and again every morning he rose to the vault of heaven. He fought the forces of chaos. The symbol of his unchanging revival was the ankh sign - this is a cross with a circle instead of the upper stick. In medieval alchemy, the ankh was a symbol of immortality.
The ideal of higher wisdom and truth, the personification best sides human nature, the incarnation of the mind among the Egyptians was the god Thoth. He helped the god Ra in his fight against the forces of darkness. The moon was his symbol.
The god Ptah was one of the main gods. He is called the lord of truth, the deity of justice. They say about Ptah that he is the sun and the moon at the same time. He was considered the patron of crafts. Sometimes he was considered the supreme god, the creator of all gods and the world.
The son of Osiris - the god Horus (or Horus) was also part of the main Egyptian gods. His personification was the divine eagle. He fights with the killer of his father - Seth, and is also a companion of Ra and Thoth. Sometimes his symbol was a sun disk. Horus was considered the ancestor of all Egyptian pharaohs. In the name of almost every pharaoh, the name of Horus was present. His wife and female incarnation was the goddess Hathor, who was the goddess of love, fun, dance and music. The Greeks identified her with Aphrodite.
The god Anubis was considered the god of the other world. He was usually depicted as a man with the head of a jackal. Relatives of the deceased approached him with a request for patronage in the other world.
God Amon was considered the omnipresent deity of air and wind, which fills the entire visible world, gives life to all living things. Amun was considered divine father Egyptian pharaohs. Amon was also considered a reviving spirit, was the protector of the oppressed and destitute. His wife and female incarnation of the soul was the goddess Amaunet.
God Sebek was often depicted in the form of a crocodile. Prayers were addressed to Sebek for the cure of diseases, for help in difficult life situations. It was also believed that Sebek takes care of the fate of the deceased in the other world. Sometimes Sebek was considered Ra's companion, and sometimes his adversary. His wife was the goddess Sebeket, who was depicted as a woman with a lion's head.
But all these gods are only a small part of the Egyptian pantheon.
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Answer from legal capacity[expert]
The Egyptians worshiped many gods. Of all, I can immediately remember God Ra, Ossiris, Setb, Issis, Nemesis, Ptah ....

Answer from Dana_Killer[active]
link

Answer from rostepel[guru]
The Egyptians worshiped many gods. Of all, I can immediately remember-Ra, Ossiris, Setb, Issis, Nemesis, Ptah, and others ...

Answer from flush[newbie]
there is a whole list of egyptian gods

Answer from Igor[guru]
It is important to divide all the Egyptian deities known to us into common Egyptian deities mentioned in mythological and other texts (these include cosmic deities, such as Nut - the goddess of the sky, Nun - the god of the primordial ocean, Hapi - the god of the Nile, deities personifying abstract concepts, for example Maat - the goddess of world order, Sia - the god of reason and knowledge, Hu - the god of the creative word.

Among the peoples of the Arctic, the custom of burial in the sea was widespread. The deceased was placed in a boat, supplied with a supply of food, hunting tools, dry clothes, and pushed away from the shore. If the waves carried away the boat, then it was believed that the deceased was satisfied and would never return to disturb the living.

Traces of such representations have survived to this day in the custom of placing the deceased in a coffin, trying to provide him with maximum comfort on the way to the kingdom of the dead, as well as in ritual treats at his wake.

Myths of the Ancient World

Who did the ancient Egyptians worship?

The ancient Egyptians had a total of over 2,000 gods and goddesses that they worshiped. Some of them, such as Amun, were worshiped throughout Egypt, while the cult of other gods had only a local significance. Majority supreme gods had their hometown, where their main temple was located. They were also worshiped in other shrines and temples throughout the country. Some gods and goddesses personified water or air, as well as the forces of nature and various elements. Others were associated with various parties Everyday life, for example with weaving or farming.

From the earliest period of Egyptian history, many deities were associated with certain animals or birds, and sometimes with plants. The gods began to be depicted on murals or carvings with the heads of the animals corresponding to them. Many gods and goddesses were related to each other by ties of kinship. Let's list some of them.

The Egyptians had many different names and images of the sun god, the creator, but the main one was the god Ra. Amun was considered the king of the gods in Egypt in the 16th-11th centuries BC. e. He was united with Ra into a dual deity and became known as Amon-Ra. The animals that were dedicated to him are the ram and the goose. Osiris, as the Egyptians believed, was once the king of Egypt. He gave people wine and cereals. He became the ruler of the realm of the dead. His sister and wife Isis taught the people crafts.

Set was the god of the desert, storms and bad weather. The animals dedicated to him are the donkey, the hippopotamus and the pig. Apis is the god of fertility. A bull was dedicated to him. Anubis was the god of the dead and embalming. He is usually depicted with the head of a jackal. The god Ptah was considered the patron of one of the capitals of Egypt - the city of Memphis. A sacred bull named Apis was dedicated to him. Sekhmet, the wife of the god Ptah, was the goddess of motherhood and personified destructive forces sun. The lioness was dedicated to her. Nefertum, the son of Ptah and Sekhmet, was the god of incense. The sacred blue lotus, which was especially revered by the ancient Egyptians, was dedicated to him.

Nut was the mother of the sun, the goddess of hunting, war and weaving. Her sacred symbols were the shield and arrows. The god Sebek, to whom the crocodile was dedicated, was the god of water. Maat was the goddess of justice and truth. She personified the harmony and balance of the universe. Her symbol was an ostrich feather. God Thoth was revered as the wisest. His sacred animal was the baboon and his sacred bird was the ibis. Bast was considered a mother goddess, personifying the radiant energy of the sun. The sacred animal of the goddess Bast was a cat.

Bes, the dwarf god, was the jester of the gods. He guarded the houses of ordinary Egyptians and protected children. Osiris was considered the king of the underworld, his wife Isis was the patroness of all women, the goddess of navigation. Later, the Egyptians began to believe that she also patronizes fertility. Their son Horus was the first pharaoh and patron of royal power in Egypt. The falcon was his sacred bird.

This far from complete list of the deities worshiped by the ancient Egyptians shows how the creative imagination of this talented people was able to reflect the forces of nature and the occupations of ordinary people in the pantheon.

Who is Amon?

Amon (translated from ancient Egyptian - "secret, hidden") - one of the main gods of ancient Egyptian mythology. Originally Amon was the god of the Sun and the center of his cult was the city of Thebes. But gradually his veneration spread to all of Egypt, and Amon began to be perceived as a creator god who created the whole world and people.

Sixteen centuries BC e. Amon becomes the most important Egyptian god, and his cult becomes the state religion. Since that time, the image of Amon has been united with another sun god, Ra, and has been given the name Amon-Ra.

One of the constituent elements of the cult was the deification of the pharaoh. It was believed that the pharaoh was born from the queen mother, to whom Amon-Ra appeared in the form of her husband. It is curious that the prayers glorifying Amon and the pharaohs almost literally resemble similar prayers of the Christian church.

Amon-Ra was also revered as a heavenly intercessor, protector of the poor and oppressed.

One of the prayers says: "Let the little ones call to you." There was even a legend about how Amon appeared in court to protect the poor.

At the same time, the traditional features of polytheism were also preserved in the cult of Amun: he was represented in the form of a ram, the images of which were found everywhere in Egypt. The huge statue of Amun in the Karnak temple in Thebes had an interior room where there was a priest who spoke in the name of the god.

The image of this powerful god inspired many writers. In particular, he is included in the number of characters in the epic of the American science fiction writer R. Howard about the adventures of Conan.

Who made the first mummy?

The ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife. They believed that the soul is like a bird with a human face, which can fly all day, but by night must return to the grave, fearing evil spirits. The body must be preserved the same as the soul left it, so that it can recognize it when it returns and fly into the grave it left. This is where the word "mummy" comes from. It is Arabic and means "a body preserved with resin and wax."

In fact, most mummies were made without the use of wax. The body was treated with salt. Salt placed inside the body, interacting with dry air, took away moisture. When the body dried, it was washed, rubbed with pine tree resin and wrapped in hundreds of meters of cloth.

Until 3000 B.C. e. The Egyptians dried the bodies of the dead in the sands of the desert. The sand kept the bodies. Later, important people were buried in stone-cut tombs or in magnificent pyramids. But pyramids and stone gravestones are not as dry as desert sands. Therefore, it became necessary to improve the art of creating mummies.

Around 1500 B.C. e. mummies began to be covered with a shell that had the shape of a body and was carefully painted. Then sarcophagi appeared, which also had the shape of a body and were beautifully decorated. Sometimes beards were added to mummies. The beard in ancient Egypt was the property of only a god or a king. Such beards showed that a person hoped in afterlife spend time in a very personable company.

How was a mummy made? From the body of a deceased person, the brain, digestive organs and lungs were removed. They were stored separately in four vessels, the so-called canopic. In later times, after processing, they were again placed in the body.

Then the body was treated with salts, which, together with the dry air of the desert, absorbed moisture. The dehydrated body was washed, rubbed with pine resin and wrapped in hundreds of meters of canvas. All this took 70 days.

During this time, carpenters made a case for the mummy. If the deceased was a rich and important person, they made a whole set of cases, each of which was inserted inside the next. The artists painted the cases with bright colors. The walls of the grave were decorated with drawings and texts telling the life story of this person. All the things that he liked to use were placed in the grave.

The Egyptians believed that by performing this whole ritual, they prepared a person for his future life.

In addition, the Egyptians considered sacred and some animals. These animals were also made into mummies and buried in animal cemeteries.

Why were the dead turned into mummies?

It is generally accepted that mummification - the transformation of the deceased into a mummy - was characteristic only of the ancient Egyptians. In fact, this is not true at all. Archaeologists have established that this method of burial was used by many ancient peoples.

Their religious systems were characterized by the idea that the human body is only a shell in which the immortal soul. After the death of a person, the soul leaves the body and goes to the realm of the dead. In order for the body to follow there along with the soul, it was turned into a mummy, that is, with the help of certain methods, it was protected from inevitable and rapid decomposition in a hot climate.

It is curious that the process of mummification can also occur naturally at a combination of a certain temperature and humidity. This happened, for example, with the bodies of the leaders of the Indians of Latin America. The dry and hot climate stopped decomposition and caused the tissues of the corpse to dry out. Similar skeletons, covered with skin and the remains of muscles, were discovered by archaeologists in various deserts of the Earth during excavations of cities covered with sand.

Suddenly covered with sand, people also dried up and turned into natural mummies. It is curious that their study allowed archaeologists to answer many questions, and, in particular, about what diseases people had in that distant past. For example, the skull of the mummy of one of the leaders of an Indian tribe bore traces of trepanation, apparently used to remove a hematoma that arose from a head injury. After this discovery, scientists came to the conclusion about the high level of development of ancient medicine.

That is why the process of mummification of people is important both for observing religious rituals and as material for scientific research.

What are the Ides of March?

Ides were one of the three specific dates of the ancient Roman calendar. The Ides fell on the 15th in March, May, July, and October, and on the 13th in the rest of the months. Other fixed days were called nones and calends. The first days of each month are kalends (the new moon was associated with them). Nonas were considered dates nine days before the Ides, that is, depending on the month, the 5th or 7th. And here's what's even more interesting: the days in each date were counted in reverse order from the end!

The Ides of March are famous for the fact that during these days the life-long Roman dictator Gaius Julius Caesar was killed. It happened in the Senate. True, one soothsayer warned the consul about the conspiracy of the senators, advising him to beware of the Ides of March, but Caesar did not listen to him.

Who is Fortune?

Initially, Fortune acted in Roman mythology as the goddess of the harvest, as well as the patroness of women and motherhood. This is evidenced by her very name, which comes from the Latin verb ferre - “to wear, bear”.

The holiday dedicated to Fortuna (June 11) was usually accompanied by rich sacrifices in sanctuaries dedicated to her. There was even a rite of passage for Fortuna. The bride during the marriage was dressed in the image of this goddess.

The introduction of the cult of Fortune as the goddess of fate, good fortune and good luck was associated with King Servius Tullius, who, thanks to the love of Fortune, became king from the son of a slave. In gratitude, the king erected several shrines to the goddess.

It is known that Fortuna was a very revered goddess. Altars dedicated to her were erected not only by people who needed good luck, but also by military legions, colleges of artisans and even individual families.

The image of Fortuna adorned the coins minted by almost all Roman emperors. Fortuna has always been depicted with a cornucopia in her hands, as well as standing on a ball or chariot.

The Romans believed that those to whom Fortune was especially favorable were marked with a special sign - the invisible seal of Fortune, thanks to which not only she, but all other gods support them.

How many gods did the ancient Greeks have?

On the one hand, this question is not difficult to answer. The circle of the Olympic gods, headed by Zeus, consists of twelve gods, divided into pairs: Zeus - Hera, Poseidon - Demeter, Apollo - Artemis, Ares - Aphrodite, Hermes - Athena, Hephaestus - Hestia. All of them were revered with the help of numerous rites, the most important of which was the lectisternium - a treat for the gods.

The emergence of a circle of twelve gods was based on long-term observations of the ancients over the stars and luminaries and was reflected in the division of the year into twelve months.

Meeting major gods depicted by Phidias (438 BC) on the eastern wall of the Parthenon. Seated gods are spectators of the Panathenaic procession.

However, in addition to these gods, the Greeks revered many others. Their cult, such as Hecate (goddess of witchcraft) came from ancient times. Some were patrons of certain areas of Greece (Dionysus, Bacchus and Pan).

In addition to the gods, the Greeks worshiped numerous nymphs and local deities, who were the patrons of rivers, waterfalls, and individual places. Numerous shrines were erected in their honor and sacrifices were made.

By 217 B.C. e. The Romans borrowed the circle of twelve gods from the Greeks, which, in particular, led to the final establishment of correspondences between Roman and Greek deities. Roman deities were also divided into pairs: Jupiter - Juno, Neptune - Amphitrite, Apollo - Diana, Mars - Venus, Mercury - Minerva, Vulcan - Vesta.

At the same time, the Romans borrowed some other gods, who were also given their own names. For example, Dionysus became their Bacchus.

The theme of the twelve gods in painting was developed by Bellini, Rubens, Brueghel the Elder, Tiepolo. Their images inspired Schiller to write one of his best poems - "Gods of Greece".

Did Olympus really exist?

This name, often found in Greece and Asia Minor, is of pre-Greek origin. The most famous is the snow-covered, wooded multi-peaked mountain range up to 2918 meters high. It is the highest part of Greece.

The idea of ​​Olympus in Greek mythology and poetry is not associated with a specific place. Unattainably high, always covered with clouds, Mount Olympus is the mythical residence of the supreme Greek gods. On it is the palace of the king of the gods Zeus and the dwellings of other gods. Hence their name "Olympians".

The name "Olympus" is partly synonymous with the word "sky" and is a metaphorical designation of the upper world, inaccessible to mere mortals.

In ancient times, the real Olympus was at the crossroads of important trade routes. It was possible to get from Macedonia to Greece either along the narrow strip of the coast of Pieria between Olympus and Therma Bay, then along the Tempe Valley between Olympus and Ossa, or through a pass west of Olympus.

It is also necessary to mention one more Olympus - a mountain peak with a height of 2543 meters on the border of the Greek regions of Mysia (in the south) and Bithynia (in the north). Now near it is the Turkish city of Uludag. This mountain, overgrown with dense forest, has long served as a source of ship timber and a refuge for robbers.

Did the Amazons exist?

In "Myths" Ancient Greece"You can read about the mighty hero Theseus, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus, who sailed to the shores of Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea). When the ship lay off the coast of the country of the Amazons, Theseus invited their queen Antiope, whom he fell in love with, to his deck. As soon as Antiope boarded the ship, the rowers unanimously leaned on the oars, and the Amazons remaining on the shore could no longer do anything to save their queen. Then they went to Athens to free her. But Antiope had already managed to fall in love with the courageous Theseus and became his wife. When the Amazons approached the walls of Athens, Antiope was already fighting next to Theseus against her former subjects. For four whole months, the fearless Amazons fought with the Greeks, but then the Greeks managed to conclude a truce with them, and the Amazons returned back to themselves, in the Black Sea region.

The legends of many countries of the world tell of courageous female Amazon warriors who lived separately from men and devoted all their time to military pursuits. But not only legends tell about these amazing women, they are also mentioned in many historical documents, for example, in the “Comparative Biography” of the ancient Greek writer Plutarch. Here you can also read the biography of Theseus, who really lived once in Athens, traveled to the country of the Amazons and kidnapped their queen Antiope.

Not only Plutarch, but also other ancient Greek historians indicate that the Amazons lived on the Black Sea coast, in the Crimea and the Caucasus. Already in a time closer to us, the physician of Peter I, Gottlieb Schober, having visited the Caucasus, brought back curious stories about the “female tribes” who ruled men, entrusted them only with the most menial household chores and forbade even touching weapons that they themselves mastered to perfection.

Material evidence has already been found that the Amazons really existed. In the Caucasus, in the Northern Black Sea region, in the mounds of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, burial places of female warriors were found. In ancient times, it was customary to put various objects in their graves next to the dead, which these people used during their lifetime. And in these burials, next to the remains of adult women and even teenage girls, there are not only beads, but also swords, military armor and quivers full of arrows in large numbers. In one of the Don burial mounds, a clay vase was found with the image of a horsewoman, from which a foot warrior defends herself.

Traces of the Amazons are found not only in Russia, in the Transcaucasus and Ukraine, but also in many other places on our planet.

Who are the Delphic oracles?

The ancient Greeks, Romans, the peoples of the East used to turn to the gods before making any important decisions. They asked a question and waited until the Almighty gave them an answer: some kind of sign, an omen of one kind or another. But most often people went to the oracle - the one who could directly perceive the will of God and convey it to believers. The most famous among the Greeks was the oracle of the temple of Apollo at Delphi. This city was located at the foot of Mount Parnassus - the abode of the god Apollo, the patron of the sun, arts and nine muses. The Greeks were convinced that Delphi was the center of the universe. The most famous oracle of Delphi was the Pythia. Surrounded by clouds of smoke, she spoke in a dull voice what God supposedly transmitted to her. Of all the Delphic oracles, she was perhaps the most fortunate. Very often, her information was either confirmed by subsequent events, or at least was neutral, not harmful. Perhaps she had the largest network of informants in Delphi? Or was she just lucky? However, once one of the oracles advised the Greeks not to fight the Persians. Nevertheless, the Greeks won this war. Since then, the authority of the oracles has declined, and their help has been resorted to less and less.

Who is Pan?

In Greek mythology, the god Pan is one of the most entertaining characters. The son of Hermes, he was the god of fields, forests and cattle. Goat-legged, with goat horns, overgrown with wool, Pan loved wine and fun. Lived in Arcadia. This region of Greece is the land of shepherds. Pan invented the flute that still bears his name (Pan's flute). As a deity of the elemental forces of nature, Pan inspired unreasonable, so-called panic fear in people. Therefore, his name became the basis of the word "panic".

Did the Greeks guess by the hand?

Always and everywhere, people tried to get in touch with mysterious forces, look into their future, explain unusual and terrible natural phenomena, interpret dreams, drive away the ghosts of long-dead people. It was the same in ancient Greece. Respect and trust surrounded here sorcerers, soothsayers, soothsayers, who were, as it was believed, under the direct patronage of the gods. There were many kinds of divination. The secrets of their interpretation passed from generation to generation and were preserved only in oral tradition. The ancient Greeks guessed by the flight of birds, by the behavior of chickens pecking grain, by fish (how they behave in water). Over time, they began to guess also by lizards and snakes, spiders. They also guessed by the insides of sacred animals, by fire (the height and shape of the flame, where the wind carries the smoke, etc.). They also tried to find out their fate by the water, when at the sources they observed slivers or tufts of hair thrown into the seething water. They guessed by lightning and thunder, by the involuntary movements of a person, by his individual words, and even by ringing in his ears or the way he sneezes. Divination by the hand, well known to this day, was also known to the Greeks. They also guessed by the numbers that fell on dice. The Greeks considered lucky numbers three, seven, nine. But the Greeks were indifferent to the fatal number 13 and were not afraid of it, like some of our superstitious contemporaries.

Why is the olive called the "tree of the world"?

The olive, or olive, is an evergreen tree or shrub. It was cultivated by man more than 4000 years ago in Syria and on the islands of the Aegean Sea, from where it spread throughout the Mediterranean in ancient times.

For many nations, the beautiful fruit and ornamental olive tree was considered sacred. He was honored, glorified in poetic legends and traditions. Here is one of them. Once, between the god of the seas, Poseidon, and the goddess of wisdom, Athena, a dispute arose over dominion over Attica. The assembled council of the gods decided to award the victory to one of them who would bring more benefit to the inhabitants of Attica. Poseidon plunged his trident into the ground, and a fountain of salt water gushed out of it. Athena stuck a spear into the ground, and it turned into a beautiful, flowering olive tree. Of course, wise gods Athena was declared the winner. This legend shows the respect and gratitude of people for the olive.

Since then, the olive has become a symbol of good intentions, a calm working life and peace. A wreath of olive branches was worn on the head of the winners Olympic Games antiquity, during which, according to a wonderful tradition, all wars stopped. And the dove with an olive branch in its beak, painted by the great Pablo Picasso, was recognized by all countries as the emblem of the world.

Who is Hercules?

Everyone knows that Hercules was an extraordinary strong man. However, for the ancient Greeks, his name meant much more. They worshiped him like one of the gods.

According to legend, Hercules was the son of the god Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. Hera, the divine wife of Zeus, hated him. When Hercules still could not walk and was lying in his cradle, she sent two snakes to him to kill him. However, the baby easily dealt with them, strangling them both. As an adult, Hercules married Megara, but Hera sent him into a fit of madness. In a fit of crazy rage, he killed his wife and children.

To make amends, Hercules, at the direction of the oracle in Delphi, offered his services to King Eurystheus, who instructed him to perform twelve labors. The story of these exploits is devoted to most of the myth of Hercules.

He began by strangling a ferocious lion. Then he killed the Hydra, a monster with nine heads, eight of which were mortal and one was immortal. Whenever Hercules cut off one mortal head from the Hydra, two grew in its place. His third feat was to capture an exceptionally strong and vicious wild boar. According to the fourth order of Eurystheus, Hercules brought him a doe with golden horns. Then Heracles had to clear manure from the huge barnyard of King Avgii, which had not been cleaned for 30 years. Hercules changed the channels of two rivers, directing them to the barnyard, and it became clean in just a day.

The sixth feat of Hercules was the expulsion and murder of the Stymphalian birds that devoured people; seventh - the capture of the Cretan bull. The eighth task was to tame the wild mares of King Diomedes, who fed them human meat. Hercules accomplished the ninth feat by obtaining for the daughter of Eurystheus the belt of Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons. The tenth feat was to deliver the cows of Gerion from an island that lay far to the west in the ocean. On the way, Hercules, having reached the western tip of Europe, split the rock and formed the Strait of Gibraltar. Following this, Hercules, on behalf of Eurystheus, obtained for him the golden apples of the Hesperides. Hercules performed the twelfth feat by bringing to the king a watchdog who stood at the gates of Hades, the kingdom of the dead, Cerberus.

Who are centaurs?

Imagine that you live hundreds of years ago and have never seen a single horse. Suddenly you catch your eye on a rider, as if rooted to his steed, who easily jumps over ditches and hedges or gallops across the plain. It is quite possible that it occurred to you that a man and a horse are a single creature! So did some Indians when they first saw the Spanish riders.

In ancient times, in the mountains of Thessaly in Greece, there lived people who hunted on wild horses. They were such excellent riders that the inhabitants of the surrounding regions began to sincerely believe that their neighbors were strange creatures, half-humans, half-horses. Hence the myth of the centaurs.

Centaurs in Greek mythology were just such "man-horses" who lived in the mountains of Thessaly and Arcadia. They led a free and wild life, so the great ancient Greek poet Homer called them "wild beasts."

Amazing, exciting adventures have always happened to the characters of Greek myths, and centaurs in this sense were no exception. One of the stories tells about King Pirithoy. The king was celebrating his wedding with a girl named Deidamia. In the middle of the feast, the drunken centaur Eurytion tried to kidnap the bride. As a result, a battle began between the soldiers of the king and the centaurs, in which the latter were defeated.

It should be noted that in Greek myths centaurs most often behaved in this way. In later times, statues and paintings depict centaurs harnessed to the chariot of Dionysus, the god of wine, or carrying Eros, the god of love.

Why did the Greeks revere Hermes so much?

Hermes was one of the most revered and respected gods of Ancient Greece. His cult originated in ancient times. Initially, Hermes was the god of cattle breeding and only over time turned into the patron of trade.

Hermes was dedicated to vertically placed stones, or herms. In front of them, sacrifices were made in case of finding a lost animal, making a profitable deal, or simply in honor of the lucky finds, which were called so - hermiones (sent by Hermes).

Since the attribute of Hermes was the rod, with which he allegedly lulled the giant Argus, he was also revered as the god of sleep and dreams. It was believed that Hermes will always find a way out of any situation.

In later times (III century BC), Hermes was even considered the god of eloquence and his images were placed in schools and palestras.

That is why Hermes was the only one of the Greek gods to whom the epithet "trismegistus" (thrice greatest) was applied. At the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. e. even a collection of occult writings appeared, which were considered allegedly written by Hermes.

Did Atlantis exist?

From the time of the ancient Greeks, stories have come down to us about an island or continent that disappeared from the face of the earth, which was called Atlantis. People believed that it was located in the Atlantic Ocean to the west of Gibraltar, not far from the coast of Europe, and was something like a perfect place - a paradise on Earth.

According to legend, Atlantis was a powerful kingdom that conquered all of Southwestern Europe and Northwestern Africa. The spread of her power far to the east was stopped by the Athenians, the inhabitants of ancient Greece.

After this happened, the inhabitants of Atlantis gradually began to move away from virtue, commit many sins and indulge in various vices. Thus, they angered the gods, and as punishment, they plunged a huge island into the ocean abyss. This legend has come down to us thanks to the works of the great Greek philosopher Plato, who lived 300 years before our era. According to him, the island disappeared 9,000 years before he recounted this legend in his book.

In the Middle Ages, people believed in the veracity of the stories about Atlantis. In the XIV and XV centuries, many expeditions were undertaken to search for this continent. It is very likely that the legend is based on events that took place in reality. Perhaps, once a traveler, returning to his native land, told his compatriots about an unfamiliar and bizarre country, and over time these stories turned into a legend about Atlantis.

Even now there are people who firmly believe that such a continent existed. In accordance with the opinion of those who are considered the greatest authorities in the field of everything related to Atlantis, this was the place where man first created civilization, in particular, he learned to work with iron and found writing. According to them, many of the gods that people worshiped in ancient times were real-life kings and queens of Atlantis.

Ancient Egypt was one of the first great civilizations on earth, beginning at the dawn of human history. And the ideas of the ancient Egyptians about the world around us were significantly different from the ideas modern people. The ancient Egyptian pantheon consisted of a huge number of gods, who were most often depicted with human body and the head of an animal. Therefore, the Egyptians treated animals with great respect, the worship of animals was elevated to a cult.

1. Harem of the sacred bull

As part of the ancient cult of animals, the Egyptians revered the bull. They considered a deity descended to earth. Of all the bulls, according to special signs, one was chosen, which later played the role of a sacred bull named Apis. It had to be black with special white markings.

This bull lived in Memphis, in a special "sacred barn" at the temple. He was provided with such care that many people could not even dream of dreaming about, fed and revered like a god, even kept a harem of cows for him. On the birthday of Apis, holidays were held, bulls were sacrificed to him. When Apis died, he was buried with honors and began to search for a new sacred bull.

2. Pet - hyena

Before settling on dogs and cats, mankind experimented with the domestication of some rather strange animals. 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians kept hyenas as pets. The drawings left on the tombs of the pharaohs show that they were used for hunting.

However, the Egyptians did not feel much love for them, often they were kept and fattened only for food. Yet giggling hyenas as pets did not take root among the Egyptians, especially since there were many cats and dogs loitering nearby, which turned out to be more suitable.

3 Cause Of Death - Hippo

Pharaoh Menes lived around 3000 BC, and left a big mark on Egyptian history. He managed to unite the warring kingdoms of Egypt, which he later ruled for about 60 years. According to the ancient Egyptian historian Manetho, Menes died from wounds received while hunting for a hippopotamus. However, no further mention of this tragedy has survived. The only confirmation can be a drawing on a stone depicting a king asking for life from a hippopotamus.

4. Sacred mongooses

The Egyptians adored mongooses and considered them one of the most sacred animals. They marveled at the courage of these small furry animals, who bravely fought with huge cobras. The Egyptians erected bronze statues of mongooses, wore amulets with their images, and kept them as beloved pets.

Some Egyptians were even buried with the mummified remains of their beloved mongooses. The mongooses even entered Egyptian mythology. According to one of the stories, the sun god Ra turned into a mongoose to fight evil.

5. Killing a cat was punishable by death.

In Egypt, a cat was considered a sacred animal, and for her murder, even involuntarily, death was supposed. No exceptions were allowed. Once, even the king of Egypt himself tried to save a Roman who accidentally killed a cat, but he did not succeed. Even under the threat of war with Rome, the Egyptians lynched him and left the corpse in the street. One of the legends tells how cats caused the Egyptians to lose the war.

In 525 BC The king of the Persians Cambyses, before the offensive, ordered his soldiers to catch cats and attach them to shields. The Egyptians, seeing the frightened cats, surrendered without a fight, because. could not hurt their sacred animals.

6. Mourning for a cat

The death of a cat for the Egyptians was a tragedy, no less than the loss of a family member. On this occasion, mourning was declared in the family, during which everyone had to shave off their eyebrows.
The dead cat's body was embalmed, scented and buried, with mice, rats and milk placed in her grave for her later afterlife. The cat burials were huge. In one of them, about 80,000 embalmed cats were found.

7. Hunting with cheetahs

Big cats such as lions were allowed to be hunted. At the same time, the cheetah, by Egyptian standards, was considered a small, safe enough cat that you could even keep at home. Ordinary residents, of course, did not have cheetahs in their homes, but kings, in particular Ramses II, had many tamed cheetahs in their palace, and even lions, and he was not the only one. Drawings on ancient tombs often depict Egyptian kings hunting with tamed cheetahs.

8. City of the sacred crocodile

The Egyptian city of Crocodilopolis was the religious center of a cult dedicated to the god Sobek, depicted as a man with the head of a crocodile. In this city the Egyptians kept a sacred crocodile. People from all over came to see him. The crocodile was adorned with gold and jewels and served by a group of priests.

People brought food as gifts, and the priests, opening the crocodile's mouth, forced him to eat it. They even poured wine into his open mouth. When a crocodile died, its body was wrapped in a thin cloth, mummified and buried with great honors. After that, another crocodile was chosen as a sacred animal.

9. The birth of scarab beetles

The Egyptians believed that scarab beetles were magically born in excrement. The Egyptians believed that scarab beetles had magical powers. And all of them, from the rich to the poor, wore these beetles as amulets. The Egyptians saw how scarabs roll excrement into balls and hide them in holes. But they did not see how later the females lay their eggs in them, and therefore they believed that the scarabs miraculously appeared from the excrement and endowed them with magical powers.

10. War over the love of hippos

The reason for one of the biggest wars in Egypt was the love of Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao II for hippos. He kept a pool of hippos in his palace. Egypt then consisted of several kingdoms. One day, Pharaoh Apopi, the ruler of a stronger kingdom, ordered Seqenenre Tao II to get rid of the hippos, because they make a lot of noise and interfere with his sleep.

This, of course, was a mocking reason, since Apopee lived 750 km from the hippos. Sekenenra, who for a long time endured tyranny from Apopi, this time could not stand it and declared war on him. And although he himself died, his son and other pharaohs continued the war. And it ended with the unification of Egypt.

The most incredible discoveries are also connected with Ancient Egypt. So, recently it became known that.

From time immemorial in ancient Egypt it was customary to honor sacred animals. The main religion of this state was combined with totemism. Each tribe, in those days, had its own totem with some kind of deified animal. But it was in Egypt that the cult of veneration of animals acquired colossal proportions.
The Egyptians worshiped such animals as the cat, falcon, crocodile, bull, frog, cow and many others. Many sacred animals were prohibited from hunting everywhere. Only in a few places could sometimes kill crocodiles because of their increased numbers.

Animal Worship ancient egypt was elevated to a cult to such an extent that many dead deified animals were mummified and buried at local temples in sarcophagi.

Cult of the Cow and the Bull.

A special place in the list of revered animals was occupied by the cult of the sacred bull. The bull personified fertility, because thanks to him, the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt managed to fertilize the soil. And, all the gods, who were symbols of fertility, here, most of all, were personified with a bull. For example, the bull Apis lived permanently in Memphis. He was, as the locals believed, the soul of the god Ptah. But, for such veneration, the bull had to have special signs. He was supposed to have a white triangle on his forehead, an eagle-shaped spot on his neck, and a moon-shaped spot on his side.

People also worshiped the cult of the sacred white cow of Heliopoli. The deity identified with her was called Isis. She was considered the mother of the bull Apis. Another goddess, Hathor, was also revered. The sun was always placed between her horns in the paintings. It was believed that she moves the god Ra across the firmament.

Bird cult.

In ancient Egypt, the veneration of such birds as the ibis and the falcon was great. Killing these sacred birds was punishable by death. The ibis was the personification of the god of wisdom, Thoth, who created literature and invented writing. The ibis was associated with calmness and wisdom. The remains of these birds were also embalmed.
The falcon was also worshiped in ancient Egypt. He was personified by the god Horus, depicted as Ra with a soaring falcon, or a man with a falcon's head. They were considered the protectors of the pharaohs.

Cult of Crocodiles.

In ancient Egypt, crocodiles were identified with Sebeka, the god of the Nile and its deep waters. People believed that they controlled the ebb and flow of the river. The soil fertility depended on these factors.

Honoring cats.

Cats in Egypt were revered everywhere and always. The main object of worship was the god Bubastis. It was believed that it was cats that brought the safety of the crop, as they killed small rodents. It is with these animals that many strange traditions are associated. At the death of a cat, the entire family that kept her observed mourning. For the destruction of this animal, the death penalty was due. If the house was engulfed in flames, then the cat was carried out first, and only then people and personal belongings were saved.

For dead cats, a special cemetery was created, where they were buried after being embalmed.
In addition, these animals were identified with the goddess Bastet. She is the keeper of the hearth, a symbol of fertility. She was depicted as a woman with the head of a cat.

The cult of baboons and dogs.

The baboon was revered, and was considered one of the animals that was at the great judgment of Osiris in the world of the dead. Sometimes there are paintings of the god Thoth, depicting him as a baboon. The Egyptians elevated this animal and considered it a rational creature. These monkeys often lived near temples, and even took part in religious ceremonies.
In ancient Egypt, the gods of the underworld played a huge role. Such was the king of the dungeon of the dead Anubis. He was the servant of Osiris, accompanied the dead to another world. He was depicted in the form of a jackal or a dog, or in the form of a man with a dog's head.

The cult of pigs, lions and hippos.

The worship of these animals in ancient Egypt was not so widespread. It was more local. For example, lions were revered mainly in Memphis, Heliopolis. They were symbolized by the goddess Sekhmet. She carried the personification of war, the hot sun. Lions were also not allowed to be hunted.
The cult of the hippopotamus was identified with the goddess Taurt. She was considered the protector of pregnant mothers and babies. She was depicted in the form of a pregnant female hippopotamus.
The pig in ancient Egypt was treated with disgust. They considered her unclean. Associated with the cunning deity Seth. However, for many peoples, she personified the sky.

Cults of other animals of Ancient Egypt.

Among other revered cults, the frog can be distinguished. She took people to other world and symbolized resurrection. The life after death was also symbolized by the scarab beetle. The Egyptians often wore amulets depicting this beetle. They protected them from evil spirits, evil spirits.
It should be noted that in ancient Egypt, sacred animals were considered the souls of the gods and often lived near temples. Probably, the cult of animals was so strong on the lands of this state also because Egypt is a country with a poor animal world, and the prosperous existence of the people depended on this, one way or another.

There was some semblance of a single one, which at the same time was combined with multiple cults of local gods. Focusing on the worship of one of the idols, the Egyptians still recognized other deities. For this reason, the religious order of Ancient Egypt is considered to be polytheistic. The tendencies of monotheism manifested themselves first of all with the emergence of the cult of the god Aton.

The inhabitants of Egypt in ancient times were sure that the gods completely control the world and the life of every person. They were depicted on the walls, majestic sculptures were created in honor of the gods. Images of gods can be found in the burials of the palace nobility and pharaohs. It is believed that the Egyptian pyramids were one of the ways to perpetuate the divine nature of the rulers of the country.

Legends say that all life in the world was born by the god Atum, who appeared in the world from chaos and complete darkness. He created the god Shu and his companion the goddess Tefnut. Shu was a reflection of the inseparable connection between heaven and earth, and Tefnut personified the feminine principle that gave life to all living things. From the marriage of these deities, other gods were born, each of which was responsible for one of the elements.

Perhaps the most famous religious figure in Egypt is the god Osiris. Until modern times, a beautiful legend about how he was born, how he rightly ruled the peoples, taking care of the needs of every person. Osiris was assisted in his deeds by the goddess Isis, who was distinguished by wisdom and fidelity to her husband. The myth of Osiris reflected the aspirations of ordinary Egyptians, who were convinced that justice in the world depends entirely on the will of the gods.

One of the central deities in the system religious beliefs The Egyptians eventually became the god Ra. He personified the power and energy of the Sun. Every day, Ra rose to the zenith across the vast sky, and by sunset again descended underground, where he courageously fought the forces of darkness, invariably defeating them. In daily battles with evil, the god of wisdom Thoth helped him. His divine nature was determined by the Moon.

By the time of the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, the cult of the god Aten was flourishing. He was the embodiment of the solar disk and absorbed the features of many other Egyptian deities. In an effort to strengthen his sole power, Amenhotep IV declared Aten the only god for all Egyptians. Throughout the reign of this pharaoh, the worship of other gods was forbidden.

This is only a small part of the huge pantheon of gods that the Egyptians worshiped at different times. The inhabitants of Egypt also treated the Nile River with great reverence and sacred awe, on which the life of the country's population largely depended. The full-flowing Nile was worshiped, considering it a deity; prayers and hymns were composed in honor of it.