Egyptian Mythology

Symbols and Definitions

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All Rights Reserved.

Akhet
This symbol represents the horizon from which the sun emerged and disappeared. The horizon
thus embodied the idea of both sunrise and sunset. It is similar to the two peaks of the Djew or
mountain symbol with solar disk in the center. Both the beginning and the end of each day was
guarded by Aker, a double lion god. In the New Kingdom, Harmakhet ("Horus in the Horizon")
became the god of the rising and setting sun. He was pictured as a falcon, or as a sphinx with
the body of a lion. The Great Sphinx of Giza is an example of "Horus in the Horizon".

Amenta
This symbol represents the Underworld or Land of the Dead. Originally it meant the horizon of
the sun set. Later, it became the symbol of the west bank of the Nile, where the sun set and also
where the Egyptians traditionally buried their dead.

Ankh
Symbol of eternal life. The gods are often seen holding an ankh to someone's lips this is
considered to be an offering of "The Breath of Life". The breath you will need in the afterlife.

Atef

The atef crown was worn by Osiris. It is made up of the white crown of Upper Egypt and the
red feathers are representative of Busiris, Osiris's cult center in the Delta.

Ba
The Ba is what we might call someones personality. It would leave the body at the time of
death. During the days the Ba would make itself useful, at night it would return to the tomb. At
this time, it would look for the person to which it belonged. This would be the mummy,
however, often the egyptians would supply the Ba with a statue in the likeness of the deceased
in case the mummy was lost or damaged.

Canopic Jars

During mummification the internal organs were removed and placed in four containers. These
containers often have human or animal-headed stoppers. The word, canopic, comes from the Greek
name of the local god of Canopus in the Nile delta, who was represented as a human-headed pot.
Canopic jars can be made of limestone, alabaster, wood, pottery, or even cartonnage. The heads of the
canopic jar represented the Four Sons of Horus
. . . . .From left to right they are;

Imsety: The human headed guardian of the liver

Qebekh-sennuef: The falcon headed guardian of the intestines.

Hapy: The baboon headed guardian of the lungs

Duamutef: The jackal or wild dog headed guardian of the stomach.

Deshret
The Red Crown. This was the crown that represented Lower Egypt (northern).

Djed
It is believed that the Djed is a rendering of a human backbone. It represents stability and strength. It
was originally associated with the creation god Ptah. Himself being called the "Noble Djed". As the
Osiris cults took hold it became known as the backbone of Osiris . A djed column is often painted on
the bottom of coffins, where the backbone of the deceased would lay, this identified the person with
the king of the underworld, Osiris. It also acts as a sign of stability for the deceased' journey into the
afterlife.

Djew
Which means mountain, the symbol suggests two peaks with the Nile valley in the middle. The
Egyptians believed that there was a cosmic mountain range that held up the heavens. This
mountain range had two peaks, the western peak was called Manu, while the eastern peak was
called Bakhu. It was on these peaks that heaven rested. Each peak of this mountain chain was
guarded by a lion deity, who's job it was to protect the sun as it rose and set. The mountain was
also a symbol of the tomb and the afterlife, probably because most Egyptian tombs were
located in the mountainous land bordering the Nile valley. In some texts we find Anubis, the
gaurdian of the tomb being referred to as "He who is upon his mountain." Sometimes we find
Hathor takeing on the attributes of a deity of the afterlife, at this time she is called "Mistress of

the Necropolis." She is rendered as the head of a cow protruding from a mountainside.

Feather of Maat
Represents truth, justice, morality and balance. It was pharaoh's job to uphold Maat. When a
pharaoh died, Maat was lost and the world was flung into chaos, only the coronation of a new
pharaoh could restore Maat.

Fetish of Osiris
An animal skin hanging from a stick, this is a symbol of Osiris and Anubis.

Flail and Crook

A symbol of royalty, majesty and dominion.

Heb
The heb glyph represents an alabaster bowl. These bowls were used for special purposes
like festivals or feasts.

Heb-Sed
The Heb-Sed glyph Is a combination of the heb glyph and the sed glyph. It represents
the Heb-Sed or Jubilee festival. This festival was celebrated on the 30th year of a
pharoah's rule. It was believed to renew the pharaohs strength of rule over the two
lands.

Hedjet
The White Crown. This was the crown of Upper Egypt (southern).

Ieb
This symbol represents a heart. The Egyptian believed the heart was the center of all
consciousness, even the center of life itself. When someone died it was said that their "heart has
departed." It was the only organ that was not removed from the body during mummification. In
the Book of the dead, it was the heart that was weighed against the feather of Maat to see if an
individual was worthy of joining Osiris in the afterlife.

Imenet
These symbols represent the west or western desert AKA the land of the dead. The horizon on
which Ra dies at night and enters the underworld.

Ka
The ka is usually translated as "soul" or "spirit" The ka came into existence when an
individual was born. It was believed that the ram-headed god Khnum crafted the ka on his
potter's wheel at a persons birth. It was thought that when someone died they "met their ka". A
persons ka would live on after their body had died. Some tombs included model houses as the
ka needed a place to live. Offerings of food and drink would be left at the tomb entrance so the
ka could eat and drink.

Khepresh
The blue crown was a ceremonial crown often worn in battle.

Khet

This symbol represents a lamp or brazier on a stand from which a flame emerges. Fire was
embodied in the sun and in its symbol the uraeus which spit fire. Fire also plays a part in the
Egyptian concept of the underworld. There is one terrifying aspect of the underworld which is
similar to the christians concept of hell. Most egyptians would like to avoid this place with its
fiery lakes and rivers that are inhabited by fire demons.

Maat
Represents truth, justice, morality and balance. Deities are often seen standing on this symbol, as if
standing on a foundation of Maat.

Menat
This symbol represents a heavy beaded necklace with a crescent shaped front and a counter
piece at the rear. It was a symbol associated with the goddess Hathor and her son, Ihy. In fact ,
Hathor was known as the "Great Menat". We often see Hathor using the Menat as a conduit
through which she passes her power. It was representative of the ideas of joy, life, potency,
fertility, birth, and rebirth. It was not uncommon in the New Kingdom, to see the king offering
the Menat to Hathor. This probably meant to represent the king symbolically with the goddess'
son, Ihy. This idea of divine assimilation was common, although the best examples are of the
king representing the falcon god, Horus.

Menhed
A scribes pallet. Writing was a very important skill to the ancient Egyptians. It was practiced by
a group called scribes. The writing equipment used by scribes consisted of a palette, which held
black and red pigments, a water jar, and a pen. To be a scribe was a favorable position, even
some kings and nobles are show proudly displaying scribe palettes.

Naos
Shrine in which divine statues were kept, especially in temple sanctuaries. A small wooden

naos was normally placed inside a monolithic one in hard stone; the latter are typical of the
Late Period, and sometimes elaborately decorated. Also used as a term for temple sanctuary.

Nebu
This symbol represents gold which was considered a divine metal, it was thought to be the flesh
of the gods. Its polished surface was related to the brilliance of the sun. Gold was important to
the afterlife as it represents aspects of immortality. By the New Kingdom, the royal burial
chamber was called the "House of Gold."

Nebty
The two ladies of upper and lower Egypt. Nekhbet the vulture goddess, protrectress of
Upper Egypt and Wadjet the cobra goddess associated with lower Egypt and the Nile
delta. There is a beautiful rendering of these two ladies in the White Chapel of
Senwosret I.

Nekhbet
A goddess portrayed as a vulture. Protrectress of Upper Egypt.

Nemes
A striped headcloth worn by Pharaohs.

Neter
The Gods or having to do with the gods.

Palm Branch
The Egyptians would put a notch in a palm branch to mark the passing of a year in the life of a
pharaoh. It symbolized the measure of time.

Pet
This symbol depicts the sky as a ceiling which drops at the ends, the same way the real sky seems to
reach for the horizon. This sign was often used in architectural motifs; the top of walls, and door
frames. It symbolizes the heavens.

Primordial mound
The Egyptians believed that during creation this hill rose out of the sea of chaos to create dry land. The
idea of this hill rising had a profound effect on the egyptians, being used as every thing from temple
layouts to the possible inspiration behind the pyramids. A.K.A benben stone

Pshent
The Double Crown, the red crown and the white crown put together to represent a unified
Egypt. Although Egypt was not always a unified nation it was stronger that way.Therefore
unification was desirable. Narmer (Menes), the founder of the First Dynasty around 3100 B.C.,
was the first man recorded wearing this crown.

Ra

The sun was the primary element of life in ancient Egypt, we find this importance reflected in
the art and religion. Some of the most popular gods had a solar connection. The sun was first
worshipped as Horus, then as Ra and later as Amun-Ra There are many other representations of
the sun, including Khepri, the great scarab who symbolizes morning and the ram-headed god
Khnum representing evening. During the reign of Akhenaten, the sun was worshipped as the
Aten. A form of the sun disk with its rays depicted as arms holding ankh signs. Another
common form that the sun takes is that of Horus Behudety, the winged sun disk flanked by
uraeus.

Sa
This symbol means protection. Its origins are uncertain, but it is speculated that it represents
either a rolled up herdsman's shelter or a papyrus life-preserver used by ancient egyptian
boaters. Either way it is clearly a symbol of protection. From early times the sa plays an
important part in jewelry design. It is often used in conjunction with symbols, particularly the
ankh, was and djed signs. We often find Taurt, the hippopotamus goddess of childbirth, resting
her paw on a standing sa sign.

Scarab
Called the dung beetle because of its practice of rolling a ball of dung across the ground. The
Egyptians observed this behavior and equated it with the ball of the sun being rolled across the
sky. They confused this balled food source with the egg sack that the female dung beetle laid
and buried in the sand. When the eggs hatched the dung beetles would seem to appear from
nowhere, making it a symbol of spontaneous creation. In this role it was associated with the
sunrise. Khepri was the scarab headed god.

Sed
This is a representation of the pavilion used in the Heb-Sed ceremonies.

Sekhem
This is a symbol of authority.

Sema
This is a rendering of the lungs attached to the windpipe. As a hieroglyph this symbol represents
the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. Other symbols are often added to further illustrate
unification. There are many fine examples of this symbol throughout Egypt.

In these renderings we see the Sema bound with two plants, the papyrus
and the lotus. The papyrus represents Lower Egypt and the lotus represents
Upper Egypt.

In other representations we find two gods binding the Sema together using
lotus and papyrus which represents the binding together of upper and lower
Egypt.

Sesen
A Lotus Flower. This is a symbol of the sun, of creation and rebirth. Because at night the flower
closes and sinks underwater, at dawn it rises and opens again. According to one creation myth it
was a giant lotus which first rose out of the watery chaos at the beginning of time. From this
giant lotus the sun itself rose on the first day. A symbol of Upper Egypt

She
A pool of water. The Egyptians portrayed bodies of water by means of equally spaced vertical
wave lines. When these lines are inclosed by a rectangle it denotes a lake or pool. The
Egyptians believed water was the primeval matter from which aII creation began. Life in

Egypt's desert climate depended on water, and a pool of water would be a great luxury. There
are many tomb paintings that show the deceased drinking from a pool in the afterlife.

Shen
A loop of rope that has no beginning and no end, it symbolized eternity. The sun disk is often
depicted in the center of it. The shen also seems to be a symbol of protection. It is often seen
being clutched by deities in bird form, Horus the falcon, Mut the vulture. Hovering over
Pharaohs head with their wings outstretched in a gesture of protection. The word shen comes
from the word "shenu" which means "encircle," and in its elongated form became the cartouche
which surrounded the king's name.

Shenu
More commonly know as a cartouche. The shape represents a loop of rope in which a name is
written. A protector of that name. See also shen.

Sistrum
The sistrum was a sacred percussion instrument used in the cult of Hathor. The sistrum
consisted of a wooden or metal frame fitted with loose strips of metal and disks which jingled
when moved. This noise was thought to attract the attention of the gods. There are two types of
sistrum, an iba, was shaped in a simple loop, like a closed horse-shoe with loose cross bars of
metal above a Hathor head and a long handle. The seseshet had the shape of a naos temple
above a Hathor head, with ornamental loops on the sides. The rattle was inside the box of the
naos. They were usually carried by women of high rank.

Rekhyt
This bird is called the Lapwing, it is identified by its head crest, Its wings are pined back
preventing it from flying. This symbol signifies a group of people. It is often seen below the
feet of a ruler to signify that the people are subjects of that ruler.
In the New Kingdom, the symbol develops human arms which are held in the act of giving
praise. In this form it can be interpreted to mean "a group of people giving praise."

Tiet
The exact origin of this symbol is unknown. In many respects it resembles an ankh except that
its arms curve down. Its meaning is also reminiscent of the ankh, it is often translated to mean
welfare or life. As early as the Third Dynasty we find the tiet being used as decoration when it
appears with both the ankh and the djed column, and later with the was scepter. The tiet is
associated with Isis and is often called "the knot of Isis" or "the blood of Isis." It seems to be
called "the knot of Isis" because it resembles a knot used to secure the garments that the gods
wore. The meaning of "the blood of Isis" is more obscured but it was often used as a funerary
amulet made of a red stone or glass. In the Late Period the sign was associated with the
goddesses Nephthys, Hathor, and Nut as well as with Isis. In all these cases it seems to
represent the ideas of resurrection and eternal life.

Udjat
The sound eye of Horus. Symbolizes healing and protection.

Uraeus
The cobra is an emblem of Lower Egypt. It is associated with the king, and kingdom of Lower
Egypt. It is also associated with the sun and with many deities. The cobra represented the "fiery
eye of Re", in which two uraei can be seen on either side of a winged solar disk. Starting in
Middle Kingdom The uraeus appears as a symbol worn on the crown or headdress of royalty. It
is used as a protective symbol, the Egyptians believed that the cobra would spit fire at any
approaching enemies.

Ushabtis
Literally translated it means "to answer." It is a small mummiform figure placed in tombs to do
work in the afterlife on behalf of the deceased. In some tombs of the late New Kingdom whole
gangs of ushabti workers were included with different tools for doing different work. A
complete collection would consist of 401 Ushabti: one for each day of the year, 365 plus 36
foreman.

Was
This is a symbol of power and dominion. The Was scepter is carried by deities as a sign of their
power. It is also seen being carried by kings and later by people of lesser stature in mortuary
scenes

Winged Solar Disk

This is a form that the god Horus Behudety (Horus of Edfu) takes in his battles with Seth. The
god Thoth used his magic to turn Horus into a sun-disk with splendid outstretched wings. The
goddesses Nekhbet and Uazet in the form of uraeus snakes joined him at his side.

This post is a response to this thread.

http://destee.com/forums/showthread.php?p=648428#post648428
In ancient Egyptian cosmology there are several references to what
is now referred as the planet (its not a star) Saturn.
This is one.
For the Egyptians Saturn was known as "Heru, the Bull of the Sky"
or simply as "Heru the Bull" (Parker 1978.719). The bull was seen as
a symbol of royal strength, fortitude, stability, power and virility.
Through this symbol stability, the established power of the kingdom,
was embodied and maintained. In many respects these are all
attributes which we, today, ascribe to Saturn.

http://www.hwt-hrw.com/celestial.php
Another reference to "Saturn" is in relation to Seb.
The equation of the Egyptian Seb (Keb) with the Greek Cronos is
not an arbitrary association. Expert Egyptologists and Assyriologists
have known for over a hundred years that Seb (Egyptian), Repa
(Coptic), Kaiwan (Akkadian), Chiun (Hebrew), Cronos (Greek), and
Saturn (Latin) are all names of the same deity. (Budge, 1960;
Tyndale, 1962, et al.) Sometimes Seb (Cronos) was associated with a
particularly bright "star" in the heavens--known to us as the planet
Saturn.
Just a simple goose or a single star could be used to represent Seb
(Cronos). In this respect, it is interesting that the Bible only mentions
this Seb-Cronos (Chiun-Rephan) in two places: Amos 5:26 and Acts
7:43. In both the figure of a star plays a prominent part (i.e., the "star
of your god"). It is gratifying to see this "star" in the Egyptian glyphs
as well. Concerning the reference to the star-god Rephan in the Bible, scholars believe it to be "a
deliberate substitution of Repa, a name of Seb, the Egyptian god of the planet Saturn. " (Tyndale,
1962)
http://www.atlantisquest.com/Hiero.html
In terms of the biblical birth of Jeus and what is commonly observed
as Christmas, this is related to the Saturnalia, a pagan festival which
is held to commemorate the winter solstice.
The Saturnalia festival has an astronomical character, referring to the
completion of the suns yearly course, and the commencement of a

new cycle. Saturn, from whom we get the word for the day of the
week, Saturday, represented by the sun at its lowest aspect at the
winter solstice. The earth is cold, most plants are dead, and it was
believed that the sun might also be approaching death. Today winter
solstice is around December 21, but because of calendar changes, it
was originally December 25th. Saturnalia celebrated the sun
overcoming the power of winter, with hope of spring when life
would be renewed.
http://www.carnaval.com/saturnalia/
This was also associated with the worship of Sol Invictus.
Sol Invicta - Sun God; Feast of Sol Invicta, the Unconquered
Sun, set in 274 A. D. (December 25) The dominate cult among
Rome's elite during the rise of Christianity. A sophisticated use of
archetypal symbols and rites of initiation to effect high moral
standards; temperance, self-control, and compassion -- even in
victory. A early model of Masonry which also has roots in the
Egyptian temple system
Concerning Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions.
http://www.astropro.com/features/tables/geo/ju-sa/ju000sa.html
As far as Mayan Prophecy is concerned relative to the year 2012, the
Mayan calendar is applicable to Galactic, not planetary alignment.
GALACTIC ALIGNMENT
Even more rare is a galactic alignment. It occurs only four times in
every 25,820 years, or once ever 6000-6500 years. 25,820 years is
the length of one precessional cycle. The Mayan calendar entered its

final years in August, 1987 at the time of the Harmonic

Convergence, and is due to end on the Winter Solstice, 2012. This
will mark the end of the current precessional cycle and the
beginning of a new one. We are at this time experiencing an
awesome galactic alignment which is guiding us toward a new
galactic calendar in a New Age.
In this context, the most significant stellar event of the year 2002
was the Sacred Hoop.
THE SACRED HOOP
Creating the galactic alignment, a configuration of stars is visible in
the winter and spring evening sky called the winter hexagon by
many astronomers. This configuration was called the Sacred
Hoop by the Lakota Sioux and other Plains Indians. Beginning
at the top of the hoop, the stars that form the hoop are: Pollux,
Castor, Capella, the Pleides, the Hyades, Rigel, Sirius and Procyon.
The Ecliptic, which is the plane of our solar system, and the Milky
Way are at this time crossing through and intersecting in the middle
of the hoop, in effect creating a cross within the circle. On June 21,
2002, the exact placement of the summer solstice in the Northern
Hemisphere (0 degrees Cancer) will fall on this intersection.
The 2002 planetary alignment has taken place within this hoop, with
the Moon joining the planets between May 13 and 16. Venus will
exit the hoop on June 10, Jupiter and Mars on or near July 4, 2002,
followed by Mercury on July 18. Saturn will not exit the hoop until
May, 2005.
Notice the placement of Sirius within this alignment.

http://www.thewildrose.net/planetary_alignment_2002.html
http://shamanicastrology.com/astro-news/the-2002-planetaryalignment-in-the-sacred-hoop
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Hexagon