The Egyptian pantheon is high on my list of potential pantheons to work on; I’ve always been fascinated by them, and visiting Egypt not too long ago (geologically speaking, at least) really crystalized how wondrous it is from my point of view. It presents some interesting challenges, too, since Egypt’s long history means there have been many different interpretations of the gods and even sub-pantheons throughout the years, and figuring out how to incorporate that I hope will lead to some interesting gameplay options.
The existing AD&D deities of the Egyptian Pantheon:
—Anhur (1e DD, 2e L&L, P&P)
—Anubis (1e DD)
—Apshai (1e DD), who is not a deity; it is a misunderstanding of the Book of the Dead and references normal carrion beetles
—Bast (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Bes (1e DD)
—Geb (1e DD, 2e L&L, P&P)
—Hathor (P&P)
—Horus (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Horus-Re (P&P)
—Isis (1e DD, 2e L&L, P&P, HR5), also popular in Roman popular religion
—Nephythys (1e DD, 2e L&L, P&P)
—Nut (2e L&L)
—Osiris (1e DD, 2e L&L, P&P)
—Ptah (1e DD, 2e L&L, SJR5/CGR1)
—Ra (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Sebek (P&P)
—Seker (1e DD)
—Set (1e DD, 2e L&L, P&P)
—Shu (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Tefnut (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Thoth (1e DD, 2e L&L, P&P)
Other potential deities
These are drawn primarily from The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt by Richard H. Wilkinson:
—Aker, an earth god with a feline form that opened the gates of the underworld for the pharaoh and held back demonic serpents as he passed.
—Amaunet, female counterpart of Amun; overshadowed later by Mut
—Amenophis Son of Hapu, a deified mortal from the realm of Amenophis III, known for directing some of the greatest public works of the period
—Ammut, a composite entity of a crocodile’s head, lion’s forebody, and hippo rear that devoured the hearts of those judged by Maat to be unjust, whose name means “female devourer of the dead.”
—Amun, one of the most significant gods in the pantheon at certain points of time, including heading the pantheon and being merged into Amun-Re and Amun-Min
—Anat, an Ugaritic deity imported to Egypt, and seen as a protector of the army during the reigns of some of the Ramesses pharaohs.
—Andjety, an early local deity in Lower Egypt, eventually subsumed into Osiris
—Anukis, a goddess of the southern regions of Egypt, possibly with a maternal aspect and associated by the Greeks with Hestia.
—Apedamak, a significant Nubian lion-god of war
—Apep/Apophis, the great opponent of Re from the Middle Kingdom, depicted as a serpent.
—Apis, the most important of the bull-deities of Egypt, said to be the offspring of Ptah and linked with his creative power; later merged with Osiris as Osirapis, and Serapis to the Greeks. A single live bull always represented Apis, and it had an oracular element.
—Arensnuphis, a late Nubian god, from the Hellenistic and Roman period.
—Ash, an ancient deity of the desert and oases, probably an early foreign addition, and associated with Set.
—Astarte, the West Semitic counterpart to Ishtar.
—Aten, the pre-eminent deity of Amenophis IV/Akhenaten, father of Tutankhamun (Tutankhaten originally), Aten predates Akhenaten’s heresy and is the personification of the sun itself rather than a god of the sun.
—Atum, one of the early creator gods, specifically in the Heliopolis region, mostly eclipsed by Re over time.
—Baal, the Canaanite chief storm god specifically; “baal” is an epithet like “el” is in Akkadian, meaning “lord” and could apply to many deities, and I would ignore this one and cover its versions in Mesopotamian mythos.
—Baalat, female counterpart of Baal, often associated with Hathor.
—Babi, a baboon deity of virility and danger, who could be murderous and was said to live on human entrails but also had a strong fertility aspect
—Banebdjedet, a ram-god that connected the spirit (ba) of some other gods with the sound sheep make; also had an incident of counselling the gods to seek the judgment of Neith in a conflict between Set and Horus.
—Ba-Pef, a poorly known deity, perhaps with a negative connotation
—Bat, a very early cow goddess eventually subsumed with Hathor
—Benu, rarely depicted in anthropomorphic form and usually as a grey heron and more commonly referred to as “the Benu bird,” it was the prototype of the Greek phoenix.
—Buchis, a late period (Hellenistic, as the name indicates) sacred bull of the Armant region
—Celestial Ferryman, a deity of many names that ferried the dead, possibly more of a depiction than a cultic figure.
—Dedwen, an ancient Nubian god who came to represent that country and its resources.
—Denwen, a serpent that can cause a great conflagration that can destroy the gods
—Dunanwi, a falcon deity that appears in significant places in the early Pyramid Texts but is later integrated with Nemty and Horus
—Gengen-wer, a primeval goose (whose name means “Great Honker” as gengen is the onomotopeia for a goose honk), which played a role in creation either through its honk awaking creation, or laying an egg from which life emerged.
—Ha, a deity of the desert and oases, and protecting people from bandits and foreign raiders.
—Hapy, not to be confused with the son of Horus by the same name, was a deity of the flooding Nile and the fecundity it brought.
—Hatmehyt, a minor fish goddess from the Delta region, little is known about her.
—Hauron, a foreign Canaanite deity seen as a herdsman and protector of herds from wild animals.
—Hededet, a scorpion goddess of motherhood
—Heh, a primeval deity of eternity
—Heka, a personification of the force of magic
—Heket, a frog-goddess who formed babies in the womb and assisted in birth, possibly also a goddess of midwives
—Henet, a pelican goddess who could protect against dangerous creatures like how a pelican can scoop up fish
—Heret-Kau, an ancient goddess possibly associated with the underworld
—Heryshef, a ram-headed god associated with Heracles by the Greeks, with a procreative and perhaps creation aspect
—Hesat, a cow goddess said to be mother to the Mnevis bull and a goddess of milk, and also known as Tenemit, a goddess of beer
—Horus-the-Child, the child form of Horus who eventually became the popular Greco-Roman-Egyptian Harpokrates.
—Hu, a personification of authority and commanding
—Iah, a lunar deity largely subsumed by Khonsu
—Iat, a goddess of milk and nursing
—Ihy, a male child deity who was associated with sistrum-playing and religious celebrations, typically said to be Hathor’s son (but also sometimes other goddesses)
—Imentet, a goddess of the western deserts and associated with necropolises; possibly just a manifestation of Hathor.
—Imhotep, a deified mortal, responsible for the Step Pyramid and thus the first pyramid designer. He was a commoner and priest of Ptah, later said to be his son by a mortal woman.
—Input, the female counterpart of Anubis
—Ipet, a beneficial protective hippopotamus goddess.
—Iunit, a local goddess of Armant and consort to Montu in the Theban region
—Iusaas, female counterpart to Atum and important in the Heliopolis region but apparently without a cult
—Kebehwet, a minor celestial serpent, she originally purified the heart of the king but eventually came to do the same with all of the dead.
—Khepri, a scarab beetle god of the morning, connected to the way such beetles roll a ball of mud or dung
—Khefthernebes, a minor deity personifying the Theban necropolis
—Khenty-irty, a localized falcon deity eventually integrated into Horus
—Khenty-khety, another local falcon deity eventually integrated with Horus
—Kherty, an underworld ram-headed god of protection and hostility
—Khnum, a creative deity and one of the most important members of the pantheon, held to flood the Nile with waters from an underground caver, and also depicted as a potter who formed living creatures on his potter’s wheel.
—Khonsu, an important Theban lunar god, he seems to have gone through a significant shift from an early vicious god to a later protective/healing/provider god
—Maat, the personification of maat, the concept of justice and cosmic order; an important deity but not one that typically had cults of her own
—Mafdet, possibly a mongoose-deity who could protect against snakes and other dangers
—Mahes, a lion god said to be son of Bastet or Sekhmet
—Mehen, a protective serpent god who protected the dead king and the sun god in the underworld.
—Mehet-Weret, a cow goddess mother of Re who placed him, as the sun disk, between her horns
—Mekhit, a lioness goddess and consort of Anhur.
—Menhyt, a not-well-known lioness goddess from Edfu and the delta region
—Meretseger, “she who loves silence,” was the goddess of the pyramid-like mountain above the Valley of the Kings that protected the necropolis, usually depicted as a coiled serpent.
—Merhyt, a goddess of water, possibly representing the two halves of the Nile valley as well (upper/lower)
—Merit, a goddess of music who helped bring about cosmic order from her music
—Merwel/Mandulis, a Nubian solar god worshipped into the Hellenistic period.
—Meskhenet, a goddess of childbirth who also decided their life destinies
—Mestjet, a poorly known local lioness goddess who was one of the “Eyes of Re” along with many other goddesses.
—Min, an important deity throughout the years who represented male fertility
—Mnevis/Mer-Wer/Nem/Wer, a divine bull second in importance to Apis, and had a similar oracular element.
—Montu, the falcon-headed war god of the Thebes region and a significant deity in his own right, but eventually associated with Horus and Re
—Mut, wife of Amun (displacing Amaunet) by the late Middle Kingdom in the theology of Thebes, and associated with the pharaoh’s wife
—Nebet-hetepet, female counterpart of Atum, similar to Iusaas
—Neferhetep, a child of Hathor who represented the transformation of his mother into a caring mother, and possibly symbolizing both children and the conception of children
—Nefertem, a god that represented the primeval lotus from which the sun god rose, as well as perfumes; he was seen as the son of a number of female deities.
—Nehebu-Kau, a serpent god whose name means “he who harnesses the spirits,” and was a beneficial protection god.
—Nehemtawy, consort of Nehebu-Kau or Thoth
—Neith, an ancient and important goddess with many roles, including creation, motherhood, and a warrior/hunter aspect
—Nekhbet, a vulture goddess who represented Upper Egypt and alongside Wadjet of Lower Egypt represented the unified Egyptian kingdom; she also had a mothership aspect and was closely related to the pharaoh.
—Nemty, an early falcon-deity integrated into Horus early
—Neper, a grain deity who may have been a precursor of Osiris
—Nun, the personification of the primordial waters from which creation arouse and which still exists outside of the created world.
—Pakhet, fierce huntress deity in the form of a lioness, known as the “Goddess at the entrance of the wadi;” her name means “she who scratches” or “tearer” and was associated with Artemis by the Greeks.
—Panebtawy was a god of kingship and the unification of upper and lower Egypt, and seen as a child of Horus and Hathor.
—Peteese and Pihor, deified twins who drowned in the Nile around the 26th dynasty.
—Qadesh, a Syrian goddess associated with Min and Reshep, associated with sexual ecstasy.
—Raet/Raettawy, the feminine form of the name Ra/Re, and his counterpart but rarely depicted or worshipped.
—Renenutet, a serpent goddess who was a harvest goddess and a divine nurse-maid.
—Renpet, the goddess and personification of the year
—Reret, a hippopotamus goddess who represented a constellation (Draco) and ensured the polar “imperishable” stars stayed in the sky.
—Reshep, a West Semitic war and storm god, who often retained Syriac iconography.
—Ruty, a pair of lions who represented the horizons and the sun.
—Sah, the personification of the constellation Orion
—Satis, an Upper Egypt goddess who guarded the southern frontier of Egypt and was seen as consort to Khnum or Montu, as well as purifying the dead with water from Elephantine
—Sed, a poorly understood canine god who may be an aspect of Wepwawet
—Sekhmet, who was the most important leonine deity and had an aggressive warrior aspect and a protective/healing aspect
—Sepa, a centipede-god linked to Horus with an aspect of protection against snake bites
—Serapis, a merging of Osiris and the Apis bull who became important in the Hellenistic period when he took on many Greek traits and absorbed portions of a number of Greek gods.
—Seret, a poorly attested lioness goddess, possibly Libyan in origin
—Serket, a protective scorpion-goddess, paired with Neith as Isis is paired with Nephthys; could protect and also punish
—Seshat, goddess of scribal work, libraries, the census, and bookkeeping
—Shesmetet, known as the “Lady of Punt, possibly indicating an external origin, and generally associated with Bastet or Sekhmet.
—Shay, the personification of destiny and fate, as in the inevitability of eventual death
—Shed, a child protective deity who protected against wild animals, battle, illness, and hostile magic.
—Shentayet, a cow goddess whose name meant “widow,” eventually integrated with Isis
—Shepet, a hippopotamus goddess who was probably an aspect of Reret or Taweret.
—Shezmu, a deity of wine with dangerous and positive aspects.
—Sia, the personification of perception or mind, counterpart to Hu.
—Sky Bull/Bull of the West, an entity associated with the afterlife that has seven cow consorts.
—Sokar, an early falcon deity possibly associated with crafts, but primarily associated with a boat of the afterlife. Integrated with both Ptah and Osiris.
—Sopdet/Sothis, goddess of the star Sirius, who heralded the flooding of the Nile and the start of the new year; her consort was Sah and her child Soped/Sopdu
—Sopdu, a falcon god in some ways similar to Horus but also seen as a protector of the eastern regions of the realm
—Ta-Bitjet, a protective scorpion-goddess invoked in spells of anti-venom
—Tasenetnofret, a local version of Hathor in the area of Kom Ombu.
—Tatenen, personification of the creation of land rising from the primeval waters, and the revealing of the fertile land after inundation by the Nile.
—Taweret, a protective hippopotamus goddess often depicted as a pregnant bipedal hippo with a female wig.
—Tayet, a weaving goddess
—Tjenenyet, joint consort of Montu with Iunit in Armant
—Tutu, often depicted as a chimeric god with a lion’s body, human head, bird wings, and snake tail from the Hellenistic period that wards off evil and said to be son of Neith.
—Wadj-Wer, a deity of the fecundity, perhaps representing watery lands like in the delta of the Nile
—Wadjet, an important cobra goddess and counterpart to Nekhbet, representing Lower Egypt; she protected the pharaoh and slew his enemies with her fiery breath
—Waset/Wosret, an important tutelary goddess of Thebes (whose name is the Egyptian form of the city’s name)
—Weneg, personification of the order of the universe holding back primeval chaos, and judging the dead.
—Wenet, known as “the swift one” with a depiction of a desert hare; also had a male counterpart of Wenenu.
—Wepset, a serpent goddess of fiery breath, possibly a version of Wadjet
—Wepwawet, a canine deity who seems to have been an “opener of ways” in many senses, and lead the pharaoh to the afterlife.
—Weret-Hekau, a serpent goddess whose name means “great of magic” of “great enchantress,” and seems to be a manifestation of Wadjet.
—Yam, a West Semitic god of destruction defeated by Baal, or Set in Egyptian interpretation; may have represented winter storms to Egyptian seafarers.