Maahes

Maahes was an Egyptian war god, the son of Bast in Lower Egypt and Sekhmet in Upper Egypt. His father, depending on his ascendancy at the time was either Ptah,or Ra.He may have had a foreign origin, possibly Nubian, in particular Apedemak. He was rarely referred to by his name instead being referred to by such monikers as “Wielder of the knife”, “The Scarlett Lord” and “Lord of the Massacre”. These monikers leave no doubt as to his avocation! Although he has these names, he was not thought of as evil per se, rather, he was seen as a sort of law enforcer, meting out ‘just desserts’ to those that warranted it. As such, he was also given the monikers of “Avenger of Wrongs”, and “Helper of Wise ones”. Even though he had these blood thirsty monikers affixed to his characteristics and name, he was seen mostly as a protective god.

As Lions were considered to be connected with pharaohs, Maahes was seen as pharaoh’s protector. His seat of power was at Nay-t

a-hut, or Leontopolis. To protect his father /Ra, he travelled into the underworld at night to battle the god Apep, and protected the Pharaoh in battle.

Shu  

God of Air and Light.

Shu is a primordial god of light and air who provided illumination between the land of the living and the dead, day and night.  Being the god of air, he also gave the breath of life to all creation.  Being the god of winds, he was invoked by sailors to speed their boats.  The clouds which were considered to be his bones were used as a ladder for the deceased to climb up to heaven.

Shu was a part of the Ennead of Heliopolis in Lower Egypt.  He was created from the god Atum  whilst Atum was masturbating. There is an alternate myth which describes Atums’s wife Iusaaset, as being Shu’s mother.  His wife was Tefnut, who was also his sister.  Together, they were the parents of Geb, and Nut .  Shu protected Ra as he travelled through the night sky or the underworld, from Apep, thus allowing Ra to rise every morning.

It has been posited that Shu originated in Nubia.  The Egyptian and Nubian Kings sometimes depicted themselves as Shu to present themselves as the first born of the sun-god and hence divine rulers.  Shu lent credibility to the Pharaoh‘s right to rule through this implication.  Shu was also depicted as wearing a feather representative of the ‘breath of life.  This could be a reference to a role of being a giver of life.  Shu, for the most part, was seen as a protector. He also had the role of leading the demons in the Hall of Ma’at for those souls that were to be punished.  Shu was also seen to be second only to Ra in the Ennead of Heliopolis.  Shu, although not having a definite seat of power, was very popular throughout Egypt even during the Armana period.  Apparently, Akhenaton saw Shu as the son of a solar god, perhaps a personification of the Aten, and traditionally as symbol of the pharaohs’ divinity.

Sekhmet

Warrior goddess of Upper Egypt originally.  Her name means power or might.  She was usually depicted as a woman with the head of a Lioness, clothed in a red sheath which symbolized blood. Sekhmet is one of the oldest goddesses to be found in Egypt.  Sekhmet was said to be the daughter of Ra, a sun god.  Sekhmet had a duality to her personification.  She was on the one hand known to inspire terror in war, and on the other, a curer of diseases and an averter of plagues.  She was the protector of Ma’at(Justice, in this aspect she was a protector of universal laws.  In stories she was sent by Ra to wreak retribution of men for not following the laws of Ra.  She went into a frenzied blood lust and would not stop her slaughter even when Ra wanted her to.  Ra mixed beer and pomegranate juice together, the pomegranate juice to give it an appearance of blood.  Sekhmet gorged herself on the beer thus becoming drunk and promptly falling asleep for three day.  Upon awaking her bloodlust was satisfied.

Sekhmet’s seat of p

ower was at Memphis, her consort was Ptah and their child was Nefertum.

Amun

Amun was the main god for Ancient Egypt at various junctures in it’s history.  He gained ascendancy during the 12 dynasty but was at his most popular during the 18th dynasty, when the Hyksos were expelled.  His consort is Mut and his son is Khonsu.    His name means ‘the hidden one’.  Amun is self created with out parentage.  Amun is primeval.  Amun manifests  and is interchangeable with other gods.  Amun symbolizes the epitome of holiness due to his nature of being unknown.  In other words, one cannot fathom his divinity in all its’ complexities.

Amun was the  god of air, an intangible element, hence his name.  Air was one of the crucial four elements.  As such he was considered the breath of life, having a hand in creating the ba.  His female aspect, or a female deity with similar aspects is Amaunet, who has similar traits(goddess of air).  It is believed that Amun originated in Kush.

As one of Amun’s manifestations is that of a ram, he is considered a god of fertility.  For example, he absorbed the god Min and became Amun-Min. 

Other manifestations, were with the god Re, a sun god.

Amun’s seat of power was Thebes.

Amun eventually came to be seen as the chief god in the Egyptian hierarchy.  With the decline of Ancient Egypt, came the decline of Amun.