The Mightiest Gods of Egyptian Mythology | The Gods of Egypt | The Mightiest Gods Series 4

[Music] [Applause] [Music] once upon a time the universe was an infinite empty mass of chaos and nothingness for there existed nothing actually there existed something the cosmos was not all that empty there existed four pairs of primordial beings four pairs of ancient forces forces from which every other thing would come to be found they were the primeval waters the infinite eternity the gloomy darkness and the invisible air the water was called none his female form norn it and he had no end he could not be measured or fathomed he was an abyss a primeval watery abyss the eternity was called hair his female form how het and he was in existence outside of time an existence without an end he was the infinite time a time without limit the darkness was called kook his female form kauket and he was the primeval knight which concealed all with the veil of its being that dark witch pervaded all before light came he was the ancient knight the primordial gloom the last of these forces was the invisible air and the last would come to lead the rest this invisible heir was called a moon his female form anunet and he was that most revered force which gives life that which is everywhere but cannot be seen he was the creative life force the hidden yet only present one these eight primordial deities were known by one name they were called the ogdode which means the eightfold and were worshiped by early egyptians in a place called kamanu or magna which means the city of the eight thus they are the ogdode of kamunu but when the greeks came to egypt they modified this name to suit their belief system changing it from the ogdode of kamanu to the ogdode of hermopolis which means the eightfold of the city of hermes but why hermopolis why call it the city of hermes why hermes of all the other greek gods because the city kamunu was the major cult center of the egyptian god thoth it was a city built by thoth to worship the most ancient eight and who is the greek equivalent of thoth hermes so isn't hermopolis quite fitting it is they call him the hidden one the one who is everywhere but cannot be seen the lord of truth the father of gods the creator of animals and mankind the lord of things that are the creator of the staff of life the amalgamation of two powerful deities a moon ra was formed by the fusion of two ancient deities a moon and ra a moon was the primordial god of the infinite heir a member of the powerful ogdode of hermopolis who sat at the very top of the pantheon while ra was the bright shining god of the sun who blessed all that breathed and lived with his life-giving rays bright as the sun and proud as the eagle a moon ra is the supreme god of egyptian mythology and the protector of ancient egypt known by different other names and equal to no other he was a self-created deity the patron of pharaohs the benefactor of mankind the caretaker of the poor and troubled the king of men and gods alike in the beginning there was nothing but eight most ancient deities known as the octod the primeval waters none and none it the eternal time hair and how head the gloomy darkness kook and cow kid and the hidden air a moon and amunet a moon became independent of the other primordial beings rising to prominence and absolute power he rose above the octode and could no longer remain a part of them he had become whole and that which is whole cannot remain apart thus there needed to be a replacement in order to maintain the balance of the eightfold have you ever heard of the saying that the number four represents balance and so there came another primordial force there came void a void known as near his female form called neat they say the infinite air of a moon gathered and condensed into a cosmic egg incubating for many years and when this cosmic egg hatched out came a moon more powerful than ever a creator god in his own right the ogdoid bowed before him hailing him with realm shaking howls for he had the power to create and destroy the power over life death and resurrection a moon went forth to shape the universe as he pleased from the primeval waters of none he called forth the shining sun and called him ra a moon fused with the sun and became a moon ra combining the invisible force of the air with the visible majesty of the life-giving sun he became an all-encompassing deity a god without limits he would also come to fuse with many of his godly descendants becoming the omnipresent omnipotent and omniscient one seconding no other past present and future when a moon ra had shaped the universe he saw that all was perfect and the sight of such wonders made him cry his tears fell to the earth and became humans mortal beings he was proud of but not for long for as time passed the humans became wicked and selfish and a moon rag grew angry with them for their atrocious acts when he could no longer tolerate their wickedness he summoned one of his daughters a ferocious lioness called sekhmet and sent this wild lioness into the world to make humanity suffer after sekhmet had caused massive destruction and bloodshed a moon ra decided to save the remaining humans so they could bring forth a new generation of offspring a better generation but even at his command sekhmet would not stop killing she had gone out of control she had become obsessed with bloodshed a moon ra turned a river into red wine in a trick to calm this beast and sekhmet thinking the red river was blood drank so much of it that she became so drunk and fell asleep from intoxication a moon ra then absorbed her back into his divine eye ready to unleash her again when the need arises a moon ra's favorite form is that of an eagle the form in which he often appears with a strong muscular build of a man and the lofty majestic head of an eagle he wears the golden sun over his royal headdress appearing in all glory and splendor the solar disk being his most significant symbol during the golden age a moon ra ruled all of egypt through the pharaohs and revealed his will through the oracles and priests he shared a symbiotic relationship with the pharaohs the pharaohs deriving their divine powers from a moon ra in return for spreading his cult and worship far and wide whichever pharaoh went contrary to his will suffered severe difficulties a moon ra had an arch enemy whom he was in constant eternal battle with this archenemy was apophis the great evil serpent also known as apep who sought only one thing to destroy the world to swallow the universe into his dark being into eternal night where only darkness death rot wickedness evil and suffering would prevail did you know that every day the sun went down there was no absolute certainty that it would rise again did you know that each day the greater moon ra sailed the sun through the sky from dawn to dusk descending into the underworld he was never sure he would make it out through the night why because as he passes through the darkness of the night he is attacked by a serpent so enormous that it could circle the earth this serpent is apophis some call him app and there in the deep dark underworld he lays in weight every single night with only one intent to kill a moon ra and prevent sunrise again why is that once upon a time when the universe was yet unformed there existed only eight primordial gods so you have heard but did you know that somewhere in that empty universe in that vast chaos existed yet another deity somewhere in that abysmal cosmos was apophis but he was not like the octode he was a deviant who reveled in only darkness and chaos for that was what he personified thus when a moon replaced the chaos with order apophis was greatly annoyed this new universe he hated the life and beauty he loathed worst still when a moon ra created the sun placing it in the center of the cosmos the serpent knew he could no longer remain in the celestial plains for the light burned through his darkness it dispelled the night it dispelled apophis the serpent withdrew to the one place where this evil light could not penetrate the underworld and there he remains ever since patiently waiting for a moon ra with whom he has sworn eternal enemy apophis has only one purpose he would kill a moon ra and all life shall end he would swallow his great ball of light and the universe shall be returned to its initial state of eternal darkness a moon ra did not realize how much of a threat apophis was until he battled and killed the serpent only for it to come back to life larger and stronger the sun god returned to the underworld the following night and to his dismay met this very serpent he had killed the night before still alive but more vicious looking time and again a moon ra would kill apophis and time and again the serpent would come back to life apophis was becoming increasingly difficult to handle every night that passed he was becoming stronger with each death and the threat he posed to the world was becoming more imminent thus thenceforth whenever it was time for a moonra to pass through the underworld with the sun many of the other powerful gods would accompany him through the night for they could no longer stand by and wait for this great evil to come for them all and cursed be the night that a moon raffles to the serpent for they would no longer have a prayer even though the gods killed apophis every night cutting him up to pieces the serpent regenerated and became whole before the next night ready to resume the war how long could this continue alas alas the gods could not end apophis but apophis could end them apophis only needs one moment of luck just one night of luck and that would be it all will be as he wants [Music] as a moon ra proceeded to create the world he opened his mouth and out of it poured a massive body of water this water was called tefnut from his nose he breathed out a puff of air so dry yet so cool and refreshing this air was called shoe from the union of tefnut and shoe came the dry lands and the vast sky the dry land called geb and the vast sky called newt geb and knew it became locked in an intimate embrace and would not let go but a moon rash saw that if these two were not separated this home he was making would be uninhabitable so he commanded shu the dry air to separate geb and nuet stepping in between the two shu pushed knew it far up into the high while standing on geb so that he stayed pinned below shu remains in this position thus forever separating the earth and the sky knew it conceived from her union with geb and when it was time she brought forth four lesser deities osiris isis seth and nephathies these four lesser deities along with the four elders and their creator would collectively be known as the ahmed the great nine of egyptian mythology osiris god of fertility and agriculture god of the dead and afterlife god of life and resurrection son of geb and newt the lord of silence he who is forever benign and youthful once upon a time as the eldest child of geb and knew it osiris ruled ancient egypt as king with his sister wife isis by his side as queen he taught his people how to farm and cultivate the lands and how to live peacefully with one another he was kind and strong loved and respected by the people far and near alike there was only one person in the entire kingdom who harbored deep hatred for osiris it was his brother seth seth had grown greatly jealous of his brother's fame and power and so began plotting to kill him and usurp the throne one night as everyone slept seth quietly crept into the king's bedroom and measured osiris's body from top to bottom and from side to side careful not to wake him or his queen at the coming of dawn seth took the measurements to a carpenter who then carved a magnificent wooden chest polished and decorated with sheets of gold the next night seth threw a huge party inviting the pharaoh osiris as guest of honor the powerful isis was to accompany her husband to this strange party but knowing fully well that he could not carry out his wicked plan with the goddess around seth convinced osiris to leave his wife behind it was a night for the men just the men how cunning the night was spent feasting singing dancing and playing games for the final game seth brought out the magnificent wooden chest proclaiming that the first person to fit perfectly into the chest would be allowed to keep it one by one each of seth's friends climbed into the chest of course no one was able to fit in for it was not made for them it was made perfectly for ocearus the pharaoh of egypt was not one for child's play he was known for his austerity and chose not to participate in the game however seth and his accomplices convinced him to try his luck one night of fun and games would do him no harm seth said but it would it would do him great harm osiris stepped into the chest and laid down the chest fit in perfectly just as planned and just as ossuaris settled into it seth slammed the lid and sealed it shut he carried the chest down to the nile river and dumped it in knowing that the pharaoh would not survive the pharaoh struggled for air right until his organs failed him he had suffocated in egypt osiris is also known as or sir isis mother of all gods queen mother of ancient egypt goddess of magic and healing daughter of gabe and newt sister and wife to osiris and sister of seth and nephathies she is better known as orset in egypt once upon a time seth killed his brother osiris and usurped the throne discarding his brother's body in the nile river to be washed away oh how terribly sad isis was when she heard the news of her husband's death rushing to the riverbank she desperately searched for her husband's body and after several days of searching she found the wooden chest that seth had buried him in opening the chest isis broke down in tears as she saw the cold dead body of her beloved isis knew she had to perform the proper rituals that would allow her husband to pass on to the afterlife so she left him shortly in order to gather the materials needed for the ritual hiding the corpse in the river grass away from sight till she returned but while she was away seth visited the riverbank to make sure osiris's corpse had been washed away but to his alarm he found the chest wide open on the shore nothing was in it furious seth began searching for the corpse he knew this was isis's doing what was that which up to now was she going to use her magic to try bring the dead back to life seth wondered if ocearus came back to life it would surely mean his doom and all his efforts would have been in vain to ensure that never happened when seth found the corpse in the river grass he cut it up into 14 pieces some say 26 pieces scattering the pieces all over egypt so they would never be found on her return to the riverbank isis saw that someone had removed her husband's corpse she knew who had done it and she knew what he had done transforming into a huge bird isis flew over all of egypt for many nights until she recovered all the pieces with the help of her sister nephthys the god of mummification annabes and the god of wisdom thoth isis reassembled all the pieces to make it whole once again wrapping the body in strips of fine linen creating a mummy at that moment on the night of the full moon isis used her powerful magic to resurrect her husband it was a seth feared but not quite her magic would only last for one night and osiris would return to the land of the dead isis spent those few hours with her husband conceiving a son that night her son would be called horus and when he comes of age he would battle his wicked uncle for his rightful place as pharaoh of egypt horus god of kingship and nobility god of the high skies the falcon-headed lord the one who is above the one who is distant son of ossiris and isis when horus was born isis hid him in the marshland of the nile protecting him from the poisonous snakes scorpions crocodiles and wild animals of the nile but most importantly from the eyes of seth as horus grew he learned to ward off the dangers of the nile by himself killing the reptiles and all manner of beasts that threatened him and his mother and by the time he became an adult he was strong enough to challenge his uncle seth for the throne horus confronted seth and a violent battle began they were evenly matched and horus was in his prime full of youth and vigor during the fight however seth gouged out the left eye of horus throwing it down from a top where they fought the eye magically became a living symbol of its own possessing the power to heal and restore they call it the warjet which means the eye of horus although left with one eye horus was still able to best seth emerging victorious in the vicious battle because seth had wrongly killed his brother and forcefully taken over the throne he was deemed guilty and unfit to rule thus seth was banished forever and horus became the new king restoring peace and order once more in all of egypt this is the story of horus seth god of the deserts and foreign lands god of violence and disorder god of storms eclipses and earthquakes the frightening one son of geb and newt brother to osiris isis and nephathies once upon a time seth ruthlessly murdered his brother osiris and claimed the throne of egypt commanding the obedience of his subjects with fear force and harsh punishments his reign of terror did not last for too long for his brother's son horus challenged and defeated him in combat becoming the new ruler and banishing seth from the realms of men for eternity as payment for his crimes with nowhere to go seth wasted in a no man's land until a moon ra took pity on him and relieved him of his penance ra adopted him as his son and there seth swore eternal allegiance to his benefactor to the surprise of all seth proved he was never truly an evil being he became the thunder in the sky protecting ra from the dark serpent apophis during his nightly travels through the underworld he became the loyal servant of a moon and like his master the mortal enemy of apophis so why had seth been wicked up to this moment and what made him change seth was once a child born into a royal household but perhaps he never received the love and importance his elder brother osiris enjoyed he watched from the shadows as ocearus heir to the throne was always showered with praises care attention and good will while he was mostly ignored he gradually grew jealous and it poisoned his heart perhaps with a moon ra it was different he was finally important useful loved as god of the baron deserts seth never had any children with his wife and sister nephathies and now as a formidable warrior god who restrained the forces of darkness the respect for seth grew over and outside egypt particularly among pharaohs annabes god of death and mummification god of embalming and the afterlife god of cemeteries and tombs guardian of the dead and the underworld being one of the most iconic gods of ancient egypt the ancient egyptians originally knew him as onpu or inpu and he appeared in the oldest mastabas of the old kingdom and the pyramid texts as a guardian and protector of the dead onpu so much piqued the interest of foreigners especially greek visitors and it was then the greeks gave him the name annabes annabes is a half-man half-canine having the head of a wolf or a jackal and the body of a man wild logs and jackals often looked the edges of the desert near graves and cemeteries where the dead were buried and it is thought that the first egyptian tombs were constructed to protect the dead from these lurkers but in contrast to wild dogs and jackals annabes was a protector of graves and cemeteries he has a shiny black fur closely linked to fertility and rebirth in the afterlife long and alert ears terrifying fangs and sharp claws and red glowing eyes or in most myths black bead like eyes initial myths claimed that annabees was the son of ra and he sat however later myth suggested that he was the son of ossuaris and nephathies some say seth and nephathies other myths described him as the son of bast because of her link to the perfumed oils used in embalming the dead anna annabes had a wife named anput who is just his female version and the two bore the serpentine kibeshe goddess of purification annabes was originally known as the god of the underworld in the first dynasty but by the middle kingdom around 2055 to 2650 bc he was replaced by osiris in his role as lord of the underworld so he became associated specifically with the embalming process and funeral rites one of his prominent roles was as the guide of souls it was he who ushered souls into the afterlife he led the deceased to the halls of mart where they would be judged he attended the weighing scale during the weighing of the heart in which it was determined whether a soul would be allowed to enter the realm of the dead he watched over the whole scale weighing process and ensured that the weighing of the heart was conducted correctly he then led the innocent onto a heavenly existence and abandoned the guilty to amit in elaboration souls heavier than a feather would be devoured by amit while souls lighter than a feather would ascend to a heavenly existence as an embalmer annabes handled the embalming and mummification process the ancient egyptians believed that the preservation of the body and the use of sweet-smelling herbs and plants would help the deceased because annabees would sniff the mummy and only let the pure move on to paradise in addition to being the patron of funeral rites annabees is also the patron of lost souls including orphans and the destitute his battle prowess was never in doubt the myths told of how anabes took on and defeated the nine bows gaining the title jackal ruler of the bose the nine bose is a collective name for the traditional enemies of ancient egypt tombs in the valley of the kings were often sealed with an image of annabees subduing the nine bose enemies of egypt and presiding over them as their ruler the reason this image is sealed to tombs is that it is believed that annabes would protect the burial physically and spiritually keeping watch from the hill above the fiba necropolis still speaking of his battle prowess there is another popular tale of how anna bees helped isis to defend and embalm osiris after osiris had been killed by seth seth attempted to attack the body of osiris by transforming himself into a leopard however annabees fought and subdued him branding seth's skin with a hot iron rod and then flaying him and wearing his skin as a warning against evildoers who would desecrate the tombs of the dead thenceforth priests who attended to the dead wore leopard skin in order to commemorate annabee's victory over seth the legend of ambi's branding the height of seth in leopard form is used to explain how the leopard got its spots annabees is usually associated with the eye of horus which they say helped him find osiris he's also associated with the greek god hermes and thus referred to as hemanubis the combination of the messenger god and the guardian of the dead annabes was revered and worshiped throughout egypt the center of his cult being in hardy in the 17th nome of upper egypt the greeks call him thoth the egyptians call him tehuti he is god of the moon god of reckoning god of learning and god of writing he is the bull of heliopolis and son of the moon he spreads out the seats of the gods he knows their mysteries their laws he enforces evil deeds he turns against the doer behold the vizier who judges all men who vanquishes evil who recalls all that is forgotten he is the reckoner of time and his words abide forever tahuti invented and taught humanity the art of writing he created the languages and gave mankind the knowledge to speak them he is the scribe the interpreter the advisor of the gods and the representative of a moon ra when isis was pregnant with her son horus thoth helped protect her from the reaches of her enemies when horus lost his sight during his battle with seth it was thoth who gave him back his sight thoth weighed the hearts of the deceased at their judgment and gave report to the god of the underworld osiris and the guardian of the dead annabes the greeks gave him the name thoth which means the thrice great and associate him with their god hermes his sacred animals are the ibis and the baboon he who dwelleth amid his terror seizing his prey like a ravening beast he is the great fish which is in kamui the lord to whom bowings and prostrations are made in second he is the great lord of the nile and crocodiles the one who gave life to vegetation and fertility to the land his name is sobek some say it was he who rose from the primeval waters of none to create the world he who laid his eggs on the bank of the waters starting the creation process and he who made possible the rebirth of the deceased into the afterlife he is the god of pharaonic power strength virility fertility and military prowess these old myths tell that sobek is as old as the world itself while popular accounts totally disagree saying that sobek was never a primordial god neither was he the creator of the world his father is seth the god of thunder storms war and chaos while his mother is nath the goddess of war hunting and wisdom sobek had a family of his own his wife was rene mutet the goddess of plenty who brought good fortune to the ancient egyptians and his sons were konam and konsu in addition to his wife he had the goddesses hathor heket and taweret as his consorts sobek is a protective deity with apotropaic qualities invoked particularly for protection against the dangers presented by the nile he controlled the waters and the fertility of the soil thus he is called the lord of the waters the rager and lord of faiyum in the early times sobek was believed to be a dark god who had to be appeased to give the people his protection against crocodiles he was an aggressive and animalistic deity who lived up to the vicious reputation of the large and violent nile crocodile he is during that time he was a god whom people reviled he was given the names he who loves robbery he who eats while he also mates and pointed of teeth he was believed to attack the deceased in the underworld a friend to seth and an enemy to the other gods once upon a time in these early tales when seth scattered the pieces of osiris throughout egypt sobek ate the last piece and was punished for this crime by getting his tongue cut off when isis bore her son horus she had to place him into a little boat of papyrus reeds to protect him from a menacing sobeck this was just how mean the crocodile god was said to be in the earliest times however as time passed later myths began to recognize the benign side of sobek they began to see him as a benevolent and protective god no longer a malevolent and destructive one and once upon a time in contrast to that first old tale of ossuaris it was actually sobek who carried the dead body of ossiris to the bank of the nile on his back to protect him against seth he never ate the last piece of osiris and he never meant horus any harm then fourth the egyptians venerated sobek as the one who restored sight to the dead who revived their senses and who protected them from seth the real attacker of those souls that traveled through the land of the dead sobek is still known for his viciousness till today but this time his fierceness is meant to ward off evil while simultaneously defending the innocent in times of need he gives the pharaoh strength and fortitude so that he may overcome all obstacles he protects the pharaoh from all harm especially evil magic but as it is not all the egyptians loved sobek and his sacred animal the nile crocodile so while some people tamed crocodiles and worshiped them as the god himself other people reviled him mercilessly killing crocodiles because of their vicious and dangerous nature thus he is seen as an ambivalent deity nevertheless whether sobek was loved or reviled one thing was certain and that is that all the people of ancient egypt greatly feared the power and wrath of the crocodile god for he was a force to reckon with in the egyptian pantheon there is a lion goddess of two different personalities a deity of dual nature on one side she is benign and loving and on the other side she is ferocious and malevolent in her benign state she is the goddess of pregnancy childbirth domestication and fertility and her name is bast some call her bastet while in her ferocious state she is the goddess of warfare bloodlust and protector of pharaohs and her name is sukhmet bhast was sekhmet sekhmet was best two yet one different yet the same sekhmet representing the warrior and protector and bast representing the gentle mother and caregiver the daughter of ra bast is one of the powerful deities who accompany the sun god during his nightly travels to the underworld aiding him in his battle against the serpent apophis bast cares for the sick and afflicted protecting against contagious diseases and evil spirits however when mankind draws the ire of ra he invokes the vengeful manifestation of fast he invokes sekhmet to punish them for their crimes with every breath sekhmet took fire flared from her nose and mouth she could call down plagues whenever she willed the hot winds of the deserts were said to be her breath and the plagues were said to be her messengers and servants sekhmet had the strong tendency to go out of control and become overly obsessed with bloodlust and death thus ra reserved this goddess only as a last resort when he deemed that the intensity of mankind's sins was deserving of the suffering and bloodshed sekhmet would bring [Music] hathor lady of turquoise lady of the west patroness of the region of the dead she is the goddess of the sky the goddess of women and the goddess of love and fertility a mother goddess who maintained all life on earth she was also the goddess of dance and music of joy and happiness she is the most beautiful daughter of the sun god ra a beloved caretaker who provided food for the living as well as the dead when they passed on to the underworld it is believed that whoever carried her clothing would have a safe journey through the underworld hathor did not appear in many myths she was a reserved goddess who concerned herself with only her duties and obligations interfering in the affairs of humans or fellow gods only if need be her animal symbol is the cow you

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Keywords: mythology, mythology explained, mythology and folklore, The Mightiest Gods of Egyptian Mythology, Ogdoad, Amun-Ra, Apep, Apophis, Ennead, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Seth, Anubis, Thoth, Sobek, Sekhmet, Hathor, The Mightiest Gods Series, bastet, egyptian gods, gods of egypt, egyptian mythology, african mythology, egyptian gods and goddesses, mythology - folklore a-z, the gods of egypt, egyptian myths, egyptian mythology stories, egyptian goddess, egypt, egyptian mythology documentary, ancient egypt

Id: 8UxFTXcXgvg

Length: 46min 2sec (2762 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 15 2021