The Egyptian Gods their main centers of worship and some festival days

On this page: Ihy, Imhotep, Inpew, Ipet/Opet, Isis.

Please note - Festival days are an estimation compiled from several sources.

Ihy

Ihy was known since the Old Kingdom, when a shrine was built to him and to Hathor at Dendera, in the 4th Dynasty by Khufu. His name probably means 'sistrum player' or 'musician' and he was the personification of the joy and jubilation which was associated with the use of the sistrum in rites and worship. It is believed that his name could also mean 'calf', considering his mother Hathor´s bovine aspect. Ihy was the son of several deities: At Dendera, wehre he is most frequently mentioned, he was the son of Hathor, he is here depicted as a naked young boy wearing a sidelock of youth and with his finger in his mouth, denoting childhood. Sometimes he is holding the sistrum or the menat necklace, his symbols as well as his mother Hathor´s. He can also appear with the uraeus around his head. At Edfu he appears as Harsomptus, son of Hathor and Horus the Elder, the reslut of the Festival of the Beautiful Reunion which was celebrated once a year when Hathor travelled from Dendera to Edfu to join her spouse Horus. He was sometimes called the son of Isis, Nehptys and Sekhmet and though Horus was most often seen as his father, even Re had this position. Ihy was a deity associated both with music and sometimes with the afterlife. In the Coffin Texts and the Book of Going forth By Day, he is called the 'lord of bread and 'in charge of beer' probably alluding to the offerings but perhaps also associating him with the intoxication with went along with the worship of Hathor . This might seem strange but remember him being the son of Hathor who also had a funerary aspect. In the mammisi at Dendera, built by Nectanebo I , his divine birth - and the king´s - seems to have been enacted in the form of mystery plays in 13 acts. He was also celebrated as the divine son of Hathor at the later mammisi built here by Casear Augustus.

Main center of worship: Though the worship of Ihy is known since the 4th Dynasty, he is rarely mentioned outside of Dendera, which is to be considered as his main cult center.

Imhotep/Imouthes

Imhotep was a high courtier under King Djoser (Dynasty III), who was given the supreme privilege of having his name carved alongside that of Pharaoh himself. He held the offices of vizier and master sculptor. It is likely that he planned the Step Pyramid at Saqqara and the Egyptian priest Manetho stated that he was the inventor of building with blocks of dressed stone. In the Middle and New Kingdom Imhotep was revered principally as a scribe, and surviving bronzes depict him seated in the scribal position with a roll of papyrus open on his knees. This reverence led to his deification – an extremely rare honor – and in the Ptolemaic period, cult objects to Imhotep are found as far apart as Saqqara and Philae. Mention must also be made of his ability as a healer, and in Greek thinking he became associated with Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine. Finally, Imhotep’s association with Ptah (whose son he is considered to be by a lady called Khreduankh) led him to be venerated as an agent capable of renewing his father’s (i.e.Ptah’s) generative forces. A stele in the British Museum narrates the story of the Lady Taimhotep, who prayed to Imhotep for a son. (Her husband was High Priest of Ptah) Imhotep commanded the embellishment of his sanctuary in north Saqqara. This was done, and in due course Taimhotep conceived and gave birth to a son on Imhotep’s festival day.

Main center of worship: Thebes, where he was worshipped in conjunction with Amenhotep-Son-of-Hapu.4th Nome, Upper Egypt Other places: A sanctuary on the upper terrace of the temple at Deir el-Bahari:4th Nome, Upper Egypt Deir el-Medina: 4th Nome, Upper Egypt Philae: A chapel of Imhotep immediately in front of the eastern pylon of the temple of Isis:1st Nome, Upper Egypt . Memphis/1st Nome, Lower Egypt

Ipet/Opet

Ipy, Ipet, or Opet, a beneficient and protective hippopotamus goddess. She is mentioned already in the Pyramid Texts, where the king asks her to nurse him at her breasts so that he will 'neither thirst nor hunger.... forever'. Later she is called in funerary texts for 'Mistress of Magical protection'. Her name means 'favoured place' or 'harem' and she is also called 'Ipet-weret', the Great Ipet, which puts her close in association with Tawaret though they never fuse into one deity but keep their individuality. Ipet is depicted standing up as a female hippopotamus, with lion feet and human arms ending in lions´paws, her belly swollen like in pregnancy, and with human pendent breasts. Her back is shown sometimes as just the back and tail of a crocodile, sometimes as a full crocodile.

Main center of worship: Thebes seems to have been her cult center, where she was regarded as the mother of Osiris, which explains her associations to the afterlife. It was also here she was thought to have rested when she gave birth to Osiris and in the Late and Ptolemeian period there was a temple built to her on the spot, just west of the temple of Khonsu at Karnak - the temple of Ipet/Opet.

ISIS/ASET

ISIS and ASET are in effect two different deities. When the worship of Isis began to spread, Aset had already been forgotten for hundreds of years, for at this time only a small group of priests still knew how to read the hieroglyphs on the temple walls. Isis was a Roman deity, reminding of Demeter, a great and loving mother goddess, but her Egyptian origin had sunk into oblivion. The mixup with Aset comes from Greek and Roman interpretation. The Egyptian Aset ASET is the original ancient Egyptian deity, who we find mentioned for the first time in Dynasty IV. Then she was known in myth as the sister-spouse and mourner of Wesir (Gr: Osiris), mother of Heru (Gr: Horus) and sister of Nebt-Het (Gr: Nephtys) and Set, children of Geb and Nut of the Heliopolitan Ennead. Her name as it first appears, means "throne" or "seat", indicating the seat of kings, is the same as the hieroglyph above her head. This meant that she was the personified Throne of Egypt who made the kings. Thereby she was the King´s symbolical mother and as such of special significance to him, but in the early days she was not a mother goddess for common people. Together with her sister Nebt-Het (Gr: Nephtys) she is frequently seen on coffins in the form of a kite with outstretched wings protecting the deceased or in the Hall of Judgment standing protectively behind the throne of Wesir. In this aspect she is more a mortuary deity than a mother goddess and she and Nebt-Het are also mentioned in the Pyramid Texts as the 'mooring posts' to which the deceased laid to after their hazardous travel in the Underworld. In myth she comes forward much more fierce than a mother goddess, quite strongwilled and lashes out against attackers if need be. She sometimes appears as the scorpion goddess Serket and as the star Sopdet (Sirius, Gr: Sothis) she is considered to bring on the inundation of the Nile. The ancient Egyptians called her the "Eye of Re", thus giving her an association with the sun. She could be quite cunning and earned the epithet "Great of Heka" (Mistress of Magic) as in myth she managed to trick Ra into revealing his secret name to her, thus getting access to the geratest of knowledge. In the "Contendings of Horus and Set" she uses all her magic and trickery to help her son regain the throne of Wesir (Osiris) from his uncle Set. And in the most well known myth about her it is told how she mourned and searched for her husband Wesir (Osiris) who had been murdered by Set, how she succeeded in bringing him back to life and beget his son Heru (Horus). This myth goes back to the early dynastic days and became widely known and elaborated upon in later Roman days. In the Middle Kingdom her popularity rose among common people at the same time as the worship of her husband Wesir (Osiris) became spread among the non-royalties in the so-called 'Democratisation of the Afterlife'. During the New Kingdom Aset and Het-Hert began to merge and could only be identified, not by their iconography, but by their hieroglyphs. They were then both depicted wearing the sun-disc crowned with the two horns on top of their heads, which can lead to much confusion unless you can read their respective hieroglyphs. Her cult continued to develop throughout the New Kingdom, and into the Late period. During this time she incorporated most of the traits of the other great goddesses and also some gods. It was probably easy for people to identify with her, especially for women, because of her sufferings in myth as a widow and lonely mother. She was also greatly worshipped for her healing and protective powers and love spells and amulets (tyet knot) connected to Aset were frequently used. Her popularity grew and endured longer than any other Egyptian goddess into the Greek and Roman days when she became interpreted according to their cultural values and religious viewpoints: The Roman Isis ISIS is the Goddess of Ten Thousand Names, the Great Mother Goddess. She is the goddess for all women, the protector at childbirth, for nurturing and caring of children. She absorbed most of the different Egyptian goddesses´ properties and abilities during the Roman days. Her popularity spread far beyond Egypt, all around the Mediterranean. She was even considered a Creator Goddess, as can be read in the various and quite common Aretalogies of Isis. Plutharch, who elaborated on the myth of Isis and Osiris, associated her with the moon, which must be considered a sign of Roman influence, since the older form, the Egyptian Aset was associated with the sun and also since in ancient days Djehuty (Thoth) was the ancient Egyptian moon deity. So there is a distinction to be made between the origins of Aset and the Romanized deity Isis. Both of them are equally valid, but to mention Isis and failing to make this distinction will blur the picture and be unfair to both aspects of the deity.

Main center of worship (in Roman times): Iat-Rek/Philae,1st Nome, Upper Egypt Other sites: Esna/Contralatopolis (opposite Esna), 2nd Nome, Upper Egypt Djamet/Medinet Habu (Deir el Shelouit), 4th Nome, Upper Egypt Waset/Diospolis Magna/Thebes (at Shanhour, between Quis and Luxor), 4th Nome, Upper Egypt for Isis, Mut and others. Koptos/Gebtu/Qift 5th Nome, Upper Egypt Iunet/Tentyris/Dendera 6th N,Upper Egypt Diospolis Parva/Hut-Sekhem/Hiw 7th Nome,Upper Egypt Sebennytos/Tjebnutjer/Sammanud 12th N,Lower Egypt Island of Pharos, Alexandria, Lower Egypt For a closeup on Aset-Isis:Go Here For a virtual page about Philae: Go Here Read: Myths of Aset Isis knot Festival Days: (exact dates not historically verified) 17th of July, the 4th of the Epagomenal Days, is the Birhtday of Aset 19th July - 1st Thuti - Marriage of Isis and Osiris 12 August - 25th Thuti - Feast of Lights of Aset (Isis) 13 August - 26th Thuti -Aset gains the Horns of Het-Hert (Hathor) 30th August - 13th Paopi - Day of Satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead 24th September - 8th Hethara - Day of Going Forth of Aset (Isis) 3rd October - 17th Hethara - Lamentations of Aset (Isis)and Nebet-Het (Nephthys) for Wasir (Osiris) 10th October - 24th Hethara - Day of Going Forth of Aset (Isis) 29th October - 13th Koiak - Day of Going Forth of Het-Hert and the Ennead 12th November - 27th Koiak - Aset seeks the body of Wasir (Osiris) 13th November - 28th Koiak - Aset grieves the loss of Wasir (Osiris) 14th November - 29th Koiak - Aset rejoices as She finds Wasir (Osiris) 15th November - 30th Koiak - The Ennead feast in the House of Ra, Heru and Wasir 21st December - 6th Mechir - Winter Solstice - Feast of Aset (Isis) 25th December - 10th Mechir - Birth of Heru (Horus), the child of Aset (Isis), Day of elevating the Great Netjret (goddess) in all her names and manifestations. 7th January - 23rd Mechir - Festival of Aset (Isis) 8th January - 24th Mechir - Festival of Aset, Birth of Aion 10th January - 26th Mechir - Aset sees the face of Wesir (Osiris), Min Goes Forth to Coptos 23rd March - 8th Pachons - Festival of Aset