Comparison Between Egyptian and Norse Gods
| Criteria | Egyptian Gods | Norse Gods |
|---|---|---|
| Images | 
| 
|
| Depiction of gods |
-Early Dynasty - Animals -Old Kingdom - Human with animal faces | -Human - male and female |
| Number of gods | -More than 2000 gods - Some, such as Ra were worshipped throughout the whole country. while most had only a local cult center | -Only 50 gods - worshipped by all Norse people (no dedicated cult cities or local gods) |
| Main gods | 1- Ra - the sun god and the lord of the universe 2- Amun - flourished in the New Kingdom. 3- Ptah - Memphis main deity 4- Osiris - god of the underworld who made a peaceful afterlife possible | -Odin, Thor and Freya |
| Dwelling | -Temples - were the dwelling places of gods, every god had his dedicated temple which were accessible by Priests and Pharaohs |
-Asgard - the home and citadel of the gods. It was located in the heaven and was accessible only over the rainbow bridge, Bifrost -The Germanic tribes never had temples |
| Sacrifice | -Daily offerings to gods in temples, consisting of food and drink - No Human sacrifice | -frequent Human sacrifices, specially to god Odin, these included defeated kings and soldiers in battles |
| Forces of universe |
-Gods commanded the universe with no rivals ( Seth is a wicked god who commanded the desert). -Supreme, powerful and immortal gods | -Daemons and giants rivaled the gods - The Norse myths held that Asgard would be destroyed in a final battle in which the demons would overcome the gods, this vision of the end times is uniquely pessimistic showing the gods capable of being defeated |
Egyptian Gods Family Trees
Thebes Family Tree
This holy triad consisted of:
Heliopolis Family Tree
This holy triad consisted of:
- Ptah the god of wisdom, and his consort Sekhmet, the goddess of war
- Imhotep the architect of Saqqara was considered their son
Memphis Family Tree
- Ra was the creator of gods, his manifestations were: Khepri at sunrise, Horakhty at noon and Atum at night
- Hathor the cow goddess was Ra's daughter and consort
- The children of Ra were:
- The children Of Shu and Tefnut were Geb the god of air, and his sister/consort Nut the sky goddess
- The four children of Geb and Nut were:
- Anubis the god of embalming, was an illegitimate son of Osiris and Nephthys
- Horus the sky god, was the son of Isis and Osiris
Other Gods
- Aten the sun disk
- Bes the dwarf god
- Apep the giant snake
- Khnum the great potter
- Apis the divine bull
- Min the male of the mountain
- Serapis the Ptolemaic fertility god
- Sobek the crocodile god
The Development of Monotheism
