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ancient Egyptian gods "b"
Baal:
During the New Kingdom, as Egypt began expanding its empire into
the Near East, several gods local to that region began to be
worshipped by Egyptians. Among these foreign gods were Qetesh,
Reshep and Baal. Baal was a western Semitic god of storms and
the skies whose worship in Egypt was established by the 18th
Dynasty. By 1400 B.C., he was an important god to the Canaanites
and was mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as a competitor with God
for the affections of the Israelites. The Bible described Baal
as killing and eating human beings (Jeremiah 19).
According to Near Eastern mythology, Baal destroyed Yam, the god
of the Great Green (the Mediterranean Sea). Baal himself was
killed later by Mot, the Semitic god who personified death.
Baal's sister and consort, Anat, resurrected him. Anat was a
warrior-goddess who went on to avenge Baal's murder by cleaving
Mot with her sword, throwing his body into a fire, then grinding
his bones and feeding the remains to the birds and animals of
the fields.
Baal and Anat were also said to have mated while in the guise of
a bull and a cow.
Despite the obvious parallels between Baal's murder and
resurrection and Osiris's murder and resurrection by his sister
Isis, a connection between the two gods was not made by Baal's
worshippers in Egypt. Rather, Baal was commonly identified with
Osiris's murder, Seth. Seth and Baal were both gods of storms.
In the narratives of the Battle of Kadesh, Pharoah Rameses II
was called "Seth, great of strength, and Baal himself."
Baal was depicted as a powerful warrior with a curved,
Syrian-style, beard. He wore a horned helmet and carried various
weapons, including a sword, a club made from a ceder tree, or a
thunderbolt.
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Bastet:
This royal goddess is first depicted as a lion and then in later
times as a cat. On occasion she is shown as a woman with a cat’s
head, holding a Sistrum (musical instrument) and the Ankh (sign
of life). The main center where she was worshiped was Bubastis
which was east of the Delta. Her cult occurred from the Old
Kingdom onward. She was renowned as a pleasure-loving goddess
and as the patroness of music and dance. She was also regarded
as the protector of pregnant women. In addition, she is said to
have protected men from diseases and from various demons. Even
during Roman times she was popular and her festivals were some
of the most attended. The festivals were sometimes centered
around pranks and various forms of intoxication. The festivals
would end with a parade whereby most Egyptians were fully
intoxicated. However, she was also worshiped in Memphis where
she as associated with the local goddess Sakhmet. Some records
show that she had further associations with Hathor and Mut. In
Heliopolis she was regarded as the daughter of the creator god
Atum. During the Late Period and in the Greco-Roman era there
were many cat bronzes dedicated to her.
Bes:
The first time that this god was mentioned was in the Old
Kingdom but still continued to be popular in the later eras of
Egypt. He is shown as being small in stature, grotesque, having
an alarming face, and having a beard. Sometimes he is shown as a
dwarf with a protruding tongue, bowed legs, and large ears. On
other occasions he is seen wearing animal skins and also having
a protruding tail. In the mythological god world it is believed
that he had close connections to
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