![]() While both were seen as dark, chthonic figures, the Greeks in Egypt did not equate them. Interestingly enough, I find no conflation with Seth and Hades inDr. Seth was the name the Greeks called him, and they associated him most with the monster Typhon. Over the centuries Set changed from this benevolent god to the murderer of Osiris and the force of all evil and chaos in the world. More time between us and the Ptolemies to be honest. But this was 3,000 years before the Ptolemies. He originally was the good protector god of Upper Egypt. In some cases, we have a syncretized Hermes-Anubis, or Hermanubis, as a psychopomp and protector of the dead. Some of Osiris' duties as lord of the dead get transferred to Annubis. While not equated with any Greek God in particular Anubis appears as a guide to Isis and advisor of Zeus-Serapis. Images of Isis nursing the infant Horus would later go on to influence the depictions of the Virgin Mary with infant Jesus. Gone was the Avenger Horus and now we get a proto-Christ Child in his place. Where he was envisioned as a child-like divinity. To complete the "holy trinity" of Father-Mother-Child the Greeks renamed Horus, or 'Har-pa-chered' literally "Horus the Child." as Harpokrates. Especially when we consider what is going on with Horus. she would be the one called upon by women in childbirth. In this respect, she takes on the kinder natures of Hera and the dedication of Isis. ![]() Her cult with tied to that of Zeus-Serapis, effectively becoming a Father and Mother figure to the Ptolemaic dynasty. The "Mysteries of Isis" became a mystery religion that had some outward similarities to the Greek Eleusinian Mysteries associated with Demeter. ![]() Given the connections between Isis and other goddess like Astarte, Innana, and Ishtar, this sets Isis up as the primary female divinity of the Ancient world. Isis was also combined with Aphrodite, a goddess of unknown origin herself. The Ptolemaic Pharos would often take on the epithet of "Sons of Isis." Isis remained a popular goddess well into the Roman age. Isis went from the wife of Osiris and potentially one of the most powerful goddesses in the myths to the Mother of the Gods and thus the pharos. ![]() As protector of the dead, this also includes the benevolent nature of Hades. In this, he effectively takes over the "portfolios" of Apollo, Helios, and Ra. Zeus-Serapis became the God of the Sun and of Healing. Zeus was the god of the sky, Osiris was the god of the dead and the god of the Pharos. Newer research has shed some doubt on this interpretation, but for our uses here it does not matter his actual source, only what he became after that. I say artificial because it was believed he was created by the ministers of Ptolemy I to have a God that could be worshipped by Greeks and Egyptians alike. Zeus-Serapis was an "artificial" conflating of Zeus with Serapis. In some places, Serapis had already supplanted Osiris as the main God. Serapis was a new popular god figure that combined Osiris with the Apis Bull. Not just physical features, though that is true as well, but religious features and aspects.īy the time Ptolemy took the throne, there was already syncretism happing in the Egyptian worldview. The gods they created or were created around them had a unique blending of both Greek and Egyptian features. Only Cleopatra is recorded to have actually learned some of the Egyptian languages. The Ptolemaic Pharos or Ptolemaic Kings were not Egyptian but were Greek. The famous Cleopatra (Cleopatra VII) was the last of their line. In 323 BCE Alexander the Great controlled Egypt, his reign, however, was short-lived and his general Ptolemy took control and his family ruled until 31 CE when they were taken over by Rome. She has written more, ok lots more, and her work could form the cornerstone of a new pantheon for a new Deities & Demigods II if such a thing were feasible. I am drawing heavily from her chapter (Chapter 41) in The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion. For this, I am going to rely on the scholarship of others, in particular, that of Dr. Kathrin Kleibl at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven. I am going to stick with gods that were actually worshiped, or at least recognized. While I would happily sit here and talk about these gods in an academic sense, my goal with OMG is really to present these from the lens of D&D, and from the Deities & Demigods in particular. Thanks to the trade and eventual rule of the Ptolemaic Pharos, we have a set of syncretized Greco-Egyptian gods. Both had fascinating tales of gods, monsters, and heroes. Both cultures grew to great prominence and fundamentally shaped our world. In the mythologies of the Ancient World, there are two that really stand out.
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