The Egyptian religion of historical times represents a fusion of
previously independent local gods. Each town was devoted to a particular
deity, many of whom were represented in the form of animals. The cat
goddess Bast was honored at Bubastis; the cobra-headed Edjo, at Buto;
the ibis Thoth, at Hermopolis Magna; and the jackal god Wepwawet, at
Lycopolis. Animal deities were frequently given the bodies and limbs of
humans.
The sun and the Nile River were the two important factors in the life of
all Egyptians, and gods associated with these phenomena tended to
transcend Egyptian provincialism and become truly national in scope. The
priests at Heliopolis, near ancient Memphis, were devoted to the worship
of the sun god under his ancient name Re. Heliopolis ("city of the sun")
is the Greek form of a name that appears in the Old Testament in
transliteration from the Egyptian as On (cf. Gen. 41:45ff.) and as
Hebrew, Beth-Shemesh, "House of the sun" (Jer. 43:13). Joseph was
married to an Egyptian girl named Asenath, "she belongs to (the goddess)
Neith," the daughter of a priest named Potiphera ("He whom Re has
given") who ministered at the shrine to the sun god at On, or Heliopolis
(Gen. 41:45, 50; 46:20).
Re as the sun god came to be associated with other deities. As Re-Atum
he came to be regarded as a manifestation of Atum, the creator. As god
of the horizon, Re took the compound name Re-Harakhti. Such compounds as
Sobek-Re and Khnum-Re indicate the tendency to identify local deities
with the more universal Re. Beginning with the Fifth Dynasty (_ca._ 2500
B.C.) each Pharaoh bore the title "Son of Re" as part of his name,
further enhancing the name and reputation of the sun god. Until the
Egyptian New Kingdom (_ca._ 1600-1100 B.C.), when Amon of Thebes became
the principal god of Egypt, the priests of Re at Heliopolis shared with
the priests of Ptah in nearby Memphis the position of highest influence
and wealth in the religious life of the country.
[Illustration: Hapi, God of the Nile. The Nile god is depicted on a
relief from the throne of the Pharaoh Eye.]
As creator god, Re was symbolized by the falcon and the scarab. The
sun's daily journey across the sky reminded the devout Egyptian of Re's
first appearance as the originator of life. Re, himself, was
self-created according to the Book of the Dead. In Middle Kingdom times
(_ca._ 2000-1600 B.C.), Thebes became the Egyptian capital and its
patron deity Amon was identified with the sun god and assumed the
compound name "Amon-Re, king of the gods." Thus a purely local god,
through identification with Re, became the national god. As local gods
became identified with one another, or with more universal gods, we may
observe a tendency in the direction of monotheism.