Impossible to recognise them all!
Journey along the Nile
The god Bes
Did the ancient Egyptians know and recognise all their gods and goddesses? There are hundreds of them, and they could take on different names and forms! It was a challenge to be able to identify them and know what they were related to or what their powers were. They formed one big ‘family’, or more like a giant network: behind all the stories of wandering adventure, where they give the impression of forming couples with one child each, they are sometimes friends, sometimes enemies, sometimes on the same team, sometimes opponents, depending on the circumstances. But their ultimate goal is always the same: maintain order in the world they created in time immemorial…. Some are good, and some are bad! You have already met a few: Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, usually depicted with the body of a man and the head of a falcon, or his mother Isis, often shown nursing him, since she was an exemplary mum…Egyptian gods and goddesses, often half-human, half-animal, are a proud bunch.
How well do you know the Egyptian gods?
If you would like to learn more about the different Egyptian gods, you’re in the right place! Some, like Osiris, Horus and Isis, are well-known, but others less so. Have you met the strange little dwarf god at the back of this room? His name is Bes. He was very popular in ancient Egypt. With his funny faces, he scared off evil spirits and protected children and pregnant women.