Editing Egypt (section)

==Egyptian Gods, Mythology and Religion==
Ancient Egypt developed an immensely sophisticated religion and mythology, rivaling that of Greece, China or Mesoamerican civilisations. 

To ancient Egyptians, their gods were the very personifications of natural and social phenomena, not mere metaphors, and pleasing them was thought to bring great boon as well as great misfortune should they be angered. The primary conduit to the gods, the supreme priest and a god in his own right was naturally the Pharaoh, who was an intermediary between his/her people and the gods. Pharaohs had the duty to sustain the gods through rituals and offerings so that they could maintain 'Ma'at' - the order of the cosmos. Ma'at was very, very important as it was THE proper order of everything, without which chaos and evil would consume the world.

Ordinary Egyptians too could interact with the gods on a more personal level, most often in temples which were public institutions that were obliged to offer religious and other services 24/7. Temples also offered medical and educational services as well, but to our knowledge, the promulgation of religious knowledge was done within the priestly class while common folk would get by from what they heard form them or what was passed form mouth to mouth. Of note is the fact that Egyptian religion, like many ancient ones was never exactly codified by any central religious authority, despite them having something of the kind in Pharaoh, so many Egyptian myths and religious practices often had conflicting or syncretic aspects to them.

As for the gods themselves, there are many, and a number of them are synonymous with one another (such as Bast(et)/Sekhmet). However, the most important ones are:

*'''Geb & Nut''' - The personified Earth and Heaven. They arose form the primordial Chaos as the first beings. They had five children who became the major gods of the egyptian pantheon.

*'''Ra''' - The god of the Sun and the first pharaoh. He would sail in his golden barge across the sky every day and descend into the underworld by night where he would fight various demons and monsters. With the passage of time he supposedly became old and stopped giving a f*ck so Osiris had to step in as the next sun god.

*'''Osiris''' - Son of Geb and Nut (the Earth and the Heaven), stepped in to fill the sun god role when Ra got tired of it. He taught humanity farming and created the first cities in Egypt. His brother Set tricked him by trapping him into a sarcophagus and then chopping him into several pieces. His wife Isis resurrected him by tying the pieces back together with cloth (hence the first [[mummy]]) but he came back only partially alive, so he became the god of underworld.

*'''Isis''' - Osiris's wife and the goddess of magic. Was fiercely intelligent and cunning, managing to trick Ra into abdicating the throne by poisoning him, offering to cure him if he told her his secret name (which gave her supreme power over him), and then using that to get Osiris as the new sun god. Mother of Horus and wife of Osiris.

*'''Set''' - The god of the desert, storms and evil. He was one of the most powerful gods and after tricking his brother Osiris, he usurped the throne of Egypt until Osiris's son Horus curbstomped him. Apparently he wasn't always a massive douche as he once sailed with Ra and helped him in battling the horrors of the underworld. Generally believed to have been increasingly demonized as Egyptians faced more and more invasions from hostile foreigners.

*'''Horus''' - Son of Osiris and Isis, also known as the Avenger. He avenged his father by defeating Set and thus became the new pharaoh of Egypt, and all the subsequent (human) pharaohs drew their lineage directly form Horus.

*'''Bastet''' - Cat-goddess of cats, health, joy, festivities and sex (so the best goddess). She was often looked to for protection and *khm* procreation. Also was beseeched for good luck and as a defense against evil. Fought with her father Ra in the underworld and led the souls of the deceased through it as a side-gig. Had her center in Bubastis where orgies and merriment were held annually.

*'''Sekhmet''' - Deciding that having one [[catgirl]] goddess wasn't awesome enough, there was also Sekhmet. A lion-headed goddess of war, she was the fiercest hunter in all of Egypt and her breath was so powerful that it formed the desert. She also protected the pharaohs during battle and if they fell in battle, she would carry them like a valkyrie into the afterlife.

*'''Anubis''' - God of funerals and thus one of the most important one by function. He helped prepare the souls of the dead for the afterlife and even helped Isis in bringing Osiris back to life. Responsible for Jackals being sacred along with Cats in Egypt. He is also widely considered the sexiest of all gods by [[Furry|furries]], rivaled only by Sobek and Bastet.

*'''Thoth''' - God of knowledge, writing and the moon. Either self-born or created from Horus jizzing on Set's forehead (yeah...). As the son of these two deities who represented order and chaos, he was also the god of equilibrium and balance and associated closely with both the principle of Ma'at. Thoth presided over the judgment of the dead with Osiris in the Hall of the Truth, and those souls who feared they might not pass through the judgment safely were encouraged to call upon Thoth for help.

*'''Sobek''' - God of the Nile crocodiles. Would alternate between being an highly aggressive deity and a supremely benevolent one. 

Egypt as a culture is also associated with Judaism & Christianity as well, making it probably a unique case in history where an entire CULTURE is a thing of someone else's religion. In Judaism, Egypt is the setting of The Exodus, the legendary period when the Jews were enslaved, escaped, were forced to wander the wilderness for decades, received the 10 Commandments from God and were ultimately allowed to found Jerusalem. Exactly ''when'' this was supposed to have occurred in unclear and the consensus among egyptologists is that it did not happen.

In Christianity, Egypt is not as relevant (y'know, barring the inherited story of the Exodus), except for in the Gospel of Matthew where an angel tells Joseph to flee with his family to Egypt from Herod. Aside from that, the Copts are one of the oldest Christian denominations in the world, owing to Egypt's proximity to Judea and the resulting early conversion to Christianity.