We show you some fantastic animals and hybrid beings of the Egyptian religion and their meaning.
The Egyptian pantheon comprised numerous deities in a fantastic way. Here several hybrid deities are shown, some with a human head and an animal body – as was the case with the famous Sphinx of Giza, with the body of a lion and a human head, the image of the god Harmakhis – and others that combine elements of two animals and the unidentified case of Seth.
The Ba bird
With a human head and a bird’s body, the ba was the mobile and immaterial part of the deceased who traveled through the world of the living. Statuette from the Ptolemaic period.
Winged beetle
This piece was discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun. It represents the god Khepri, the sun of dawn, in the form of a winged scarab. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
Ammit the devourer
Represented with the head of a crocodile, the legs of a lion, the body of a leopard and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus, this goddess swallowed the hearts of deceased sinners to make them disappear forever. Papyrus of the scribe Nebqed. Louvre museum, Paris.
The bee, royal symbol
The bee preceded the name that the king took at the coronation, Nesu Bity (that of the reed and the bee), and represents Lower Egypt. Detail from the tomb of Seti I.
The goddess Serket
This goddess with the body of a scorpion promoted the healing of respiratory problems and poisonous stings. The ground beetle and the water beetle are manifestations of this divinity. Statuette in the Louvre Museum, Paris.
