A banner featuring the head of Djaf, the Nehekharan god of war and death.
The Nehekharan Pantheon is the family of gods that were worshipped by the Men of ancient Nehekhara, the first great Human civilisation of the Known World.
Historians know the Nehekharans worshipped many gods, most of whom had both Human and animal forms. These figures adorn the walls of many tombs and can also be found in many of the surviving Nehekharan texts, painted onto papyrus scrolls. Their names and their hierarchy, however, have been lost. Scholars of the Old World have guessed at both and have assembled a rough list, but without a living Nehekharan trained in their traditions, there is no way of confirming or correcting any details.[1a]
The Nehekharan Pantheon contains several dozen other gods, most of them minor in nature, scope, and power. These gods can encompass natural phenomena like the stars or the wind, or they can be patrons of particular animals or activities.[1a]
Nehekharan nobles often claimed one of these minor gods as their personal patrons, and a tomb might have a preponderance of images to that particular god as the noble sought their protection and guidance in the passage from this life to the next.[1a]
Gods of Nehekhara[]
The pantheon of those considered major deities of the Nehekharan Pantheon includes the following:[1a]
- Asaph - The goddess of beauty, magic, and vengeance. Asaph sometimes takes the form of a snake like the asp, though even in this shape she is lovely.[1a]
- Basth - The goddess of cats, grace, and love. She appears as a tall, lithe woman with tawny skin, feather brown hair, and cat-green eyes. She can also appear with the head of a cat or as a large, majestic panther.[1a]
- Djaf - The god of war and death. Djaf appears as a tall, well-muscled man with a jackal's head. He can appear as a large but otherwise normal jackal as well.[1a]
- Geheb - The god of the earth and of strength. Geheb is an extremely tall, incredibly muscular man with strong, rugged features and a thick beard. He can also appear as a massive dog.[1a]
- Khsar - The god of the desert. Khsar does not have an animal form nor a Human form, but can appear as the desert wind.[1a]
- Phakth - The god of the sky and justice. Phakth appears as a muscular man with a hawk's head and can also appear as a large, blue-banded hawk with golden eyes.[1a]
- Ptra - Ptra is the sun god and the god of creation, as well as the king of the Nehekharan Pantheon, the first to set foot upon the mortal world. Ptra is the great creator and encompasses immortality and eternity. He alone among the gods does not have an animal form but always appears Human. His eyes, however, contain all the stars above, and his gaze is enough to drive a man mad.[1a]
- Qu'aph - The god of snakes and subtlety. His Human form is that of a hooded man, but he is more commonly represented by a large king cobra.[1a]
- Sakhmet - The goddess of the Green Moon. Sakhmet is Ptra's scheming and vindictive concubine, jealous of his love for Mankind.
- Sokth - The god of scorpions, poisoners, and thieves. Sokth can appear as a scorpion, or as a man with black chitin for skin and dead, black eyes. Despite his patronage of thieves, Sokth does not condone grave robbing, and his scorpions often guard royal tombs.[1a]
- Tahoth - Tahoth is the Scholar of the Gods, the god of knowledge and wisdom. Tahoth appears as a slender but fit man with the head of an ibis. He can also appear as an ibis with silver feathers.[1a]
- Ualatp (Ualatep) - Ualatp is the god of scavengers. Ualatp, or Ualatep as it is sometimes spelt, can appear in the form of a large vulture or as a hunched, scrawny man with a vulture's head.[1a]
- Usirian - The god of the Nehekharan Underworld. Usirian guides each soul on its journey from this world to the next. He is never pictured directly, as this is considered sacrilege, but he is invoked repeatedly during Nehekharan burial rituals.[1a]