Ptah (Pteh, Peteh) was the predynastic Mennefer (Hikuptah, Memphis) god of craftsmen, pottery and creation. The Egyptians believed that he was a god who created everything from artifacts to the world egg to the other deities themselves. The Opening of the Mouth ceremony was believed to have been devised by him. He was a god of creation and rebirth. Ptah was usually depicted as a bearded mummiform man, wearing a close fitting skull cap. Only his hands come out of his shroud, and he was usually shown holding a staff that incorporated the djed pillar, the ankh symbol and the was scepter.

He was shown with the head of a ram with horizontal horns. He was one of the earliest Egyptian Gods, originally the God of the Origin of the Nile. Because the Nile brought the life-giving soil, he was considered the Creator God of human children. He used a potter's wheel to make the children. With his two wives, Satet and Ankeet, they were the trinity of the first cataract area on the Nile near today's Aswan. The center of his cult was on Elephantine Island.

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld, although he was also worshiped as a fertility, resurrection, and vegetation god. He was married to Isis, a sky goddess. He was father to Horus, the god of sky, and protector of the dead. Osiris Osiris was killed by his brother Seth, who shut his body in a chest and threw it into the Nile, where it washed up onto the shore and was trapped in a huge tree. The King Byblos turned it into a pillar in his palace. Isis (who had been searching for her husband) discovered the trunk, and retrieved the trunk and the body. While Isis was away, Seth found the body, and chopped it up into many pieces, and scattered them throughout Egypt. Isis and her sister, Nephthys, found the pieces and made wax models of them to give to priests to be worshiped. When they found all of his pieces, they were so sad they wailed loudly enough for Re, the father god, to have pity on them. He sent Anubis and Thoth to help. They mummified Osiris, and put his body in a lion headed pier. Isis changed into a kite and fanned breath into Osiris. He was not allowed to stay in the land of the living, and was sent to the underworld to serve as king, and to judge the souls of the dead.

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld, although he was also worshiped as a fertility, resurrection, and vegetation god. He was married to Isis, a sky goddess. He was father to Horus, the god of sky, and protector of the dead. Osiris Osiris was killed by his brother Seth, who shut his body in a chest and threw it into the Nile, where it washed up onto the shore and was trapped in a huge tree. The King Byblos turned it into a pillar in his palace. Isis (who had been searching for her husband) discovered the trunk, and retrieved the trunk and the body. While Isis was away, Seth found the body, and chopped it up into many pieces, and scattered them throughout Egypt. Isis and her sister, Nephthys, found the pieces and made wax models of them to give to priests to be worshiped. When they found all of his pieces, they were so sad they wailed loudly enough for Re, the father god, to have pity on them. He sent Anubis and Thoth to help. They mummified Osiris, and put his body in a lion headed pier. Isis changed into a kite and fanned breath into Osiris. He was not allowed to stay in the land of the living, and was sent to the underworld to serve as king, and to judge the souls of the dead.

The Mnevis (Meruur or Mnewer) was the sacred bull of Heliopolis. The bull was usually completely black, but if that was not possible a white bull was also acceptable. The chosen bull was also known as "Kemwer" ("great black"). In time, the bull came to be associated with the more popular Apis bull. The bull was associated with Ra and possibly also with Min. When Akhenaten abandoned the other god in favor of The Aten he claimed that he would maintain the Mnevis cult. The cult may have retained his favor because of its solar associations, but archaeologists have not discovered any indication that the pharaoh made good his promise. There is very little information regarding the Mnevis cult. Only two Mnevis burials have been discovered, dating from the reigns of Ramesses II and Ramesses IV (during the New Kingdom) interred in individual tombs cut into the ground and topped by a huge granite slab. The burials included a set of Canopic Jars which seem to have been purely ritualistic as they were found to be empty.

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld, although he was also worshiped as a fertility, resurrection, and vegetation god. He was married to Isis, a sky goddess. He was father to Horus, the god of sky, and protector of the dead. Osiris Osiris was killed by his brother Seth, who shut his body in a chest and threw it into the Nile, where it washed up onto the shore and was trapped in a huge tree. The King Byblos turned it into a pillar in his palace. Isis (who had been searching for her husband) discovered the trunk, and retrieved the trunk and the body. While Isis was away, Seth found the body, and chopped it up into many pieces, and scattered them throughout Egypt. Isis and her sister, Nephthys, found the pieces and made wax models of them to give to priests to be worshiped. When they found all of his pieces, they were so sad they wailed loudly enough for Re, the father god, to have pity on them. He sent Anubis and Thoth to help. They mummified Osiris, and put his body in a lion headed pier. Isis changed into a kite and fanned breath into Osiris. He was not allowed to stay in the land of the living, and was sent to the underworld to serve as king, and to judge the souls of the dead.

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld, although he was also worshiped as a fertility, resurrection, and vegetation god. He was married to Isis, a sky goddess. He was father to Horus, the god of sky, and protector of the dead. Osiris Osiris was killed by his brother Seth, who shut his body in a chest and threw it into the Nile, where it washed up onto the shore and was trapped in a huge tree. The King Byblos turned it into a pillar in his palace. Isis (who had been searching for her husband) discovered the trunk, and retrieved the trunk and the body. While Isis was away, Seth found the body, and chopped it up into many pieces, and scattered them throughout Egypt. Isis and her sister, Nephthys, found the pieces and made wax models of them to give to priests to be worshiped. When they found all of his pieces, they were so sad they wailed loudly enough for Re, the father god, to have pity on them. He sent Anubis and Thoth to help. They mummified Osiris, and put his body in a lion headed pier. Isis changed into a kite and fanned breath into Osiris. He was not allowed to stay in the land of the living, and was sent to the underworld to serve as king, and to judge the souls of the dead.

Ex U.K. Collection formed between 1900-1920

Ex-Leighton Wilkie Collection