Egyptian mythology is not unified and many different regions of Egypt had their own variations of the religion. The one presented here is the most standard one.

The ancient Egyptians were mostly polytheistic¹, although the pharaoh Akhenaten believed only in the sun god, Ra, and attempted to convert the entire nation to his monotheistic religion, this attempt failed as the religion was abolished after his death. They also believed that their leader, Pharaoh, was a god. Pharaoh literally means 'Great House.' The main god of the Egyptians was Ra, the sun god. The Egyptians did have an afterlife, which was, essentially, an extension of a person's life².

The Beginning

The beginning³ is marked, in Egyptian mythology, with boiling water and chaos. This boiling water was called Nu. Eventually, land came out of Nu, followed by Atum or Ra. Ra mated with his shadow and spit out his son, Shu, and vomited his daughter, Tefnut. Shu was air and represented life, Tefnut was rain and represented order. Ra was separated from his children at some point. When they returned, he cried, and thus, life was created from his tears. Tefnut and Shu gave birth to Geb, who was the god of the earth, and Nut, who was goddess of the sky. Geb and Nut created the gods Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys.

Deities

The Egyptians had many gods, the most prominent being Ra. Most of the gods were benevolent and kind. These are only some of the gods.

Ra

Ra (Re, Rah, Atum, Khepri, Harakhte, Horus) was the sun god. In the morning, Ra was called Khepri, which was symbolized as a scarab. The rising sun was also known as Harakhte, a winged sun disk. Midday he was Ra, the man and when the sun set it was Atum, an old man. Ra was the ruler god and the father of all. It has been theorized that the reason that the sun is the head god is that Egypt had a lot of exposure to the sun. This is also shown in the Egyptian 'Hell,' which is eternal darkness. As Ra travelled across the sky, the serpent god, Apophis would try to eat the Sun, if Apophis succeeded, the world was plunged into darkness, until Seth broke the Sun out⁴.

Shu

Shu was the god of the sky and Ra's first son. He was spit out of Ra, after Ra mated with his shadow. Shu's duty was to hold up the sky, ensuring it would never fall down and kill people, as Atlas did in Greek mythology. It was also his job to help protect Ra from Apophis. Shu also punished dead souls, which is ironic as Shu personified Life. Shu eventually married his twin sister Tefnut.

Tefnut

Tefnut was created when Ra vomited her. Tefnut was the goddess of moisture⁵ and was the twin sister and wife of Shu. She personified Order and sometimes appeared as a lioness. Tefnut gave birth to Geb and Nut.

Geb

Geb was the god of earth and the son of Shu and Tefnut. Geb married Nut, his sister. His sacred symbol was that of the gooseand his children were Seth, Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys. When Geb laughed, he caused earthquakes.

Nut

Nut was the daughter of Shu and Tefnut and married her brother, Geb. Nut was the goddess of the sky and protected the world from the darkness beyond it. Nut was also the cow goddess and she gave birth to Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys.

Osiris

Osiris was the god of the dead and husband to Isis, his sister. Osiris was also the ruler of all the gods on earth. Seth, one day, killed Osiris, as he was envious of his brother. Seth tricked Osiris into a box that was cursed and then poured liquid lead inside it, when Osiris died, Seth took his throne. At this point the world was plunged into chaos, then Isis broke the box and took the body of Osiris to a temple. She cast a spell and conceived the god Horus, whom she hid from Seth. Together, with the god Thoth, Isis created the Ritual of Life to revive Osiris, unfortunately, Seth stopped them by scattering Osiris' body throughout the world. Isis recovered the pieces and they were brought to Anubis, the then king of the dead. Anubis cast the ritual of life, reviving Osiris. Osiris then took his place as king of the dead.

Afterwards, Horus grew up and battled Seth, in the end castrating him. Seth was banished to darkness. Every so often, Seth tries to take Horus' throne. Eventually, Horus is supposed to defeat Seth forever and Osiris can return to the world of the living. And the dead will spontaneously return and no one will be sad.

Isis

Isis was Osiris' sister-wife and Queen of the Gods as both she and Osiris were Nut's children. In order to gain more power, she poisoned Ra and thus got his secret name from him, thereby, increasing her own powers. Isis helped to revive Osiris when Seth killed him and gave birth to Horus, who eventually defeated Seth.

Seth

Seth was one of Nut's children. Seth was the god of chaos and evil. Seth killed Osiris and took his throne, until Horus defeated him. Originally, Seth accompanied Ra along his journey, and protected him from Apophis, the serpent god.

Nephthys

Nephthys married Seth⁶ and was the daughter of Nut. Nephthys was one of the less regarded Egyptian gods, she offered guidance to the dead and comforted the families of the deceased.

Horus

Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris and was born shortly after his father's death. In order to protect him from Seth, Isis hid him away until he grew up and defeated his uncle, Seth, thus gaining the throne of the living, while his father occupied the throne of the dead. Eventually, it is said, Horus will defeat Seth forever, and he will be reunited with his father. It will be at this point that all pain and sorrow will be abolished, and so forth...

Horus was the god most closely associated with the pharaoh and was depicted as a bird or a man with the head of a falcon.

Thoth

Thoth was the patron god of knowledge and wisdom and he was the patron god of baboons. Thoth and Isis attempted to resurrect Osiris, but they were foiled by the god Seth. Once, Tefnut fled into Nubia and Thoth was able to retrieve her by telling her stories. Thoth was also present at the judgment of souls, after death.

Anubis

Anubis was the jackal god and the patron god of mummification and he guided souls to the afterlife. His association with the dead probably originated when the Egyptians noticed jackals hanging about in graveyards. It was Anubis who resurrected Osiris with a ritual that was eventually compiled into the Book of the Dead, which is the guide to mummification.

Apophis

Apophis, or Apep, was the serpent god who tried to devour the sun. Apophis was often thwarted by other gods, such as Shu, Tefnut, and Seth. When Apophis did eat Ra, his belly was cut open and Ra would emerge. Apophis was seen as a void or black hole and he was very powerful and needed no food. He existed before creation and he is supposed to survive for eternity.

Pharaoh

Pharaoh was believed to be a god on earth⁷ and so he had an immense amount of power. This god status made it easier for the pharaoh to rule, because disobeying the pharaoh was the equivalent of disobeying the gods themselves.

Pyramids

Pyramids originated as small tombs for the pharaoh. As time progressed, the pharaohs ordered them to be bigger⁸, as to show the pharaohs power, until they became massive. Contrary to popular belief, the pyramids were not constructed by slave labour, most citizens would voluntarily help build them. Remember, the pharaoh was a god and most people were glad to serve their god.

Mummification

Mummification was a ritual that the Egyptians performed to preserve the bodies of the dead. It involved the removal of several organs, except for the heart⁹. The brain was removed by breaking the person's nose, sticking a tool up it, and pulling it out. The removed organs were placed in jars and the person's body was soaked in a preserving solution and wrapped in cloth. Then he/she was put in a sarcophagus.

The Book of the Dead

The Book of the Dead contained the ritual that Anubis used to resurrect Osiris. It was believed that the ritual would grant people immortality, and it was used on pharaohs.

Final Judgment

After a person died, his soul was brought to Osiris by Anubis, as had a scale which would measure a person's soul. If the person was good, he/she went to the afterlife. If a person was evil, he/she was sent to eternal darkness in the stomach of a crocodile