Download zip file:
Twelve Ancient Egyptian Deities
These twelve images are sourced from an 1870 publication, Bilder-Atlas – Ikonographische Encyklopädie, a multi-volume compendium of reference books in German. The images are formatted to print at 5.0” x 7.0”, but the resolution isn’t the sharpest. Nonetheless, they still printed okay.
After you unzip the file, you’ll see four folders for four different versions of the twelve images. I’ve included the originals, a version where I converted the images to a warmer sepia tone, then two versions with borders for printing.
I’m sharing the files here for those who are fascinated by these sorts of finds.
If you want about 3 mm of patterned border to show and you’re using makeplayingcards.com to print your deck, then go with the 6 mm margin files.
These are well in the public domain, so feel free to do as you will with them. They have nothing to do with me, so no need to credit back to me in any way. If you have any graphic design know-how, I would strongly recommend sprucing up the image files before printing, especially if you want to print larger than 5″ x 7″.
You can also download and print a companion informational booklet that gives a brief summary of the twelve featured deities.
Download pdf file:
Twelve Ancient Egyptian Deities
| Deity | Association |
| Anubis
Anpu |
Lord of the Sacred Land. Protector of graves, guide to the underworld. Succeeds Osiris as Lord of the Underworld. Commonly depicted in black, symbolic of regeneration, with a canine form. Birthed from Nephthys; adoptive child of Isis. Anubis, along with Thoth, helped Isis collect the dismembered remains of Osiris. Jackal lord of the rites of sepulture [Hades-Hermes] |
| Geb | A chthonic deity, god of the earth, father of snakes. Personification of the fertile earth that gives rise to crops. Earthquakes are the result of Geb’s laughter. Husband of Nut. Associated with a divine goose who laid the cosmic egg. Shu and Tefnut give birth to Geb and Nut, who give birth to Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys. These eight with Atum, Bull of the Ennead, comprise of the Heliopolitan Ennead (Pesdjet), or company of nine gods. Also serves a judiciary role. [Cronus] |
| Hathor
Hwt-ḥr |
The Golden One. Lady of Contentment. Mother goddess, joy, love, beauty, and sexuality. A deity of the skies. Brought music and dance. Expressive of idealized femininity. Often depicted as a cow. Can manifest as the Seven Hathors. Patron goddess of queens. Also associated with foreign lands and trade. |
| Horus
Hrw. Heru |
Kingship, healing, protection. A sky god whose right eye is the sun and left eye the moon. Depicted as a man with a falcon head. Son of Isis. Establishes the royal line of Egyptian pharaohs. His four children become the four pillars that support the sky. [Apollo] |
| Isis
Ēse |
The Giver of Life. Magic, spells; venerated as a powerful mother goddess. Widely venerated across Egypt and Nubia. Later syncretized into the Hellenistic pantheon. Often depicted with a crown featuring the hieroglyph for throne. Also known by the epithets Mistress of the Word of God, Mistress of Heaven, and Lady of Bread. Honored as Isis the Great and Isis of the Innumerable Names. [Herodotus associated Egyptian Isis with Hellenic Demeter] |
| Mut
Mata |
Mother goddess of primordial waters, venerated in both Egypt and the ancient Kingdom of Kush in present day Sudan. Mother of All. Gave birth to the lunar child god Khonsu. At the Temple of Karnak, venerated as part of the Theban Triad along with Amun-Ra and her son Khonsu. Depicted with a double crown to represent the power she wields over all the lands. Can be depicted as a woman with the wings of a vulture. |
| Nut
Nwt, Nuit |
She Who Protects. She Who Holds a Thousand Souls. Coverer of the Sky. One of the oldest deities in the Egyptian pantheon. Goddess of stars, cosmos, astronomy, universe. Depicted with a water pot nw on her crown, or as a personification of the night sky. Daughter of Tefnut. Wife of Geb. Likened to the Mesopotamian goddess Ninhursag, Lady of Heaven. The ladder or maqet is a talismanic symbol of Nut’s protection. She is the firmament or barrier separating chaos from cosmic order. [Ouranos] |
| Osiris
Wsjr |
God of fertility, agriculture, afterlife, resurrection. Lord of Silence. Associated with the cycles of nature, of new life after death; hope. Wields the crook and flail; often depicted as a pharaoh with green skin, symbolic of rebirth, or black, symbolic of regeneration and fertility. Husband to Isis; father of Horus. |
| Serket | Goddess of healing. Associated with the scorpion. Powerful protector from evil and venom. Physicians and medics were known as Followers of Serket. Healers are those who wield the power of the goddess Serket. When traversing upon dangerous pathways, call upon Serket for protection and aid. Can also be depicted as armed with knives. |
| Seshat | Goddess of writing, wisdom, knowledge; female scribe; record keeper; accounting, architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, surveying (daughter of Thoth and Maat); Mistress of the House of Books. Associated with the library. Emblem can be a seven-pointed star or rosette at the crown of her head. |
| Tefnut
Tfnt |
Primeval goddess of moisture, dew, and rain. Daughter of Ra; mother to Geb and Nut. Divine personification of life fluids. Depicted as a woman with a lioness head crowned with the solar disk. Had a wrathful aspect to her. In one myth, she quarreled with her father, the sun god Ra, and went to dwell in Nubia. Thoth was sent as mediator to coax her return. |
| Thoth
Dḥwtj |
God of wisdom, knowledge, writing, hieroglyphs, science, magic, art, and judgment. Generally symbolic of all scientific and literary achievements. Also the god of the moon. Depicted as a man with the head of an ibis. Leader of the Ogdoad (the eight principle deities of the Egyptian pantheon). Arbiter of disputes between the gods; also, scribe of the gods. Master of Law. One of Thoth’s epithets was the Thrice Great. [Hermes] |
You could print these out as a small deck of altar cards via makeplayingcards.com (they have a 5″ x 7″ print-on-demand option).
I also found this option on Amazon.com for buying a 3-pack set of 5″ x 7″ frames for about $20. 4 orders x $20 = about $80 to frame the full set of 12 prints and hang on your wall as home decor. Antique teal (one of the color options I found) would complement the sepia warm tones here fairly well, or go with gold, or a dark lapis lazuli blue.
Prints of these would also be great as grimoire page inserts. Maybe these image files could be used in a collage oracle deck.
You could also probably turn this into an arts and crafts project and color in print-outs of the images. That’d be cool! Just a heads up if you were thinking about using MPC to print cards and then planned on coloring on the cards– at least for me, it didn’t really work. It smudges easily, and you’d have to be really thoughtful about what type of permanent marker you’re using and give it ample time to dry.
benebell wen 
As usual, content shared is exceptional Benebell. I am life long learner and so much appreciate you generosity and knowledge! Learn a bunch from your posts and other resources last few years and we even met briefly in last Reader’s Studio in 2019. I love ancient Egyptian anything and tarot so love this! Be well 🙂 and thank you.
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Thank you! These are too cool for words.
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Thank yo7 Benebell. Love these!
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Just awesome, thanks for sharing and finding these diamonds within the multitude of everything. Your work is awesome and am i glad that i belong to this community.
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Absolutely lovely images – a fabulous find! Thank you so much!
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Fab, thanks Bell! Might do a lino print from these lovelies. Let me know if you fancy one 🌱
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