Ancient Egyptian Gods and Amulets

Ancient Egyptian Unit Study

Lesson 5: We made amulets.

Osiris and Isis were brother/sister and husband/wife chief gods of Egypt. Osiris was bluish in color as he was the god of the dead. After people died they came to Osiris who ruled the underworld. Isis, his wife a was protector goddess and associated with fertility. The Ancient Egyptians worshiped many gods. During different historical periods, some gods took on a greater significance than others. Horus, the hawk headed god was the god of the living and often associated with pharaohs. Aten, the only god not portrayed as a human/animal creature, was a round image of the sun.

The people of Egypt built temples for their gods much like westerners build churches. Christians often wear crosses as jewelry. The crosses serve as a constant reminder of beliefs and protection. The Ancient Egyptians wore amulets as jewelry as a way of being closer to their gods. Just like Christians are often buried with crosses, Ancient Egyptians were buried with amulets. The Eye of Horus amulet was commonly wrapped inside the linen of mummies to bring protection to the deceased.


Tales of Ancient Egypt (Puffin Classics) is a chapter book for upper elementary children and older, which focus on the Gods and pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Since there are numerous Egyptian Gods, this British Museum website helps to keep them straight. It contains pictures of several gods with short descriptions of their typical appearance and function.

Egypt- Deities and Demons
This video describes many of the Egyptian Gods and Goddesses as well as their significance.

 Egypt - Deities and Demons

When studying the gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt, my daughter made a few amulets.

Ancient Egyptian Amulets

Ancient Egyptian amulets were constructed from precious metals or stone. Our amulets were constructed using Crayola Model Magic.

This amulet was a symbol of life.

Eye of Horus Amulet

Horus was the son of Isis who fought Seth to defend his father's honor. During the battle, he lost an eye. Since Horus was the god of life, this amulet symbolized Horus's lost eye and protected the owner.

Scarab Beetle

The scarab beetle was a symbol of renewal. Each day the sun would be reborn and sail across the sky and each day scarab beetles would emerge seemingly from nowhere. Therefore, they became a symbol of rebirth.

My daughter loves hedgehogs which weren't a very common amulet, but were symbols of baldness in Ancient Egypt.

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