Top 10 ancient Egypt facts

Set. Horus was a god of arable land and the order, while Set was a god of the desert and chaos. Both fought for the throne of Egypt after Osiris, father of Horus, had been murdered by Set. Horus won the battle. Since then, all the pharaohs ruled Egypt as incarnation of Horus.

Bastet was originally a lioness. Later, she was more and more depicted as a cat, representing a gentler nature.

Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Chephren) and Menkaure (Mykerinos). The three pyramids were built by pharaons of the fourth dynasty: Khufu, his son Khafre and Kahafre's son, Menkaure. Today, they are better known by their hellenized names: Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos. Along with these major monuments are a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids.

Seshat was seen as a scribe and record keeper, and is credited with inventing writing. She also became identified as the goddess of accounting, architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, and surveying. These are all professions that relied upon expertise in her skills.

Horus was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a peregrine falcon, or as a man with a falcon head.

Sobek was an aggressive and animalistic deity, dangerous and fearsome, but also protective and fertile.

Djoser. The Pyramid of Djoser, or Step Pyramid is an archeological remain in the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt, northwest of the city of Memphis. It was built in the 27th century BC during the Third Dynasty for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser by his vizier, Imhotep.

Apis was a son of Hathor. Since Hathor was a symbollic mother of pharaohs, Apis bull was often a symbol of pharaoh.

Hathor was the mother of Horus and the sun god Ra, and therefore she was the symbolic mother of pharaohs. She is often depicted as a cow or as a woman with cow’s horns.

Sistrum. The sistrum was one of the most sacred musical instruments in ancient Egypt and was believed to hold powerful magical properties. It was used in the worship of the goddess Hathor, Isis, Bastet, mythological character of joy, festivity, fertility, eroticism and dance. It was designed to produce the sound of the breeze hitting and blowing through papyrus reeds.