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Lists of deities

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See also definitions of the words God, Goddess.

Deities still widely worshipped:

Judaism/Christianity/Islam

Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe in the same God, but Jews and Muslims believe that God exists as one person rather than three.

Judaism

Yahweh is the Biblical name for God used by ancient Jews. Adonai, Eloheynu and Hashem are some of the names of God used in modern day Judaism.

Christianity

Historically, Christianity has professed belief in one deity, three divine persons (the Trinity), that make up one deity or Godhead, known as "God". (See Athanasian Creed.) Thus, most Christians are trinitarian monotheists, although there have been dissenters; see the articles Arianism, Unitarianism (History), Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Jehovah's Witnesses for examples. Most of these unitarian groups believe or believed that only God the Father is a deity; Latter-day Saints believe that the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit are three distinct deities.

Islam

Allah is the most traditional Muslim name for God. Islamic tradition also speaks of 99 Names of God.

Hinduism

Deities no longer widely worshipped:

Ancient Egyptian Deities

Egyptian deities often have physical forms that incorporate animal forms. For example, Anubis has the body of a human, but the head of a jackal.

  • Aker, an earth god
  • Amanuet, the father of all Pharaohs
  • Amon, the great god, an incarnation of the sun
  • Ammut, Eater of Hearts, The Devourer
  • Anat, the daughter of Ra
  • Anget, Goddess of the Nile and Fertility
  • Anubis, God of Embalming, Friend of the Dead
  • Apep, the dragon of the underworld
  • Ap-uat, Opener of the Ways
  • The Aten, the embodiment of the Sun's rays
  • Atum, a creator deity
  • Bast, Goddess of Cats
  • Bes, God-Demon of Protection, Childbirth and Entertainment
  • Buto
  • Chem
  • Chensit
  • Chnum
  • Djebauti
  • Dua
  • Duamutef, a funerary god
  • Geb, God of the Earth
  • Ha, god of the desert
  • Hapi (Hep, Hap, Hapy), God of the Nile and Fertility
  • Harakhti
  • Hathor, Goddess of Love and Music
  • Heget (Heket), Goddess of Childbirth
  • Heh
  • Hike
  • Horus, the falcon-headed god
  • Imhotep, originally a real person, became god of wisdom, medicine and magic
  • Imiut
  • Imset
  • Isis, Goddess of Magic, sister of Nephthys
  • Khepry, the scarab beetle, the embodiment of the dawn
  • Khnum, a creator deity
  • Maahes
  • Ma'at, Goddess of Truth, Balance and Order
  • Mahaf, the ferryman of the underworld
  • Menhit
  • Min, god of sex
  • Mont, god of war
  • Mut, mother of the gods
  • Naunet, the primal waters
  • Neith, the great mother goddess
  • Nekhbet, the vulture goddess
  • Nephthys, mother of Anubis
  • Nut, goddess of heaven and the sky
  • Osiris
  • Ptah, a creator deity
  • Qetesh
  • Ra, the sun, possible father of Anubis
  • Sai
  • Sekhmnet, goddess of war and battles
  • Seshat, the immortal scribe, wife of Thoth
  • Sobek, Crocodile God
  • Set, God of Storms, possible father of Anubis
  • Tefnut, goddess of Order, Justice, Time, Heaven and Hell and Weather
  • Thoth, god of the moon, drawing, writing, geometry, wisdom, medicine, music, astronomy, and magic

See http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/ for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism's extensive information on Egyptian Deities.

Sumerian Deities

Nammu

Nammu is probably the first of the ancient deities of Sumer — at least in the process of creation, if not in actual chronology. She was the goddess of the primeval sea that gave rise to heaven and earth. She is both mother of all the gods and wife of An (see below), which does suggest incest of a sort.

The Quaternary

There's no real evidence that the Sumerians considered these four deities as a unit, but it is helpful to group them in this way.

An held pride of place as god of heaven in the Sumerian pantheon until about 2500 BC. At about that date he was replaced by his two sons, Enlil and Enki.

Ninhursag (queen of the mountains) was also known as Ninmah (the exalted lady), or Nintu (the lady who gave birth), although Ki, one of her other names, was probably the original earth goddess. She was associated with Enlil, either as his wife or sister. She appears to be particularly fecund, having given birth to most of the gods (with An) and all animal and plant life (with Enlil, assisted by Enki).

Enlil (lord of lil) is the offspring of An and Ki and replaced An as the chief god after 2500 BC. He became known as the father of the gods and the king of heaven and earth. His activities included both the invention of agricultural tools as well the regulation of plant growth. He evidently raped his intended bride, Ninlil, and was banished to the nether world. Ninlil followed him and bore him children who became deities of the underworld. Enlil returned from his exile with one of his children, Sin, who became god of the moon.

In spite of his name, Enki (lord of earth) was considered lord of the Abzu, which translates as watery abyss, or amniotic fluid and semen. Possibly he was lord of the Underworld, which contained or was contained in the Abzu. He was also the keeper of the divine ordinances, which were passed on to mortals.

The Seven Who Decreed the Fates

This collection of the most powerful deities of the pantheon includes the four previously mentioned plus the following:

Nanna is another name for Sin, the god of the moon. As mentioned earlier, he is the result of Enlil's rape of Ninlil. He courses the sky in a canoe-like boat, trailing the stars and planets about him. Once a month he disappears into the netherworld where he passes judgement on its inhabitants.

Utu is the offspring of Nanna and Ningal and is the god of the sun and of justice. At the end of every day he descends to the underworld where he determines the fate of the dead. There is no indication of how the jurisdiction of Utu and Nanna differed. Some texts suggest that he sleeps during this time as well.

Inanna, the goddess of love, is another offspring of Nanna and Ningal. Other authorities suggest Anu or Sin as her father. She is equivalent to the Babylonian Ishtar. Many of her attributes beg a comparison with later classical deities like Venus and Aphrodite.

The Annuna

Next in power are the Annuna, the fifty great gods, whose domain appears to be principally but not exclusively the underworld. Some of them are associated with specific cities, while others bear a strong resemblance to the functions of patron saints of the Roman Catholic Church. To mention a few:

Finnish pre-Christian deities

There are very few written documents about old Finnish religions; also the names of deities and practices of worship changed from place to place. The following is a summary of the most important and most widely worshipped deities.

  • Ukko, the principal deity, god of heaven and thunder
  • Rauni, Ukko's wife, goddess of fertility
  • Tapio, god of forest and wild animals
  • Mielikki, Tapio's wife
  • Pekko (or Peko), god or goddess (the actual gender is obscure) of fields and acriculture
  • Ahti, god of streams, lakes and sea
  • Louhi, goddess of the underworld
  • Perkele, a god of the ancient Finns or Estonians

Ancient Greek Deities

See also Demigods, the [[Dryad}Dryads]], the Fates, the Erinyes, the Graces, the Horae, the Muses, the Nymphs, the Titans

Celtic Deities

Norse Deities

Prussian Baltic Pre-Christian Deities

Roman Deities

Sardinian Deities

Sardinian deities, mainly referred to in the age of Nuragici people, are partly derived from Phoenician ones.

  • Thanit Goddess of Earth and fertility
  • Maymon God of Hades
  • Janas Goddesses of death
  • Panas Goddesses of reproduction (women dead in childbirth)
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