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Numbers in Egyptian Mythology |
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Egyptian mythology revolves around the rituals and beliefs of ancient Egypt. It has a long history of more than three thousand years. Numbers in Egyptian mythology have great significance and can be seen frequently mentioned. These are not only mentioned in religious books and historical writings, but also in structures, paintings and other works of art.
Egyptians and numbers
Egyptians were well known for their mathematical skills since the ancient times. The geometric structure of the pyramid is a marvel. They used trigonometry to a large extent. Certain numbers were considered holy and special in the Egyptian mythology. Those numbers symbolized good, evil, power and other forces. The most magical and holy numbers are 2, 3, 4, 7 and their multiples and sums.
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Three
Three symbolized plurality and was represented with three vertical lines. This was a very important number in Egyptian mythology. Triads of deities always symbolized a complete system. For example, the God Atum became complete or whole when he gave birth to Shu and Tefnut. The triad of Horus, Osiris and Isis are often used, signifying that they can be complete only when all the three are together.
Isis was an Egyptian Goddess who is shown in some drawings as protecting a mummified pharaoh. The knot of Isis represents life itself and has three loops. Re is the second God in Egyptian mythology and was named thrice to define sun at dawn, noon and evening.
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Five
Five is not as common as three or seven and is comparatively less used in the Egyptian mythology. The God Thoth gambled and won light from the moon which helped in adding five days to the year. Another significant mention of the number five in the Egyptian mythology is seen when it took five days for the five children of Nut to be born.
The star had five points and the pentagon had five sides. Both the symbols are widely used and represent the afterlife.
Seven
The significance of seven is similar to three and means perfection, effectiveness and completeness. A legendary famine mentioned in Egyptian mythology lasted for seven years. In the story of Sekhmet, he was tricked out of killing by the use of seven thousand barrels of red beer. The number seven is again mentioned when the God Isis is guarded by seven scorpions when she is searching for her husband’s pieces.
Browse through the website egyptflightshub.com and get more information about Egyptian mythology.
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