- 1 day ago
The ancient Egyptians sure knew how to tell a terrifying tale! Join us as we count down the darkest and most unsettling stories from Egyptian mythology! Our countdown dives into chilling legends featuring cannibal gods, flesh-devouring monsters, and sinister water spirits. Which of these ancient myths do you find the most disturbing? Let us know in the comments below!
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Time has been cruel to you.
00:02Indeed.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the darkest stories from Egyptian mythology.
00:10Here, Ani faces his final challenge.
00:13Number 10. Cat Mummies
00:15Losing a beloved pet is never easy, but what if you could take them with you into the afterlife?
00:20This is one of the motives behind the mythology of mummification,
00:24beliefs that center around preparing souls of the dead for their journey through the afterlife.
00:28As anyone who's seen a mummy knows, ancient Egyptians went to a lot of trouble to evade decomposition.
00:36Trials and tribulations await those embarking upon this journey,
00:39and archaeologists have found evidence of many mummified cats entombed in great numbers alongside their human counterparts.
00:46Well, ancient Egyptians believed cats were really important too.
00:50In fact, they thought they were divine creatures.
00:53Cat mummies were designated as offerings to Bastet, an Egyptian goddess,
00:58or as a means of assisting the dead in communicating during their sojourns into the mysterious beyond.
01:04The Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, a.k.a. the guy in charge of really, really old stuff,
01:09says they've also found a door to another tomb.
01:12They're hoping to open it up soon to find out what ancient secrets lie behind it.
01:17I, for one, hope for more cats.
01:20Number 9. The Dismemberment of Osiris
01:23This story of love, death, betrayal, and rebirth is a central one to the world of Egyptian mythology.
01:29In ancient Egyptian mythological beliefs, during Egypt's early history, the gods ruled as kings on Earth.
01:37Osiris was one of those gods who served as king.
01:40The story of how Osiris was murdered by his brother Set and had pieces scattered across the Egyptian landscape.
01:45Of how Osiris' wife, in her grief, set off to collect these pieces in an attempt to bring her husband
01:51back to life.
01:52Now, by restoring Osiris' body like this, and then reviving him,
01:57Isis made it possible for Osiris to live on forever as king.
02:01The Osiris myth not only speaks to marital love between the gods,
02:04it also presents details into the Egyptian underworld,
02:07while symbolizing cultural cycles of death and rebirth central to this mythos.
02:11For people who wanted to live on forever after death,
02:16emulating Osiris, that is, imitating the process that he went through, was crucial for success.
02:22Number 8. Sobek's Punishment
02:24Sobek's reputation for violence and aggression is matched only by his fearsome appearance,
02:29that of a warrior deity being a crocodile head.
02:32The ancient Egyptians chose a lot of their gods based on the natural world,
02:37and crocodiles are large, terrifying things, so they were able to appease them.
02:41There's another gruesome story involving Sobek, however,
02:44one that's said to be the genesis of the belief that crocodiles didn't have tongues.
02:48It's been said that Sobek consumed one of the aforementioned pieces of Osiris
02:52that had been scattered by Set after the latter murdered his sibling.
02:59The gods punished Sobek for this infraction,
03:02tearing out his tongue, and thus setting the stage for all future crocodiles
03:05that would dwell within the Nile River.
03:13Number 7. El-Nadaha
03:15It seems as if every culture possesses some sort of myth or legend
03:19that's designed to ward away the young from dangerous places,
03:22such as dark and lonely water.
03:24Egypt was no different in this regard, as evidenced by the El-Nadaha.
03:28A spirit that calls men to their doom?
03:31It sounded like an old wives' tale.
03:33This water spirit could roughly be compared to the Nyads of ancient Greece,
03:38female apparitions that are said to lure men to their deaths via drowning in the Nile.
03:42The Nile River affected every aspect of life in ancient Egypt.
03:46The ancient Egyptians were extremely cognizant of how the Nile was their lifeblood.
03:50They respected both its creative and destructive powers,
03:53and thus had many fearful stories designed to instill the same sort of respect for younger generations.
03:59Even today, villagers claim that on quiet nights,
04:03when the wind is still and the river is calm,
04:06you can hear her voice calling, waiting for the next soul to answer.
04:12Number 6. The Mother of Ghouls
04:15There is a nebulous origin to the story of Omena el-Ghula,
04:19sometimes known as the Mother of Ghouls.
04:21It's a myth similar to the more familiar tale of Baba Yaga,
04:24a Slavic witch said to prey upon children.
04:30The Arabic and Egyptian tales of Omena el-Ghula are similar in their intent,
04:34to teach children not to wander off,
04:36to be careful of whom they trust out there in the world.
04:39Otherwise, Omena el-Ghula might snatch them up for dinner.
04:42And they'll never be seen again by their parents, or anybody else.
04:46Come along, kiddywinkies.
04:49The Mother of Ghouls is also said to be particularly fond of bad misbehaving children.
04:55So this folktale has also historically assisted parents
04:58in that time-honored tradition of, well, making threats.
05:02Lisa, if you don't behave, we'll turn this car right around and go home.
05:06But Marge, I want to see my brother.
05:08Oh, for God's sakes, Homer, it's an empty threat.
05:11Number 5.
05:12The Eternal Struggle of Ra and Apophis.
05:15The ancient world relied upon stories and myth to explain what occurred around them on a daily basis.
05:20This included events that we take for granted today,
05:23such as the rising and setting of the sun.
05:25At the setting of the sun, Ra enters the caverns of the underworld.
05:31Egyptian mythology designated a nightly battle between Ra, the sun god, and Apophis, or Apep, a giant serpent.
05:39The latter attempted to swallow up Ra to stop the sun from rising,
05:43leaving Egypt covered in darkness and eternal night.
05:46Apophis was occasionally successful in this aim,
05:48which was where other celestial defenders like Zet, Bastet, and Mahan came into play.
05:53Which one specifically depended on where in Egypt you lived,
05:56as different cities had different patron deities.
05:59They would slice open Apophis and free Ra,
06:02and it was on these nights when the normal Egyptians would witness a solar eclipse.
06:06It is my burden to fight the demon Apophis night after night.
06:10Egypt must never be destroyed by chaos.
06:13Number 4.
06:14Ammit, Eater of the Dead
06:16Nothing scares us quite like the unknown mysteries of death.
06:19Ancient Egyptians, like all of us, had their own theories and mythologies to explain what went on after we die.
06:25But first, that spirit must pass through the duat, or underworld.
06:30This is a realm of vast caverns, lakes of fire, and magical gates,
06:35all guarded by fearsome beasts.
06:37Snakes, crocodiles, and half-human monstrosities,
06:41with names like He Who Dances in Blood.
06:44Their judgment of the dead included Ammit,
06:46a god who embodied three fearsome predators of the Nile River.
06:49This deity with the body of a hippo lion and a crocodilian head
06:53would devour the hearts of those deemed unworthy of entering into Aru,
06:57the Egyptian equivalent of heaven.
06:59But Ani is in luck.
07:01His heart is judged pure.
07:03Ammit sits alongside Anubis and Thoth as an executioner
07:06for those judged within Osiris' underworld dominion of Duat,
07:09a fearsome and creepy character that nevertheless demands respect.
07:20Number 3. Biological Children
07:23There's just no getting around it.
07:25The worlds of ancient mythology can be a violent, gross, and troubling place,
07:29full of weird stories of death and creation.
07:32Nu was the name of the dark, swirling chaos before the beginning of time.
07:37Atum is one of the elder gods of the Egyptian pantheon,
07:40a creator who didn't even need a partner to facilitate the births of Spahn like Shu and Tefnut.
07:46It was Atum's shadow that was said to have assisted in this end.
07:49Although, the god needed to conceive these children via some pretty gross acts like spit up and vomit.
07:54In the beginning, Atum created himself, and from there the world took shape.
07:58That's what I call self-sufficient.
08:00It doesn't end there, either, since other stories go even further to this end,
08:04symbolizing celestial loneliness with tales of Atum utilizing an act of self-pleasure
08:10in order to bring Shu and Tefnut into the world.
08:12So you're still master of your domain?
08:14Yes! Yes, I am. Master of my domain.
08:19Number 2. Celestial Rebirth
08:21So, do you remember how earlier we discussed Isis' journey to recover the pieces of her slain husband, Osiris?
08:27Did we forget to mention that the pair were also brother and sister?
08:30But wait, we're not actually done, because after Isis reconstructed Osiris' body,
08:35their post-mortem copulation resulted in a son, Horus.
08:39He and Isis conceived a son to bear Osiris' legacy and one day avenge him.
08:46This offspring would go on to defeat Set and avenge his father,
08:49ruling over Egypt within the divine legacies of the pharaoh.
08:52Horus received his fair share of sacrifices and temples erected in his honor.
08:57Stories of sibling love and marriage are not solely the property of Egyptian mythology,
09:01but this tale of celestial death and rebirth certainly has to be one of the world's most unique.
09:06Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel
09:09and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
09:12You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
09:15If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
09:21Number 1. Khonsu, the Cannibal God
09:24Fans of the Marvel Comics character Moon Knight are probably well aware of this ancient Egyptian god.
09:30You know I'll protect you with everything I have.
09:35You are worth protecting.
09:38The moon is sacred to Khonsu,
09:40but there also exists a cannibal myth that presents another darker side to this god.
09:45I only punish those who have chosen evil.
09:48Old Kingdom texts of Khonsu portrayed him as a celestial cannibal,
09:52a bloodthirsty deity who is said to devour the hearts of other gods
09:55should this thirst for death not be satiated.
09:58This falls in line with how Marvel's Mark Spector exists as a controversial antihero
10:03whose methodology has historically been driven by boundary-pushing violence.
10:11What do you think is the most interesting aspect of Egyptian mythology?
10:15Let us know in the comments.
Comments