Ancient Egyptian deities in popular culture

Ancient Egyptian deities that have appeared in popular culture include Set, Thoth, Khonsu and Ra.

Set in popular culture

Literature

• American Gods: Set is mentioned to have retired in San Francisco in 1906, the time of the San Francisco earthquake, hinting he was responsible for it.
• Conan mythos: Set is worshiped as a snake god by the people of Stygia in the Hyborean Age. Set never makes an appearance in the original Conan stories and is referred to as "Father Set" or "the Old Serpent". The Conan version of Set also inspired the Set of the Marvel Universe due to Marvel acquiring the rights to Conan in the early 1970s and incorporated Conan's Hyborian Age into the prehistoric days of Earth. However the Hydra-headed snake deity depiction of this god owes little to the Egyptian Set as this version is one of the Elder Gods of Earth within the Marvel Universe and is billions of years old.
• The Egyptian Gods have made occasional appearances within comic books published by Marvel, including Set, though his name is spelled "Seth" to differentiate him from the Elder God of the same name. He's much closer to the Egyptian deity in that he's associated with darkness, chaos and death.
• Soldier of Sidon novel by Gene Wolfe: Set plays a major role in the journey of a Roman soldier in ancient Egypt.
• In The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan Set is the first and main antagonist of the first book while Horus and Isis aid the protagonists and other gods appear as both enemies and friends. In the next two books, Set helps the Kane siblings in reviving the old god Ra, and fighting the true enemy. It ends up turning out that Apophis is the true enemy of the series and the Kanes and their godly allies must battle him, culminating in a battle in which Apophis is forever destroyed.
• In "Creatures of Light and Darkness" by Roger Zelazny, Set is captured by Anubis who erases his memory and sends him to kill Thoth.
• In The World of the Guardians book series by S.K. Whiteside Set is portrayed as the primary villain of the series.

Animation

• Hellsing: In the series finale of the 2001 anime series, a demon named Set was summoned from the underworld by Incognito, calls upon the power of the Serpent God Seth in his attempt to defeat Alucard and conquer Britain. Set appears as a giant glowing snake made of energy, ravaging London in all of a few minutes.
• Tutenstein: Set is the main antagonist in this show.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!: In this anime/manga, Seto Kaiba is regarded as the reincarnation of the ancient Egyptian priest Seth, who is representative of the deity Set. The same applies to Pharaoh Atem (Yami Yugi), representing the creation deity Atum.
• Samurai Jack: In the episode "Jack in Egypt" Aku releases the minions of Set and orders them to kill Samurai Jack. They all appear to be stylized versions of the seth animal.
• In Conan the Adventurer, Set is the Serpent god Wrath-amon serves.

Film and television

• In the animated series Conan the Adventurer, Set is portrayed as an evil snake god who is the source of the wizard Wrath-Amon's powers.
• Doctor Who (and Faction Paradox): The 1975 Doctor Who serial Pyramids of Mars reinterpreted the ancient Egyptian divine canon as a race of aliens called Osirians, creators of a civilisation of near-omnipotent technological and psychic power. The god Set was reinterpreted as Sutekh (also known as "The Destroyer"), the most vicious, destructive and pan-genocidal of the Osirians, who was imprisoned circa 5000 BC in Egypt. Sutekh was also the main antagonist in The True History of Faction Paradox, part of the Doctor Who spin-off series Faction Paradox. He featured in a series of six Faction Paradox audio plays (the first of which, Coming to Dust, was released in 2004) which further explored Osirian society and also featured other Osirian characters including Horus.
• Puppet Master series of horror films: Sutekh is the primary villain, revealed in Puppet Master 4, to be the elder god who created the magic that gives the Puppet Master's puppets life.
• Stargate SG-1: Most of the Goa'uld leaders are Egyptian deities (Ra, Apophis, Seth, Osiris, Anubis, Hathor and others).
• seaQuest DSV: Set is used as a villain in a later episode of the science fiction series (Season 2: Something in the Air).
• The Curse of King Tut's Tomb: Set is portrayed as the supernatural antagonist in the mini-series.
• Tutenstein: Set is the villain of the series, repeatedly trying to steal Tut's scepter of Was to rule the Underworld and Overworld.
• Mummies Alive!: Set and Anubis are secondary villains throughout the series, often summoned with other deities to cause trouble in the show. Instead of a set animal, however, Set is made to look like an anthropomorphic bull dog.
• Gods of Egypt, upcoming 2016 film with Set (Gerard Butler) as the villain. It also features Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Ra (Geoffrey Rush), Hathor (Élodie Yung), and Thoth (Chadwick Boseman).

Video games

• Digital Devil Saga 2: Seth is the optional boss after Shiva and Vishnu and before Satan.
• Elite: Badges of rank worn by pilots, up to and including the eponymous Elite ranking, are based on images of Ra.
• Nightshade: Sutekh is the villain who takes control over every gang in Metro City, combining them into one.
• Persona 2: Set is a persona of the Tower Arcana.
• Persona 3 and Persona 4: Seth is a persona of the Moon Arcana.
• Phantasy Star IV: Seth was the name used by Dark Force when he assumed human form. He joins the party when they arrive on the island east of Krup on Motavia, claiming to be an archaeologist. When the party reaches the temple, he turns back into demonic form and attacks the party.
• PowerSlave: Set is a boss character depicted as a horrible demonic being.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!: Several Egyptian deities are mentioned in several cards in the game, including Anubis, Ra, Horus, and Horakhty. However, they are not necessarily accurate in their depictions (Horakhty being depicted as a singular being, rather than the manifestation that was Ra-Horakhty).
• Secret of Evermore:Son of Set is an enemy
• Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy: Lord Set is the enemy and the main villain. His physical appearance is as a dark, elegant, tall, somewhat a sort of evil wizard; his eyes and teeth have resemblance to a snake. Patient, ruthless, sinister, sophisticated and very intelligent, he could mimic forms of others. Later it will reveal his real god form: a powerful humanoid giant snake.
• Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation: Seth possessed Werner Von Croy and he was also the final boss.
• Vampire: the Masquerade: One of the 13 clans is known as the Followers of Set and claim to be descended from the god Set.
• Pharaoh: Seth is one of the five gods that appear in the game.
• Age of Mythology, Age of Empires: Mythologies: Set is one of three major gods that can be worshiped by Egyptian players.
• "Endless Ocean: Blue World": Set, Isis, Osiris, and Nephthys are featured in the Cavern of the Gods.
• The Cluefinders 4th Grade Adventures: Puzzle of the Pyramid: Set is one of the villains in the game, released by Sir Alistar Loveless III. Loveless intended to be Set's master and use him to rule the world, but Set turned on Loveless and his goons. With enhanced powers granted to the Cluefinders, they reseal Set back in his prison.
• Smite: A third-person MOBA by Hi-Rez Studios. Anhur, Anubis, Bastet, Geb, Isis, Khepri, Neith, Osiris, Ra, Serqet, and Sobek all appear in this game.
• League of Legends: A popular MOBA by Riot Games contains 3 champions that directly reference the Egyptian deities Anubis (Nasus), Sobek (Renekton) and Ra (Azir).

Music

• Iced Earth: Set is referenced by this American heavy metal band on some of their concept albums. He is often referred to as Set Abominae in their Egyptian mythology-based concept albums and comic book.
• Behemoth: Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth has a song entitled "Sculpting The Throne Ov Seth"
• Septic Flesh: Greek metal band Septic Flesh have a song on their second album entitled "The Eyes of Set". Additionally, vocalist/bassist Spiros Antoniou is often referred to as "Seth".
• 1349: Norwegian black metal band 1349 has an album entitled Demonoir which features an ambient song entitled "The Tunnel of Set" which is broken down into 7 small tracks. Additionally, other songs on the album such "The Devil of the Deserts" contain vague references to Set.

Thoth in popular culture

Aleister Crowley's book on the Tarot is entitled The Book of Thoth: A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians, Being The Equinox Volume III No. V" (see The Book of Thoth (Crowley)).

Thoth is also heavily mentioned in the Matthew Reilly novels Seven Ancient Wonders and The Six Sacred Stones. An entire language was created based on Thoth's religious omnipotence. There are also many allusions to his importance in Egyptian history throughout the books.

Thoth and the cosmology presented in the Book of Thoth are major elements of the plots in the King's Man trilogy by the Canadian novelist Pauline Gedge.

The computer game NetHack, which features deities whose favor the player must win in order to succeed features Thoth as the god of neutral (balanced alignment) Wizards, in keeping with his role as God of Balance and Wisdom.

Philosopher Jacques Derrida uses Socrates' "Myth of Theuth" to argue for deconstruction and the instability of Truth since writing is pharmakon, both poison and cure—that which puts play into play.

The Coptic liturgical New Year begins with the month of Thout which is a carry over from the Ancient Egyptian month dedicated to Thoth. The first day of Thoth corresponds, currently, to the eleventh of September in the Gregorian calendar or the twelfth if a leap year Coptic calendar.^[1]

In Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods, Thoth lives as a human called Mr. Ibis on the mortal plane in the "Little Egypt" area of Southern Illinois. In accordance with his role as judge of the dead, he works as an undertaker alongside Anubis' human embodiment, Mr. Jacquel (Jackal).

The current logo of Cairo University, which is the oldest university in Egypt, embodies the image of Thoth sitting on his throne.

The Temple of Thoth is the name of a pagan cult in The Magician's Nephew, an episode of Midsomer Murders. Apart from the name, no references to the Egyptian god are made in the episode.

Thoth is one of the main characters in Roger Zelazny's novel Creatures of Light and Darkness.

Thoth is also a character in the Kane Chronicles who helps the Kanes in the first book of the trilogy, The Red Pyramid.

In the game Zone of the Enders and Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, the game's titular mecha Jehuty is based on Thoth himself.

Khonsu in popular culture

The lunar deity Khonsu (Khonshu) resurrected the Marvel Comics character, Moon Knight.

In second book of The Kane Chronicles, the protagonists gamble with Khonsu to win three extra hours.

Ra in popular culture

• Ra is the main villain of the 1994 film Stargate. In it, he is an alien that enslaves ancient Egyptians and brings them to a planet on the other side of the known universe using a device known as a Stargate.
• In channeled messages of the New Age community, Ra is presented as an extraterrestrial entity presenting a central message of "...only one important statement...All things, all of life, all of the creation is part of one original thought."^[2][3]
• In Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones must use the headpiece of the Staff of Ra to find the location of the Ark of the Covenant, which is hidden in Tanis.
• In The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, Ra first appears in The Throne of Fire as a senile old man. In The Serpent's Shadow, he is reborn as a muscular old man with his mind intact and willingly abdicates his throne so that Horus can take over.
• In the multiplayer online battle arena video game Smite, Ra is a playable god.
• In season four of the Syfy reality television series Face Off, the contestant Eric F. created a Ra mummy based on the Evil Dead franchise.
• In Yu-Gi-Oh!, Ra is an Egyptian God Card called "The Winged Dragon Of Ra" or "Sun Dragon Ra."
• The Dagger of Amon Ra, the second game in the Laura Bow series of graphic adventures, features a Ra cult as a plot element.
• The House of Anubis special was called Touchstone of Ra
• Harvey Birdman, the titular character in the Hanna-Barbera animated series Birdman and the Galaxy Trio and, later, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, is a winged superhero who was said to have gained abilities of flight and solar projection from the Sun-God Ra
• The MOBA League of Legends champion named Azir resembles Ra
• IN 2015, SolarCity began a new marketing campaign featuring Ra "at home" as a servant of the homeowner, inviting customers to "harness the power of the Sun and save."
• Age of Mythology, Age of Empires: Mythologies: Ra is one of three major gods that can be worshiped by Egyptian players.
• Ra: The God of The Sun, is a marching band show composed by Rob Stein with Ra as the central theme.
• In Savage Dragon, the character PowerHouse is a descendent of Ra.

References