The Netjer

It always begins and ends with the water. Some of the Netjer claim that eight Primordials — or maybe Titans — called the Ogdoad arose from the primeval and chaotic waters of Nu, creating the World as a mound rises from the falling flood waters, given space by the creation of Re. In others, the Primordial Atum, divinity without peer, created the Ennead Titans, who themselves gave birth to the Gods. The God Ptah has claimed at times to have built the World as a grand project, but he’s demonstrably young... though he has significant evidence to the contrary. Both the Ogdoad and the Ennead exist, and the Gods can produce evidence for every origin.

Truly, the Netjer originated in ancient Egypt over 7,000 years ago. In the earliest days, the people, remet, worshipped one or two Gods who acted as patrons for the region from individual cities. These cults rose up around stories and names of Gods, but they did not understand the full breadth of the Netjer any more than they understood the course of the Nile. As people traveled between cities, the Gods’ influence also spread, causing conflict between those who were used to the undivided attention of their worshippers. Some Gods always enjoyed the attention of all the people of Egypt, using different names between different cults to deceive the other Gods. None know when it began, or with whom, but the pharaohs in Upper Egypt claimed they were divinely appointed to rule all of Egypt, and the Gods backed them. In short order, the land was unified, and so too were the Netjer. Since then, the Gods of Egypt have endured through cultural, mythic, and physical changes to the World.

They have fought with the Yazata and the Theoi, even had some scraps with the Gods of Caanan, but in the modern era the Netjer have no enemies but the ones they’ve faced daily for millennia. The pantheon concerns itself with the concept of ma’at, living a just and true life. They believe this can be achieved through balance and order, seeking justice and leading through just acts. They are at constant odds with their antithesis Titans, who seek to disrupt social order and spread injustice.

Where once the Netjer commanded worshippers in the millions, they now look over hundreds of thousands. Their followers are no longer located solely in Egypt, but instead circle the World. Yet Egypt lives in their ib, their hearts. Even if it’s no longer the superpower it once was, the Netjer are never far from the sands and silt, both literally and metaphorically.