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| Divine figures were frequently depicted in pairs, either for the sake of artistic symmetry or in the symbolic juxtaposition of beings related in some ways. Details of 21st Dynasty coffin of Padiamen. Luxor Museum of Mummification. |
dy·ad Noun /ˈdīad/Deities were often grouped in pairs as the phenomenon of duality pervades Egyptian culture and is at the heart of the Egyptian concept of the universe itself - though rather than focusing on the essential differences between the two parts of a given pair, ancient Egyptian thought usually stresses their complementary nature as a way of expressing the essential unity of existence. The endless duality found throughout the cosmic, geographic and temporal aspects of the Egyptian universe (heaven-earth, existence-nonexistence, stasis-change, north-south, desert-fertile, day-night, etc..) is found in pairs of Egyptian gods and goddesses which represented these and many other binary aspects of the world. Deities were also "created" as counterparts to established Egyptian god sand goddesses in order to form balanced, sexually paired couples, as may well have occurred in the following instances:
dyads plural
- Something that consists of two elements or parts
- the mother–child dyad
- An operator that is a combination of two vectors
- A divalent atom or radical
Almost invariably, dyads are composed of male and female elements such as these, though there are a few examples of sibling dyads of the same sex such as the brothers Horus and Seth and the sisters Isis and Nephthys. Sometimes too, deities may be mentioned together in pairs when their roles or areas of influence are clearly related. Thus, the lunar deities Thoth and Khonsu, the solar deities Ra and Atum, the two deified brothers Peteese and Pihor, and many others may be grouped together in this manner. Another way in which ancient Egyptian religion formed groups of two deities is when two Egyptian gods are utilized to represent a larger group. This may be seen in examples of Thoth and Horus who are sometimes depicted together representating the four gods of ritual lustration, Horus, Seth, Thoth and Nemty.
