What Did the Greeks Replace Egyptian Gods' Names With? Greek Names and Equivalents

The Greeks did not replace the names of the Egyptian gods with Greek gods; they did two other things. First, they wrote the Egyptian names in Greek form, so Wsir became Osiris, Aset became Isis, Heru became Horus, Inpu became Anubis and Djehuty became Thoth: the names we still use today are Greek. Second, they matched each Egyptian god with the Greek god who seemed most similar, so Amun was called Zeus, Thoth was Hermes, Hathor was Aphrodite and Osiris was Dionysus.

This matching is called interpretatio graeca, "Greek translation", and it grew from Herodotus in the fifth century BC to the three centuries of Greek Ptolemaic rule. Below is the full list, how it worked and the places in Egypt where you can still see it on temple walls.

Ancient Egyptian was written without vowels, so the exact pronunciation of the gods' names is uncertain. The forms used in modern books, guidebooks and films mostly come through Greek writers:

Even the name of the country is Greek. Egyptians called their land Kemet, "the black land", after its dark Nile soil. The Greek Aigyptos probably comes from Hut-ka-Ptah, "the temple of the soul of Ptah", a name of the great temple at Memphis.

When the Greeks met Egyptian gods, they asked "which of our gods is this?" and gave the answer they found most natural. Many pairs go back to Herodotus, who visited Egypt around 450 BC; others became common under the Ptolemies.

The matches were never exact. Thoth was a moon god with an ibis head who kept the records of the dead; Hermes was a quick-witted messenger. Isis had no clear twin in Greece, which is why she was linked to several goddesses at once.

Under Greek rule, many Egyptian towns got Greek names after the god the Greeks thought was worshipped there. Several are still used by archaeologists:

• Heliopolis ("city of Helios"): Iunu, the city of Ra, now a district of Cairo.
• Diospolis Magna ("great city of Zeus"): Thebes, modern Luxor, city of Amun.
• Hermopolis: Khemenu, city of Thoth, near modern Minya.
• Apollonopolis Magna: Edfu, city of Horus. See our Edfu temple guide.
• Aphroditopolis: cities of Hathor, such as Atfih south of Cairo.
• Panopolis: Akhmim, city of Min.
• Crocodilopolis: Shedet in Fayoum, city of Sobek.
• Cynopolis ("dog city"): a centre of Anubis in Middle Egypt.

The clearest example of the two religions meeting is Serapis. Early in Ptolemaic rule, in the third century BC, the new Greek kings promoted a god who joined Osiris and the Apis bull of Memphis (Osiris-Apis, Greek Oserapis) with the look of a bearded Greek Zeus. Serapis was worshipped in a great temple in Alexandria, the Serapeum, together with Isis and the child Harpocrates, and his cult spread around the Mediterranean. You can visit the site of the Serapeum of Alexandria, where Pompey's Pillar still stands.

Isis herself became one of the most popular goddesses of the Roman Empire, with temples from London to the Black Sea.

No. Inside the temples the priests went on using the Egyptian names and hieroglyphs. The Ptolemaic temples of Edfu, Dendera, Kom Ombo and Philae, built under Greek kings, are carved entirely in the Egyptian style with Egyptian gods; the Greek pharaohs are shown in traditional dress making offerings to Horus or Hathor. Greek names were used by the Greek-speaking ruling class, in Greek documents and by later Roman writers, and that is how they reached us.

After Alexander the Great took Egypt in 332 BC, his general Ptolemy founded a dynasty that ruled from Alexandria until Cleopatra VII died in 30 BC. Greek became the language of government, law and trade, and remained so under Roman and Byzantine rule until the Arab conquest of 641 AD. Most Egyptians, however, went on speaking Egyptian, written in demotic script. Later, Egyptian Christians wrote their language with the Greek alphabet plus a few signs from demotic: this became Coptic, still the liturgical language of the Coptic Church.

Yes. The Greeks of Egypt, called Egyptiotes, were for centuries one of the country's largest foreign communities, centred in Alexandria and Cairo; estimates of their peak in the first half of the 20th century run from about 76,000 in the 1927 census to several hundred thousand by other counts. Most left after the 1952 revolution and the nationalisations of the 1950s and 1960s. A few thousand remain today. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, Greek schools and churches are still active, and the poet Constantine Cavafy, the best-known Egyptiote, lived in Alexandria. You can visit his apartment, now the Cavafy Museum.

• Kom el-Shoqafa catacombs, Alexandria: Anubis dressed as a Roman soldier and Egyptian gods carved in a Greco-Roman style. See our Kom el-Shoqafa guide.
• The Serapeum and Pompey's Pillar, Alexandria.
• The Greco-Roman Museum, Alexandria: statues of Serapis, Isis and Harpocrates.
• Edfu, Dendera, Kom Ombo and Philae: Ptolemaic temples where Greek kings honour Egyptian gods.

For the Egyptian gods themselves, read our guide to ancient Egyptian gods and their temples.

Our Alexandria archaeological day tour includes Kom el-Shoqafa, the Serapeum and Pompey's Pillar, and the 5 days Cairo and Alexandria tour pairs the pharaonic sites of Giza with Greek and Roman Alexandria.

What is the Greek name for Thoth?

Thoth is itself the Greek form of the Egyptian Djehuty. The Greeks identified him with Hermes, and later with Hermes Trismegistus.

Who is the Greek equivalent of Horus?

Apollo. The child Horus was called Harpocrates.

What did the Greeks call Egypt?

Aigyptos, probably from Hut-ka-Ptah, a name of Ptah's temple at Memphis. Egyptians called their land Kemet.

Who is the Egyptian equivalent of Aphrodite?

Hathor, goddess of love, music and joy. In Roman times Isis was also linked to Aphrodite.