At
various locals in the in the ancient world, trees
were associated with different gods, and Egypt was certainly
no exception. We know of no trees, or for that matter other vegetation in
Egypt that was honored as specific gods as were bulls or rams, for example. Nevertheless, various vegetation
was connected to gods and goddess in one way or another, or
generally to Egyptian religion and specifically the afterlife.There were several deities that were associated with trees,
a rare commodity in Egypt. Horus was associated with the
acacia, while Osiris and
Re were tied with the willow and the
sycamore, respectively. Osiris was sheltered by a willow after
he was killed, and for example, the Book of the Dead
describes two "sycamores of turquoise" growing at
the point on the eastern horizon where the sun-god rises each
morning. Re was also associated with the ished tree. Also,
Wepwawet was paired with the Tamarisk, and the symbol of
the god Heh
was a palm branch, while not surprisingly,
we have both Thoth and
Seshat, the two deities associated with
writing, inscribing the leaves of either the ished (or persea)
tree with the Royal Titulary and the number of years in the
pharaoh's reign.
However, none of these mail deities were associated with
trees nearly as much as a number of female deities. The
sycamore specifically was regarded as a manifestation of the
goddesses Nut,
Isis and
Hathor, who was even given the title,
"Lady of the Sycamore". In fact, this title has
been interpreted to relate to a specific and particularly old
tree that once stood to the south of the Temple
of Ptah
at Memphis
during the Old
Kingdom.
The Sycamore
tree was of special significance in Egyptian religion. It
was the only native tree of useful size and sturdiness in
Egypt, and perhaps very significantly, most often grew along
the edge of the desert, which would have also placed it near
or in the necropolises.

Tree Goddess from the tomb of Pashedu in the Valley of the Kings
There were also a number of minor tree goddesses who were
depicted in a number of ways. There were simply images of
trees labeled as goddesses as well as fully anthropomorphic
personifications of tree goddesses. Perhaps the most unusual
representation is that of the upper body of a goddess rising
from the trunk at the center of a tree, or sometimes a tree
sprouting out of the head, such as in the case of Nut.
Many representations were made depicting Hathor, Nut or
some other goddess reaching out from a tree to offer the
deceased food and water. Sometimes only the arms of the
goddess were shown providing food or water and in the tomb of
Tuthmosis III, the king is shown being nursed at the breast of
"his mother Isis" in the form of a sycamore tree.
Hathor had an especially important role in the afterlife of
the deceased. In tomb depictions, the deceased, frequently
accompanied by his wife, was shown sitting under or near the
branches of a tree, with Hathor sprouting from the trunk,
enjoying the fruit and drink offered by this goddess. An
excellent example of such a representation is in the Theban
tomb of Sennedjem.
Scenes and inscriptions clearly show a link between the
tree-goddess, the symbol of renewal, and the dead in the form
of the avian Ba, for as a bird, the soul of the dead was
attracted to, and nourished by the tree.
Notably, the identification of several maternal deities as
tree goddesses also meant that burial in a wooden coffin was
viewed as a return to the womb of the mother goddess.

A Tree Goddess with a fruit-tree headress
Today in Egypt, trees have not altogether died out as
religious symbols, for their remains at least several sites
where trees have modern religious significance, associated
with, for example, the Holy Virgin Mary.
Resources:
| Title |
Author |
Date |
Publisher |
Reference Number |
|
Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, A |
Hart, George |
1986 |
Routledge |
ISBN 0-415-05909-7 |
|
Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt |
Armour, Robert A. |
1986 |
American University in Cairo Press, The |
ISBN 977 424 669 1 |
|
Gods of the Egyptians, The (Studies in Egyptian Mythology) |
Budge, E. A. Wallis |
1969 |
Dover Publications, Inc. |
ISBN 486-22056-7 |
|
Great Goddesses of Egypt, The |
Lesko, Barbara S. |
1999 |
University of Oklahoma Press |
ISBN 0-8061-3202-7 |
|
Tomb and Beyond, The: Burial Customs of Egyptian Officials |
Kanawati, Naguib |
2001 |
Aris & Phillips Ltd |
ISBN 0 85668 734 0 |
|
Valley of the Kings |
Weeks, Kent R. |
2001 |
Friedman/Fairfax |
ISBN 1-5866-3295-7 |
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