# Numbers in Egyptian mythology

Part of a series on :
Ancient Egyptian religion :
Beliefs
Afterlife
Cosmology
Duat
Ma'at
Mythology
Index
Numerology
Philosophy
Soul :
Practices
Funerals
Offerings: Offering formula
Temples
Pyramids :
Deities (list)Ogdoad
Amun
Amunet
Hauhet
Heh
Kauket
Kek
Naunet
Nu
Ennead
Atum
Geb
Isis
Nephthys
Nut
Osiris
Set
Shu
Tefnut
A
Aati
Aker
Akhty
Amenhotep, son of Hapu
Amesemi
Ammit
Am-heh
Amu-Aa
Anat
Andjety
Anhur
Anput
Anubis
Anuket
Apedemak
Apep
Apis
Apt
Aqen
Arensnuphis
Ash
Assessors
Astarte
Aten
B
Babi
Banebdjedet
Bastet
Bat
Bata
Ba-Pef
Bennu
Bes
Buchis
C
Cavern deities
D
Dedun
Duau (god)
F
Four sons of Horus
G
Gate deities
H
Ha
Hapi
Hauron
Hathor
Hatmehit
Hedetet
Hedjhotep
Heka
Hemen
Hemsut
Henet
Heqet
Hermanubis
Hesat
Horus
Harpocrates
Heryshaf
Hu
I
Iabet
Iah
Iat
Igai
Ihy
Ikhemu-sek
Imentet
Imhotep
Ipy
Iunit
Iusaaset
K
Kebechet
Khensit
Khenti-Amentiu
Khenti-kheti
Khepri
Kherty
Khnum
Khonsu
Kothar-wa-Khasis
M
Maahes
Ma'at
Mandulis
Medjed
Mafdet
Mehen
Mehet-Weret
Mehit
Menhit
Meret
Meretseger
Meskhenet
Min
Mnevis
Montu
Mut
N
Nebethetepet
Nebtuwi
Nefertem
Nehebkau
Nehmetawy
Neith
Nemty
Nekhbet
Neper
P
Pakhet
Perit
Petbe
Ptah
Q
Qebui
Qed-her
Qetesh
R
Ra
Raet-Tawy
Rekhyt
Rem
Renenutet
Renpet
Renpetneferet
Repyt
Resheph
S
Sah
Satis
Sebiumeker
Sekhmet
Seker
Serapis
Serket
Seshat
Shai
Shed
Shesmetet
Shezmu
Sia
Sobek
Sopdet
Sopdu
Souls of Pe and Nekhen
T
Tatenen
Taweret
Tayt
Ta-Bitjet
Thoth
Hermes Trismegistus
Tjenenyet
Tutu
U
Unut
W
Wadjet
Wadj-wer
Weneg
Wepset
Wepwawet
Werethekau
Wosret :
Locations
Aaru
Benben
Duat
Land of Manu
The Indestructibles :
Symbols and objects
Aani
Abtu
Ankh
Atef
Atet
Book of Thoth
Cartouche
Corn mummy
Crook and flail
Deshret
Djed
Egyptian obelisk
Egyptian pool
Eye of Horus
Eye of Ra
Griffin
Hedjet
Hemhem crown
Hennu
Hieracosphinx
Hypocephalus
Imiut fetish
Khepresh
Kneph
Matet boat
Medjed
Menat
Nebu
Nemes
Neshmet
Ouroboros
Pschent
Scarab
Seqtet boat
Serekh
Serpopard
Set animal
Shen ring
Sphinx
Tyet
Uraeus
Ushabti
Was-sceptre
Winged sun :
Texts
Funerary texts (Amduat • Books of Breathing • Book of Caverns • Book of the Dead • Book of the Earth • Book of Gates) :
Related religions
Atenism
Hermeticism
Thelema
Kemeticism (Kemetic Orthodoxy • Church of the Most High Goddess) :
Ancient Egypt portal :
vte :
Certain numbers were considered sacred, holy, or magical by the ancient Egyptians, particularly 2, 3, 4, 7, and their multiples and sums.

## Three: symbol of plurality

The basic symbol for plurality among the ancient Egyptians was the number three: even the way they wrote the word for "plurality" in hieroglyphics consisted of three vertical marks (𓏼). Triads of deities were also used in Egyptian religion to signify a complete system. Examples include references to the god Atum "when he was one and became three" when he gave birth to Shu and Tefnut, and the triad of Horus, Osiris, and Isis.

### Examples

* The beer used to trick Sekhmet soaked three hands into the ground.
* The second god, Re, named three times to define the sun: dawn, noon, and evening.
* Thoth is described as the “thrice-great god of wisdom”.
* A doomed prince was doomed to three fates: to die by a crocodile, a serpent, or a dog.
* Three groups of three attempts each (nine attempts) were required for a legendary peasant to recover his stolen goods.
* A boasting mage claimed to be able to cast a great darkness to last three days.
* After asking Thoth for help, a King of Ethiopia was brought to Thebes and publicly beaten three further times.
* An Ethiopian mage tried—and failed—three times to defeat the greatest mage of Egypt.
* An Egyptian mage, in an attempt to enter the land of the dead, threw a certain powder on a fire three times.
* There are twelve (three times four) sections of the Egyptian land of the dead. The dead disembark at the third.
* The Knot of Isis, representing life, has three loops.

## Five
### Examples

* The second god, Rê, named five gods and goddesses.
* Thoth added five days to the year by winning the light from the Moon in a game of gambling.
* It took five days for the five children of Nut and Geb to be born. These are Osiris, Nephthys, Isis, Set and Haroeris (Horus the Elder) - not be mistaken with Harpocrates (Horus the Younger), who defeated Set in battle.
* A boasting mage claimed to be able to bring the Pharaoh of Egypt to Ethiopia and by magic, have him beaten with a rod five hundred (five times five times five times four) times, and return him to Egypt in the space of five hours.
* An Ethiopian mage comes to challenge Egypt's greatest mage—to reading of a sealed letter—five hundred (five times five times five times four) years after the atrocity depicted in it occurred.
* The star, or pentagram, representing the afterlife, has five points.
Fives are less common in Egyptian mythology.

## Seven: symbol of perfection, effectiveness, completeness

The number seven was apparently the Egyptian symbol of such ideas as perfection, effectiveness, and completeness.

### Examples

* Seven thousand barrels of red beer were used to trick Sekhmet out of killing.
* In her search for her husband's pieces, the goddess Isis was guarded by seven scorpions.
* A legendary famine lasted seven years.
* The lowest amount that the Nile flooded to solve the famine was seven cubits. The highest was 28 cubits (four times seven).
* A doomed prince found a tower seventy (ten times seven) cubits high with seventy (ten times seven) windows.
* Set tore the god Osiris’ body into fourteen pieces: seven each for the two regions of Upper and Lower Egypt.
* The Pool symbol, representing water, contains seven zigzag lines.
* The Gold symbol has seven spines on its underside.