Egyptian Mythology

Egyptian Mythology (エジプト神話) is the mythology of the ancient Egyptians, dating from 3000 BCE.

In Toaru Majutsu no Index, Egyptian Mythology is used as a base for certain forms of Magic, and certain aspects of Thelema draw from it.

Principles
Much of the Egyptian mythology is set in the earliest times, setting the pattern for a cycle which the Egyptians believed would be repeated in the events of the present times, much like the cycles of nature. They believed that as the cycles were repeated, the fundamental order of the universe, called , would be renewed.

The Egyptian pantheon consists of numerous deities, most of whom represent natural or social phenomena. With the exception of a few deities, most of Egyptian pantheon act to maintain maat. Within the pantheon, there are a fair number of deities associated with animals and often represented in art as a human with an animal's head.

Background
Though the religion of Egyptian mythology was lost to history, many well preserved records were left behind. Considerable progress in their analysis meant that information on their system of gods, rituals and views of life and the soul were gathered together, and with Egypt being positioned at the top of Africa, it was geographically convenient for European magicians who had reached a dead-end in their research and sought new material elsewhere to make a breakthrough, and many monuments and burial items were preserved by museum and collectors in Europe.

Like many other magicians, Aleister Crowley travelled to Egypt and incorporated the names of Isis, Osiris and Horus into his concept of Aeons.

Egyptian Mythology was one of several fields which influenced the development of Hermeticism, which would become part of the foundation of the Golden Dawn.

Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index SS
The first Egyptian magician to appear in the series is Leep, who targets Index Librorum Prohibitorum, hoping to use her knowledge to complete a version of the Book of the Dead which was missing pieces due to tomb robbers.

Uses of Egyptian Mythology in the story

 * Ankh: A hieroglyphic ideograph (with the meaning "life"), shaped as a cross with a looped handle, commonly featured in depictions of Egyptian deities.
 * The ankh is mentioned as a tool capable of applying a curse.
 * Bastet: A cat-headed goddess of protection, sometimes associated with Sekhmet.
 * The Egyptian magician Leep makes use of certain aspects of Bastet, acting as a Priestess of Bastet.
 * Eye of Horus: Also referred to as the Wedjat, a symbol of protection, royal power and good health, featured on funerary amulets.
 * The Eye of Horus is mentioned as a tool capable of applying a curse.
 * Horus: A falcon-headed god of the sky and war, son of Osiris and Isis.
 * The Aeon of Horus takes its name from this deity.
 * Isis: A mother goddess of health, fertility, wisdom and magic, wife of Osiris and mother of Horus.
 * The Aeon of Isis takes its name from this deity.
 * The goddess's name is included in the name of the Golden Dawn's Isis-Urania Temple.
 * Mummification: A process and practice whereby a deceased body is preserved as a, believed to be important step in the transition to the afterlife. Notable parts of the practice include the removal of the internal organs except the heart and wrapping the mummy with many layers of linen cloth bandages.
 * Nephthys is a mummy, born from a group of servants buried with a pharaoh, and made use of her separated organs in order to escape being completely 'exiled' by World Rejecter.
 * A certain magical faction planned the ritual sacrifice and mummification of a maiden as part of an experiment to prove the existence of heaven, with the heart being used like a signal, before being reduced to dust by Nephthys.
 * Nephthys: A goddess associated with death and protector of mummies, together with Isis.
 * A member of the true Gremlin is called Nephthys.
 * Osiris: The Egyptian god of the underworld and the dead, murdered by his brother Set.
 * The Aeon of Osiris takes its name from this deity.
 * Sekhmet: A violent lioness-headed goddess of war, sometimes associated with Bastet.
 * Leep and the Priestess of Sekhmet make use of a trance to use aspects of Sekhmet as a Priestess of Sekhmet.
 * Sphinx: A mythical creature, with the body of a lion and a human head.
 * The creature is the origin of Sphynx's name.
 * The Book of the Dead: A sacred funeral text which contains spells to assist a person's journey through, the Egyptian underworld, and into the afterlife.
 * The Book of the Dead is one of the grimoires inside Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Different versions of the book are written, specific copies for specific persons.
 * Thoth: The ibis-headed god of knowledge.
 * The name of Aleister Crowley's AI, Reading Thoth 78, is derived from Thoth and the Tarot named after him created by Aleister. It is also an original grimoire called the Thoth Tarot, its core being comprised of the 78 Tarot cards from the set of the same name.