A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Nine rooms of gods, hung in the order their peoples first appear in the written record, from the temple cities of Sumer to the edges of the Roman world.

634 gods. 611 plates hung; 23 frames still wait for theirs.

Scroll to walk through the rooms.

Hung today, 28 September 2026

Wosret, plate — Wosret **wos**-ret The Mighty One — old Theban consort of Amun Who was Amun's wife before Mut?

From The Gift of the Nile

Volume I

The Cradle of Cities

Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the Levant. c. 3400 BCE to 395 CE

The first gods to be written down. Clay tablets from the temple cities of Sumer and Akkad, the archives of the Hittite kings and the tablets of Ugarit keep the oldest recorded pantheons.

115 gods in four bays. All hung.

Enter the room

Inanna, plate — Inanna ee-**nan**-nah Queen of Heaven — Akkadian Ishtar; goddess of love, war, and the morning and evening star How did Inanna steal the arts of civilization from Enki?

Marduk, plate — Marduk **mar**-dook Lord of Babylon — Bel What test did the gods set Marduk before they crowned him king?

Tiamat, plate — Tiamat **tee**-ah-mat The Salt Sea — primordial chaos-mother, slain by Marduk Was Tiamat really a dragon?

Gilgamesh, plate — Gilgamesh **gil**-gah-mesh Two Parts God and One Part Man — King of Uruk and Seeker of Immortality Why did Gilgamesh fail the test of immortality?

Teshub, plate — Teshub **teh**-shoob The Storm — Hurrian sky-king, son of Kumarbi Why is the Hurrian storm-king so often losing before he wins?

Baal, plate — Baal **baal** The Rider on the Clouds — Hadad of Ugarit Why did Baal hesitate to put a window in his palace?

All 115 works in The Cradle of Cities

Volume II

The Gift of the Nile

Egypt. c. 4000 BCE to 395 CE

Three thousand years of Egyptian religion, from the Pyramid Texts to the temples of the Ptolemies: gods of creation, of the dead, of cities and of sacred animals.

73 gods in four bays. All hung.

Enter the room

Ra, plate — Ra ra The Sun — daily king of heaven How did Ra stop Sekhmet from slaughtering all of mankind?

Osiris, plate — Osiris oh-**sye**-ris Lord of the Dead — slain king and judge of souls Why did fourteen Egyptian cities each claim to hold Osiris's tomb?

Isis, plate — Isis **eye**-sis The Great of Magic — wife of Osiris, mother of Horus How did Isis outlive every other Egyptian god by centuries?

Anubis, plate — Anubis ah-**noo**-bis The Jackal — Lord of Embalming Why is Anubis painted black when real jackals are tawny?

Thoth, plate — Thoth **thoht** The Ibis — Lord of Wisdom and Writing How did an Egyptian scribe-god become the Renaissance's Hermes Trismegistus?

Sekhmet, plate — Sekhmet **sek**-met The Lioness — Lady of Plague and War How did Ra trick Sekhmet into sparing mankind?

All 73 works in The Gift of the Nile

Volume III

The Olympian Order

Greece. c. 1600 BCE to 750 CE

The gods of Homer and Hesiod, and the older powers, monsters and heroes around them, set beside what the Greeks themselves wrote.

152 gods in eight bays. All hung.

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Zeus, plate — Zeus **zoos** King of the Gods — Lord of Olympus How did Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades divide the cosmos between them?

Athena, plate — Athena ah-**thee**-nah The Grey-Eyed — goddess of wisdom and crafts How did Athena win the city of Athens from Poseidon?

Poseidon, plate — Poseidon poh-**sye**-don Lord of the Sea — earth-shaker Why was Poseidon the god of horses as well as the sea?

Hades, plate — Hades **hay**-deez Lord of the Dead — king of the underworld Why did the Greeks avoid speaking Hades's name aloud?

Medusa, plate — Medusa meh-**doo**-suh The Gorgon — whose gaze turned men to stone How did Medusa's severed head end up on Athena's shield?

Prometheus, plate — Prometheus proh-**mee**-thee-us The Forethinking — friend of mankind How did Prometheus trick Zeus into accepting bones instead of meat?

All 152 works in The Olympian Order

Volume VI

The Persian World

Iran. c. 2000 BCE to 1010 CE

The Wise Lord and the Lie, the Bounteous Immortals and the beings worthy of worship, from the Gathas of Zarathushtra to the Shahnameh. Zoroastrianism is still practised today.

30 gods in four bays. All hung.

Enter the room

Mithra, plate — Mithra **mith**-ra Lord of the Covenant — the Iranian Mithra, ancestor of the Roman Mithras How did Iran's covenant-god become the Roman army's secret Mithras?

Anahita, plate — Anahita ah-nah-**hee**-tah Lady of the Waters — Aredvi Sura Anahita, Mother of Rivers Why did Artaxerxes II break Iranian tradition by giving Anahita statues?

Atar, plate — Atar a-tar Sacred Fire — son of Ahura Mazda, presence of the divine What sixteen fires are needed to consecrate an Atash Bahram?

Zurvan, plate — Zurvan **zur**-van Infinite Time — the principle from whom (in the heretical Zurvanism) both Mazda and Ahriman emerged How did Ahriman win rule of the world for nine thousand years?

Yima, plate — Yima yi-ma The First King — Jamshid in the later tradition; ruler of the golden age Why did the first king of the world lose the Khvarenah?

Aži Dahāka, plate — Aži Dahāka a-ži da-hā-ka The Three-Headed Dragon — Zahhāk in the Persian tradition; cosmic adversary Why is the three-headed dragon chained under a volcano rather than killed?

All 30 works in The Persian World

Volume VIII

The Levantine Borderlands

Syria, Petra and Palmyra. c. 1200 BCE to 500 CE

Caravan gods of Syria, Petra and Palmyra, known mostly from inscriptions, altars and temple ruins in the centuries around Rome’s arrival.

20 gods in three bays. 19 hung.

Enter the room

Hadad, plate — Hadad ha-dad The Aramaean Storm-God — Iuppiter Heliopolitanus of Baalbek How did a Syrian storm-god become Rome's Iuppiter Heliopolitanus at Baalbek?

Atargatis, plate — Atargatis ah-**tar**-gah-tis The Great Goddess of Syria — fish-tailed mother of Hierapolis Where did the waters of the Flood drain away, according to Hierapolis?

Dushara, plate — Dushara doo-**shah**-rah Chief God of the Nabataeans — patron of Petra, lord of the mountain Why was the chief god of Petra worshipped as a plain black stone?

Al-Uzza, plate — Al-Uzza al--uz-za The Mighty Maiden — warrior-goddess of the planet Venus Did Muhammad once make offerings to a goddess of his own tribe?

Bel, plate — Bel **bel** Chief God of Palmyra — equivalent to the Babylonian Marduk and the Greek Zeus Why did the Temple of Bel survive nineteen centuries, then fall in 2015?

Arsu, plate — Arsu ar-su The Camel-Rider Caravan-God — protector of evening travel Why did Palmyra need a god who rode a camel?

All 20 works in The Levantine Borderlands

Volume IX

The Edges of Empire

Thrace to the Atlas, the Caucasus to Iberia. c. 2000 BCE to 1500 CE

Gods of the peoples at Rome’s frontiers: Thracians, Illyrians, Lusitanians, Georgians, Ossetians and Amazigh. Many survive only as names on Latin dedications.

33 gods in six bays. All hung.

Enter the room

The Thracian Horseman, plate — The Thracian Horseman the **thra**-cian hor-se-man Heros — votive hero-cult of the deified ancestor How did a Thracian hunter on horseback become Saint George?

Zalmoxis, plate — Zalmoxis zal-**mok**-sis The Deified Hero — Thracian teacher of the immortal soul Did Zalmoxis really learn the immortal soul from Pythagoras?

Bendis, plate — Bendis **ben**-dis The Thracian Huntress — patroness of the moon and the wild animals Why does Plato's Republic open with a Thracian goddess's festival?

Endovelicus, plate — Endovelicus en-do-ve-li-cus Oracular Healing-God of Lusitania — patron of dream incubation How did pilgrims get healed by a god they never saw awake?

Satana, plate — Satana sa-ta-na The Mother of the Narts — wise counselor of the heroic clan Is Satana, mother of the Narts, connected to the Christian Satan?

Soslan, plate — Soslan **sos**-lan The Solar Hero — Nart warrior of the sun How could a hero born of the sun be killed by the sun?

All 33 works in The Edges of Empire

Volume VII

The Etruscan World

Etruria. c. 900 BCE to 750 CE

The people from whom Rome learned much of its ritual. Known from painted tombs, engraved mirrors and a bronze liver used for divination; their own sacred books are lost.

22 gods in four bays. All hung.

Enter the room

Tinia, plate — Tinia **tee**-nee-ah The Etruscan Sky-King — wielder of three thunderbolts Why could Tinia not throw his deadliest thunderbolt on his own authority?

Uni, plate — Uni u-ni The Etruscan Queen of Heaven — consort of Tinia, identified with Phoenician Astarte How did Uni make the adult hero Hercle her son?

Menrva, plate — Menrva **men**-rvah The Etruscan Wise Maiden — warrior, craftswoman, prophetess Why does the Roman name Minerva come from Etruscan rather than Greek?

Usil, plate — Usil u-sil The Etruscan Sun God — the masculine sun, kin of the Greek Helios Why did Etruscans open public business at sunrise?

Charun, plate — Charun **cha**-run Hammer-Wielding Death-Demon — striker of the dying Did the Etruscan Charun ferry the dead like the Greek Charon?

Vanth, plate — Vanth **vanth** The Etruscan Death-Escort — winged female spirit of the moment of dying Was Vanth a terrifying demon or a comforting guide?

All 22 works in The Etruscan World

Volume IV

The Roman Inheritance

Rome and Italy. c. 1200 BCE to 500 CE

The gods Rome had before Greece arrived: household spirits, boundary stones, deified virtues, and the mystery cults of the empire.

58 gods in four bays. 54 hung.

Enter the room

Saturn, plate — Saturn sa-turn Italic God of Sowing — King of the Golden Age Why did Roman masters wait on their slaves at the Saturnalia?

Faunus, plate — Faunus **fau**-nus Italian Woodland God — Prophet of the Wild How did a Roman consult Faunus for a prophecy?

Lares, plate — Lares la-res Household and Crossroads Spirits Why does a serpent appear beneath the dancing Lares in household shrines?

Mithras (Roman), plate — Mithras (Roman) **mith**-ras (roman) The Bull-Slaying Mystery — Cult of the Soldiers What were the seven grades of Mithraic initiation?

Roma, plate — Roma ro-ma The Personified City — divine guardian of Rome herself Why was the goddess Roma first worshipped outside Rome?

Romulus, plate — Romulus ro-mu-lus Founder of Rome — Deified as Quirinus Did the Senate murder Romulus, or was he really taken to heaven?

All 58 works in The Roman Inheritance

Volume V

The Northern Inheritance

Northern and Eastern Europe. c. 2000 BCE to 1600 CE

Norse, Germanic, Celtic, Slavic, Baltic, Finnic, Hungarian and Albanian traditions, most written down by Christian authors long after the gods were last worshipped.

131 gods in five bays. 113 hung.

Enter the room

Odin, plate — Odin oh-din Allfather — God of War, Wisdom, and Death Why did Odin give up an eye and hang himself from a tree?

Thor, plate — Thor **thor** God of Thunder — Defender of Asgard How did the giants trick Thor into losing a wrestling match?

Freyja, plate — Freyja **fray**-yah Lady of the Vanir — Goddess of Love, Magic, and the Slain What did Freyja pay four dwarves for the necklace Brísingamen?

Loki, plate — Loki lo-ki The Trickster — Companion and Betrayer of the Gods How did Loki become the mother of Odin's eight-legged horse?

Morrígan, plate — Morrígan mor-rí-gan The Phantom Queen — Goddess of Battle and Sovereignty Why did a crow landing on Cú Chulainn's shoulder prove he was dead?

Perun, plate — Perun peh-**roon** God of Thunder — Chief of the Kievan Pantheon What happened to Perun's silver-headed idol when Kiev converted in 988?

All 131 works in The Northern Inheritance

Beyond the rooms

The catalogue: every god, A to Z, with how to say each name.
The timeline: 546 dated witnesses, from the first writing to the modern recovery.
Echoes: 40 gods the ancient sources themselves name as one across traditions.
Themes: storm, sea, the dead, the hearth, and 35 more ways across the rooms.
The sources behind every room, and the books.