The non-human, supranatural entities known collectively in Egypt as netjer, a word customarily translated as "god", are perhaps best understood as forces of nature, even as powers beyond nature, rather than the more conventional idea of them as anthropomorphised beings or as theriocephalic emanations. Some of them were indeed represented in human or humanoid form, others manifested themselves as animals, birds, insects or reptiles, but these forms concealed rather than revealed their true nature.

Many of the netjeru had their origins in remote times when they were identified with particular parts of the Nile Valley; some of them retained these associations throughout Egyptian history whilst others became national gods. These were identified with the king or with what were considered to be particular departments of divine responsibility: the sun and the moon, truth and order, creation, or the vital essence which informs all living things.

Some of the great gods were already powerful at the dawn of Egyptian history. These included ATUM, the spirit of creation; RE, the sun-god; THOTH, the god of wisdom and the moon; HATHOR and ISIS, forms of the great goddess; NEITH, a warrior goddess from the north; PTAH, the supreme creative force; SET, originally the god of the south, later the god of the desert and storm, later still the personification of malignancy and destruction. This last role arose from his supposed part in the murder of his brother, OSIRIS (in fact a relatively late arrival in the Egyptian pantheon, who is attested towards the end of the Old Kingdom, though older gods in the Abydos region were sometimes thought of as Osiris' forerunners) and his conflict with Osiris' son, HORUS.

Behind even the greatest and most ancient of these entities was the veiled presence of "He whose Name is Hidden", a mysterious, all-powerful being to whom even the mightiest of the gods deferred; the most ancient Horus in his Falcon manifestation was said to perch upon the battlements of this god's celestial palace. This Hidden One, however, was never revealed during Egypt's lifetime, though AMUN was, at least according to one of the several theogonies which the Egyptians maintained, sometimes acknowledged as "Hidden".

Before the Fourth Dynasty, the Pyramid Age, when for reasons which are unclear a change in religious orientation took place, Egypt seems principally to have followed stellar cults, identifying certain stars and constellations for particular regard. There is no doubt that the stars played an important role in determining the orientation, for example, of the massive architectural and engineering projects which characterise the Old Kingdom. Architects used the stars to establish true north and to align their buildings to the cardinal points with astonishing precision; they also were capable of locking an entire building on to a particular star, doubtless to allow its light to shine directly into the sanctuary on nights of special festivals. It is thus entirely consonant with the Egyptian mind to have drawn down the configuration of those constellations which were especially important to them and to have replicated their positions in the Valley, a suggestion which has raised as much controversy as it has interest. Much Egyptian thought was devoted to uniting the two realms of earth and sky, just as the early kings sought to unify the notional "Two Lands" into which Egypt was always said to be divided.

When the kings of the First Dynasty began their programme of unifying the Valley, creating a nation state out of a jigsaw puzzle of disconnected principalities, some of the gods are said to have been "born". The introduction of systems of worship and observance for the "new" gods suggests that the First-Dynasty kings were as innovative in the recognition of the divine powers as they were in the secular management of the state.

In the early days of the kingship, in the Archaic Period and the early Old Kingdom, the gods and the observances directed towards them were the exclusive concern of the king. He was their equal, indeed, except for the very greatest, their ruler, as the Incarnate Horus. Later, his position was somewhat reduced, but the gods were still his companions and supporters.

The nature of the society's attitude to the gods changed, as did so much else, after the end of the Old Kingdom. Then Osiris, possibly originating in Western Asia, emerged as a god of redemption, becoming assimilated with local gods in Abydos and eventually himself becoming the principal divinity of that part of Egypt. Gradually the cult of Osiris became general; for the first time the people were able to approach the gods and something like corporate worship appeared. Osiris offered the possibility of redemption and eternal life to all, not merely to the king and his closest coadjutors, as originally was the case. It was, however, not a generalised system of ritual to which all had access until much later in Egypt's history, when influences from outside began to change the indigenous Egyptian forms, in cult practices as in other aspects of life in the Valley.

The gods were served by priests, of different grades and functions. In the early centuries all Egyptians of standing were expected to serve as priests in the temples, for an agreed period each year; this represented more of a social obligation than evidence of a religious vocation. Later, as the perquisites of the temple hierarchies grew, the priesthood became increasingly professional. Many of the most rewarding of the temple benefices became hereditary fiefs. Nonetheless, the king was notionally the High Priest of every cult, the temple priests merely his surrogates. However, each major temple community was directed by a High Priest whose power was often very great. Some of the High Priesthoods, such as that of Ptah of Memphis, Re of Heliopolis and Amun of Thebes (though Amun was something of a parvenu divinity, only coming to national prominence after the rise of his city and its princes in the Middle Kingdom) were the greatest political figures in the state; eventually, the power of some of them was to rival, if it did not exceed, the power of the kings.

Religion in Egypt was not originally concerned with considerations of morality or behaviour. Its practice, in so far as it related to the divinities, was the responsibility only of the king and his immediate officers. Its concern was to ensure the security and well-being of the Egyptian state and of its personification, the king. The individual initially was of no significance in the scheme of things. Gradually, however, the idea of the gods controlling human destiny, from which originally they were remote, gained acceptance and the great temples became places of immense wealth, power and prestige as they conducted the round of ceremonies held in honour of the gods for the benefit of the people.

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