"What do Egyptian gods look like?"

Heuristics and visual perception in the interpretation of Egyptian art and religion

Abstract

It is often stated that representations of Egyptian deities, such as the animal-headed gods, are better understood as
‘ideograms’—such images do not reflect the ‘true’ appearance of divine figures, which are ultimately hidden. This article
explores how this scholarly interpretation can be attributed to heuristics and perceptual differences, by drawing upon
cognitive research on religion and visual perception. While the notion that Egyptian gods possessed hidden ‘true forms’
holds appeal to an analytical approach to religion, such a viewpoint is unlikely to reflect the full extent of religious
experience, which readily accommodates multiple theological concepts. Meanwhile, the resemblance of certain deities
to ‘ideograms’ can be ascribed to the modern viewer’s familiarity with point-projection images, as well as a tendency
to segregate Egyptian images into individual parts. Such sentiments are unlikely to have been shared by the ancient
viewer.