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REVISING THE GOA'ULD ORGANIZATIONAL TREE

This article takes into account episodes in the first four seasons of Stargate SG-1 only.


Typical to any movie or television production, not everything from the drawing board will make it into the final production. The Egyptian god organizational tree is no exception; in the episode "Seth," where this tree was shown, not all of the original pictographs are shown. Instead of nine images, there are twelve icons representing Goa'uld of Egyptian "origins." Because of placement, they are not related to one another.

It helps prove the theory suggested in the previous article. The tree is meant to show a military order than a familial structure.

Revising this organizational tree would involve repositioning the pictographs. Based on established lineages that are defined in mythology and established in Stargate lore, the order should be as follows.

From the top, the Udjet (the all-seeing eye) should represent the family of Ra, rather than the Goa'uld himself.1 In the Stargate movie, this symbol was used to represent the all-seeing might of Ra. This enhances the theory suggested in a previous article where the Egyptian images used in the movie are iconographic rather than representative of Ra.2

The Abydonians believed that the original Stargate team members were agents of Ra. But later, in a scene between Daniel and Ra, even the sun god proclaims, "There can be only one Ra!" before ripping the amulet from Jackson's throat. No one else can be the sun god.3

On the next level is Seth, and opposite it is a hawk-headed deity with a solar disc and serpent protruding from it. According to the production sketch, this figure is Sokar -- but this glyph more accurately depicts Ra-Horakhty, an alternate form of Ra where he is linked with Horus in order to identify him with the morning sun.4

Below this alternate form of Ra would then be the icons representing Hathor and Heru-ur. For Hathor, she is depicted as a bovine with a sun disk and horns atop her head. For Heru-ur, he is depicted with the head of the hawk and a crown. Both served Ra once; Hathor was his consort and Heru-ur was his bodyguard.

On the facet featuring Seth, Nephthys, (wife; depicted with a basket upon a house on top of her head) and Anubis (the jackal-headed god of the underworld) should then be depicted. (Instead, he is featured elsewhere on the pyramid.) An important fact to mention: Anubis is not Seth's child. He was a product of a liaison between Nephthys and Osiris.5

Logically, Osiris, Isis and Horus the Child would then belong on this organizational pyramid. The appearance of the former two in the recent episode "The Curse" establishes them in the Stargate universe, but the concept sketch did not include them.

For the child figure, he is borne from Isis as described in the Osiris myth. Isis copulated with her dead husband and flew away to give birth to Harcesis -- Horus the Child. Though not a threat (i.e. the glyph is not oscillating), the Harcesis is easily identified on this pyramid and presented alongside with his mother, Isis. (This differs from the inclusion of the Harcesis in the "Stargate SG-1" universe, where he is the child of Apophis and Amonet.) The glyph, a disc, is presumably that of Isis -- but there are several pictographs that can easily be mistaken for this mother goddess figure.

It is also possible to include Anubis in the picture, as shown here. According to the myth, after Isis and Nephthys finally restored Osiris' dismembered parts, they wept so loudly that Ra took pity on them and sent Anubis and Thoth to embalm the dead king. Isis transformed into a kite and used her wings to fan the breath of life into her husband. Partially revived, his resurrection would not be complete until he was escorted (presumably by Anubis) to the underworld, where he would reign.

For the final facet of the pyramid, the images used are speculative. The image below shows an insectoid figure because of the noise-like protrusion and the spidery appendages. According to the sketch, this figure should be Hathor, but it clearly does not look like her. Although inappropriate to historical renditions, the image is more suggestive of Atum, a sun god.

Appropriately enough, the bottom images on the tree look like Shu and Tefnut. Respectively, these three represent: a creator god, a divine being holding the heavens over his arms (perhaps an Egyptian version of Atlas) and the goddess of rain.

For Shu, he is visible because he wears an identifiable feather on top of his head, making him easy to find in related hieroglyphs. For Tefnut, however, her role in the Stargate mythology is speculative because she does not have a predefined depiction in art. For now, the teardrop with a crook on top is appropriate.

With this new suggested order, the organizational tree truly becomes a genealogical tree. Based on established SG-1 definitions (i.e. what Daniel Jackson said), Heru-ur is the son of Ra and Hathor. Most students of Egyptian mythology will also know of the husband-wife team Osiris and Isis, and the rivalry that exists between Osiris and Seth. (This fact is reaffirmed when Osiris asks about his brother in "The Curse.") With Seth gone, Osiris' reign is assured.

Also, it is possible to see this organizational tree depicting the gods who are with Ra on the Solar Boat, as depicted in the Book of the Dead.6The only gods missing would be Geb, an earth god, and Nut, a sky-goddess. They would be required if that was the series writers' intent.

For the purpose of "Stargate SG-1," the family tree suggested here nearly matches the ones invented in the episode "Seth." The main problem is that all the gods are displaced. Some do not belong. By removing a few (namely Apophis and Sobek) and doing some rearrangement, only then can the rendered pyramid that Daniel sees be considered a true family tree. By adding certain gods -- namely Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb and Nut -- the family tree will then be complete.

Future articles will discuss how these new gods might fit into the Stargate universe.



FOOTNOTES
1. Historically, the eye was often regarded as a symbol of the Great Goddess, in whichever name she my take. Clark, R.T. Rundle. Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt, 218
2. Sum, Ed. "The Iconography of Ra."
3. "StarGate" the movie
4. Armour, Robert. Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt, 28
5. Watterson, Barbera. Gods of Ancient Egypt, 112
6. Dassow, Eva Von., Ed., Faulkner, Raymond, trans. Book of the Dead, plate 3

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