Angels-EGYPT

In polytheistic religions such as those of ancient Egypt, the line
between gods and angels was a thin one, and representations of
winged figures was very common. For instance, Isis, the protectress,
virgin, and mother, manifests as an angel, her wings spread to enfold
her worshipers in the sleep of unity, or perhaps to reveal her role as the
angel of death.
The god Horus is represented as a falcon, or as a falcon-headed
man, sometimes wearing a solar disc. One of his most important manifestations
is as Horus of Behtet, represented as a solar disc with falcon’s
wings, a figure frequently carved over the doors of temples. The
goddess Nut is represented as a woman with wings outspread or folded
around her body, wearing upon her head the hieroglyph of her name,
or as a woman with elongated body, stooping so that her hands touch
the ground. She is a goddess of the sky and consort of Geb.
An element of mortals that was believed to survive death was the
ba, or the soul. Depicted as a human-headed bird, the ba was an animating
force that could leave the dead body and travel at will outside
the tomb to visit places that the deceased enjoyed while alive. The ba
returned periodically to the tomb to feed upon the funerary offerings.
The idea of a unique angelic species probably derived ultimately
from the influence of Egyptian, Sumerian, Babylonian, and Persian
views of supernatural beings. This interaction of ideas produced the
familiar image of the winged messenger of God. For example, in Chaldea Michael was considered the angel of the Last Judgment and
the “weigher of souls” and, as such, was a descendent of Anubis, the
jackal-headed deity who weighed the hearts of the deceased when the
tribes of Israel were in captivity in Egypt. Anubis was identified with
Sirius, the Dog Star, which is the most important star in the Egyptian
sky. As god of the Egyptian underworld, Anubis was associated with
the Indo-European god Hermes, especially in his role as psychopomp,
conductor of souls.