Ancient Egyptian deities:

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Geb

also Keb, Seb

Earth god, who received the dead, at first deceased pharaohs only who could aspire to an eternal life in heaven:

Stand at the gates that bar the common people!
The gatekeeper comes out to you,
He grasps your hand,
Takes you into heaven, to your father Geb.
Teti Pyramid Texts, M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol.1, p.40

But later common men could also tread the path to eternal life:

May earth open its mouth to receive you, may Geb open his jaws to accept you underground,
may you eat the bread of funeral offerings, may you always receive them abundantly,
may you walk the great stairway that leads down to On, city of Atum and the nine gods.
Jacob Rabinovitz: Isle of Fire, Coffin Text 4

As personification of the earth who made the earth quake when he spoke [1], and begetter of the sun with Nut he had a say in how it was to be ruled. At first he installed his son Osiris, after Osiris was killed he had to decide between his son Seth and his grandson Horus:

[Geb, lord of the gods, commanded] that the Nine Gods gather to him. He judged between Horus and Seth; he ended their quarrel. He made Seth king of Upper Egypt in the land of Upper Egypt, up to the place in which he was born, which is Su. And Geb made Horus king of Lower Egypt in the land of Lower Egypt, up to the place in which his father was drowned
The Contendings of Horus and Seth
M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol.1, p.52

Later he installed Horus as ruler over all the earth (i.e. Egypt), and the pharaohs called themselves heirs of Geb. He brought forth plants which grew on his back, and springs emanated from him:

Hail, O waters brought by Shu,
Which the twin springs raised,
In which Geb has bathed his limbs,
M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol.1, p.47

He controlled metals and minerals:

The mountains bring forth what is in them ////// and the hills bear their wealth. His father Keb gives it, because of ///.
J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part One, § 726

He is depicted in human form, wearing the crown of Lower Egypt, though sometimes he carries a goose on his head. Isis is at times called Egg of the Goose.

[1] The appearance of the gods was at times also accompanied by earth-quakes, referred to as Aker's shaking bones.

October 2005