In addition, the primitive Egyptians fashioned symbols of spirits, much in the same way as the native of Central Africa makes “fetishes.”[20] All these they worshipped because they admired some quality or attribute in them, or because they feared them; and the religion of the earliest period consisted of the performance of rites and ceremonies which had for their object the propitiation of them. Men gave gifts to the incarnations of the spirits to persuade them to withhold the evils which they might inflict upon them, and to protect them from every calamity; moreover, they appealed to them as possessing the same feelings and passions as human beings. The dead were assumed to enjoy a renewed existence in the Other World, probably with benevolent spirits; it is quite certain that this belief was current among the primitive Egyptians, at least among those who lived during the latter half of the Neolithic Period. Every district and every large city or town had its own spirit or object of worship, and most of the gods of Egypt of the Dynastic Period were selected from them; often, no doubt, their names were changed, and their attributes added to. At a very early period an attempt was made to group the gods into families containing husband, wife, and son; these are usually called =triads=, examples of which are: Ȧmen-Rā, Mut and Khensu at Thebes; Ba-neb-Ṭeṭ, Ḥāt-meḥit and Ḥeru-pa-kharṭ at Mendes; Ptaḥ, Sekhet and I-em-ḥetep at Memphis. Another attempt to group the gods resulted in the =Ennead= or =Company= of nine or more gods. [Illustration: Ȧmen-Rā. Ȧmsu or Menu. Ȧmset. Anubis. Ȧsȧr (Osiris). Ȧsȧr (Osiris). Ȧsȧr-Ḥāp (Serapis). Ȧtmu. Bennu. Bes. Ḥāpi (Nile-god). Ḥāpi. Horus. Ḥeru-pa-kharṭ (Harpokrates). Kheperȧ. Khnemu. Khensu. Menthu-Rā. Nefer-Tem. Ptaḥ. Ptaḥ-Seker. Qebḥsennuf. Rā-Ḥeru-Khu (Rā-Harmakhis). Reshpu. Reshpu. Seb (Ḳeb). Sebek. Seker. Set. Ṭeṭ. Teḥuti (Thoth). Ṭuamutef. Ȧnit. Ānthȧt. Ānqet. Ȧst (Isis). Ḥet-Ḥeru (Hathor). Ḥet-Ḥeru (Hathor). Ḥet-Ḥeru (Hathor). Qeṭesh. Maāt. Menḥet. Mert. Mut. Nebt-ḥet (Nephthys). Nebt-ḥet (Nephthys). Nekhebit. Net (Neith). Nut. Renenet. Satet. Sesheta (Sefekh-ābui). Sekhet. Serqet. Taurt (Thoueris). Uatchit. Urt-Ḥekau.]