The ancient Egyptians deified many animals, considering them as sacred incarnations.

deified 是动词 deify 的过去式，deify 由词根 dei-（来自拉丁语 deus，意为"神"）和后缀 -fy（表示"使...化"）组成，字面意思是"使...成为神"，即"神化"。