The Egyptians distinguished "nṯrw", "gods", from "rmṯ", "people", but the meanings of the Egyptian and the English terms do not match perfectly. The term "nṯr" may have applied to any being that was in some way outside the sphere of everyday life. Deceased humans were called "nṯr" because they were considered to be like the gods, whereas the term was rarely applied to many of Egypt's lesser supernatural beings, which modern scholars often call "demons". Egyptian religious art also depicts places, objects, and concepts in human form. These personified ideas range from deities that were important in myth and ritual to obscure beings, only mentioned once or twice, that may be little more than metaphors.