posted
God Heryshef aka Herakles In Egyptian mythology, Heryshaf, or Hershef, (Egyptian Ḥry-š=f "He who is on his lake"),[1] transcribed in Greek as Harsaphes (Ἁρσαφής) was an ancient ram-god whose cult was centered in Herakleopolis Magna (now Ihnasiyyah al-Madinah). He was identified with Ra and Osiris in Egyptian mythology,[2] and to Heracles in Greek mythology. The identification with Heracles may be related to the fact that in later times his name was sometimes reanalysed as Ḥry-šf.t "He who is over strength." One of his titles was “Ruler of the Riverbanks.” Heryshaf was a creator and fertility god who was born from the primeval waters. He was pictured as a man with the head of a ram, or as a ram.
God Anubis aka Anbu
God Anubis Aka Anbu
Anubis (/əˈnuːbəs/ or /əˈnjuːbəs/;[2] Ancient Greek: Ἄνουβις) is the Greek name[3] for a jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion. He is the son of Nephthys and Osiris according to the Egyptian mythology. According to the Akkadian transcription in the Amarna letters, Anubis' name was vocalized in Egyptian as Anapa.[4] The oldest known mention of Anubis is in the Old Kingdom pyramid texts, where he is associated with the burial of the pharaoh.[5] At this time, Anubis was the most important god of the dead but he was replaced during the Middle Kingdom by Osiris.[6]
He takes names in connection with his funerary role, such as He who is upon his mountain, which underscores his importance as a protector of the deceased and their tombs, and the title He who is in the place of embalming, associating him with the process of mummification.[5] Like many ancient Egyptian deities, Anubis assumes different roles in various contexts. Anubis also attends the weighing scale in the Afterlife during the "Weighing Of The Heart".[7] Anubis' wife is a goddess called Anput. His daughter is the goddess Kebechet
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Isis (Ancient Greek: Ἶσις, original Egyptian pronunciation more likely "Aset" or "Iset") is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the patroness of nature and magic. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden, but she also listened to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats, and rulers.[1] Isis is often depicted as the mother of Horus, the hawk-headed god of war and protection (although in some traditions Horus's mother was Hathor). Isis is also known as protector of the dead and goddess of children.
The name Isis means "Throne".[2] Her headdress is a throne. As the personification of the throne, she was an important representation of the pharaoh's power. The pharaoh was depicted as her child, who sat on the throne she provided. Her cult was popular throughout Egypt, but her most important temples were at Behbeit El-Hagar in the Nile delta, and, beginning in the reign with Nectanebo I (380–362 BCE), on the island of Philae in Upper Egypt.
In the typical form of her myth, Isis was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, goddess of the Sky, and she was born on the fourth intercalary day. She married her brother, Osiris, and she conceived Horus with him. Isis was instrumental in the resurrection of Osiris when he was murdered by Set. Using her magical skills, she restored his body to life after having gathered the body parts that had been strewn about the earth by Set.[3]
This myth became very important during the Greco-Roman period. For example it was believed that the Nile River flooded every year because of the tears of sorrow which Isis wept for Osiris. Osiris's death and rebirth was relived each year through rituals. The worship of Isis eventually spread throughout the Greco-Roman world, continuing until the suppression of paganism in the Christian era.[4] The popular motif of Isis suckling her son Horus, however, lived on in a Christianized context as the popular image of Mary suckling the infant son Jesus from the fifth century onward.[
Osiris (/oʊˈsaɪərɨs/; Ancient Greek: Ὄσιρις, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Asari, Aser, Ausar, Ausir, Wesir, Usir, Usire or Ausare) is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He was classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and holding a symbolic crook and flail.
Osiris was at times considered the oldest son of the Earth god Geb,[1] and the sky goddess Nut, as well as being brother and husband of Isis, with Horus being considered his posthumously begotten son.[1] He was also associated with the epithet Khenti-Amentiu, which means "Foremost of the Westerners" — a reference to his kingship in the land of the dead.[2] As ruler of the dead, Osiris was also sometimes called "king of the living", since the Ancient Egyptians considered the blessed dead "the living ones
Hathor (/ˈhæθɔr/ or /ˈhæθər/;[2] Egyptian: ḥwt-ḥr, "mansion of Horus")[1] is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of joy, feminine love, and motherhood.[3] She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt. Hathor was worshiped by Royalty and common people alike in whose tombs she is depicted as "Mistress of the West" welcoming the dead into the next life.[4] In other roles she was a goddess of music, dance, foreign lands and fertility who helped women in childbirth,[4] as well as the patron goddess of miners.[5]
The cult of Hathor predates the historic period, and the roots of devotion to her are therefore difficult to trace, though it may be a development of predynastic cults which venerated fertility, and nature in general, represented by cows.[6]
Hathor is commonly depicted as a cow goddess with head horns in which is set a sun disk with Uraeus. Twin feathers are also sometimes shown in later periods as well as a menat necklace.[6] Hathor may be the cow goddess who is depicted from an early date on the Narmer Palette and on a stone urn dating from the 1st dynasty that suggests a role as sky-goddess and a relationship to Horus who, as a sun god, is "housed" in her
In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis (alternatively spelled Hapi-ankh), is a bull-deity that was worshipped in the Memphis region. "Apis served as an intermediary between humans and an all-powerful god (originally Ptah, later Osiris, then Atum)." [quote: Virtual Egyptian Museum]
According to Manetho, his worship was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second Dynasty. Apis is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the New Kingdom. Ceremonial burials of bulls indicate that ritual sacrifice was part of the worship of the early cow deities and a bull might represent a king who became a deity after death. He was entitled "the renewal of the life" of the Memphite god Ptah: but after death he became Osorapis, i.e. the Osiris Apis, just as dead humans were assimilated to Osiris, the king of the underworld. This Osorapis was identified with the Hellenistic Serapis, and may well be identical with him. Greek writers make the Apis an incarnation of Osiris, ignoring the connection with Ptah
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet /ˈsɛkˌmɛt/[1] or Sachmis (/ˈsækmɨs/; also spelled Sakhmet, Sekhet, or Sakhet, among other spellings) was originally the warrior goddess as well as goddess of healing for Upper Egypt. She is depicted as a lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath formed the desert. She was seen as the protector of the pharaohs and led them in warfare.
Her cult was so dominant in the culture that when the first pharaoh of the twelfth dynasty, Amenemhat I, moved the capital of Egypt to Itjtawy, the centre for her cult was moved as well. Religion, the royal lineage, and the authority to govern were intrinsically interwoven in Ancient Egypt during its approximately three millennia of existence.
Sekhmet also is a Solar deity, sometimes called the daughter of the sun god Ra and often associated with the goddesses Hathor and Bast. She bears the Solar disk and the uraeus which associates her with Wadjet and royalty. With these associations she can be construed as being a divine arbiter of the goddess Ma'at (Justice, or Order) in the Judgment Hall of Osiris, associating her with the Wedjat (later the Eye of Ra), and connecting her with Tefnut as well
In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (/pəˈtɑː/;[1] Egyptian: ptḥ, probably vocalized as Pitaḥ in ancient Egyptian)[2] is the demiurge of Memphis, god of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the spouse of Sekhmet and the father of Nefertum. He was also regarded as the father of the sage Imhotep. The Greeks knew him as the god Hephaestus, and in this form Manetho made him the first king of Egypt
Ptah is the patron of craftsmanship, metalworking, carpenters, shipbuilders, and sculpture. From the Middle Kingdom onwards, he was one of five major Egyptian gods with Ra, Isis, Osiris and Amun.
He wears many epithets that describe his role in Egyptian mythology and its importance in society at the time: Ptah the beautiful face Ptah lord of truth Ptah master of justice Ptah who listens to prayers Ptah master of ceremonies Ptah lord of eternity
Ptah is the creator god par excellence: He is considered the demiurge who existed before all things, and by his willingness, thought the world. It was first conceived by Thought, and realized by the Word: Ptah conceives the world by the thought of his heart and gives life through the magic of his Word. That which Ptah commanded was created, with which the constituents of nature, fauna, and flora, are contained. He also plays a role in the preservation of the world and the permanence of the royal function.
Amun (also Amon, Amen, Greek Ἄμμων Ámmōn, Ἅμμων Hámmōn) was a local deity of Thebes. He was attested since the Old Kingdom together with his spouse Amaunet. With the 11th dynasty (c. 21st century BC), he rose to the position of patron deity of Thebes by replacing Monthu.[1]
After the rebellion of Thebes against the Hyksos and with the rule of Ahmose I, Amun acquired national importance, expressed in his fusion with the Sun god, Ra, as Amun-Ra.
Amun-Ra retained chief importance in the Egyptian pantheon throughout the New Kingdom (with the exception of the "Atenist heresy" under Akhenaten). Amun-Ra in this period (16th to 11th centuries BC) held the position of transcendental, self-created[2] creator deity "par excellence", he was the champion of the poor or troubled and central to personal piety.[3] His position as King of Gods developed to the point of virtual monotheism where other gods became manifestations of him. With Osiris, Amun-Ra is the most widely recorded of the Egyptian gods.[3] As the chief deity of the Egyptian Empire, Amun-Ra also came to be worshipped outside of Egypt, in Ancient Libya and Nubia, and as Zeus Ammon came to be identified with Zeus in Ancient Greece
Neith was a goddess of war and of hunting and had as her symbol, two arrows crossed over a shield. Her symbol also identified the city of Sais.[2] This symbol was displayed on top of her head in Egyptian art. In her form as a goddess of war, she was said to make the weapons of warriors and to guard their bodies when they died.
Her name also may be interpreted as meaning water. In time, this led to her being considered as the personification of the primordial waters of creation. She is identified as a great mother goddess in this role as a creator.
Neith's symbol and part of her hieroglyph also bore a resemblance to a loom, and so later in the history of Egyptian myths, she also became goddess of weaving, and gained this version of her name, Neith, which means weaver. At this time her role as a creator changed from being water-based to that of the deity who wove all of the world and existence into being on her loom.
In art, Neith sometimes appears as a woman with a weavers’ shuttle atop her head, holding a bow and arrows in her hands. At other times she is depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness, as a snake, or as a cow.
Sometimes Neith was pictured as a woman nursing a baby crocodile, and she was titled "Nurse of Crocodiles". As mother of Ra, she was sometimes described as the "Great Cow who gave birth to Ra".
Neith was considered to be a goddess of wisdom and was appealed to as an arbiter in the dispute between Horus and Seth
posted
Nice thread on Kemetian deities. I notice most of the gods posted are the national popular gods but there are many more deities listed in texts and more popular in their localities. Many of these local deities became subsumed by the national deities.
quote:Originally posted by IronLion:
quote:Originally posted by mena7:
Goddess of writing and library Seshat
LOL While there are native species of cannabis in Africa, I don't think that's what Seshat's symbol is due to stark difference in looks. The cannabis you posted is of the South American variety.
I think most likely it represents a papyrus flower.
Seshat is known as the 'Lady of (papyrus) Reeds' because she is said to be the first to use papyrus plants in all sorts of ways including writing.
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posted
Little known deities who became subsumed or assimilated by national ones.
Andjety
Though this was his main headdress
Andjety was the patron deity of Andjet, the 9th nome of Lower Egypt in the Delta. He was Lord of the marsh lands and was said to have drained the swamps for farmland. He was the earliest deity to be portrayed with both crook and flail but was later subsumed or assimilated into the cult of Ausar (Osiris).
Mafdet
Goddess of enforcement of justice and executioner. The defender of Maat. Prayed for protection against venomous animals and harmful enemies.
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Bes (/bɛs/; also spelled as Bisu) is an Ancient Egyptian deity worshipped as a protector of households, and in particular, of mothers and children and childbirth. Bes later came to be regarded as the defender of everything good and the enemy of all that is bad. While past studies identified Bes as a Middle Kingdom import from Nubia, more recent research indicates that he was present in Egypt since the start of Old Kingdom. Mentions of Bes can be traced to pre-dynastic Nile Valley cultures; however his cult did not become widespread until the beginning of the New Kingdom
Modern scholars such as James Romano claim that in its earliest inceptions, Bes was a representation of a lion rearing up on its hind legs.[1]
After the Third Intermediate Period, Bes is often seen as just the head or the face, often worn as amulets. The god Bes came from the Great Lakes Region of Africa, coming from the Twa people (a pygmy group) in Congo or Rwanda. The ancient Twa were about the same height as the depictions of Bes.
Dawn Prince-Hughes lists Bes as fitting with other archetypal long-haired Bigfoot-like ape-man figures from ancient Northern Africa, "a squat, bandy-legged figure depicted with fur about his body, a prominent brow, and short, pug nose
God Bes
God Bes
God Bes
God Bes
God Bes
God Bes
Child Heru protected by God Bes
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Thoth (/ˈθoʊθ/ or /ˈtoʊt/; from Greek Θώθ thṓth, from Egyptian ḏḥwty, perhaps pronounced */tʃʼiħautiː/ or */ɟiħautiː/, depending on the phonological interpretation of Egyptian's emphatic consonants) was considered one of the most important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat, and his wife was Ma'at.[1]
Thoth's chief temple was located in the city of Khmun,[2] later called Hermopolis Magna during the Greco-Roman era[3] (in reference to him through the Greeks' interpretation that he was the same as their god Hermes) and Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛⲉⲓⲛ shmounein in the Coptic rendering. In that city, he led the Ogdoad pantheon of eight principal deities. He also had numerous shrines within the cities of Abydos, Hesert, Urit, Per-Ab, Rekhui, Ta-ur, Sep, Hat, Pselket, Talmsis, Antcha-Mutet, Bah, Amen-heri-ab, and Ta-kens.[4]
Thoth played many vital and prominent roles in Egyptian mythology, such as maintaining the universe, and being one of the two deities (the other being Ma'at) who stood on either side of Ra's boat.[5] In the later history of ancient Egypt, Thoth became heavily associated with the arbitration of godly disputes,[6] the arts of magic, the system of writing, the development of science,[7] and the judgment of the dead
Thoth has been depicted in many ways depending on the era and on the aspect the artist wished to convey. Usually, he is depicted in his human form with the head of an ibis.[19] In this form, he can be represented as the reckoner of times and seasons by a headdress of the lunar disk sitting on top of a crescent moon resting on his head. When depicted as a form of Shu or Ankher, he was depicted to be wearing the respective god's headdress. Sometimes he was also seen in art to be wearing the Atef crown or the United Crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt.[13] When not depicted in this common form, he sometimes takes the form of the ibis directly.[19]
He also appears as a dog faced baboon or a man with the head of a baboon when he is A'an, the god of equilibrium.[20] In the form of A'ah-Djehuty he took a more human-looking form.[21] These forms are all symbolic and are metaphors for Thoth's attributes. The Egyptians did not believe these gods actually looked like humans with animal heads.[22] For example, Ma'at is often depicted with an ostrich feather, "the feather of truth," on her head,[23] or with a feather for a head
Djehuty is sometimes alternatively rendered as Jehuti, Tahuti, Tehuti, Zehuti, Techu, or Tetu. Thoth (also Thot or Thout) is the Greek version derived from the letters ḏḥwty. Not counting differences in spelling, Thoth had many names and titles, like other goddesses and gods. (Similarly, each Pharaoh, considered a god himself, had five different names used in public.[14]) Among the names used are A, Sheps, Lord of Khemennu, Asten, Khenti, Mehi, Hab, and A'an.[15]
In addition, Thoth was also known by specific aspects of himself, for instance the moon god Iah-Djehuty, representing the Moon for the entire month,.[16] The Greeks related Thoth to their god Hermes due to his similar attributes and functions.[17] One of Thoth's titles, "Three times great, great" (see Titles) was translated to the Greek τρισμεγιστος (Trismegistos) making Hermes Trismegistus
God Tehuti/Thot
God Tehuti with caduceus
Ibis God Thot
The Egyptians credited him as the author of all works of science, religion, philosophy, and magic. The Greeks further declared him the inventor of astronomy, astrology, the science of numbers, mathematics, geometry, land surveying, medicine, botany, theology, civilized government, the alphabet, reading, writing, and oratory. They further claimed he was the true author of every work of every branch of knowledge, human and divine.
Egyptologists disagree on Thoth's nature depending upon their view of the Egyptian pantheon. Most Egyptologists today side with Sir Flinders Petrie that Egyptian religion was strictly polytheistic, in which Thoth would be a separate god.
His contemporary adversary, E. A. Wallis Budge, however, thought Egyptian religion to be primarily monotheistic where all the gods and goddesses were aspects of the God Ra, similar to the Trinity in Christianity and devas in Hinduism. In this view, Thoth would be the aspect of Ra which the Egyptian mind would relate to the heart and tongue.
His roles in Egyptian mythology were many. Thoth served as a mediating power, especially between good and evil, making sure neither had a decisive victory over the other.
The ancient Egyptians regarded Thoth as One, self-begotten, and self-produced. He was the master of both physical and moral (ie. Divine) law, making proper use of Ma'at. He is credited with making the calculations for the establishment of the heavens, stars, Earth, and everything in them. Compare this to how his feminine counterpart, Ma'at was the force which maintained the Universe. He is said to direct the motions of the heavenly bodies. Without his words, the Egyptians believed, the gods would not exist. His power was almost unlimited in the Underworld and rivaled that of Ra and Osiris
Thoth as Hermes in ancient Greece complied the Hermetic Text referred to him as Kore Kosmu. What he knew, he carved on stone [mataphor of physical plane] then hid most of the information. The sacred symbols of the cosmic elements he hid away using the secrets of Osiris, keeping and maintaining silence, that younger ages of the cosmic time clock might seek them out. Thoth was said to have succeeded in understanding the mysteries of the heavens and to have revealed them by inscribing them in sacred books which he then hid here on Earth, intending that they should be searched for by future generations but found by those of the bloodline.
Some of these sacred books are referred to as the 42 Books of Instructions or the 42 Books of Thoth which describe the instructions for achieving immortality plus 2 more books kept separately. The dating of the books is somewhere between the third century BC and the first century AD. Their influence has been tremendous on the development of Western occultism and magic. Neo-pagan witchcraft contains many rituals and much esoteric symbolism based upon Hermetic writings.
According to one legend Hermes Trismegistus, who was a grandson of Adam and a builder of the Egyptian pyramids, authored the books. But, more probably the books were written by several succeeding persons. According to legend, the books were initially written on papyrus.
A chronicler of pagan lore, Clement of Alexandria, stated thirty-six [36] of the Hermetic books contained the entire Egyptian philosophy; four [4] books on astrology; ten [10] books called the Hieratic on law, ten [10] books on sacred rites and observances, two [2] on music, and the rest on writing, cosmography, geography, mathematics and measures and training of priests. Six [6] remaining books concerned medicine and the body discussing diseases, instruments, the eyes and women. Most of the Hermetic books - along with others - were lost during the burning of the royal libraries in Alexandria. The surviving books were secretly buried in the desert where they are presently located. A few initiates of the mystery schools, ancient secret cults, allegedly know their location. What remains of the surviving Hermetic lore has been passed down through generation and published in many languages.
Most important of all are three works.
•The most important and oldest is The Divine Pynander. It consists on 17 fragments all in one work. Within these fragments are many of the Hermetic concepts, including the was divine wisdom and the secrets of the universe were revealed to Hermes and the way in which Hermes established his ministry to spread this wisdom throughout the world. The Divine Pynander apparently was revised during the first centuries AD but lost none of its meaning due to incorrect translations.
•Poimmandres or The Vision is the second book of The Divine Pynander and perhaps the most famous. It relates Hermes' mystical vision, cosmogony, and the secret sciences of the Egyptians as to culture and the spiritual development of the soul.
•The third work - Hermes Trismegistus is the wisdom of the Hermetica - the Emerald Tablets of Thoth. It's all about alchemy, time and consciousness
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In Egyptian mythology, Seshat (also spelled Safkhet, Sesat, Seshet, Sesheta, and Seshata) was the Ancient Egyptian goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. She was seen as a scribe and record keeper, and her name means she who scrivens (i.e. she who is the scribe), and is credited with inventing writing. She also became identified as the goddess of architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, and surveying. These are all professions that relied upon expertise in her skills. She is identified as Safekh-Aubi in some late texts.[6]
Mistress of the House of Books is another title for Seshat, being the deity whose priests oversaw the library in which scrolls of the most important knowledge were assembled and spells were preserved. One prince of the fourth dynasty, Wep-em-nefret, is noted as the Overseer of the Royal Scribes, Priest of Seshat on a slab stela. Heliopolis was the location of her principal sanctuary. She is described as the goddess of history.
In art, she was depicted as a woman with a seven-pointed emblem above her head. It is unclear what this emblem represents.[2][3][4][5] Pharaoh Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 BCE) called her Sefket-Abwy (She of seven points). Spell 10 of the Coffin Texts states "Seshat opens the door of heaven for you."
Usually, she is shown holding a palm stem, bearing notches to denote the recording of the passage of time, especially for keeping track of the allotment of time for the life of the pharaoh. She was also depicted holding other tools and, often, holding the knotted cords that were stretched to survey land and structures.
She is frequently shown dressed in a cheetah or leopard hide, a symbol of funerary priests. If not shown with the hide over a dress, the pattern of the dress is that of the spotted feline. The pattern on the natural hide was thought to represent the stars, being a symbol of eternity, and to be associated with the night sky.
As the divine measurer and scribe, Seshat was believed to appear to assist the pharaoh in both of these practices. It was she who recorded, by notching her palm, the time allotted to the pharaoh for his stay on earth.
Seshat assisted the pharaoh in the "stretching the cord" ritual. This ritual is related to laying out the foundations of temples and other important structures in order to determine and assure the sacred alignments and the precision of the dimensions. Her skills were necessary for surveying the land after the annual floods to reestablish boundary lines. The priestess who officiated at these functions in her name also oversaw the staff of others who performed similar duties and were trained in mathematics and the related store of knowledge.
Much of this knowledge was considered quite sacred and not shared beyond the ranks of the highest professionals such as architects and certain scribes. She also was responsible for recording the speeches the pharaoh made during the crowning ceremony and approving the inventory of foreign captives and goods gained in military campaigns. During the New Kingdom, she was involved in the Sed festival held by the pharaohs who could celebrate thirty years of reign.
Later, when the cult of the moon deity, Thoth, became prominent and he became identified as a god of wisdom, the role of Seshat changed in the Egyptian pantheon when counterparts were created for most older deities. The lower ranks of her priestesses were displaced by the priests of Thoth. First, she was identified as his daughter, and later as his wife.
After the pairing with Thoth the emblem of Seshat was shown surmounted by a crescent moon, which, over time, degenerated into being shown as two horns arranged to form a crescent shape, but pointing downward (in an atypical fashion for Egyptian art). When the crescent moon symbol had degenerated into the horns, she sometimes was known as Safekh-Aubi, meaning she who wears the two horns.[citation needed] In a few images the horns resemble two cobras, as depicted in hieroglyphs, but facing each other with heads touching
Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egypt specialists.[1] These various forms may possibly be different perceptions of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasized, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality.[2] He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner or peregrine, or as a man with a falcon head.[3]
The earliest recorded form of Horus is the patron deity of Nekhen in Upper Egypt, who is the first known national god, specifically related to the king who in time came to be regarded as a manifestation of Horus in life and Osiris in death.[1] The most commonly encountered family relationship describes Horus as the son of Isis and Osiris but in another tradition Hathor is regarded as his mother and sometimes as his wife.[1] Horus served many functions in the Egyptian pantheon, most notably being the god of the sun, war and protection
Horus is recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphs as ḥr.w; the pronunciation has been reconstructed as *Ḥāru, meaning "falcon". Additional meanings are thought to have been "the distant one" or "one who is above, over".[4] By Coptic times, the name became Hōr. It was adopted into Greek as Ὧρος Hōros. The original name also survives in later Egyptian names such as Har-si-ese literally "Horus, son of Isis".
Horus was also known as Nekheny, meaning "falcon". Some have proposed that Nekheny may have been another falcon-god, worshipped at Nekhen (city of the hawk), with which Horus was identified from early on. Horus may be shown as a falcon on the Narmer Palette dating from the time of unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
In early Egypt, Horus was the brother of Isis, Osiris, Set and Nephthys. As different cults formed, he became the son of Isis and Osiris. Isis remained the sister of Osiris, Set, and Nephthys
2400-2300 BCE[5] describe the nature of the Pharaoh in different characters as both Horus and Osiris. The Pharaoh as Horus in life became the Pharaoh as Osiris in death, where he was united with the rest of the gods. New incarnations of Horus succeeded the deceased pharaoh on earth in the form of new Pharaohs.
The lineage of Horus, the eventual product of unions between the children of Atum, may have been a means to explain and justify Pharaonic power; The gods produced by Atum were all representative of cosmic and terrestrial forces in Egyptian life; by identifying Horus as the offspring of these forces, then identifying him with Atum himself, and finally identifying the Pharaoh with Horus, the Pharaoh theologically had dominion over all the world.
The notion of Horus as the Pharaoh seems to have been superseded by the concept of the Pharaoh as the son of Ra during the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt
God Horus
God Heru
The Parallels Between Jesus and Horus
Explore» Religion and Philosophy» Christianity, the Bible and Jesus» Discussions
Rishy Rich profile image76Rishy Richposted 3 years ago
The sun-god Horus was worshipped nearly 1,000 years before the story of Jesus. Check these parallels:
1.Both were conceived of a virgin. 2.Both were the "only begotten son" of a god (either Osiris or Yahweh) 3.Horus's mother was Meri, Jesus's mother was Mary. 4.Horus's foster father was called Jo-Seph, and Jesus's foster father was Joseph. 5.Both foster fathers were of royal descent. 6.Both were born in a cave (although sometimes Jesus is said to have been born in a stable). 7.Both had their coming announced to their mother by an angel. Horus; birth was heralded by the star Sirius (the morning star). Jesus had his birth heralded by a star in the East (the sun rises in the East). 8.Ancient Egyptians celebrated the birth of Horus on December 21 (the Winter Solstice). Modern Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25. 9.Both births were announced by angels (this si nto the same as number 7). 10.Both had shepherds witnessing the birth. 11.Horus was visited at birth by "three solar deities" and Jesus was visited by "three wise men". 12.After the birth of Horus, Herut tried to have Horus murdered. After the birth of Jesus, Herod tried to have Jesus murdered. 13.To hide from Herut, the god That tells Isis, "Come, thou goddess Isis, hide thyself with thy child." To hide from Herod, an angel tells Joseph to "arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt." 14.When Horus came of age, he had a special ritual where hsi eye was restored. When Jesus (and other Jews) come of age, they have a special ritual called a Bar Mitzvah. 15.Both Horus and Jesus were 12 at this coming-of-age ritual. Neither have any official recorded life histories between the ages of 12 and 30. 16.Horus was baptized in the river Eridanus. Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan. 17.Both were baptized at age 30. 18.Horus was baptized by Anup the Baptizer. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. 19.Both Anup and John were later beheaded. 20.Horus was taken from the desert of Amenta up a high mountain to be tempted by his arch-rival Set. Jesus was taken from the desert in Palestine up a high mountain to be tempted by his arch-rival Satan. 21.Both Horus and Jesus successfully resist this temptation. 22.Both have 12 disciples. 23.Both walked on water, cast out demons, healed the sick, and restored sight to the blind. 24.Horus "stilled the sea by his power." Jesus commanded the sea to be still by saying, "Peace, be still." 25.Horus raised his dead father (Osiris) from the grave. Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave. (Note the similarity in names when you say them out loud. Further, Osiris was also known as Asar, which is El-Asar in Hebrew, which is El-Asarus in Latin.) 26.Osiris was raised in the town of Anu. Lazarus was raised in Bethanu (literally, "house of Anu"). 27.Both gods delivered a Sermon on the Mount. 28.Both were crucified. 29.Both were crucified next to two thieves. 30.Both were buried in a tomb. 31.Horus was sent to Hell and resurrected in 3 days. Jesus was sent to Hell and came back "three days" later (although Friday night to Sunday morning is hardly three days). 32.Both had their resurrection announced by women. 33.Both are supposed to return for a 1000-year reign. 34.Horus is known as KRST, the anointed one. Jesus was known as the Christ (which means "anointed one"). 35.Both Jesus and Horus have been called the good shepherd, the lamb of God, the bread of life, the son of man, the Word, the fisher, and the winnower. 36.Both are associated with the zodiac sign of Pisces (the fish). 37.Both are associated with the symbols of the fish, the beetle, the vine, and the shepherd's crook. 38.Horus was born in Anu ("the place of bread") and Jesus was born in Bethlehem ("the house of bread"). 39."The infant Horus was carried out of Egypt to escape the wrath of Typhon. The infant Jesus was carried into Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. Concerning the infant Jesus, the New Testament states the following prophecy: 'Out of Egypt have I called my son.'" 40.Both were transfigured on the mount. 41.The catacombs of Rome have pictures of the infant Horus being held by his mother, not unlike the modern-day images of "Madonna and Child." Noted English author C. W. King says that both Isis and Mary are called "Immaculate". 42.Horus says: "Osiris, I am your son, come to glorify your soul, and to give you even more power." And Jesus says: "Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once." Horus was identified with the Tau (cross).
Approximately 46 Similarities were identified between these two, however some of the similarities are considered debatable. Although Im not confident about the authenticity of these parallels, I would like to know your opinion.
Iah ( Egyptian: Jˁḥ, transliterated as Yah, Jah, Jah(w), Joh or Aah [2]) is a god of the moon in ancient Egyptian religion. His name simply means moon. By the New Kingdom he was less prominent as a moon deity than the other gods with lunar connections, Thoth and Khonsu. As a result of the functional connection between them he could be identified with either of those deities.
He was sometimes considered an adult form of Khonsu and was increasingly absorbed by him. Iah continued to appear in amulets and occasional other representations, similar to Khonsu in appearance, with the same lunar symbols on his head and occasionally the same tight garments. He differed in usually wearing a full wig instead of a child's sidelock, and sometimes an Atef crown topped by another symbol.[3] As time went on, Iah also became Iah-Djuhty, meaning "god of the new moon."[4]
Iah was also assimilated with Osiris, god of the dead, perhaps because, in its monthly cycle, the moon appears to renew itself. Iah also seems to have assumed the lunar aspect of Thoth, god of knowledge, writing and calculation; the segments of the moon were used as fractional symbols in writing.[5]
One queen was called Iah
Canaanite/Kana Anu and Jewish Israel yahu
Phoenician/Canaanite/Jewish God yahu
Yahweh, prior to becoming Yahweh, the national god of Israel, and taking on monotheistic attributes in the 6th century BCE, was a part of the Canaanite pantheon in the period before the Babylonian captivity. Archeological evidence reveals that during this time period the Israelites were a group of Canaanite people. Yahweh was seen as a war god, and equated with El. Asherah, who was often seen as El's consort, has been described as a consort of Yahweh in numerous inscriptions.[1] The name Yahwi may possibly be found in some male Amorite names.[2] Yahu, an alternate pronunciation, may be found in names(Wikipedia).
RESTORATION OF THE SACRED NAME
Why were the Sacred Names removed from the Scriptures? - 7000 times in the Old Testament and 1000 times in the New Testament? The Restoration thereof is flooding the world - You can share in it also!
YAH or YAHU
The 'Personal' Name of the 'God of Israel' by which He anciently revealed Himself to Moses ( 6:2). 'YAH' is spelt in original Hebrew, with the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet - the 'yood', smallest letter in the alphabet, represented by the inverted comma ( ' ). YAHU also has the meaning of 'He is YAH'
Obscure Preservation of the Sacred Name 'YAHU'
Hebrew personal names have meanings, and many such personal names have throughout time, been linked to the Sacred Name YAHU. In this obscure way, the Sacred Name YAHU has been preserved for modern times, notwithstanding the fact that it has been almost totally removed from most Bible Translations.
This Name, through recent archeological discoveries in Israel, has been found to be part of more Hebrew words and names than were formerly known. There is an untold number of usages in the Tanach ('Old Testament') where this form of the Sacred Name is used as a conjunction in Biblical names. Some of the more common examples of these are:
EliYahu ('Elijah')
YeremiYahu ('Jeremiah')
YeshiYahu ('Isaiah')
YahuShafat ('Josephat')
NetanYahu (also the name of former Israeli Prime Minister)
YahuNatan ('Jonethan')
and of course, the Messianic Salvation Name YAHU'SHUAH ('Yeshuah')
In each of the examples above, the meanings of these names refer to the Name of the Most High, eg. YAHU is Strength, my God is YAHU, etc
Similarly, the Tribe of Judah, the progeny of which to this day, still represents the original Hebraic Faith instituted by Moses according to the Divine Mandate which was handed to him personally by YAHU, God of Israel, some 4000 years ago. All the disasters of Time failed to wipe out the Tribe of Judah, which today is known as 'the Jews' - in Hebrew: Yahudim. The Tribe of Judah, in Hebrew is 'Yahuda', a Jew is 'Yahudi'. While no specific Hebrew meaning is attached to this term in the modern usage, we do find the following meanings as applied to obscure Bible characters with similar names:
Can it be that sinister powers have erased the linkage with the 'guardians of His Oracles' (the Jews) to the Name of YAHU? - Rom 3:2 - they, who have been His Testimony to the world all these centuries?
Strange also how, in the modern Hebrew dictionary, three words appear in successive order:
• Yehudah - with its derivations referring to Jews
• YHVH - the Sacred Name, and
• Y'SHUAH (abbreviated form for YAHU'SHUAH) - the Messiah's Name.
THE TETRAGRAMMATON
The Sacred Name appears in the Hebrew Scriptures as four Hebrew letters Yud, hey, vav, hey, which is closest represented by the letters YHVH. This format is known as the Tetragrammaton. According to Jewish tradition it is regarded as 'not to be uttered' in order never to profane it in any way. In Judaism it is therefore pronounced as 'Adonai', meaning 'Lord'. Notwithstanding this prohibition, the Sacred Name is acknowledged in its usage as part of the names of many Biblical characters, as referred to above - and as any Bible concordance or reference book will provide.
Because of these prohibitions, translations of the original Hebrew scrolls have, throughout the ages, replaced the Tetragrammaton with 'the LORD' (in capital letters) and the Sacred Name, in so doing, became 'lost' for many centuries.
Since the sixties, there has been a movement in modern theology and especially amongst sincere Bible students throughout the world, to restore the newly 'rediscovered' Sacred Hebrew Name. Sacred Name publications which chose to restore the Sacred Name in the almost 7000 instances in the Bible, appeared one after the other and the 'Sacred Name Movement', towards the nineties and the turn of the millennium, became a flood which today literally engulfs the world...
Although there is no firm consensus on the actual pronouncement or spelling of the Tetragrammaton YHVH, there are several representations or transliterations in use by theologians and Bible students. Some of the more popular forms are YAHVEH, YAHWEH and Jehovah. A comprehensive list of the various usages that abound, are presented further down on this page.
For the purposes of this Web Site and out of respect for the Sacredness and sanctification of the Name, we will print the Tetragammaton form YHVH throughout the studies of this Web Site and leave the reader free to either substitute it or pronounce it in the way they find comfortable.
The mystery attached to the Name of the Almighty, is related to the verb ‘to be' ( I am, I was, I will be) which is the Hebrew verb ‘Hoveh’ (the ‘v’ pronounced as in ‘victory’), meaning “to be”, in the present tense. YHVH therefore, means: “YAH Hoveh”, which means “YAH is ...” (YAH being His abbreviated (actual ?) name as reflected in Psalm 68:4 in some translations.(revelation.org.za)
When Yahu was Bal, and Eli/ Hari/Heru Was Still Supreme, Part 1
Posted on April 18, 2011 by Collected Works of Sri Bhakti Ananda Goswami
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Baal standing with a club in his raised right hand
HOW DID YAHU-BAAL, THE SECOND PERSON OF THE GODHEAD IN THE JUDAIC TRADITION BECOME BAAL THE SYMBOL OF FALSE WORSHIP AS SHOWN IN THE ‘SHOWDOWN’ BETWEEN ELIJAH THE PROPHET OF YAHWEH AND THE PROPHETS OF THE FALSE GOD BAAL, WHICH ESTABLISHED YAHWEH AS THE TRUE GOD OF ISRAEL?
IS THERE SOME ERROR IN THE TRANSLATIONS OR SOMETHING?
The story about Elijah is commonly misunderstood, because we have not been taught the true historical context for it, and we have not been told that YHVH himself was also originally called Baal. At one time in that region, the Western Semites worshiped their Supreme God ELI and His savior alter-form ‘Brother’ or ‘Son’ Baal. Each place also had a presiding form of the Lord there, with the title Baal ‘Lord” or ‘determinitive’ BL compounded with the Deity’s Name. Although the personal name Baal or BL was first used exclusively for the Savior Deity BL in His multi-form, after the disintegration of the regional Eli-Baal Tradition, this name became the generic title equivalent to ‘lord’. So people commonly spoke of plural balls or lords, or ‘The Baal’ or lord of this place or that, this shrine, people, village, nation or that one.
Try to understand the difference. To the monotheists the ORIGINAL BL was present in His many temples, shrines and other consecrated places. To the polytheists, these were all different and often hostile or competing ‘baals’ or lords. The monotheists’ vision was of one Lord and one God in many places and forms, worshiped by all humanity. But the polytheists’ view was of many competing demi ‘gods’ who were only the planetary, animistic, totem or race patron protectors of distinct tribes or races. By the monotheists, Eli, Yahu and Baal were Names used interchangably for the same Supreme Deity, or sometimes Yahu-Baal was distinquished as the alter-form, brother or son of the Supreme Father God ELI (HERU in Egypt, OLU in the Niger-Khordofanian complex, HELI / SOLE among the Greeks and Romans, and HARI / SURA etc. in the East). This Deity was the Father God of ALL RACES. In fact the Hebrews, Israelites and Jews (before the anti-Hellenism purge) and other HELIOS / ELIYAHU / HORUS WORSHIPERS WERE ALWAYS MIXED RACE PEOPLES. Today people fail to grasp the importance of MONOTHEISM IN THE HISTORY OF HUMAN EQUALITY AND UNITY. Polytheism did not mean tolerance, it meant the social strife of countless little warring ETHNIC theocracies. It took the Monotheism of Heli-Os / Eli-Yahu / Heru-Asu / HRIH to unify humanity.
Ancient Jewish God Yahu
In the Bible and other sources, scores of Hebrew and other language Deity by-names were compounded with the Names EL, Yahu and Baal. These compound names meant A=B, or A=B=C, or A=C or B=C etc. For example ELI-YAHU (Elijah) identifies Eli as Yahu, or that these are two Names or two PERSONS of the same Deity. Thus such compounded Deity by-names may be understood as indicating two or more Persons of a plurality of Persons in the HERU-WASU-ATUM (Hari-Vasu-Atman, Eli-Yahu-Adon) Godhead. There are scores of compound names like this in the Bible, and other ancient Hebrew, Israelite and Judahite sources. Such compound Deity Names are also found in the litanies of Helios-Apollo, Heru and Horus, Asu / Wasu (Osiris), Amun, Aten, Zeus and Jupiter. I have studied these compound Deity names since the mid 1960s, and can report that the by-names and related forms (nama-rupa) of Eli and Yahu are often the identifiable names and forms of the so-called ‘gods’ of other peoples.(bhaktianandascollectedwork)
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Maat or ma'at (thought to have been pronounced *[muʔ.ʕat]),[1] also spelled māt or mayet, was the ancient Egyptian concept of truth, balance, order, law, morality, and justice. Maat was also personified as a goddess regulating the stars, seasons, and the actions of both mortals and the deities, who set the order of the universe from chaos at the moment of creation. Her (ideological) counterpart was Isfet.
The earliest surviving records indicating Maat is the norm for nature and society, in this world and the next, were recorded during the Old Kingdom, the earliest substantial surviving examples being found in the Pyramid Texts of Unas (ca. 2375 BCE and 2345 BCE).[2]
Later, as a goddess in other traditions of the Egyptian pantheon, where most goddesses were paired with a male aspect, her masculine counterpart was Thoth and their attributes are the same. After the rise of Ra they were depicted together in the Solar Barque.
After her role in creation and continuously preventing the universe from returning to chaos, her primary role in Egyptian mythology dealt with the weighing of souls that took place in the underworld, Duat.[3] Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls (considered to reside in the heart) of the departed would reach the paradise of afterlife successfully.
Pharaohs are often depicted with the emblems of Maat to emphasise their role in upholding the laws of the Creator
42 Negative Confessions (Papyrus of Ani)[edit] 1.I have not committed sin. 2.I have not committed robbery with violence. 3.I have not stolen. 4.I have not slain men and women. 5.I have not stolen grain. 6.I have not purloined offerings. 7.I have not stolen the property of the god. 8.I have not uttered lies. 9.I have not carried away food. 10.I have not uttered curses. 11.I have not committed adultery, I have not lain with men. 12.I have made none to weep. 13.I have not eaten the heart [i.e., I have not grieved uselessly, or felt remorse]. 14.I have not attacked any man. 15.I am not a man of deceit. 16.I have not stolen cultivated land. 17.I have not been an eavesdropper. 18.I have slandered [no man]. 19.I have not been angry without just cause. 20.I have not debauched the wife of any man. 21.I have not debauched the wife of [any] man. (repeats the previous affirmation but addressed to a different god). 22.I have not polluted myself. 23.I have terrorized none. 24.I have not transgressed [the Law]. 25.I have not been wroth. 26.I have not shut my ears to the words of truth. 27.I have not blasphemed. 28.I am not a man of violence. 29.I am not a stirrer up of strife (or a disturber of the peace). 30.I have not acted (or judged) with undue haste. 31.I have not pried into matters. 32.I have not multiplied my words in speaking. 33.I have wronged none, I have done no evil. 34.I have not worked witchcraft against the King (or blasphemed against the King). 35.I have never stopped [the flow of] water. 36.I have never raised my voice (spoken arrogantly, or in anger). 37.I have not cursed (or blasphemed) God. 38.I have not acted with evil rage. 39.I have not stolen the bread of the gods. 40.I have not carried away the khenfu cakes from the spirits of the dead. 41.I have not snatched away the bread of the child, nor treated with contempt the god of my city. 42.I have not slain the cattle belonging to the god.[
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Nut (/nʌt/ or /nuːt/)[1] or Neuth (/nuːθ/ or /njuːθ/; also spelled Nuit or Newet) was the goddess of the sky in the Ennead of Egyptian mythology. She was seen as a star-covered nude woman arching over the earth,[2] or as a cow
Nut was the goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, a symbol of protecting the dead when they enter the after life. According to the Egyptians, during the day, the heavenly bodies—such as the sun and moon—would make their way across her body. Then, at dusk, they would be swallowed, pass through her belly during the night, and be reborn at dawn.[13]
Nut is also the barrier separating the forces of chaos from the ordered cosmos in the world. She was pictured as a woman arched on her toes and fingertips over the earth; her body portrayed as a star-filled sky. Nut’s fingers and toes were believed to touch the four cardinal points or directions of north, south, east, and west.
Because of her role in saving Osiris, Nut was seen as a friend and protector of the dead, who appealed to her as a child appeals to its mother: "O my Mother Nut, stretch Yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in You, and that I may not die." Nut was thought to draw the dead into her star-filled sky, and refresh them with food and wine: "I am Nut, and I have come so that I may enfold and protect you from all things evil."[14]
She was often painted on the inside lid of the sarcophagus, protecting the deceased. The vault of tombs often were painted dark blue with many stars as a representation of Nut. The Book of the Dead says, "Hail, thou Sycamore Tree of the Goddess Nut! Give me of the water and of the air which is in thee. I embrace that throne which is in Unu, and I keep guard over the Egg of Nekek-ur. It flourisheth, and I flourish; it liveth, and I live; it snuffeth the air, and I snuff the air, I the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, in peace
Nut is a daughter of Shu and Tefnut. She is Geb's sister. She has four or five children: Osiris, Set, Isis, Nephthys, and sometimes Horus. Her name is translated to mean 'sky'[3][4] and she is considered one of the oldest deities among the Egyptian pantheon,[5] with her origin being found on the creation story of Heliopolis. She was originally the goddess of the nighttime sky, but eventually became referred to as simply the sky goddess. Her headdress was the hieroglyphic of part of her name, a pot, which may also symbolize the uterus. Mostly depicted in nude human form, Nut was also sometimes depicted in the form of a cow whose great body formed the sky and heavens, a sycamore tree, or as a giant sow, suckling many piglets (representing the stars
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Sobek (also called Sebek, Sochet, Sobk, and Sobki), and in Greek, Suchos (Σοῦχος) was an ancient Egyptian deity with a complex and fluid nature.[1] He is associated with the Nile crocodile and is either represented in its form or as a human with a crocodile head. Sobek was also associated with pharaonic power, fertility, and military prowess, but served additionally as a protective deity with apotropaic qualities, invoked particularly for protection against the dangers presented by the Nile river
Sobek enjoyed a longstanding presence in the ancient Egyptian pantheon, from the Old Kingdom (c. 2686—2181 BCE) through the Roman period (c. 30 BCE—350 CE). He is first known from several different Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom, particularly from spell PT 317.[2] The spell, which praises the pharaoh as living incarnation of the crocodile god, reads:
"Unis is Sobek, green of plumage, with alert face and raised fore, the splashing one who came from the thigh and tail of the great goddess in the sunlight…Unis has appeared as Sobek, Neith’s son. Unis will eat with his mouth, Unis will urinate and Unis will copulate with his penis. Unis is lord of semen, who takes women from their husbands to the place Unis likes according to his heart’s fancy. "[3]
As one can understand from this text alone, Sobek was considered a violent, hyper-sexual, and erratic deity, prone to his primal whims. The origin of his name, Sbk[4] in ancient Egyptian, is debated among scholars, but many believe that it is derived from a causative of the verb "to impregnate."[5]
Though Sobek was worshipped in the Old Kingdom, he truly gained prominence in the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055—1650 BCE), most notably under the Twelfth Dynasty king, Amenemhat III. Amenemhat III had taken a particular interest in the Faiyum region of Egypt, a region heavily associated with Sobek. Amenemhat and many of his dynastic contemporaries engaged in building projects to promote Sobek – projects that were often executed in the Faiyum. In this period, Sobek also underwent an important change: he was often fused with the falcon-headed god of divine kingship, Horus. This brought Sobek even closer with the kings of Egypt, thereby giving him a place of greater prominence in the Egyptian pantheon.[6] The fusion added a finer level of complexity to the god’s nature, as he was adopted into the divine triad of Horus and his two parents: Osiris and Isis.[7]
This Late Period (c. 400 – 250 BCE) statue shows Sobek bearing the falcon head of Re-Harakhti, illustrating the fusion of Sobek and Re into Sobek-Re. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Sobek first acquired a role as a solar deity through his connection to Horus, but this was further strengthened in later periods with the emergence of Sobek-Ra, a fusion of Sobek and Egypt’s primary sun god, Ra. Sobek-Horus persisted as a figure in the New Kingdom (1550—1069 BCE), but it was not until the last dynasties of Egypt that Sobek-Ra gained prominence. This understanding of the god was maintained after the fall of Egypt’s last native dynasty in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt (c. 332 BCE—390 CE). The prestige of both Sobek and Sobek-Ra endured in this time period and tributes to him attained greater prominence – both through the expansion of his dedicated cultic sites and a concerted scholarly effort to make him the subject of religious doctrine
Khonsu (alternately Chonsu, Khensu, Khons, Chons or Khonshu) is an Ancient Egyptian god whose main role was associated with the moon. His name means "traveller" and this may relate to the nightly travel of the moon across the sky. Along with Thoth he marked the passage of time. Khonsu was instrumental in the creation of new life in all living creatures. At Thebes he formed part of a family triad with Mut as his mother and Amun his father. At Kom Ombo he was worshipped as son of Sobek and Hath
Khonsu gradually replaced the war-god Monthu as the son of Mut in Theban thought during the Middle Kingdom, because the pool at the temple of Mut was in the shape of a crescent moon. The father who had adopted Khonsu was thought to be Amun, who had already been changed into a more significant god by the rise of Thebes, and had his wife changed to Mut. As these two were both considered extremely benign deities, Menthu gradually lost his more aggressive aspects.
In art, Khonsu was depicted as a man with the head of a hawk, wearing the crescent of the new moon subtending the disc of the full moon. His head was shaven except for the side-lock worn by Egyptian children, signifying his role as Khonsu the Child. Occasionally he was depicted as a youth holding the flail of the pharaoh, wearing a menat necklace. He was sometimes pictured on the back of a goose, ram, or two crocodiles. His sacred animal was the baboon, considered a lunar animal by the ancient Egyptians
His name reflects the fact that the Moon (referred to as Iah in Egyptian) travels across the night sky, for it means traveller, and also had the titles Embracer, Pathfinder, and Defender, as he was thought to watch overnight travelers. As the god of light in the night, Khonsu was invoked to protect against wild animals, increase male virility, and aid with healing. It was said that when Khonsu caused the crescent moon to shine, women conceived, cattle became fertile, and all nostrils and every throat was filled with fresh air.
Khonsu can also be understood to mean king's placenta, and consequently in early times, he was considered to slay the king's (i.e. the pharaoh's) enemies, and extract their innards for the king's use, metaphorically creating something resembling a placenta for the king. This bloodthirsty aspect leads him to be referred to, in such as the Pyramid texts, as the (one who) lives on hearts. He also became associated with more literal placentas, becoming seen as a deification of the royal placenta, and so a god involved with childbirth
Khonsu is typically depicted as a mummy with the symbol of childhood, a sidelock of hair, as well as the menat necklace with crook and flail. He has close links to other divine children such as Horus and Shu. He is sometimes shown wearing a falcon's head like Horus, with whom he is associated as a protector and healer, adorned with the sun disk and crescent moon
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Hapi was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile in ancient Egyptian religion. The flood deposited rich silt (fertile soil) on the river's banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops.[1] Some of the titles of Hapi were, Lord of the Fishes and Birds of the Marshes and Lord of the River Bringing Vegetation. He is typically depicted as a man with a large belly wearing a loincloth, having long hair and having pendulous, female-like breasts
The annual flooding of the Nile occasionally was said to be the Arrival of Hapi.[1] Since this flooding provided fertile soil in an area that was otherwise desert, Hapi, as its patron, symbolised fertility. Due to his fertile nature he was sometimes considered the "father of the gods",[1] and was considered to be a caring father who helped to maintain the balance of the cosmos, the world or universe regarded as an orderly, harmonious system.[1] He was thought to live within a cavern at the supposed source of the Nile near Aswan.[3] The cult of Hapi was mainly located at the First Cataract named Elephantine. His priests were involved in rituals to ensure the steady levels of flow required from the annual flood. At Elephantine the official nilometer, a measuring device, was carefully monitored to predict the level of the flood, and his priests must have been intimately concerned with its monitoring.
Hapi was not regarded as the god of the Nile itself but of the inundation event.[1] He was also considered a "friend of Geb" the Egyptian god of the earth,[4] and the "lord of Neper", the god of grain
Although male and wearing the false beard, Hapi was pictured with pendulous breasts and a large belly, as representations of the fertility of the Nile. He also was usually given blue [2] or green skin, representing water. Other attributes varied, depending upon the region of Egypt in which the depictions exist. In Lower Egypt, he was adorned with papyrus plants and attended by frogs, present in the region, and symbols of it. Whereas in Upper Egypt, it was the lotus and crocodiles which were more present in the Nile, thus these were the symbols of the region, and those associated with Hapi there. Hapi often was pictured carrying offerings of food or pouring water from an amphora, but also, very rarely, was depicted as a hippopotamus. During the Nineteenth dynasty Hapi is often depicted as a pair of figures, each holding and tying together the long stem of two plants representing Upper and Lower Egypt, symbolically binding the two halves of the country around a hieroglyph meaning "union".[2] This symbolic representation was often carved at the base of seated statues of the pharaoh.
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In Egyptian mythology, Anuket (also spelt Anqet, and in Greek, Anukis) was originally the personification and goddess of the Nile river, in areas such as Elephantine, at the start of the Nile's journey through Egypt, and in nearby regions of Nubia.
Anuket was part of a triad with the god Khnum, and the goddess Satis. She is the sister of the goddess Satis, or she may have been a junior consort to Khnum instead. [1] Anuket was depicted as a woman with a headdress of feathers [1] (thought by most Egyptologists to be a detail deriving from Nubia).[citation needed] Her sacred animal was the gazelle.
A temple dedicated to Anuket was erected on the Island of Seheil. Inscriptions show that a shrine or altar was dedicated to her at this site by the 13th dynasty Pharaoh Sobekhotep III. Much later, during the 18th dynasty, Amenhotep II dedicated a chapel to the goddess. [2]
During the New Kingdom, Anuket’s cult at Elephantine included a river procession of the goddess during the first month of Shemu. Inscriptions mention the processional festival of Khnum and Anuket during this time period. [3]
Ceremonially, when the Nile started its annual flood, the Festival of Anuket began. People threw coins, gold, jewelry, and precious gifts into the river, in thanks for the life-giving water and returning benefits derived from the wealth provided by her fertility to the goddess. The taboo held in several parts of Egypt, against eating certain fish which were considered sacred, was lifted during this time, suggesting that a fish species of the Nile was a totem for Anuket and that they were consumed as part of the ritual of her major religious festival
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Khnum (/kəˈnuːm/; also spelled Khnemu) was one of the earliest Egyptian deities, originally the god of the source of the Nile River. Since the annual flooding of the Nile brought with it silt and clay, and its water brought life to its surroundings, he was thought to be the creator of the bodies of human children, which he made at a potter's wheel, from clay, and placed in their mothers' wombs. He later was described as having moulded the other deities, and he had the titles Divine Potter and Lord of created things from himself
Khnum is the third aspect of Ra. He is the god of rebirth, creation and the evening sun, although this is usually the function of Atum. The worship of Khnum centred on two principal riverside sites, Elephantine Island and Esna, which were regarded as sacred sites. At Elephantine, he was worshipped alongside Anuket and Satis as the guardian of the source of the Nile River. His significance led to early theophoric names of him, for children, such as Khnum-Khufwy – Khnum is my Protector, the full name of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid.[1]
Khnum has also been related to the deity Min
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Bastet was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (2890 BC). As Bast, she was the goddess of warfare in Lower Egypt, the Nile River delta region, before the unification of the cultures of ancient Egypt. Her name is also spelled Baast, Ubasti, and Baset.[1]
The two uniting cultures had deities that shared similar roles and usually the same imagery. In Upper Egypt, Sekhmet was the parallel warrior lioness deity to Bast. Often similar deities merged into one with the unification, but that did not occur with these deities with such strong roots in their cultures. Instead, these goddesses began to diverge. During the Twenty-Second Dynasty (c. 945–715 BC), Bast had changed from a lioness warrior deity into a major protector deity represented as a cat.[2] Bastet, the name associated with this later identity, is the name commonly used by scholars today to refer to this deity
From lioness-goddess to cat-goddess
From the 3rd millennium BC, when Bast begins to appear in our records, she is depicted as either a fierce lioness or a woman with the head of a lioness.[5] Images of Bast were created from a local stone, named alabaster today.[citation needed] The lioness was the fiercest hunter among the animals in Africa, hunting in co-operative groups of related females.
Originally she was viewed as the protector goddess of Lower Egypt. As protector, she was seen as defender of the pharaoh, and consequently of the later chief male deity, Ra, who was also a solar deity, gaining her the titles Lady of Flame and Eye of Ra.
Her role in the Egyptian pantheon became diminished as Sekhmet, a similar lioness war deity, became more dominant in the unified culture of Lower and Upper Egypt known as the Two Lands.[citation needed]
In the first millennium BC, when domesticated cats were popularly kept as pets, during the 18th dynasty Bastet began to be represented as a woman with the head of a cat and ultimately, by the 22nd dynasty emerged as the Egyptian cat-goddess par excellence.[5] In the Middle Kingdom, the domestic cat appeared as Bast’s sacred animal and after the New Kingdom she was depicted as a woman with the head of a cat or a lioness, carrying a sacred rattle and a box or basket.[6]
Bubastis
Bast was a local deity whose cult was centered in the city of Bubastis, now Tell Basta, which lay in the Delta near what is known as Zagazig today.[5][6] The town, known in Egyptian as pr-bȝstt (also transliterated as Per-Bast), carries her name, literally meaning "House of Bast". It was known in Greek as Boubastis (Βούβαστις) and translated into Hebrew as Pî-beset. In the biblical Book of Ezekiel 30:17, the town appears in the Hebrew form Pibeseth
Festival
Herodotus also relates that of the many solemn festivals held in Egypt, the most important and most popular one was that celebrated in Bubastis in honour of the goddess, whom he calls Bubastis and equates with the Greek goddess Artemis.[8][9] Each year on the day of her festival, the town is said to have attracted some 700,000 visitors ("as the people of the place say"), both men and women (but not children), who arrived in numerous crowded ships. The women engaged in music, song, and dance on their way to the place, great sacrifices were made and prodigious amounts of wine were drunk, more than was the case throughout the year.[10] This accords well with Egyptian sources which prescribe that leonine goddesses are to be appeased with the "feasts of drunkenness".[3]
The goddess Bast was sometimes depicted holding a ceremonial sistrum in one hand and an aegis in the other—the aegis usually resembling a collar or gorget embellished with a lioness head.
Bast was a lioness goddess of the sun throughout most of Ancient Egyptian history, but later she was changed into the cat goddess (Bastet). She also was changed to a goddess of the moon by Greeks occupying Ancient Egypt toward the end of its civilization. In Greek mythology, Bast also is known as Ailuros
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In Egyptian mythology, Taweret (also spelled Taurt, Tuat, Taouris, Tuart, Ta-weret, Tawaret, Twert, and Taueret, and in Greek, Θουέρις "Thouéris" and Toeris) is the protective ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility. The name "Taweret" (Tȝ-wrt) means, "she who is great" or simply, "great one," a common pacificatory address to dangerous deities.[1] The deity is typically depicted as a bipedal female hippopotamus with feline attributes, pendulous female human breasts, and the back of a Nile crocodile. She commonly bears the epithets “Lady of Heaven,” “Mistress of the Horizon,” “She Who Removes Water,” “Mistress of Pure Water,” and “Lady of the Birth House.”[
History and development
Paleontological evidence demonstrates that hippopotami inhabited ancient Egypt’s Nile River well-before the dawn of dynastic Egypt (before 3000 BCE). The violent and aggressive behavior of these creatures intrigued the individuals that inhabited the region, leading the ancient Egyptians both to persecute and to venerate them. From a very early date, male hippopotami were thought to be manifestations of chaos — consequently, they were overcome in royal hunting campaigns, intended to demonstrate the divine power of the king.[3] However, female hippopotami were revered as manifestations of apotropaic deities, as they studiously protect their young from harm. Protective amulets bearing the likenesses of female hippopotami have been found dating as far back the Predynastic period (ca. 3000-2686 BCE). The tradition of making and wearing these amulets continued throughout Egyptian history into the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (ca. 332 BCE - 390 CE)
From her ideological conception, Taweret was closely grouped with (and is often indistinguishable from) several other protective hippopotamus goddesses: Ipet, Reret, and Hedjet. Some scholars even interpret these goddesses as aspects of the same deity, considering their universally shared role as protective household goddesses. The other hippopotamus goddesses have names that bear very specific meanings, much like Taweret (whose name is formed as a pacificatory address intended to calm the ferocity of the goddess): Ipet’s name (“the Nurse”) demonstrates her connection to birth, child rearing, and general caretaking, and Reret’s name (“the Sow”) is derived from the Egyptian’s erroneous taxonomical classification of hippopotami as water pigs. However, the origin of Hedjet’s name (“the White One”) is not as clear and could justly be debated.[5] Evidence for the cult of hippopotamus goddesses exists from the time of the Old Kingdom (ca. 2686 - 2181 BCE) in the corpus of Ancient Egyptian funerary texts entitled the Pyramid Texts. Spell 269 in the Pyramid Texts mentions Ipet and succinctly demonstrates her nurturing role; the spell announces that the deceased king will suck on the goddess’s “white, dazzling, sweet milk” when he ascends to the heavens.[6] As maternal deities, these goddesses served to nurture and protect the Egyptian people, both royal (as seen in the Pyramid Texts) and non-royal.
It was not until the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2055-1650 BCE) that Taweret became featured more prominently as a figure of religious devotion. Her image adorns apotropaic magical objects, the most notable of which being a common type of “wand” or “knife” carved from hippopotamus ivory that was likely used in rituals associated with birth and the protection of infants. Similar images appear also on children’s feeding cups, once again demonstrating Taweret’s integral role as the patron goddess of child rearing.[7] Quite contrarily, she also took on the role of a funerary deity in this period, evidenced by the commonplace practice of placing hippopotami decorated with marsh flora in tombs and temples. Some scholars believe that this practice demonstrates that hippopotamus goddesses facilitated the process of rebirth after death, just as they aided in earthly births. These statues, then, assisted the deceased’s passing into the afterlife.[8]
With the rise of personal piety in the New Kingdom (ca. 1550-1069 BCE), household deities like Taweret gained even more importance. Taweret’s image has been found on an array of household objects, demonstrating her central role in the home. In fact, such objects were even found at Amarna from the reign of Akhenaten (ca. 1352-1336 BCE), an Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh who reorganized Egyptian polytheism into a henotheistic religion focused on the worship of the sun disc, called the Aten. The worship of many traditional gods was proscribed during this period, so Taweret’s survival in the artistic corpus found at the Aten’s capital demonstrates her overwhelming significance in daily life.[9] In this time period, her role as a funerary deity was strengthened, as her powers became considered not only life-giving, but regenerative as well. Various myths demonstrate her role in facilitating the afterlives of the deceased as the nurturing and purifying “Mistress of Pure Water.”[10] However, Taweret and her fellow hippopotamus goddesses of fertility should not be confused with Ammit, another composite hippopotamus goddess who gained prominence in the New Kingdom. Ammit was responsible for devouring the unjust before passing into the afterlife. Unlike Ammit, the other hippopotamus goddesses were responsible for nourishment and aid – not destruction.
In the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (ca. 332 BCE - 390 CE), Taweret maintained a central role in daily Egyptian life. In either the latter half of the Late Period (ca. 664-332 BCE) or the early Ptolemaic period, a temple dedicated to Ipet was built at Karnak. This enigmatic temple was thought to witness the daily birth of the sun god from the hippopotamus goddesses that dwelled there. The sun god (Amun-Re) was conceived of as having multiple divine mothers, and by this later period in Egyptian history, Taweret and the other hippopotamus goddesses were included in this body of solar mothers.[11] Taweret’s image also appeared on the outside of temples dedicated to other deities due to her apotropaic ability to ward off malevolent forces.[12] Outside of temple settings, the household cult of the goddesses remained strong, and amulets bearing their likenesses peaked in popularity during these years
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