MORTUARY COMPLEX OF KING ZOSER
Saqqara Dynasty III, 2780-2680 B.C.
A thirty-five acre mortuary complex contains
the pyramid, a small temple, courtyards, a palace, shrines, altars, storehouses,
and tombs. The complex is surrounded by an enclosing or perimeter wall.
There is one entrance, a simple doorway.
Mosque
Mosque, Muslim worship building. ISLAM is little dependent on ritual, and
the house and courtyard of MUHAMMAD at Medina were the first worship site.
As Islam spread, almost any edifice was used, including Christian and Zoroastrian
temples. The mosque's basic elements are space to assemble and some orientation
so that the faithful may pray toward MECCA. This direction is marked by
a mihrab, usually a decorated niche.
The elaborate mihrabs of later mosques are covered with intricate woodwork, carved marble, or tiles. A mosque may also contain a pulpit; a maqsura, or enclosed space around the mihrab, often with lacy screen work; MINARETS; a courtyard surrounded by colonnaded or arcaded porticos with wells or fountains for ablutions; and space for a school. Early Egyptian and Syrian mosques adhered to the primitive pattern.
The mosque of Omar ( A.D. 691) at Jerusalem, called the Dome of the Rock, follows an octagonal Byzantine plan and has a wooden dome, but domed mosques were not common for another six centuries. In the 14th cent. a cruciform mosque with pointed vaults around a central court appeared; the arm toward Mecca was wider and deeper. The finest example of the cruciform mosque is the great mosque of Sultan Hasan (1356) at Cairo.
Mosques of N Africa and Spain tended to be
simple, but that at Córdoba (begun A.D. 780) was larger than any
Christian church. It became the Cathedral of Córdoba in 1238. In
the 15th and 16th cent., colonnaded halls were replaced by large, square,
domed interiors, as in the Blue Mosque of Tabriz (1437–68) and the imperial
mosque at Isfahan (1585–1612). After 1453, the converted HAGIA SOPHIA became
a model for Islamic religious structures. The pointed, bulbous domes and
polychrome tile decoration of Persian mosques are distinctive. Indian mosques,
following the Persian style, employed stone and marble exteriors that gave
them a more solid monumentality.
Mummy
A mummy is an embalmed body dating from ancient Egyptian times. The word
is derived through Arabic from the Persian mumiai ("pitch" or
"asphalt"), presumably because Egyptian mummies of the late period
were often coated with a layer of black resin resembling pitch. The ancient
Egyptians placed great stress on the preservation of the human body after
death because they believed that the spirit of the deceased returned to
it when visiting the tomb. Animals and birds sacred to various deities
were also mummified and buried in special cemeteries, the most famous being
the catacombs of the sacred bulls, known as the Serapeum, at SAQQARA.
In the shallow graves of the Predynastic Period, when bodies were simply wrapped in matting, close contact with the warm, dry sand caused dehydration and prevented decay. Deeper and more elaborate tombs, combined with the use of wooden coffins, gave greater protection from disturbance by robbers and wild beasts, but at the same time removed the body from the elements that had previously been responsible for its preservation. Early in the Dynastic Period the shrunken body of a deceased person was restored to its former shape by the placing of pads soaked in resin under linen bandages wrapped separately around each physical member. By the 5th dynasty (c.2350 BC) the bandaged body was coated with a layer of plaster, colored light green, and the facial features were represented in paint like a mask.
When fully developed, the process of mummification consisted of extracting the brain through the nose; removing the lungs and the abdominal organs (but not the heart) through an incision cut in the left flank; placing the body in natron, a naturally occurring compound of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate; and finally wrapping the body in many layers of bandages with appropriate amulets sandwiched between the layers. As early as the 4th dynasty (c.2600 BC) the internal organs were sometimes embalmed separately and put in four vessels known as Canopic jars.
Researchers are gleaning information about ancient peoples by identifying genetic links and health patterns of mummies through X-ray studies and autopsies. X-rays, used to date mummies, can also show evidence of diseases. These data can help in identifying mummies and confirming historical records. Other techniques aid in corroborating evidence: lateral skull X-rays and computer graphics, to yield cranial reconstructions; hair analysis, to determine medical ailments; computerized axial tomography (CAT) scans, providing detailed X-ray images; blood-typing from bone samples; and radiocarbon dating techniques.
Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; inc. 1870; opened 1876. Originally a pooling
of the collections of the Boston Atheneum, Harvard Univ., and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, the museum is privately endowed. Its collections
of Eastern art, particularly from India, China, and Japan, are outstanding,
as is its collection of ancient Egyptian art. It is extremely rich in 18th-cent.
American paintings, especially those by J.S. COPLEY and Gilbert STUART,
and has a fine collection of the works of John Singer SARGENT and the silver
of Paul REVERE. The museum's West Wing, designed by I.M. PEI, opened in
1981.
Necho
Necho n¶´k½, pharaoh (609–593 B.C.) of EGYPT, of the
XXVI dynasty. In the first part of his reign he invaded PALESTINE and SYRIA;
his aim was to aid the Assyrians, who were besieged by NEBUCHADNEZZAR and
the Babylonians. Defeated on the Euphrates in 605, he returned to Egypt.
He later tried to reexcavate the Nile–Red Sea canal and sent Phoenicians
on an expedition that may have circumnavigated Africa.
Necho II
{nee'-koh}
Necho II, d. 593 BC, a pharaoh of the 26th dynasty, sponsored the first known circumnavigation of Africa and an early, though unsuccessful, attempt to link the Mediterranean and Red seas by canal. Succeeding his father, PSAMTIK I, in 609, Necho attempted to stem the expansion of resurgent Babylonia. He failed, however, in his efforts to aid collapsing Assyria and was himself defeated by the Babylonians at Carchemish (605). Thus, Egypt lost to Babylon its political and commercial advantages in Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine.
Abandoning Asia after 601, Necho strengthened the Egyptian navy for strategic and trading purposes and maintained close links with the Greeks. He sent gifts to Greek temples, traded Egyptian grain for Greek silver, and settled Greek mercenaries on Egyptian land in return for their services. His son Psamtik II succeeded him.
Nefertiti
{nef-ur-tee'-tee}
Nefertiti was the queen-consort of the controversial Egyptian king AKHENATEN (r. 1380-1362 BC) of the 18th dynasty. She appears to have lost favor with her husband after the 14th year of his reign. A famous bust of Nefertiti, dating from c.1363-1343 BC and made of painted limestone, is now in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin. It is a masterpiece of the new, naturalistic style in Egyptian art of the Amarna period. The Cairo Museum contains an unfinished quartzite head of the same period; it is also believed to represent Nefertiti.
Neopaganism
Neopaganism, polytheistic religious movement, practiced in small groups
by partisans of pre-Christian religious traditions, e.g., Egyptian, Greek,
Norse, Celtic. Neopagans are either nature-oriented or magical, and often
incorporate elaborate, arcane rituals into their practices. See also WITCHCRAFT.
Netjer - The One God of Ancient Egyptian Religion
Introductory Glossary to the Kemetic Orthodox Conception of Deity
by Rev. Tamara Siuda (aus), Chief Priest of the House of Netjer
Last update: 27 June, 1997
NOTE: All contents of this document copyright (c) Rev. Tamara Siuda for The House of Netjer; no quotations or copying shall be made in any form now known or to be invented without the express written prior consent of the author and the temple. Interested parties are invited to link to this page, provided they make a formal written request and make no changes to titles or content.
"I know You, because I know Your Names." - from the Chapters of Coming Forth by Day, New Kingdom
WHAT'S IN A NAME? THE NAMES OF NETJER
"Netjer," a Kemetic word meaning "divine power," is the One Self-Created Deity which manifests in myriads of forms, which we call Names (Kemetic Orthodoxy is a monolatry, NOT polytheism - see the "What is Kemetic Orthodoxy?" page for more information). The actual number of Names, sometimes more simply (but misleadingly) called "gods" and "goddesses," figures in the thousands. The spelling of Netjer in English with the "tj," rather than "Neter" or "ntr" as sometimes written in Egyptology books, has been adopted by the House of Netjer at my direction; after research, as I believe it is the most accurate way to phoneticize the Kemetic word in English. In Kemetic, the word is written with the hieroglyph symbol of a flag, after the ritual flags hung above temple entrances.
The following is a comprehensive description of Names which enjoy moderate to wide following throughout Kemetic history, past and present, and "base" Names behind more obscure forms. Symbology and offerings are those of the House of Netjer, culled from source texts and current canon. Several books included with the House of Netjer bibliography (see our Kemetic Suggested Reading List) were consulted to check information. Should you have additional questions about the Names, or would like to suggest a Name for this list, feel free to contact me via the temple's e-mail address.
HOW THE NAMES ARE PRESENTED:
Presentation is by Kemetic name first, followed by alternate Kemetic and other names in parentheses: "GR" denotes names used by the ancient Greeks and/or Romans, commonly used by Egyptologists; and "WB" denotes names popularized by early 20th Century author/archaeologist Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. Budge's translations have proven faulty over the past half-century; however, as his books are more widely available than more quality texts and are in the public domain, many are familiar with his syntax and I felt it important to note these incorrect Names for clarification.
After each Kemetic name and its syncretisms, an English translation of the Kemetic name is given in quotes, followed by a description of the Name and its provenance.
Aker - "Bender" A predynastic earth-Netjer symbolized in the two horizons of setting and rising sun; sometimes called "Yesterday and Today" as His symbol is a two-headed lion (two heads at either end of one body). Aker is the protector of Ra in His overnight travels, and represents the edges of reality and the separation between the reckoning of past and future.
Amen (Amun, Amon, Yimen; GR Zeus-Ammon, Jupiter-Ammon) - "The Hidden One," Amen is "King of the Netjeru," a major Name of Netjer in Uaset (Thebes) in Upper Kemet. The "Lord to the Limit" who created all things (see Nun, Tem, Ra and Ptah entries for other Creator Names), Amen the lord of the hidden wind eventually syncretised with the royal cult of Ra to emerge as Amen-Ra in the Middle Kingdom. Successions of Theban rulers would propel Amen's fame to national and eventually international status; even Alexander the Great sought Amen's blessing before declaring himself Kemet's ruler. It is possible that the conception of Amen influenced conceptions of the Judaic/Hebraic God (YHVH) as well as those of Greek Zeus and Roman Jupiter; the Romans declared Jupiter and Amen to be the same divinity. Amen is generally depicted as a man wearing a tall golden plumed crown and a red and white pleated skirt; infrequently He is also shown as a ram with curled-down horns (not to be confused with the ram representing Khnum), or a ram-headed man.
Amen-Ra (Amon-Re) - see Amen
Amenet (Amaunet) - "The Hidden Female" Consort to Amen of Khemenu (GR Hermopolis), Amenet represents the hidden feminine side of Netjer; "Great Queen" to Amen's "King of Netjeru." [A less-mentioned feminine form of Ra, as "Rait," is also sometimes mentioned in connection with Amenet.] Amenet was syncretised in later parts of Kemetic history with Mut and Nit. Depiction (if She is depicted at all) is of a woman wearing the Double Crown.
Am-mit (Am-mut) - "Dead-Swallower" Stationed just to the side of the scales in the Hall of Double Truth [see Ma'at], Am-mit's function is to await the postmortem judgment of a soul (envisioned as the deceased's heart being weighed on a scale against the feather of Ma'at) and then, if the soul fails the test, Am-mit snatches up the heart and devours it, causing the soul to cease to exist. As the ultimate punishment of the wicked, Am-mit is depicted as a hideous composite of the animals ancient Kemetics feared most: crocodile snout and head, feline claws and front, and a hippopotamus body and back legs. Am-mit is also sometimes referred to as "Great of Death," and many late papyri depict Her patiently watching Yinepu weighing a man's heart against the feather of Ma'at.
Amset - see Imset
Anpu - see Yinepu
Anubis - see Yinepu
An(u)ket (GR Anukis) - "Embracing Lady," consort (or alternately, daughter) to Khnum, Anuket is depicted as a woman wearing an unusual tall crown of ostrich feathers, probably a Nubian headdress. She is, along with Khnum and Satet, one of the three Names worshipped at Abu (Elephantine) in Upper Kemet, and can be seen on the walls of the temple of Ramses II at modern-day Abu Simbel, as well as in other Nubian temples. As a Name of Netjer associated with Elephantine and Sehel Island, in the area considered by Kemetics to be the source of the Nile, Anuket is a protectress of the mighty river (see Hapi). In earliest times She is also called a daughter of Ra.
Apep (GR Apophis) - (actual translation unclear; the Romans believed it to mean "He Who Is Spat Out") While outside of the creation of Tem and thus technically not a part of Netjer, Apep is yet a part of the universe; that part which constantly seeks its dissolution and destruction. Apep is characterized as an "evil serpent"in some texts, but it must be remembered that for Kemetics this is not a personalized evil, such as the Christian or Islamic concepts of "devil." Apep's birthday and New Year's day are marked by the performance of execration rituals to stave off "random acts of Apep" during the subsequent year. It is stated in more than one text that "Apep" is not Its actual Name, but while many other names are given for Apep, none is acknowledged to be the "true" one, possibly to avoid attracting the attention of this extremely powerful Presence.
Apis - see Wesir-Hap
Apophis - see Apep
Apuat - see Wepwawet
Aset (Auset, Ese; GR Isis) - "The Throne," Aset is the power that makes kings; a feminine Name appearing in texts beginning in Dynasty IV as wife and sister to Wesir and daughter of Nut and Geb. In earliest times Aset is depicted as the "mistress of magic"(see Heka) Who learns Ra's true name and thus the secrets of the universe. In the cult of Wesir Aset is attributed with having prepared Him for burial and conceiving a son upon
His dead body, which she magically reanimates long enough to complete (in Kemetic texts, Wesir's death is attributed to drowning; the dismemberment myth given by Plutarch does not appear until millennia later and may not even be Kemetic in origin See Wesir.). In later periods and particularly after the New Kingdom, Aset would be syncretized with a number of other Names, Hethert in particular, and took on "mother goddess" characteristics.
During this period, Aset's importance as mother of Heru-sa-Aset ("Horus, son of Isis", a Name intimately connected with kingship and therefore within Aset's purview as kingmaker) becomes paramount, in ways strongly suggestive of the later cult of the Virgin Mary. The Romans declared all feminine Names to be forms of Aset, crowning Her "Goddess of Ten Thousand Names," though Kemetic mythology does not exhibit this specific archetype.
Aten (Aton, Yiten) - "Sun's Disk" Aten is the physically visible sun, the yellow sphere in earth's sky that can fructify or scorch. The Aten-disk is venerated as a form of Shu, Ra, or Heru from the late Middle Kingdom onward and was not, as some have erroneously stated, "invented" by New Kingdom pharaoh Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten. However, beginning with Akhenaten's father, Amenhotep III, Aten enjoyed a higher level of worship, and during Akhenaten's reign, for reasons not entirely clear in the historic record, Akhenaten declared all other Names invalid and Their priests useless, and ordered Kemet to worship him as the "Sole One of Aten," who would then take the people's prayers to His Father (he did not order them to worship Aten; the texts state that only He is qualified to do this as the Disk's intermediary).
Akhenaten's religious reforms, which did not represent monotheism as has been often suggested (Akhenaten offers Ma'at in friezes, and some of his hymns refer to "Ra-Heruakhety in His Name of Shu Who is in Aten," indicating Akhenaten's "destruction" of other Names was selective), did not long outlast him; a backlash against the Atenist movement by the priesthood of Amen-Ra after Akhenaten's death resulted in the loss of much of this Name's information.
Atum - see Tem
Ausar - see Wesir
Bast(Ubasti, Pasht; G/R Bastet, Bubastis) - "Devouring Lady" (from bas, to devour, with feminine ending); One of the earliest-documented Names with an appearance in Dynasty II, Bast is first and foremost a protectress; specifically of the royal house and the Two Lands. During Dynasty IV, She was a patron-Name of Lower Kemet, paired with Hethert as a patron-Name of Upper Kemet, as Wadjet and Nekhebet are often depicted in later times; the Valley Temple of the Pyramid of Khafra at modern-day Giza next to the Sphinx had a "Portal of Bast" as well as statues of Bast in the company of the king. Over time, Bast's image metamorphosed to become more similar to that of Hethert; eventually, into the Greek period, She would be equated with the virgin huntress Artemis and considered the protectress of children and pregnant mothers, musicians and a goddess of all sorts of excess, especially sexual excess. However, Bast's original visage did not include the "cat as sex symbol" archetype. A play on words in Bast's name resulted in Her being equated in Greco-Roman times with the "soul of Isis"(ba-Aset), probably in keeping with Aset's gradual syncretism into the Roman Isis of Ten Thousand Names.
Bat - "She Who hoes"; a Predynastic Name of Netjer associated with cows, the sky and fertility; later assimilated into Hethert. Bat's front-facing, cow-eared visage would become synonymous with the ritual rattle used in invocation and purification rituals known as the sistrum.
Bes - (Meaning unknown, but may be derivative from the same root as the Netjer-name of Bast) A Name of Netjer with unknown but probably Sub-Saharan origin, Bes is unusually depicted as a man of dwarf stature, facing forward (as opposed to the nearly universal canonical profile), wearing the mask and tail of a lion and carrying a large knife. Bes is the Name associated most strongly with the protection of the household and specifically its children and pregnant women; he was also seen (possibly also explaining his depiction as a Pygmy-like being, as Pygmies were known to serve a court-jester function in the Old Kingdom) as the patron of laughter, dancing, happiness and fertility. Bes's masked face with lolling tongue can be seen on many pieces of furniture throughout Kemetic history as well as funerary stelae of the Late Period.
Buto - see Wadjet
Djehuty (Tehuti; G/R Thoth) - "Leader (derivative form)" Ibis-headed Lord of Time, Writing and Wisdom, Djehuty is said to have invented the hieroglyphic script and negotiated five extra days from the moon in order to perfect the 365-day year. As a result of these mythological connections, Djehuty is the patron of writers, teachers, accountants and all persons involved in the dissemination of knowledge, writing and/or calculation.
His consorts are alternately Ma'at, Netjeret of Truth and Order; or Seshat, patroness of recordkeeping, libraries and the foundation of buildings. Djehuty is also the nominal head of the Ogdoad (group of eight Names of Netjer) honored at the city of Khemenu (Hermopolis of the Greeks), overseeing four pairs of natural syzygies: Eternity (Heh/Hehet), Darkness (Kek/Keket), Water/Potentiality (Nun/Nunet) and Wind/Hiddenness (Amen/Amenet). Along with the ibis, Djehuty is associated with baboons of the genus Cynocephalis, which the ancients observed raising their hands and "singing" to the rising sun; He also stands at the side of the scales of Ma'at in the Hall of Two Truths to record the verdict which Yinepu delivers after weighing the deceased's heart against the feather of Ma'at.
Duamutef (Tuamutef) - "Praising his mother" One of the "Four Sons of Heru" depicted in funerary literature as protecting the throne of Wesir in the Underworld, Duamutef is depicted as a jackal-headed mummified human on funerary furniture and especially the "canopic" jars which held the organs of the deceased (Duamutef's jar held the stomach).. Later Hermetic philosophers would equate Duamutef with the element of earth because of his association with the funerary protectress Nit and the direction of north.
Edjo - see Wadjet
Ennead - see Pesedjet
Four Sons of Heru (Horus) - See Duamutef, Hapy, Imset, Qebshenef
Geb(WB Seb, Keb, Qeb) - "Earth (also "goose")" Geb is the "Father Earth" (unlike other ancient religions, most of which had understanding of the physical planet Earth as feminine) of the Kemetics; mountains are said to be His bones, and He lies forever inert below his sister-wife, Nut, the starry vault of the sky. Geb and Nut's five children would make up the personalized part of the Pesedjet (Great Nine Names) of the city of An (Heliopolis): Wesir, Heru-ur, Set, Aset and Nebt-het. As the father of Wesir, Geb is often invoked as the "first ruler" of Kemet and some of the ancient king-lists actually list Him and His immediate descendants (Wesir and Heru-sa-Aset) as if they had ruled as physical kings. Geb's theophany is the goose (whose name in Kemetic is also "Geb"), which according to one mythological cycle was the form the Creator took on the day of creation (the "First Time"), cackling His delight into existence in the myriad creatures who walk upon Geb's body.
Haidith - see Heru-behdety
Hap(i)/Hapy - "Runner" Hapi is the body of the River Nile itself, the world's longest waterway, without which the Two Lands would cease to exist. Hapi is venerated both as the physical sacred waters of the river and symbologically as the concept of life and fertility, reenacted every day in the land along the "Old Man River's" body. Kemetics saw in their precarious existence between mountains and deserts a miracle of life, bestowed upon them by the blessings of Hapi, Who inundated them each winter and provided the Black Land of Wesir which secured the harvest. Hapi could be capricious, however; no flood or too much flood meant disaster, either from famine or from inability to run from His rushing force. Since the erection of the High Dam at Aswan in the latter part of this century, Hapi's influence is not felt in Egypt as much as it was in antiquity - but the Nile still remains the central feature of Egyptian culture and even her spirituality - Copts and Muslims still celebrate holy days with cruises on the river and water blessings.
Hapy - "Runner" One of the "Four Sons of Heru" depicted in funerary literature as protecting the throne of Wesir in the Underworld, Hapy is depicted as a baboon-headed mummified human on funerary furniture and especially the "canopic" jars which held the organs of the deceased (Hapy's jar held the lungs). Later Hermetic philosophers would equate Hapy with the element of air because of his association with the funerary protectress Nebt-het and the direction of east.
Harendotes - see Heru-nedj-it-ef
Harmachis - see Heru-em-Akhet
Haroeris - see Heru-ur
Harpocrates - see Heru-pa-khered
Harseisis - see Heru-sa-Aset
Har-wer - see Heru-ur
Hathor - see Hethert
Heka (G/R Hike) - "Magical Speech" Heka is an abstract Name, embodying the concept that there is power in the spoken word - a power which can be used for good or for ill. While sometimes Heka is simply translated into English as "magic," Heka is more than a "magic word" or a "spell" - He is a lasting reminder of the responsibility one has to keep one's speech in accordance with Ma'at. Anyone who has spoken an unkind word can attest to the power speech has to change our lives; and Heka as embodied in the Ren, or name, is a personal force in Kemetic culture - to speak of a thing is to cause it to exist. Kemet's entire funerary industry may come directly from this concept of "meaningful speech," as to continue to repeat a person's name was to render them immortal - so long as your name was known, you could not die. When depicted, Heka is shown standing in the prow of Ra's Boat of Millions of Years along with Hu (Authoritative Utterance) and Sia (Perception).
Heqet (Hekat) - (meaning unknown; perhaps derived from the words for "ruler" and "sceptre" given Her purview over royal and divine births) Depicted, strangely enough, as a woman with the head of a frog, Heqet is the midwife of Netjer, presiding over all births and particularly those of royal parentage, as witnessed in thousands of years of paintings in tombs and temples. In the company of Aset, Meshkenet and Khnum, Heqet was attributed with the deliverance of the three initial kings of Dynasty V in a folktale (preserved in Papyrus Westcar) which comes down to us by the popular name of "Khufu and the Magicians." As a midwife, Heqet is sometimes paired with Khnum, who creates the form of the infant and its ka upon His potter's wheel. Heqet is also sometimes considered the wife of Heru-ur, and at least in the Old Kingdom, Her priestesses served as trained midwives.
Heru (Har, Hor; G/R Horus) - "High, Above" A collective term for a number of Names depicted either as hawk-headed men or as full hawks, Heru symbolizes leadership of all sorts and specifically the leadership demonstrated in the position of Ruler of the Two Lands. Heru is known even before the advent of hieroglyphic writing from depictions on Predynastic pottery and walls, of hawks and standards with the hawk sitting atop them; Predynastic and early Dynastic kings wrote their names within a serekh, which is a drawing of a palace with a hawk sitting upon its roof. The Kemetic observed in the hawk theophany the quickness, intelligence, alertness and staying power of a just ruler; nothing escaped the watchful eye of the true Heru, and no wrongdoer escaped His claws. Earlier forms of Heru depict Him as an abstract sky-god, with the sun and moon His two eyes; later ones depict Him as anything from victory personified to the son of the Lord of the Dead, Heru-sa-Aset, who would become the most popular form of Heru in the later periods.
Heru-akhety - see Ra-Heru-akhety
Heru-behdety (G/R Haidith) - "Heru of Behdety" The Winged Disk so popular in Kemetic architecture which found its way into other forms of classical art is Heru-behdety, victory personified. In the myth which has come to define this Name, Ra sends Behdety out against Set and his minions to protect the kingship; the battle is joined and is well-fought on both sides with no victors, as the two Netjeru are evenly matched. Ra, watching from heaven, wishes to tilt the battle in Behdety's balance and so transforms Him into a winged sun-disk. Behdety then flies into the sky, blinding his foes and winning the day. The myth is probably a symbolic retelling of the conquest of the lands of the Delta (Lower Kemet, attributed to Set) by the Predynastic chiefs of Upper Kemet (attributed to Heru-ur). Behdety represents the brilliant force of the just warrior, the triumph of daytime over nighttime, the black land over the red, the forces of order over dissension.
Heru-em-Akhet (G/R Harmachis) - "Heru-in-the-Horizon" Heru-em-Akhet is a Name specifically applied to the great Sphinx stationed before the second pyramid (Khafre) at modern-day Giza. As the protector of the Old Kingdom necropolis, Heru-em-Akhet sits facing the dawn and the Nile, watching vigilantly that no one disturbs the rest of his masters, with his human head and lion body on a much grander scale than any other sphinx known to Kemet. The name also alludes to the presence of the king (Heru) inside the pyramid (more often than not called a horizon, symbolizing the death implicit in sunset and the rebirth implicit in sunrise).
Heru-nedj-it-ef (G/R Harendotes) - "Heru, Savior of His Father" - a form of Heru associated with Heru-sa-Aset, particularly in His role as the vindicator of Wesir as the avenger of His death. See Heru-sa-Aset.
Heru-pa-khered (G/R Harpocrates) - "Heru the Child" A specific form of Heru-sa-Aset as a youngster, written about profusely during the Greco-Roman periods, Heru-pa-Khered is depicted as a child holding one finger to his mouth (a direct copy of the hieroglyph for "child," not necessarily being related to the modern meaning of "silence" we see in that gesture). Stele with depictions of Heru-pa-Khered standing on the back of a crocodile and holding snakes in his outstretched hands were erected in temple courtyards, where they would be immersed or bathed in water; the water was then used for blessing and healing purposes as the Name was attributed with many protective and healing powers. It is perhaps ironic in this light that late myths describe Heru-pa-Khered as being both physically weak and incapable of protecting himself, relying upon the power of His mother Aset to protect Him until His manhood.
Heru-sa-Aset (G/R Harseisis) - "Heru, son of Aset" Probably the best-known and most-widely worshipped of the Names of Heru, Heru-sa-Aset, the miraculous child of Aset and Wesir, is symbolized directly in the ruler of Kemet - as the caretaker of the legacy of his predecessor (called "Wesir" upon his death in honor of the Name of the Lord of the Deceased), and as the defender of the weak and the innocent against outside forces (symbolized in Set, Lord of foreign lands, strength and violence). During some periods the rulers were believed to actually be incarnations of Heru-sa-Aset, and their wives incarnations of Hethert (Heru's consort at Idfu/Edfu and Ta-Netjer/Dendera), or Aset. Heru-sa-Aset is usually depicted as a hawk-headed man wearing the Double Crown of Kemet and a breastplate over His kilt. Heru-sa-Aset's rise to the kingship embodied in a series of popular tales which have come down to us as "the Contendings of Heru and Set" probably echoes the process of Kemet's unification undertaken by the early Upper Kemetic Predynastic chiefs, who considered themselves "Shemsu Heru" or "Followers of Horus." Even female rulers of Kemet were referred to as "the (Living) Heru."
Heru-sema-tawy - "Heru, Uniter of the Two Lands" A specialized Name of Heru as the reuniter of the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Kemet after the "Contendings of Heru and Set," possibly originally attributed to the ruler who unified the two kingdoms originally and began the Dynastic Period of Kemetic history and later becoming an epithet of the Netjer.
Heru-ur (Har-wer; G/R Haroeris) - "Great Heru/Heru the Elder" Heru in His most abstract, "original" form is known as a hawk, primarily a divinity of sky, even on Predynastic pottery and other objects. The hawk of Heru-wer came to be associated with the kingship and even was depicted seated atop the ruler's name in the original "serekh" (palace facade) style of hieroglyphic rendering. Heru-ur is viewed as a brother, rather than a son, of Wesir; His main opposite being Set, the Lord of the Red Land, and the storms in Heru-wer's placid blue sky. Confusion of Heru-wer's attributes with Heru-sa-Aset's attributes led in later times to both Netjeru being intertwined; however, in His earliest depictions, Heru-wer is strictly a celestial and sometimes solar divinity; only later is He associated with the kings and with the myth cycle of the Wesirian cult.
Hethert (Het-heret, Het-Heru; G/R Hathor) - "House of Heru" Another Name known from predynastic times, Hethert represents the feminine principle, as reflected in several of Her symbols: the cow, the mirror, and the ritual rattle or sistrum. Hethert is patroness of women, and professions given to Her priesthood include dancers, singers, actors and acrobats; even up to Greek times the arts were under Hethert's dominion. Hethert's temples, especially that at Ta-Netjer (Arabic Dendera) were centers for both healing (with a hospital/sanatorium on-site) and midwifery. Priests in the temple of Ta-Netjer conducted oracles with Hethert in trance rituals held in crypts underneath the sanctuary, and any person could sleep on the temple roof and hope for a dream, which would then be interpreted by the priests. Even today, one can see graffiti and gameboards left behind by those pilgrims, carved into the stones of Ta-Netjer's roof. Hethert's association with both cows and the sistrum probably results from Her assimilation of the Predynastic Netjer Bat; "sistrum capitals" atop the pillars throughout Kemetic temples show Hethert's full face with cow's ears atop a "naos"-style sistrum. Hethert was closely associated with Heru-Behdety at Edfu, perhaps influencing the fact that She was a patroness of Kemet's queens (as Heru is to the king, so Hethert is to the queen). Some queens were referred to by Hethert's titles of "Mistress of Heaven" and "Lady of Gold." Nefertary's spectacular temple at Abu Simbel in Nubia depicts the queen as Hethert in many places; and her husband Ramses II is depicted in its sanctuary, suckling from the udder of Hethert as a divine cow.
Hike - see Heka
Horakthy - see Ra-Heru-Akhety
Horus - see Heru
Imhotep (G/R Imouthis) - "In peace" Imhotep is one example of the "personality cult" of Kemet, whereby a learned sage or otherwise especially holy person could be deified after death and become a special intercessor for the living, much as the saints are in Roman Catholicism and forms of Orthodox Christianity. Imhotep as a living man is recorded as having lived during the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. He is said to have been a lector-priest (kher-heb) as well as a famed architect and physician. The Step Pyramid complex of King Djoser at modern-day Saqqara is just one monument attributed to Imhotep's design. In the Late Period, Imhotep became identified with the Greek demigod Asklaepios and was attributed with feats of miraculous healing. During this period, Imhotep was declared the son of Ptah and Sekhmet in the Triad of Mennefer (Memphis), and was sometimes identified with Their first son, Nefertem.
Imset(y) (Amset; WB Meshtha) "The Kindly One," One of the "Four Sons of Heru" depicted in funerary literature as protecting the throne of Wesir in the Underworld, Imset is depicted as a mummified human wearing the "nemes" headcloth on funerary furniture and especially the "canopic" jars which held the organs of the deceased (Imset's jar held the liver).. Later Hermetic philosophers would equate Imset with the element of water because of his association with the funerary protectress Aset and the direction of west.
Isis - see Aset
Khenty-Amenti(u) - "Foremost of Westerners" Originally a title given to Yinepu as the primeval lord of the necropolis, Khenty-Amenti eventually became an epithet of Wesir as the Lord Judge of the Dead (the "westerners"). See Yinepu and Wesir.
Khepera (Khepri; G/R Xepera) - "Becoming" As a theophany of the solar-god, the scarab beetle (Scarabeus sacer) is large, golden, and winged. It rolls balls of dung, sometimes for long distances, in order to have a place in which to lay its eggs. The young beetles then spring forth from the ball of dung, seemingly as if created from nothing. In this process, the ancients saw a metaphor for the daily progress of the sun (rolling as a ball across the sky every day), and for the mystery of creation and birth. Khepera as a full scarab or a scarab-headed man is often shown either within the Disk of the physical sun, or rolling it, as it were, from the eastern mountains in the morning and back into Tem's watchful embrace in the evening. Khepera is associated with the life-giving powers of sunlight and with the act of sunrise itself, forming a special triad with Ra (noontime sun) and Tem (setting sun).
Khnum - "Protector/Enricher" Depicted as a ram-headed man, Khnum is the form of the Self-Created One which was most venerated in Upper Kemet (as opposed to the Ra/Tem family of Mennefer and the Delta area). Khnum is a potter, who molds the souls and bodies of all living things from the clay of the earth, and gives them the breath of life. His island at Abu (modern-day Elephantine, near Aswan) was said to be "the Seat of the First Time" - the place of creation - and kings would make a yearly pilgrimage to Khnum's temple to secure the inundation (and with it, the life of the lands) for another year. Khnum is given two consorts (or alternately, one consort and a daughter): Satet and Anuket. The situation of this island perhaps lent to Khnum's ability to predict or secure a viable inundation, as witnessed by ancient texts which tell of invocations to Khnum to "make Hapy smile on the land."
Khonsu (Chons) - "Traveller" Originally simply identified as the son of Amen and Mut of Uaset (Thebes), Khonsu is depicted as a youth standing on a plinth and mummified (very like Ptah), bearded and having the princely side-lock and a crescent moon headdress. Khonsu is especially associated with the moon (hence possibly the origins of His name), as His father Amen is with the sun. In later times, Khonsu became identified closely with Heru-sa-Aset and Heru-pa-khered as the "divine son" of the "King of Netjeru." In the 19th Dynasty, Ramses II sent a statue of Khonsu with great fame for miraculous healing powers to the kingdom of the Bactrians (Bekhten in Kemetic) in order to heal the Bekhteny king's daughter of a supposed demon possession - the story of this healing and the statue's part in it can be read in anthologies of ancient texts.
Maahes (G/R Mihos) - "True Before Her(?)" A fairly obscure Name of Netjer depicted as a lion-headed man and worshipped especially in Upper Kemet and into Nubia in later times, Maahes is often said to be the son of Bast and Ptah, and is sometimes considered another son of the Triad of Mennefer (beside Nefertem and sometimes Imhotep). He is depicted carrying a large knife and is invoked in ancient texts to protect the innocent and to punish transgressors of Ma'at.
Ma'at (G/R Mayet) - "Truth" Both the concept and the Name of Netjer associated with truth, justice, order, and "that which is right." Kemetic society hinged completely upon the furtherance of Ma'at, Who was considered to be the first child of Tem/Ra, and depicted as a woman with wings or alternately a woman simply with Her symbol, a single white ostrich feather, bound to Her head. Ma'at in antiquity was the patroness of judges and magistrates and all court officials; the phrase "priest of Ma'at" in inscriptions can be understood as a euphemism for "judge." Ma'at's feather symbol is weighed against the heart of the deceased in the Halls of Judgment after death, the Hall which is also known as the Hall of Ma'ati, or Double Truth ("double" in Kemetic implying something more serious or intense than a "single" something, much as we use the terms "extra" or "advanced" or in the English language).
Mayet - see Ma'at
Mertseger - "She Who Loves Silence" - the Name of Netjer said to inhabit the peak of the highest mountain behind the Great Place at Uaset, (today known as Biban el-Malak, or the Valley of the Kings, at modern-day Luxor). The peak itself is strikingly pyramid-shaped, and perhaps reminded New Kingdom rulers of the great monuments Old Kingdom rulers had erected for themselves north at Giza and other locations. She was considered either to be a full lioness or a lion-headed woman (likeSekhmet and forms of Mut and Het-hert). Hymns honoring the "lion of the Peak," warning men to "Beware the Peak of the West!", along with prayers and appeals for Mertseger's mercy, have been found in the workmen's village at Deir-el-Medina, in the shadow of the Peak.
Meshkhenet - "Birthing-Place" A Name of Netjer associated, along with Heqet, with the midwifery and birth process, Meshkhenet's face was inscribed on the bricks or stools pregnant Kemetic women squatted upon while giving birth. In antiquity, Meshkhenet was considered to be something like the "fairy godmother" of European traditions, declaring the destiny of a child upon its birth and assisting in the blessing processes required to make sure that the child would grow to be a healthy adult. Infant mortality in Kemet, as in many societies at that time, was a grave concern and so Meshkhenet's role at the birthing was considered crucial to the furtherance of Ma'at and life. She is sometimes equated or intertwined with both Heqet (the Midwife of Netjer) and Renenet (the Lady of the Year).
Mihos - see Maahes
Min (Menu, Amsu) - "The Firm One" Originally probably a fertility-Name worshipped at Qubt (GR Coptos), even in Predynastic times, Min became associated with nearby Amen of Uaset and eventually became an alternate depiction of the King of the Netjeru in all manner of temples and monuments. Min's image caused great consternation both among the early Coptic Christians (who routinely defaced His monuments in temples they co-opted) and Victorian Egyptologists, who would take waist-up photographs of Min columns, or otherwise find ways to cover His protruding manhood (Min is always depicted ithyphallic, or with erect phallus). Min's cult celebrated the fertility of the land with special festivals in which the ruler and his family would participate. The long-leaf lettuce which was Min's favorite food was also (probably not coincidentally) considered a powerful aphrodisiac. As this same lettuce is in later mythological cycles said to be the favorite food of Set, there may be a connection between the two Names as yet undiscovered.
Montu (Month, Mentu; G/R Monthis) - "Nomad" Montu, like Min, is another early Name which was assimilated into the cult of Amen at Uaset. Montu is originally depicted as either a bull, a hawk, or a hawk-headed man and is the patron of all manner of martial arts and warfare, strength and masculine virility. The Greeks considered Montu to be a form of Ares, their war-god. Montu's prowess at leading armies and war parties caused his invocation before great battles, and Kemet's greatest general-kings would call themselves the "mighty bulls," the sons of Montu. Montu eventually would become nearly enfolded within the syncretic concept of Amen-Ra and that composite figure would absorb most of Montu's fighting nature, becoming the patron Netjer of the warrior-Pharaohs of the New Kingdom Empire.
Mut - "Mother" Wife of Amen of Uaset, Mut is depicted as a woman wearing the Double-Crown of Kemet's rulers. She was also sometimes given the head of a lioness and associated with both Sekhmet and Mertseger. At Karnak, Mut's great temple (now known as the Temple of Luxor, but in antiquity called Ipet-isut, or "the southern harem,") housed the great statues and sacred processional boat which would go out once per year to make the trek up the canal to the Great Temple of Amen at Karnak, and would also receive Amen's statue and boat once per year in the Opet festival, celebrated to coincide with the Kemetic New Year. Mut's name can also mean "death" or "vulture," and so She was also given some of the attributes of Mertseger (the lion/vulture Netjer of the Valley of the Kings) and of Nekhbet (the vulture-Netjer protectress of Upper Kemet, of which Uaset was the capital). Beyond Her associations with Amen, Mut is not a very well-known Name but often is given the same attributes as Het-hert as a patroness of women (especially women with children, as Her name implies), or of Sekhmet as a protectress of the innocent and helpless and a righter of wrongs.
Nebt-het (Nebet-het; G/R Nephthys) - "Mistress of the House" Nebt-het, the "Friend of the Dead," is first seen in the funerary literature of the Old Kingdom riding the "night boat" of the underworld, meeting the deceased king's spirit at the crossing and accompanying him into "Lightland." Her hair is metaphorically compared to the mummy-swathings, the strips of bandages which wind about the bodies of the dead. Nebt-het was associated with funerary rituals throughout Kemetic history and today is venerated not as Death itself, but as the companion who gives guidance to the newly deceased in the transition period, and as the Lady With Wings who comforts the deceased's living relatives. She is in most myths the youngest daughter of Nut, sister of Aset and Wesir and the sister-consort of Set. In later periods Nebt-het is also considered the mother of Yinepu, a primordial form of the lord of the dead who later became subservient to Wesir in the cultic myth. To our current knowledge, Nebt-het did not have her own cult or temples in Kemet until the Ptolmaic-Roman period; however, as Her name is merely a title (the same title given to the eldest woman in any Kemetic household), it is possible that Nebt-het may be a specialized form of another Name; probable candidates in House and other Egyptological research include Bat ("Lady of Het," or "Nebt-het") and Nit (with whom Nebt-het is paired in the canopic shrine quadrants, as Aset is with Serqet.
Nefertem - "Tem is Beautiful" Son of Ptah and Sekhmet of Mennefer, Nefertem is portrayed as a beautiful young man with a lotus flower on His head or holding lotuses. An original creation story of the city of An relates that on the day of creation, a beautiful child emerged from the center of a huge lotus flower floating on the surface of the Nun; Nefertem's name, which honors Tem, the Self-Created One of An, probably hearkens to this myth. Nefertem is the patron of both the healing arts and the arts of beautification, though in later periods his newly-introduced younger brother, Imhotep, would assume the healing aspects. Nefertem is usually given attributes associated with both the flowers He carries (both their beauty and their narcotic qualities, which were used for medical anesthesia) and their scent, and is especially invoked in the purifications and blessings of offerings involving flowers and perfumes. Very infrequently, and possibly in reflection of the three Names often attributed with being His mother (Sekhmet, Wadjet and Bast), Nefertem is depicted with the head of a lion.
Neith - see Nit
Nekhbet - "She of Nekheb" Vulture-Netjer associated with both the land of Upper Kemet itself and its protection, and the protection and symbolism of the White Crown (Hedjet), Nekhbet is often depicted as a full vulture, flying over the head of the ruler bearing the feather of Ma'atand a shen, the circular symbol for eternity, grasped in Her claws. On depictions of the Udjat, She is often accompanied by Wadjet, the cobra-Netjer of the North, and symbolizes one half of the Two Lands which make up Kemet politically. Her head was mounted on the nemes-headdress of rulers alongside Wadjet's uraeus or cobra-head (witness the beautiful gold-and-lapis vulture on the forehead of King Tutankhamen's funerary mask), and a vulture-headdress was worn by the chief queen/consort from the New Kingdom forward, identifying her both with Nekhbet and with Mut of Uaset.
Nephthys - see Nebt-het
Nit (Net; G/R Neith) - (meaning unclear, but could be derivative of either the phrase for "water" or for "one who is") A Name of unclear origin, sometimes attributed to the northwestern desert or Libya, Nit is attributed from predynastic times with a warlike nature; some Egyptologists believe She was the main Netjer of Lower Kemet before unification and subsequently the Red Crown of reeds, also named Nit, became Lower Kemet's symbol and contribution to the Double Crown. Nit's symbol of two arrows crossed over a shield is shown in Predynastic pottery as a herald and on the roof of boats and buildings; later, Nit would also be given a weaver's shuttle as a symbol for Her head. Nit is sometimes titled "She Who Saw Tem's Birth" and so is sometimes equated with Nunet, (a feminine Nun), as the potential womb of creation; in very late times she would be seen as the Great Dark Mother of Greeks and Romans and also the motherless virgin warrior embodied in their Athene and Diana. At all times, Nit was understood to be mysterious and abstract; in the late story called "The Contendings of Heru and Set," the other Names defer to "Nit the Great's" wisdom in resolving the conflict. Nit's city, Saw (G/R Sais), became a cosmopolitan center and capital of Kemet during the Late Period and during the Third Intermediate Period when Saite kings ruled, Nit's role as national Netjer flourished. In these times and into Ptolmaic-Roman times She is the wife of Khnum, a creator-Name from extreme southern Kemet, and the temple of Khnum and Nit at Esna contains many depictions of Nit along with the lates-fish sacred to Her cult.
Nun - "Primeval Waters" Nun is the Name given to the state of being before The First Time (a euphemism for creation). Described in An's mythological cycle as "the waters," Nun lies inert, unending and indefinite, until Tem "rises" and "throws off" the waters to begin the act of creation. Nun is a sort of potential, "primordial soup" from which the Self-Created draws the necessary materials to create Its children Shu and Tefnut (air and moisture, the Biblical "firmament"), Who then create Geb (earth) and Nut (sky), thus beginning the cycle of matter and the reality in which humans find themselves a working part. Some myths state that eventually all things will return to the Nun, when they are completed; others state that the Nun is a continual state of "nonbeing" (like the Platonic world of ideas) surrounding the creations of Tem and from which all new creations (creation is an eternal process, not an event) continue to manifest. Nun, when personified, is referred to as the "Father of Fathers and the Mother of Mothers."
Nut -"Sky" Both the concept and Netjer of the starry heavens, Nut is personified sky and especially the starry sky of nighttime which all people can look up into and see eternity. Nut is often depicted as a tall/long woman bending over the body of Her consort/husband/brother Geb, colored blue and spangled with five-pointed golden stars. Daily the sun is said to be born of Nut's womb and return to Her body via Her mouth at evening. Metaphorically, the earliest forms of funerary literature speak of the deceased rising to become one with Nut in the heavens, to be "an immortal star in Her bosom," and Nut's star-studded body is often painted on the inside of coffins and sarcophagi with outstretched arms, so that she may "embrace the deceased." As Hethert is usually the Netjer of the daytime sky, Nut is Netjer of the nighttime sky and the two share many symbols and titles.
Orion - see Sah
Osiris - see Wesir
Pesedjet (G/R Ennead) - "Nine" - The name given to the collective or "family" of Nine Names of Netjer honored at An (G/R Heliopolis): Tem/Ra, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Wesir, Heru-ur, Set, Aset, and Nebt-het.
Ptah - "Creator" Great Netjer of Mennefer (G/R Memphis), the capital of the dual Kemetic state for most of its history, Ptah is depicted as a mummified man wearing a skullcap and bearing the symbols of life, power and stability in his unfettered arms, standing on the plinth which is part of Ma'at's hieroglyphic name and was used as a straightedge by stonemasons and architects. Ptah is sometimes seen as an abstract form of the Self-Created One, Who effected the creation through the actions of His heart (identified with Heru-ur) and His tongue (identified with Djehuty), and Who set "all the Netjeru in their places and gave all things the breath of life." As a creator (and more directly involved with the physical act of creating than either Ra or Tem), Ptah is intimately connected with the plastic arts and especially with those of architecture and stonemasonry, and is patron of sculptors, painters, builders and carpenters, as well as anyone who creates with his or her hands. The transit which was the stock tool of masons, and the title of Ptah's High Priest, "Master Builder," would centuries later be picked up by a pseudo-Egyptian Western fraternal organization known to the world simply as Masonry.
Qebshenef - "Cooling his brother (with water)" One of the "Four Sons of Heru" depicted in funerary literature as protecting the throne of Wesir in the Underworld, Qebshenef is depicted as a hawk-headed mummified human on funerary furniture and especially the "canopic" jars which held the organs of the deceased (Qebshenef's jar held the intestines).. Later Hermetic philosophers would equate Qebshenef with the element of fire because of his association with the funerary protectress Serqet and the direction of south.
Ra - "Sun" Embodied in the golden sun which is His Symbol, Ra is Netjer of light, life, and heat, and the power inherent in the sun which warms our planet. In several forms, Ra has been venerated as the central Name of Netjer of the Kemetic faith for its entire history, considered both Father and the King of All Netjeru, the Great One Who both creates and destroys. Ra rose to prominence as the early dynasties of the Old Kingdom, who venerated Him as their family patron, began to call themselves "sons of Ra" in their official titularies and constructed great sun-temples and pyramids (considered a special symbol of Ra via their connection to the Ben-ben, a pyramidal-shaped stone from which Ra as a Bennu (a white heron, called "Phoenix" by the Greeks) rose from Nun and sang the song of creation) in His honor. Ra's popularity, as immanent as sunlight itself, continued throughout Kemetic history; even great Names as Amen and Ptah had to "share the spotlight" with Ra, and in Amen's case, a composite Name, Amen-Ra, King of Netjeru, was created to avoid slighting either cult, which by New Kingdom times had power and wealth to rival even the royal house. Ra "lives" within the actual physical disk of sun, mythologically described as the "Boat of Millions of Years" which rises and sets each day, riding from horizon to horizon on the back (or belly) of Nut, and traversing during the hours of darkness the netherworlds where the enemies of Ma'at reside. Even in modern Egypt, the sun is often referred to as Ra, especially on bright summer days.
Ra-Heru-akhety (G/R Ra-Horakthy) - "Ra-Heru of Two Horizons" A specialized early form of Ra, composite with Heru the predynastic Name of the sky, Ra-Heru-akhety came to symbolize the inherent majesty of the sun itself and is the patron of the ruling class as well as of the institution of kingship. Ra-Heru-akhety is the most common form of Ra venerated after the Middle Kingdom, with His hawk-headed image surmounted by a red sun-disk and a full cobra wrapped around it. He is sometimes more simply referred to as Heru-akhety. The phrase "two horizons" notes the eternal quality of the Name (from sunrise to sunset, and back again).
Renenet (Renenutet) - "Nurse" Patron Name of the New Year which brought the Inundation to Kemet and marked the return to the season of fertility after the long Shomu season of dryness and famine, Renenet is depicted as a cobra or, more unusually, as a woman with a cobra's head, as is Wadjet, the protectress of Lower Kemet. Renenet was invoked as a form of "fate" upon a newborn, who was said to "have Renenet upon his shoulder from his first day." She represents the cyclical nature of time and that which is foreordained, as a form of destiny or fate in accordance with Ma'at. In some myths, Renenet is attributed as the Name who gives the ren, or soul name (a pun on Renenet's own name makes it "She Who is in the Name") to the newborn child, the name which defines his or her life's entire purpose.
Sachmis - see Sekhmet
Sah (G/R Orion) - "The Buried One" The deified embodiment of the constellation Orion as a form of Wesir, as counterpart to Sopdet, which is attributed to Wesir's consort, Aset. One plane of Old Kingdom pyramids is routinely oriented to face toward Sah [the other faces Canis Major, the constellation of Set.
Satet (G/R Satis) - "She Who Shoots (Arrows)" Consort to Khnum of Abu (and sometimes of Montu at Uaset), Satet is the protectress of Kemet's southern border, felling the enemies of the Two Lands with Her bow. She is depicted as a woman wearing the Hedjet (White Crown) of Upper Kemet with either ostrich plumes (called an atef crown, like Wesir), or more often, gazelle/antelope horns. Satet protected the source of the Nile and was said to purify the ruler with jars of its sacred waters. She is sometimes attributed as being the mother of Anuket.
Seb - see Geb
Sebek (Sobek; G/R Suchos) - "Watching over You" Son of Nit (and also, according to some myths, Set), Sebek is either depicted as a full crocodile, or, less often, as a crocodile-headed man. He is often given the epithets of Heru-sa-Aset as a Netjer of protection, healing and vengeance over the wrongdoer. In some mythologies Sebek is a powerful and awe-inspiring denizen of the underworld, and was invoked to do away with annoyances and negative situations, in the phrase "to Sebek with it(him)!," much as modern-day slang consigns bothersome things and persons "to Hell."
Seker - see Sokar
Sekhmet (G/R Sachmis) - "Powerful Female" First noted in a myth describing Ra's vengeance upon his enemies, Sekhmet, an unstoppable force from which humankind was delivered only by the timely intervention of a moment of levity (embodied in public drunkenness), is the "powerful" form of the Name of Hethert. Eventually Sekhmet would develop both a cult and a "personality" quite distinct from Hethert, as the Eye of Ra associated with divine vengeance. As a healer, Sekhmet's power to destroy things utterly would be invoked against the invisible "demons" of plague and disease; Sekhmet's priesthood in antiquity were trained surgeons of remarkable caliber (given the standards for medicine in the ancient world). Thousands of statues of Sekhmet, carved from Aswan red granite, were erected to line processional ways during the New Kingdom as a way to placate the "Red Lady" and encourage Her to turn back the plagues of smallpox and other diseases which came into the country at that time. Sekhmet as a destroyer is paired with Ptah the creator and Nefertem the healer at Mennefer, and Her destructive lioness-visage found echo in the images of the Names of Mut and Mertseger down-country in Uaset. Sekhmet's strongest attribute, like that of the lioness Her symbol, is that of appropriate action, especially appropriate violence/destruction.
Serapis - see Wesir-hap
Serqet (G/R Selkis; WB Selqet, Selket, Serket) - "She Who Breathes" Depicted as a woman with a scorpion on Her head, poised to strike, Serqet is one of the four protective Netjeru seen in the canopic shrines along with Aset, Nit and Nebt-het; She is intimately connected with Aset as a protectress of Heru (and hence, metaphorically, of both children and the ruler), and was devoted in antiquity both to protect the innocent and children, and to ward against the sting of deadly scorpions, a pervasive threat in Kemet's climate. Serqet seems to be associated with protection and healing/recovery from poisons and threats of all sorts, and in modern times, Serqet has been invoked as a "goddess of detoxification" as well as a source of strength to those going through the detoxification process, especially recovering from illicit drug abuse.
Seshat (Seshet, Sefkhet-abwy) - "The Female Scribe (Seshat); The Seven-Horned (Sefkhet-abwy)" - Seshat is patroness of libraries and of all forms of writing involving census, accounting, and other record-keeping. Consort to Djehuty Who invented the written word, Seshat is depicted assisting the ruler in the "stretching of the cord" ceremonies which marked the foundation-starting of major building projects, as well as recording the lives and deeds of men on the leaves of the sacred persea tree. She also often offers palm branches (symbols of "many years") as a gift to a ruler, as other Names offer ankhs (life). Seshat is depicted as woman dressed in the long skirt and leopard-skin of an Annu priest, with an obscure symbol on Her head comprised of a seven-pointed star or rosette crowned by what is either downturned horns or a bow.
Set (Sutekh; G/R Seth) - (unknown, derived possibly either from the word "to dazzle" (setken) or "stabilizing staff/pillar" (setes)) In the oldest mythologies, Set is "He Before Whom the Sky Shakes," a sky-Netjer like Heru, and specifically of the storm, with lightning and thunder His heralds. Eventually, because of His natural opposition to His brother/nephew Heru, and also because during the Second Intermediate Period, invading Hyksos forces identified their own god with Him, Set's reputation changed. Into the New Kingdom with the rise of the cult of Wesir, which posited Set (as lord of the desert which crept into the arable land at the end of every year) was the "murderer" of the Lord of the Black Land, Set became literally demonized, and in very late periods was identified with Apep as a symbol of complete destruction and with later religions' concepts of "the Devil," including both Greek Typhon and Hebraic "Satan." It is important to note that both are non-Kemetic understandings - Set at all times, while not exactly a "nice guy," is a necessary force in the universe - that of strength and violent force - and in Kemetic myth, even Ra acknowledges this, by awarding the post of guardian of the Boat of Millions of Years to Set after the kingship is given to Heru, because Set "is the only one strong enough to do it." Set is symbolized by the ass and the pig, and sometimes the jackal (and at least theoretically the hyena); however, His main theophany is an unknown canid with square ears and a forked tail, often called simply the "Set-animal," whose species has been a mystery to Egyptologists. In late 1996, a large mammal with square ears and a forked tail allegedly was caught and killed in Upper Egypt. Called "salawa" by the locals, the animal has been theorized to be part of the family from which the South African Cape Hunting Dog comes; its extreme size and appearance lend credence to the folktales surrounding this rare newly-discovered desert mammal as "Set."
Seth - see Set
Shu - "Dry" One of the two first creations of the Self-Created One, Tem, Shu is twin to Tefnut and embodies the concept of air, wind or atmosphere (Tefnut embodies the concept of airborne moisture, clouds, dew, or rain). Shu was invoked in antiquity to give a good wind to boats and metaphorically to "lift up" the spirits of the deceased in order that they might rise to the afterlife, depicted in the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom as "lightland" existing above a "ladder" which Shu (or alternately, Heru and Set or Wesir and Set) held up. Shu is generally depicted as a man with a single ostrich feather (the hieroglyph of His name, "shu") on His head; He is sometimes shown as a lion along with His sister/twin Tefnut. Shu's action to divide Geb and Nut allowed the creation of earthly life to occur (and so, symbolically, the ancient myths explain why there is wind/atmosphere (Shu) between Geb (earth) and Nut (sky).
Sobek - see Sebek
Sokar (Seker; G/R Sokaris) - "Adorned One" An obscure Name in its beginnings, Sokar is a hawk-headed mummified man and was originally the Lord of both darkness and death (in the sense of inertia and inaction) in the region of Mennefer and especially in Ankh-tawy ("Lady of Life," the name given to the large Memphite necropolis now known as Saqqara). Sokar eventually came to be viewed as a more mysterious form of Ptah, and in very late periods was triply syncretized to become Ptah-Sokar-Wesir, the penultimate lord of death, judgment and burial. The sacred boat upon which Sokar's icons were carried in procession is one of the earliest-mentioned of such boats in the Kemetic scriptures, and may have served as a model for later sacred barques.
Sokaris - see Sokar
Sopdet (G/R Sothis, Sirius) - "The Skilled Female" The deified embodiment of the visible star Sirius (Sirius is actually a binary-star system, with one of its bodies invisible to the naked eye) as a form of Aset, as counterpart to Sah (the constellation Orion), which is attributed to Aset's consort, Wesir. The annual rising of Sopdet (usually occurring toward the end of July or the beginning of August in the Gregorian calendar) coincided with the inundation of the Nile which brought fresh water and soil nutrients for another growing season, and so Sopdet became a celestial marker for both the New Year and the return of fertility to the land. The sighting of Sopdet was integral to the calculation of Kemet's calendrical system.
Sothis - see Sopdet
Suchos - see Sebek
Sutekh - see Set
Ta-tenen (Ptah-tatenen) - "Rising Land" The deified embodiment of "the first land," or the very first creation, the "Island from the Dawn of Time" which rose from the Nun at the Self-Created One's command, Ta-tenen is both an earth-Netjer and a literal form of the creator. Possibly in a play on words, Ta-tenen is sometimes written as Ptah-tatenen and called the "high god" of Mennefer. He is depicted as a man wearing the nemes-headdress worn by all kings.
Taweret (Tau-Urt; G/R Thoueris) - "Great Female of the Land" Thousands of smiling, obese statues of hippopotami with pendulous breasts, long pleated hair and Hethert's horns-and-crescent headdress have been found as testament to the popularity of Taweret in ancient times as the protectress of childbearing women. She was also in antiquity considered to be the main protectress of infants, along with Bes. The hippopotamus which is Her theophany was probably not venerated particularly for its mothering skills, but for its brute strength and staying power - and its ability to scare just about anything which shouldn't be there away. In some texts, Taweret is also called "Opet," which is the name of the first festival of the Kemetic year held in honor of Amen and Mut at Karnak.
Tayet (Tait) - "Shroud" Patroness of weavers, clothing-makers and those who wrapped mummies in their bandages, Tait is an obscure Name associated with the growing, spinning, and weaving of linen from flax, and also with the Wabu, or "purification priests," of Kemet's temples. Tayet is often synonymous with ritual purity in Kemetic ritual (in which she is referred to as the "sovereign of all Netjeru") and is invoked before a rite in order to bless the clothing and other offerings to be presented, assuring their purity and perfection.
Tefnut - "Sky-spittle (i.e., rain)" One of the two first creations of the Self-Created One, Tem, Tefnut is twin to Shu and embodies the concept of airborne moisture, clouds, dew, or rain (Shu embodies the concept of air, wind or atmosphere). Tefnut is sometimes equated with Nit and Nut, and is depicted in late New Kingdom jewelry and art as a female sphinx destroying the enemies of the Two Lands. Tefnut is generally depicted as a woman with a lion's head, surmounted by the sun-disk (resembling Sekhmet; however, Tefnut's ears are routinely pointed, whereas Sekhmet's are rounded), seated on a throne. She is sometimes shown as a full lion along with Her brother/twin Shu.
Tehuti - see Djehuty
Tem (Atum, Temu) - "The Complete." The most abstract Name of Netjer; and indeed, in the myth cycle of An (GR Heliopolis), the Netjer from Whom all Names emanate; very similar concepts in another African religion would be Olodumare of Ifa (Nigeria). Like the Biblical God, Tem begins creation alone in the Nun, the deep void, or waters of potentiality. By one of two methods Tem is said to have created both all the other Names of Netjer and all creation; either through masturbation and self-impregnation, as "that Great He-She," or through tears, mucus or other bodily fluids. Tem's first creations, Shu and Tefnut (sometimes seen as air and water), in turn create Geb (earth), Nut (sky), and sometimes Ra (sun). Geb and Nut then have five children Who are the five final Names of the Heliopolitan Ennead (see Pesedjet): Wesir, Heru-ur, Set, Aset and Nebt-het. In later times, Tem assumes the symbolism of the setting sun, receiving the Boat of Ra as it descends to the western horizon.
Thoth - see Djehuty
Thoueris - see Taweret
Udjat - "Prosperous" The Eye of Ra or Heru, symbolically depicted with the long tail and brows which are the markings of a hawk. The Udjat is not itself a Name of Netjer, but one of the most important icons of the Kemetic religion. The Udjat at the top of the main page of the House of Netjer website provides much detail on the meanings of this symbol.
Unnefer (Wennefer) - "Uniquely Beautiful" A specific attribution to Wesir as the Lord of the Beautiful West, the metaphorical land of Amenti where the blessed dead dwell.
Wadjet (Udjat; G/R Edjo, Buto) - "She Who is Green" Cobra-Netjer associated with both the land of Lower Kemet itself and its protection, and the protection and symbolism of the Red Crown (Nit), Wadjet is often depicted as a full cobra, or as the head of the cobra, rearing up in protection on the forehead of Netjeru and rulers. On depictions of the Udjat, She is often accompanied by Nekhebet, the vulture-Netjer of the South, and symbolizes one half of the Two Lands which make up Kemet politically. Her head was mounted on the nemes-headdress of rulers alongside Nekhbet's vulture-head (witness the beautiful gold-and-lapis cobra on the forehead of King Tutankhamen's funerary mask), and a crown surmounted by many tiny uraeii was worn by many chief queens or consorts. Nubian kings and queens would continue the use of the Uraeus as a royal symbol, planting two cobra-heads on the brows of their crowns and royal headbands. Very infrequently, and probably related to Her role as the "Eye of Ra" (divine vengeance), Wadjet, like Sekhmet, is depicted with the head of a lioness.
Wennefer - see Unnefer
Wepwawet (Apuat) - "The Messenger of the Road" Originally a Name of its own provenance, Wepwawet was depicted even from predynastic times as a jackal-headed Netjer associated with "the opening of the ways" and Wepwawet's standard-bearers led processions of both religious and martial purpose (an example can be found on the Narmer Palette). Over time, Wepwawet's form and functions were absorbed by another jackal-Netjer, Yinepu, who became "Opener of the Ways" when His own titles including Khenty-amentiu ("Foremost of the Westerners") passed to Wesir as the premier patron of the deceased. Other than their different names, Wepwawet can sometimes be distinguished from Yinepu by coloring; Yinepu's jackal-head is always black, whereas Wepwawet can appear as gray or brown. A Greek source states that Wepwawet was associated with the wolf, as opposed to the jackal; no definitive answer is found in Kemetic sources.
Wesir (Ausar; G/R Osiris) - (unclear; possibly "He Sees the Throne") A Name of obscure origin Who, like Aset, rose to prominence over antiquity to become one of the most lasting Names of all time, Wesir is first noted in the Pyramid Texts as a shadowy figure to which the king is promised not to be abandoned (a rather undesired state is given to "Wesir and His spirits" in a dark and airless underworld). In later times, Wesir absorbed the forms and functions of nearly all other Names associated with the process of death and afterlife including Wepwawet, Yinepu, Sokar and Sebek to become the Foremost of Westerners, Judge of the Dead and overseer of the blessed spirits (those who had died and been judged truthful in the Hall of the Double Truth). Eventually Wesir would embody the "popular religion" of the people as the final arbiter of destiny after death; the story of Wesir's tragic death, from which life came nonetheless (note that it was not his OWN life, as Wesir is the Lord of the Dead - he is not the lord of resurrection, a "green man" or a "Christ" figure in this sense) was borrowed and retold in both the Greek mysteries at Eleusis and other mystery cults abroad in the ancient world. In addition to His associations with death and afterlife, Wesir is the firstborn son of Geb and Nut (alternately Ra and Nut) and embodies the Black Land of the Two Lands itself, the fertile soil which yearly is "murdered" by the encroachment of the Red Land (Set's desert), yet returns to growth at the rising of the Sopdet-star attributed to Aset, Wesir's sister-wife. "Corn mummies" of seeded dirt formed in the shape of Wesir were placed in tombs to germinate in the darkness, demonstrating Wesir's power; such a corn-mummy in Tutankhamen's tomb was carried into the light by Carter and Carnarvon's team to reveal sprouts of barley and emmer, frozen forever in time.
Wesir-hapi (GR Apis, Serapis) "Wesir the Runner" Not truly a Name but a theophany, a symbol through which the essence of Netjer can be known, Wesir-hap started out as simply "Hap," the bull of Ptah kept at Het-ka-Ptah (GR Memphis) as an oracle of the Netjer. Hap-bulls were specifically marked: black except for a white triangle on the forehead, a scarab-shaped spot under the tongue, stripes resembling vultures' wings on their backs, and double-stranded tail hairs. When a Hap-bull calf was found, the bull and his mother (the cow being considered a theophany of Aset) were taken to Ptah's temple, brought out for festivals and then, at the end of the bull's (or cow's) life, possibly ritually sacrificed and shared in a communal meal. Early Egyptologists believed that the bull died of natural causes, was embalmed and laid to rest in a vault known today as the Serapeum, but recent studies (see KMT magazine archives at www.egyptology.com) suggest the ritual meal theory, noting some "Apis mummies" are only bones shaped in the form of bulls by bandages. Upon the death of a bull mourning rituals were held along with a full funeral, and a search was made for another bull-calf, to replace the deceased. The Ptolmaic rulers of Greco-Roman Egypt took the Hap bull-cult one step further, syncretising Hap with Wesir to create Serapis, a god whom they believed both Greeks and native Egyptians could comprehend.
Yinepu (Anpu; G/R Anubis) "The Royal Child" A Name of predynastic origins, depicted either as a full jackal or as a jackal-headed man, Yinepu originally, as Khenty-amentiu or "Foremost of Westerners," was both the embalmer and the caretaker of the deceased, and the guardian of tomb and necropolis. Over time Wesir's popularity would absorb much of Yinepu's nature, causing Him to be written into the myths as Wesir's son by Nebt-het (alternately Set's son or Aset's son) and relegating Him to the role merely of embalmer and of overseer of the funerary processes. Masks of Yinepu were routinely worn by the Sem-priest officiating at the funeral and the 70-day mummification process; the images seen of Yinepu wrapping bandages, pouring oils or embracing the coffin are generally not actually images of the Netjer Himself, but of His servants doing His work. In later times Yinepu would be syncretised with Greek Hermes and seen as a "psychopompos"or messenger/guide of the deceased soul; in fact, in Kemetic iconography, Yinepu can be seen leading the deceased person into the Hall of Double Truth, where He then weighs the deceased's heart against the feather of Ma'at.