Per Ankh The Temple Pages Egyptian Gods, their main centers of worship and some festival days

On this page: Imhotep, Isis.

Imhotep/Imouthes

Please note - Festival days are not historically
correct but an estimation compiled from several sources.

Imhotep was a high courtier under King Djoser (Dynasty III), who was given the supreme privilege of having his name carved alongside that of Pharaoh himself. He held the offices of vizier and master sculptor. The Egyptian priest Manetho stated that he was the inventor of building with blocks of dressed stone. It is likely that he planned the Step Pyramid at Saqqara In the Middle and New Kingdoms Imhotep was revered principally as a scribe, and surviving bronzes depict him seated in the scribal position with a roll of papyrus open on his knees. This reverence led to his deification – an extremely rare honor – and in the Ptolemaic period, cult objects to Imhotep are found as far apart as Saqqara and Philae. Mention must also be made of his ability as a healer, and in Greek thinking he became associated with Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine. Finally, Imhotep’s association with Ptah (whose son he is considered to be by a lady called Khreduankh) led him to be venerated as an agent capable of renewing his father’s (i.e.Ptah’s) generative forces. A stele in the British Museum narrates the story of the Lady Taimhotep, who prayed to Imhotep for a son. (Her husband was High Priest of Ptah) Imhotep commanded the embellishment of his sanctuary in north Saqqara. This was done, and in due course Taimhotep conceived and gave birth to a son on Imhotep’s festival day.

Main center of worship: Thebes, where he was worshipped in conjunction with Amenhotep-Son-of-Hapu.4th Nome, Upper Egypt Other places: A sanctuary on the upper terrace of the temple at Deir el-Bahari:4th Nome, Upper Egypt Deir el-Medina: 4th Nome, Upper Egypt Philae: A chapel of Imhotep immediately in front of the eastern pylon of the temple of Isis:1st Nome, Upper Egypt . Memphis/1st Nome, Lower Egypt

ISIS/ASET

ISIS and ASET are really two different deities. When the worship of Isis rose, Aset had already been forgotten for hundreds of years, at this time only a small group of priests still knew how to read the hieroglyphs of the temple walls. Isis was more a Roman deity reminding of Demeter, a great and loving mother goddess, but her Egyptian origin had sunk into oblivion. The mixup with Aset comes from Greek and Roman interpretation. The Egyptian Aset ASET is the much older Egyptian deity, first mentioned in Dynasty IV when she was known in myth as the sister-spouse and mourner of Wesir (Gr: Osiris), mother of Heru (Gr: Horus) and sister of Nebt-Het (Gr: Nephtys) and Set, children of Geb and Nut of the Heliopolitan Ennead. Her name which means "throne" or "seat", indicating the seat of kings, is the same as the hieroglyph frequently seen above her head. This meant that she personified the Throne of Egypt who made the kings. Thereby she was the King´s symbolical mother and as such of special significance to him, but in the early days she was not everyone else's s mother. Together with her sister Nebt-Het (Gr: Nephtys) she is frequently seen on coffins in the form of a kite with outstretched wings protecting the deceased or in the Hall of Judgment standing protectively behind the throne of Wesir. In this aspect she is more a mortuary deity than a mother goddess. In myth she seems more fierce than a mother goddess, quite strongwilled and could lash out against attackers if need be. She sometimes appears as the scorpion goddess Serket and as the star Sopdet (Sirius, Gr: Sothis) she is considered to bring on the inundation and the ancient Egyptians called her the "Eye of Re", giving her an association with the sun. She could be quite cunning and earned the epithet "Mistress of Magic" as in myth she managed to trick Ra into telling her his secret name, thus getting access to great knowledge. In the "Contendings of Horus and Set" she uses all her magic and trickery to help her son regain the throne of Wesir (Osiris) from Set. And in the most well known myth about her it is told how she mourned and searched for her husband Wesir (Osiris) who had been murdered by his brother Set, and how she succeeded in giving him life and beget his son Horus. This myth goes back to the early dynastic days and became widely known in later Roman days. In the Middle Kingdom her popularity rose among the common people, together with that of her husband Wesir (Osiris) and temples and shrines were built to her in those days. She had not been as popular as Het-Hert (Hathor), but in the New Kingdom Aset and Het-Hert began to merge and could only be identified, not by their iconography, but by their hieroglyphs. They were then both depicted wearing the sun-disc crowned with the two horns on top of their heads. Her cult continued to develop throughout the New Kingdom, and into the Late period. During this time she incorporated most of the traits of the other great goddesses and also some gods. It was probably easy for people to identify with her, especially for women, because of her sufferings as a widow and lonely mother. She was also greatly worshipped for her healing and protective powers and love spells and amulets (tyet knot) connected to Aset were frequently used. Her popularity grew and endured longer than any other Egyptian goddess into the Greek and Roman days when she became interpreted according to their cultural values and religious viewpoints: The Roman Isis ISIS is the Goddess of Ten Thousand Names, the Great Mother Goddess. She is the goddess above all for women, the protector at childbirth, for nurturing and caring of children. She absorbed most of the different Egyptian goddesses´ properties and abilities during the Roman days. Her popularity spread far beyond Egypt, all around the Mediterranean. She was even considered a Creator Goddess, as can be read in the 'Aretalogy of Isis'. Plutharch, who elaborated on the myth of Isis and Osiris, associated her with the moon, which must be considered a sign of Roman influence, since the older form, the Egyptian Aset was associated with the sun and also since in ancient days Thoth was associated with the moon. So there is a distinction to be made between the origins of Aset and the Romanized deity Isis. Both of them are equally valid, but to mention Isis and not seeing this distinction will blur the picture and be unfair to both aspects of the deity.

Main center of worship (in Roman times): Iat-Rek/Philae,1st Nome, Upper Egypt Other sites: Esna/Contralatopolis (opposite Esna), 2nd Nome, Upper Egypt Djamet/Medinet Habu (Deir el Shelouit), 4th Nome, Upper Egypt Waset/Diospolis Magna/Thebes (at Shanhour, between Quis and Luxor), 4th Nome, Upper Egypt for Isis, Mut and others. Koptos/Gebtu/Qift 5th Nome, Upper Egypt Iunet/Tentyris/Dendera 6th N, Upper Egypt Diospolis Parva/Hut-Sekhem/Hiw 7th Nome,Upper Egypt Sebennytos/Tjebnutjer/Sammanud 12th N,Lower Egypt Island of Pharos, Alexandria, Lower Egypt Aset at Philae: Go Here Myths of Aset: Go Here Isis knot Festival Days: (exact dates not historically verified) 17th of July, the 4th of the Epagomenal Days, is the Birhtday of Aset 19th July - 1st Thuti - Marriage of Isis and Osiris 12 August - 25th Thuti - Feast of Lights of Aset (Isis) 13 August - 26th Thuti -Aset gains the Horns of Het-Hert (Hathor) 30th August - 13th Paopi - Day of Satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead 24th September - 8th Hethara - Day of Going Forth of Aset (Isis) 3rd October - 17th Hethara - Lamentations of Aset (Isis)and Nebet-Het (Nephthys) for Wasir (Osiris) 10th October - 24th Hethara - Day of Going Forth of Aset (Isis) 29th October - 13th Koiak - Day of Going Forth of Het-Hert and the Ennead 12th November - 27th Koiak - Aset seeks the body of Wasir (Osiris) 13th November - 28th Koiak - Aset grieves the loss of Wasir (Osiris) 14th November - 29th Koiak - Aset rejoices as She finds Wasir (Osiris) 15th November - 30th Koiak - The Ennead feast in the House of Ra, Heru and Wasir 21st December - 6th Mechir - Winter Solstice - Feast of Aset (Isis) 25th December - 10th Mechir - Birth of Heru (Horus), the child of Aset (Isis), Day of elevating the Great Netjret (goddess) in all her names and manifestations. 7th January - 23rd Mechir - Festival of Aset (Isis) 8th January - 24th Mechir - Festival of Aset, Birth of Aion 10th January - 26th Mechir - Aset sees the face of Wesir (Osiris), Min Goes Forth to Coptos 23rd March - 8th Pachons - Festival of Aset

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