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The
Egyptian Godstheir main centers of worship
and some festival days |
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On this page:
Ma'at, Mafdet, Mehet-Weret, Meskhenet,
Meretseger,
Mihos,
Min, Montu, Mormyrus,
Mut
Please note - Festival days are an estimation compiled from several sources.
Ma'at/Maae't
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The personification of the basic laws of all existence; the concept of
justice, truth, order and balance, without which life is impossible. She is not really a goddess/netjer but rather the principle of these factors. The Egyptians had no difficulties in personifying such things, it was their habit and way of making things understood on more than one level.
Pharaoh often held a seated image of MaŽat in his hand, and offered it
to the gods, which indicated Pharaoh as the representative of Divine Order.
Maat was the deity who personified all the elements of cosmic harmony
as established by the creator-god at the beginning of time. These included
truth, justice and moral integrity, as well as established order and structure. Without Maat the whole structure of Creation would crumble and be swallowed up to the powers of Chaos.
Maat is shown as a lady, who wears an ostrich feather on her head. The
feather is often depicted on its own, instead of a full depiction of the goddess. The hieroglyphs of her name represent the primeval mound upon which the creator-god emerged.
The origins of Maat can be traced back to the Old Kingdom where she is
already an integral part of Ra and Osiris. Maat stands behind the sun-god,
or in the Middle Kingdom, is described as being at the nostrils of Ra. In
Dynasty XVIII, she is referred to as Ras daughter.
PharaohsŽ prime task in governing, is to uphold Maat, and frequently the words "I have done Maat" are found spoken by different kings. Their
reigns uphold the laws of the universe that she embodies. Amenhotep II on
his stele near the Giza sphinx claims that Maat was placed on his breast
by Amun himself. There are many examples of the kings being called beloved of Maat, and they are depicted in temples offering a small figure of the goddess in the palms of their hands before major deities. The ruler who forcibly emphasizes his adherence to Maat on his monuments in Akhenaten the very king whom later pharaohs considered to have deviated immensely from her laws.
Many representations of Maat are depicted on funerary papyri from the New Kingdom, as the goddess essential to the deceased reaching paradise. In
the Hall of the Double Truths, the heart of the deceased is weighed in
balance against an image of the goddess or her feather. Here Maat symbolizes the truthful; assertions of a blameless life, given before the assessor gods.
Maat is also regarded as justice administered by magistrates in the law
courts. Possible the title priest of Maat refers to this function of
an officials duties. According to classical sources, magistrates wore a
Maat figure when giving judgements the British Museum has such a small
golden Maat on a chain.
In the southern sector of the precinct of Montu at Karnak, is a small
ruined temple to Maat.
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Festivals:(exact dates not historically verified)
4th April - 20th Pachons - MaŽat judges the souls before the
Netjeru
30th May - 16th Epipi - MaŽat is taken to Ra in Heliopolis
1st June - 18th Epipi - MaŽat and Ra go forth in secret
15th June - 1st Mesore
MaŽat unites as one with all the Netjeru of the heavens
7th October - 21st Hethara - Feast day of MaŽat
28th November - 13 Tybi - Sekhmet; Day of prolonging life and
the goodness of MaŽat
3rd April - 19th Pachons - Day of the Counting of
Tehuti(Thoth) Who heard MaŽat
4th April - 20 Pachons - MaŽat judges the souls before the
Netjeru
30th May - 16th Epipi - MaŽat is taken to Ra in Heliopolis
1st June - 18th Epipi - MaŽat and Ra Go Forth in secret
15th June - 2 Mesore - MaŽat unites as one with all the
Netjeru of the heavens
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Mafdet
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Sometimes called 'The Runner', an early, violent deity in panther form, She also defeated snakes and scorpions with her sharp claws, therefore they were likened to the barbs of the king's harpoon, which he used to protect himself with against his enemies in the Underworld.
Some likeness to a mongoose has been suggested when she leaps at snakes, and her hair is occasionally said to be braided, symbolizing the killed and jointed bodies of scorpions.
Also a personification of the executional tool as a manifestation of judicial authority.
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The symbols of Mafdet was the pole, rope and blade of execution, with the deity in feline form climbing up it.
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Mehet-Weret
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'The Great Flood'. Goddess of the primeval flood out of which life emerged and the sun god appeared. She was often depicted as a great cow with the sun disc between her horns, as such she was linked to Hathor and called the mother of Re.
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There was no cult especially for Mehet-Weret.
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Meskhenet
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A goddess of birth, personification of one of the 'birthing bricks' upon which ancient women used to squat when giving birth. She is often shown as either a woman with a brick as a head, or as a brick with a woman's head. Sometimes she is also shown fully human, with the image of a cow's uterus above her head.
After the safe delivery, Meskhenet decided the destiny of the child, and her protective powers guarded the infant. Conversely, she also appeared in the Hall of Judgment when the heart of the deceased was to be weighed. Here she could testify to the character of the deceased, and perhaps guard the symbolic rebirth in the Afterlife. She is also found assisting Isis and Nephtys in funerary rites.
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There was no cult especially for Meskhenet.
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Meretseger/Meresger
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"She who loves silence" - local goddess of the Valley of the
Kings on the Western shore of the Nile at Thebes. She was worshipped by
the workmen in the necropolis especially in the form of the mountain peak
known as "Lady of the Peak" that dominates the valley. Meresger
is also shown sometimes as a uraeus with a womanŽs head, a woman with a
snake's head or sometimes as a scorpion with a woman's head. |
Main center of worship:
Valley of the Kings, Waset, 4th Nome, Upper Egypt
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Mihos/Maahes
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Maahes or Mihos, the lion-god, son of Bast, called Miysis by the
Greeks. He is portrayed as a man with the head of a lion, sometimes
wearing the Atef crown. He is sometimes also portrayed as a lion devouring
a captive.
He first appears as a deity in the story "The Taking of Joppa", in which
Thutmosis III is referred to as "Maahes, son of Sekhmet".
He is often confused with Sekhmet because at times he is shown holding a
khopesh (knife or sword) or two. He is a war-god, and in this role is
associated with other war-like deities such as Horus and Nefertem, whose
floral head-dress Maahes sometimes wears. He is the guardian of sacred
places and an aggressor who attacks and mauls a captive enemy.
His local roots were at Leontopolis (modern Tell el-Muqdam) in nome 11 of
Lower Egypt. The Pharaoh Osorkon III (Dynasty XXII) erected a temple to
him at Bubastis, the town sacred to the god's mother. Mihos' name is also
found in papyri of the late New Kingdom.
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Main Temple:
Per Bast / Bubastis, 18th Nome, Lower Egypt
Priesthood:
Other Temples:
Nay-ta-hut / Leontopolis / Tell el-muqdam, 11th Nome, Lower Egypt
Festival Days:
The festival days of Maahes were celebrated with those of his mother,
Bast.
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Min/Menew
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His earliest form was a fetish resembling a barbed arrow. Later the
written form of his name was recognizable in the sign of the ninth nome of
Upper Egypt.
Min developed from a fertility god for animals to a god of vegetation.
Among his attributes were a bed of lettuce (which was considered and
aphrodisiac), a round hut with bull's horns tied to a pole and a small
shrine surrounded by lettuces. He was celebrated at the "festival of
the staircase", when he was presented the first ear of corns from the
new harvest, out of the hands of the king.
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Main center of worship:
Gebtu/Koptos/Qift, 5th N, Upper Egypt
Ipu/Khemmis Panopolis/Akhmin, 9th Nome, Upper Egypt
For a virtual page:
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Festivals: (exact dates not historically verified)
1st October - 15th Hethara - Contemplation of the fertility of
Min
10th January - 26th Mechir - Min Goes Forth to Coptos
20th February - 7th Parmutit - Min Goes Forth in festivity
18th June - 5th Mesore - Day of Appearance of Min
11th July - 28 Mesore - Feast of Min
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Montu/Mentjew
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Montu was the falconheaded god of war. From the beginning he was
worshipped at Hermonthis, but in the Eleventh Dynasty he was brought to
Thebes, where he soon was overtaken by Amun as the royal deity. Montu fought the enemies of the gods and defended his father Re against his enemies. His sacred animal was a white
bull, the >i>Buchis with a black face, which was regarded as his manifestation and buried
with full honors at death.
Montu was fron the beginning a falcon deity and depicitons of him shows him with a falconŽs head crowned with the solar disc surrounded by two tall plumes. But this changed through time: From Queen Aahotep in the 18th Dynasty, there is a ceremonial axe showing Montu as a griffin. This is thought to have been influenced from Syria. Most other depictions show him in the human form with a falocnŽs head. Though he wears the sundic and uraeus, the difference between him and Re himself and other falcon deities, is the two tall plumes he also wears on his head. Sometimes he was shown in the form of a bull, his sacred Buchis. In later periods he could also be shown as a bullheaded human.
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Centers of worship were four, all around Thebes:
Djerty/Tuphium/Tod 4th Nome, Upper Egypt
Medamud/Madu, 4th Nome, Upper Egypt.
This temple is only 8 km from Luxor and was connected to Karnak by a canal.
Precinct of Montu at Karnak, 4th Nome, Upper Egypt.
Armant/Gr: Hermonthis, 4th Nome, Upper Egypt.
Festivals: (exact dates not historically verified)
22nd August - 5th Paopi:
Feast of Montu |
Mormyrus /
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Fishes were often regarded as unclean animals which were forbidden as
offerings and food to kings, gods and the priesthood. When the cult of
Osiris became popular, the fish was identified with Seth, as, according to
Plutharch people believed that the fish form lepidotus had eaten the
phallus of the dismembered Osiris. Therefore, on certain feast days fishes
were burned and trampled underfoot as an offering.
The opposite also existed, fishes were regarded as sacred animals:
despite the belief of the above, the oxyrinchus was considered Osirian,
and said to have been created out of the god's wounds. This fish was also
connected to Hathor at Esna and the Abdu or Abydos fish accompanied the
solar barque and warned of the hostile Apophis serpent. |
Main center of worship:
Per-Medjed (Oxyrhynchus/el-Bahnasa), 19th N, Upper Egypt.
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Mut/Mewet
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Mut is the mother of Khonsu and wife of Amun at Thebes. She can be
traced back to the Middle Kingdom, but was probably worshipped earlier.
She was depicted as a woman with a vulture skin on her head, together with
the crown of Upper Egypt.
Mut became the Eye of Re when Amun was in the position of the sun-god,
and she was then shown as a lioness. In the New Kingdom she acquired the
position as a primeval goddess, called: "Mother of the Sun in Wom He
rises". |
Main center of worship:
Wast/Thebes
Festivals: (exact dates not historically verified)
12 June - 29th Epipi - Festival of Mut; Feeding of the
Netjers
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This site is for educational purposes only.
Contact
Some sources:
Temples of Ancient Egypt - Dieter Arnold
Temples of the Last Pharaohs - Dieter Arnold
The Pyramid Texts - transl: R.O. Faulkner
The Coffin Texts - transl: R.O. Faulkner
Egyptian Myths - by George Hart
A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses - George Hart
The Complete Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Egypt - Richard H. Wilkinson
My special thanks to House of Netjer for allowing me to draw from their knowledge of the Netjeru!
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