On this page: Ta-tenen - Taweret, Tefnut,
Thoth, Tayet
Please note - Festival days are an estimation compiled from several sources.
Ta-tenen
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The name Ta-tenen means 'Exalted Earth' or 'Risen Land' and maybe likened
to the ben-ben at Heliopolis and likewize symbolise the primeval mound which
rises out of the waters at the beginning of creation. It can also refer to
the silt left behind when the Nile withdrew after its inundation. Thus Tatenen is
connected to fertility and often depicted with green face and limbs, showing his
chtonic association with vegetation. He is therefore sometimes called a
personification of Egypt and likewise an aspect of Geb. In his chtonic capacity he
protects the deceased king and guards his path through the netherworld.
Being a primeval deity, he could be feminine as wells as masculine and is
called the 'creator and mother who gave birth to all gods' and has also the title of
'father of all the gods'. As such he was merged already in the old Kingdom with Ptah in his capacity of creator god, to become Ptah-Ta-tenen.
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As a local god of MenNefer, Ta-tenen was mainly worshipped in this area. However, he is mentioned at other temples around Egypt.
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Taweret/Taurt
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Hippopotamus goddess, protector of women during childbirth, since
Archaic times shown standing upright with human arms and legs, a wig of
straight hair and a crocodile's back and tail. She carried a torch, a sa
(a sign of magical protection) attribute, and often an ankh in her hands.
Her image was often attached to beds, head-rests and cosmetic articles,
but she is also depicted in the Book of Going Forth By Day and in temple
reliefs. |
Main center of worship:
None historically known
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Tefnut/Tefnet
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Tefnut, meaning moisture like rain, dew and clouds, was according to
myth created by the primeval god Atum of the Ennead in Heliopolis together
with her brother Shu, air. With them duality started and the sexual cycle
was begun. When Atum later was assimilated by Re, they were considered
children of Re, the sungod. In the beginning Tefnut was regarded as the lunar
eye, but in myth she developed into the solar eye and later the uraeus.
She then aquired the name "lady of flame" and "the uraeus
on the heads of all the gods".
In Buto she and Shu were worshipped as the flamingo-like "children
of the Lower Egyptian king", a mythical image for the sun and the
moon. In Leontopolis they were identified with the lion worship there. She
can be depicted both as a lioness and as a woman with a lion´s head like
Sekhmet whose ears are rounded while Tefnut´s are pointed. |
Main center of worship:
Mainly connected to the Ennead at Iunu/Heliopolis/Cairo, 13th N, Lower Egypt.
Nay-ta-hut/Leontopolis/Tell el-Muqdam,
11th Nome, Lower Egypt
Festivals: (exact dates not historically verified)
30th August - 13th Paopi - Day of Satisfying the Hearts of
the Ennead
29th October - 13th Koiak - Day of Going Forth of Het-Hert
and the Ennead
15th November - 30th Koiak - The Ennead feast in the House of
Ra, Heru and Wasir
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Thoth/Djehuty
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Djehuty, GR: Thoth, is the god who is said to have invented writing, the measuring of time, music, magic, art, medicine, mathematics and astronomy. As early as in late Predynastic times he was depicted on slate palettes as an ibis, the sign of the 15th Lower Egyptian nome, so he might have originated there. But already in the 1st Dynasty he appears as a squatting baboon (Papio Cynocephalus) on statues at Abydos. His main cult center was later Khemenu (Gr: Hermopolis, modern Ashmunein) in Middle Egypt, where he took over the role of the eight creator gods of the Ogdoad; Eternity (Heh-Hehet), Darkness (Kek/Keket), Water/Potentiality (Nun/Nunet) and Wind/Hiddenness (Amen/Amenet), and became a creator god himself.
He was depicted either in baboon form or in anthropomorphic form with the head of an ibis, and in both cases shown with the crescent moon surrounding the full moon above his head. Thereby he was called the lord of the moon and in the late period he was even called the "Silver Aten", The baboon form might be due to the ancient Egyptians observing these animals raising their arms towards the rising sun and greeting it with a chatter, as if 'singing' in praise. Images of this can be seen in the Book of Going Forth By Day.
Another name was "Lord of Time" as according to one myth he negotiated the five extra (epagomenal) days from the moon to make up the full 365 days of the year. He was also called "Reckoner of Years", his attributes being a writing palette or a palm leaf. He was the protector of scribes, teachers, writers, mathematicians, in fact everyone having to do with the spreading and handling of knowledge, writing etc. Sometimes he was considered the tongue or heart of Re.
The consort of Thoth is said to be alternatingly Ma´at, the personified justice, balance and order, or Seshat, the Netjer of recordkeeping, measuring and building foundations. In the later periods there is also the connection with Nehmetawy (meaning: 'She that Rescues the Plundered' or 'She Who Recovers the Stolen'), who in Hermopolis Magna and the 15th Lower Nome was considered a goddess of justice. As Thoth was both a legislator and a judge, Nehmetawy (or Nehmet-Awai) was a suitable spouse to him.
Thoth was regarded as the protector of all sorts of knowledge, he was seen as the giver of the knowledge of how to read and write by pictures and symbols. Therefore hieroglyphs were regarded as sacred and could always carry great power. The eye of the baboon was said to always be on the lookout for scribes who misused their ability to read and write.
The House of Life', i.e. Per Ankh, was all under the protection of Thoth. Only scribes, the 'Followers of Thoth', had access to this, a resource centre with a wealth of papyri; medical manuals, mathematical problems, instructional writings etc.
Thoth is himself scribe of the 'Ennead' and appears as the negotiator and settler of disputes. He also records every soul who enters the 'Duat', the Underworld and stands by the scales supervising the weighing of the heart of the deceased, reed brush and palette ready to note down the verdict. Sometimes he is depicted in baboon form on top of those scales.
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Main center of worship:
Khmun/Hermopolis/el-Ashmunein, 15th Nome, Upper Egypt
Other sites:
Nekheb/Eileityiaspolis/Elkab, 2nd Nome, Upper Egypt
Hermopolis Parva/Damanhur, 3rd Nome, Lower Egypt
Naukratis, 7th Nome, Lower Egypt
Bakh/Hermopolis/el-Baqlia, 15th Nome, Lower Egypt
Festivals: (exact dates not historically verified)
19th July - 1st Thuti - Feast of Thoth
6th August - 19th Thuti - Chief Festival of Thoth
20th August - 3rd Paopi - Tehuti(Thoth) orders the healing of
the eye of Heru (Horus)
23rd October - 7th Koiak - Ceremony of Djehuty (Thoth)
13th December - 28th Tybi - Day of Tehuti's taking the oath
14th December - 29th Tybi - Tehuti (Thoth) sends Bast and
Sekhmet to guide Egypt
24th January - 10th Pamenot - Day of Coming of Tehuti (Thoth)
3rd April - 19th Pachons - Day of the Counting of Tehuti(Thoth)
Who heard Ma´at
14th May - 30 Payni - Tehuti (Thoth) appears with Shu to bring
back Tefnut |
Tayet
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Tayet is known already from the Pyramid Texts where she is said to be the king´s mother who lifts him up to the sky. She also guards his head, gathers his bones together and makes other deities give him favours.
Later she becomes a deity of weaving who provides the linen bandages that were used to wrap the mummy with. The cloth was sometimes called 'the Land of Tayet'. She also wove the cloth used for the curtains in the tent of purification, where the embalming process was carried out. It is said that the curtains were embroidered by Ptah.
Her association with linen links her with Neith and as a funerary deity she is also linked with Aset, NebtHet and Wesir.
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Wherever embalmings were undertaken, Tayet was present and whorshipped. Though there was no particular cult center built especially for her, she was worshipped at the same places as the deities which she was assoicated with.
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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
Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt - R.T. Rundle Clark
The Complete Gods and Goddesses of 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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