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Thou art the Hidden One
And the guide of the darkness
On the day when it is thy pleasure to lead the same.
Thou art the waterer of the fields which Ra has created,
Thou givest life unto all animals ,
Thou makest all the land to drink unceasingly
As thou descendest on thy way from the heavens.
-- Hymn to Hapi , 18th or 19th Dynasty
Hapi was a probably a predynastic name for the Nile - later on, the Egyptians just called the Nile iterw , meaning 'the river' - and so it became the name of the god of the Nile. ('Nile' comes from the Greek corruption - Neilos - of the Egyptian 'nwy' which means 'water'.) He was mentioned in the Pyramid Texts ("who comest forth from Hep") where he was to send the river into the underworld from certain caverns, where he was thought to have lived at the 1st Cataract. The Nile was thought to have flowed from the primeval waters of Nun , through the land of the dead, the heavens and finally flowing into Egypt where it rose out of the ground between two mountains which lay between the Islands of Abu (Elephantine) and the Island of Iat-Rek (Philae). Hapi was also mentioned in the Pyramid Texts as a destructive power, but one that worked for the pharaoh.
As a water god, Hapi was a deity of fertility - he provided water, food and the yearly inundation of the Nile. He was also known as 'Lord of the Fishes and Birds of the Marshes,' indicating that he provided these creatures to the Egyptians along with the Nile itself. Without Hapi, Egypt would have died, and so he was sometimes revered even above Ra, the sun god. The depiction of Hapi himself, though, was that of a rather well-fed, blue or green man with the false beard of the pharaoh on his chin. Other than showing his status as a god of fertility by his colour, the Egyptians showed Hapi as having rather large breasts, like those of a mother with a baby.
At a very early period he absorbed the attributes of Nun , the primeval watery mass from which Ra, the Sun-god, emerged on the first day of the creation; and as a natural result he was held the father of all beings and things, which were believed to be the results of his handiwork and his offspring. When we consider the great importance which the Nile possessed for Egypt and her inhabitants it is easy to understand how the Nile-god Hapi held a unique position among the gods of the country, and how he came to be regarded as a being as great as, if not greater than Ra himself.
Hapi was also both god of Upper and Lower Egypt - this duality was shown by having twin Hapi deities, one wearing the papyrus of the north (Lower Egypt) as a headdress , the other wearing the south's (Upper Egypt) water lily (lotus) as a headdress . The Upper Egyptian Hapi was called 'Hap-Meht' while the Lower Egyptian Hapi was known as 'Hap-Reset'. They were depicted together, pouring water from a carried vase or together, tying the two plants of the northern or southern region into a knot with the sema hieroglyph , symbolising the union of Upper and Lower Egypt. He was thought to be the husband of the vulture goddess Nekhbet in Upper Egypt, and of the cobra goddess Wadjet (Edjo) in Lower Egypt. When he took on the attributes of Nun (Nu), Hapi became husband to Nun 's wife, the primeval goddess Naunet of the Ogdoad. He was also linked with Osiris - another water-related fertility god - and thus Nekhbet and Wadjet were also seen as a form of Isis , Osiris' wife.
...the Egyptians had no clue how or why the Nile flooded each year. They believed that the gods Khnum , Satet , and Anqet were the guardians of the source of the Nile. Their duty was to make sure that the right amount of silt was released during the yearly inundation . Hapi was in charge of the waters that flowed during the floods.
During the inundation flood, the Egyptians would throw offerings, amulets and other sacrifices into the Nile at certain places, sacred to Hapi. Hapi was thought to come with the inundation (the 'Arrival of Hapi') with a retinue of crocodile gods and frog goddesses, and the sacrifices were given in the hopes that the flood would not be too high, nor too low. If the inundation was too high, many homes would be destroyed (the Egyptians built their homes and even palaces out of mud brick, which was easily washed away in a large flood). On the other hand, if the flood was too low, there would not be enough water for the fields and cattle - Egypt would be in drought. During inundation , statues of Hapi were carried about through the towns and villages so that the people could honor and pray to him - it was a solemn occasion.
Even Akhenaten, the 'heretic king', could not banish Hapi completely as he did with the other gods. Instead, he tried to suggest that Hapi was an incarnation of the Aten (Akenaten's god, the sun disk):
I propitiate him who lives by truth,
The Lord of Diadems, Akhenaten,
Great in his lifetime.
O Hapi, by whose command
One is powerful
The food and nourishment of Egypt,
The vital ruler who forms me,
Makes me, fosters me...
There are no known temples of Hapi, but his statues and reliefs are found in the temples of other deities. He was worshiped throughout the land of Egypt, but especially at Swentet (Aswan) and Gebel El-Silisila.
Hathor meaning "House of Horus [the Elder]", was a goddess of many
things, from the celestial to the alcoholic ! She was a celestial goddess, The
Mistress of Heaven. A goddess of love, music and beauty as the Goddess of Love,
Cheerfulness, Music and Dance. She was known as the Mother of Mothers and the
Celestial Nurse who presided over women , fertility, children and childbirth.
Yet she was also a goddess of baser things - she was the Vengeful Eye of Ra,
the Lady of Drunkeness, and a goddess of the dead as Lady of the West. As Lady
of the Southern Sycamore, the sycamore was sacred to her. It was from the sycamore
tree that she was thought to hand out good things to the deceased in the afterlife,
and so she was thought to be a friend to the dead.
Her name is translated as "House of Horus", which may be a reference to her as the embodiment of the sky in her role of the Celestial Cow, being that which surrounds the decidedly sky-oriented hawk-deity, Horus, when he takes wing. If Horus was the god associated with the living king, Hathor was the god associated with the living queen.
She was also known as the Mistress of Life, the Great Wild
Cow, the Golden One, the Mistress of Turquoise, Lady of Iunet (Dendera) (her
cult centre was located at Iunet), Mistress of Qis, Lady to the Limit (of the
Universe), Lady of Punt (perhaps an area in present day Somalia - a famous expedition
to this land was commissioned by Hatshepsut (1473-1458 BC), of the 18th Dynasty),
the Powerful One, the Mistress of the Desert, Lady of the Southern Sycamore...
and many other names, besides. She was also the goddess of the third month of
the Egyptian calendars, know in Greek times as Hethara.
An interesting story involving Hathor - all the more interesting because it
is very similar to the Japanese tale of the sun goddess who leaves the company
of the gods to sulk - is the story of Ra's temper tantrum. Baba a predynastic
baboon god, taunted Ra who stood for Set becoming ruler rather than Horus, "Your
shrine is empty!" With that, Ra stormed off to be alone - presumably this
is a story about a solar eclipse - and refused to join the other gods. Realising
that they'd gone too far, the others sent Baba away, but still Ra refused to
stop sulking. Finally, Hathor decided on a plan. She went into Ra's presence
and stood before him and started to dance and strip, revealing her nakedness
and lewdly showing him her private parts. The dance caused Ra to laugh, forget
his hurt feelings and he once again rejoined the gods.
The reason that she has so many names, one would assume, is because she is an ancient goddess - she seems to have been mentioned as early as the 2nd Dynasty. She may even been associated with the Narmer palette - although the two human faced bovines may also have been a representation of the king or of another ancient bovine goddess, called Bat, who was eventually surplanted by Hathor.
It is interesting to note, though, that there is not a personal name of the goddess mentioned in the list of names - they are all titles.
Hathor, Lady of Amenty, the Dweller in the Great Land, the Lady of Ta-Tchesert, the Eye of Ra, the Dweller in his breast, the Beautiful Face in the Boat of Millions of Years, the Seat of Peace of the doer of truth, Dweller in the Boat of the favoured ones.....
-- The Chapter of Praise of Hathor, Lady of Amenty, The Book of the Dead
Another interesting thing about Hathor is found in one particular Egyptian tale - when the hero of the story was born, the 'Seven Hathors', disguised as seven young women , appeared and announced his fate. They seemed to be linked with not only fortune telling, but to being questioners of the soul on its way to the Land of the West. These goddesses were worshiped in seven cities: Waset (Thebes), Iunu (On, Heliopolis), Aphroditopolis, Sinai, Momemphis, Herakleopolis, and Keset. They may have been linked to the Pleiades in later times, but this is debated. Hathor herself was known as "Lady of Stars" and "Sovereign of Stars" and linked to Sirius (the goddess Sopdet ). The day that Sirius rose (originally on the first day of the first month, known as Thuthi by Greek times) was a festive occasion to the followers of Hathor - it was the day they celebrated her birth. By Greek times, she was the goddess of Hethara, the third month of the Egyptian calendar.
Generally, Hathor was pictured as a woman with cow's horns with the sun between them (giving her the title of 'Golden One'), or as a beautiful woman with cow's ears, or a cow wearing the sun disk between her horns, or even as a lioness or a lion-headed woman showing her destructive side. It was only in later Egyptian history that she was shown as a woman with the head of a cow.
She often is seen carrying a sistrum, an ancient musical instrument played by the priestesses. The sistrum usually had the face of Hathor where the handle adjoins the rest of the instrument. This particular instrument was thought to have sexual overtones, relating to fertility. Hathor has a rather odd title, "Hand of God". This might be related to how the handle of the sistrum is held, just as the relationship of the loop ajoined to the handle (the naos) might be related to her title of "Lady of the Vulva"!
Hathor was also known as the "Great Menat". The menat , a necklace with a special counterweight, is not actually jewelry - it is a musical instrument sacred to Hathor! The counter piece is similar to the fertility dolls found in ancient tombs, while the beaded necklace was believed to represent the womb. It was held in the hand and rattled to convey the blessing of the goddess.
Hathor was also the "Lady of Greenstone and Malachite" and "Lady of Lapis-Lazuli", presiding over these materials as well as being a goddess of the fringes where they were mined. (Malachite is a banded light and dark green semi-precious stone that was ground up and mixed with eye make up. Lapis-lazuli adorned many pieces of ancient Egyptian jewelry. This fits in well with Hathor's role of a goddess of beauty.) She was a goddess of the west, and a goddess of Punt and Sinai and so was a goddess of far off places. This is perhaps why she was also known as the "Lady to the Limit" - the Egyptians believed her to be a goddess who ruled over the known universe!
She was said to be the mother of the pharaoh, and is often depicted in a nurturing role, suckling the pharaoh when he was a child. Other than the pharaoh - a living god - she was believed to have a son with Horus-Behdety (a form of Horus the Elder) known as Ihy (Ahy, Horus-Sematawy, Harsomtus), a falcon-god and child-god of music and dancing who carried a sistrum. The three were worshiped at Iunet.
My majesty precedes me as Ihy, the son of Hathor
I am the male of masculinity
.......
I escaped from her blood, I am the master of the redness.
But it is the following tale for which she is most remembered
today:
The Eye of Ra
One of the tales of Hathor was how she was originally a goddess of destruction (Hathor-Sekhmet), and how she came to be the goddess of happier things:
Then Ra took on the shape of a man and became the first Pharaoh, ruling over the whole country for thousands and thousands of years, and giving such harvests that for ever afterwards the Egyptians spoke of the good things "which happened in the time of Ra".
But, being in the form of a man, Ra grew old. In time men no longer feared him or obeyed his laws. They laughed at him, saying: "Look at Ra! His bones are like silver, his flesh like gold, his hair is the colour of lapis lazuli!"
Ra was angry when he heard this, and he was more angry still at the evil deeds which men were doing in disobedience to his laws. So he called together the gods whom he had made - Shu and Tefnut and Geb and Nut - and he also summoned Nun . Soon the gods gathered about Ra in his Secret Place, and the goddesses also. But mankind knew nothing of what was happening, and continued to jeer at Ra and to break his commandments. Then Ra spoke to Nun before the assembled gods: "Eldest of the gods, you who made me; and you gods whom I have made: look upon mankind who came into being at a glance of my Eye. See how men plot against me; hear what they say of me; tell me what I should do to them. For I will not destroy mankind until I have heard what you advise."
Then Nun said: "My son Ra, the god greater than he who made him and mightier than those whom he has created, turn your mighty Eye upon them and send destruction upon them in the form of your daughter, the goddess Sekhmet ."
Ra answered: "Even now fear is falling upon them and they are fleeing into the desert and hiding themselves in the mountains in terror at the sound of my voice."
"Send against them the glance of your Eye in the form Sekhmet !" cried all the other gods and goddesses, bowing before Ra until their foreheads touched the ground.
So at the terrible glance from the Eye of Ra his daughter Sekhmet came into being, the fiercest of all goddesses. Like a lion she rushed upon her prey, and her chief delight was in slaughter, and her pleasure was in blood. At the bidding of Ra she came into Upper and Lower Egypt to slay those who had scorned and disobeyed him: she killed them among the mountains which lie on either side of the Nile, and down beside the river, and in the burning deserts. All whom she saw she slew, rejoicing in slaughter and the taste of blood.
Presently Ra looked out over the land and saw what Sekhmet had done. Then he
called to her, saying: "Come, my daughter, and tell me how you have obeyed
my commands."
Sekhmet answered with the terrible voice of a lioness as she tears her prey: "By the life which you have given me, I have indeed done vengeance on mankind, and my heart rejoices."
Now for many nights the Nile ran red with blood, and Sekhmet 's feet were red as she went hither and thither through all the land of Egypt slaying and slaying.
Presently Ra looked out over the earth once more, and now his heart was stirred with pity for men, even though they had rebelled against him. But none could stop the cruel goddess Sekhmet , not even Ra himself: she must cease from slaying of her own accord - and Ra saw that this could only come about through cunning.
So he gave his command: "Bring before me swift messengers who will run upon the earth as silently as shadows and with the speed of the storm winds."
When these were brought he said to them: "Go as fast as you can up the Nile to where it flows fiercely over the rocks and among the islands of the First Cataract; go to the isle that is called Abu (Elephantine) and bring from it a great store of the red ochre which is to be found there."
The messengers sped on their way and returned with the blood-red ochre to Iunu, the city of Ra where stand the stone obelisks with points of gold that are like fingers pointing to the sun. It was night when they came to the city, but all day the women of Iunu had been brewing beer as Ra bade them.
Ra came to where the beer stood waiting in seven thousand jars, and the gods came with him to see how by his wisdom he would save mankind.
"Mingle the red ochre of Abu with the barley- beer ," said Ra, and it was done, so that the beer gleamed red in the moonlight like the blood of men.
"Now take it to the place where Sekhmet proposes to slay men when the sun rises," said Ra. And while it was still night the seven thousand jars of beer were taken and poured out over the fields so that the ground was covered to the depth of nine inches -- three times the measure of the palm of a man's hand-with the strong beer , whose other name is "sleep-maker".
When day came Sekhmet the terrible came also, licking her lips at the thought of the men whom she would slay. She found the place flooded and no living creature in sight; but she saw the beer which was the colour of blood, and she thought it was blood indeed -- the blood of those whom she had slain.
Then she laughed with joy, and her laughter was like the roar of a lioness hungry for the kill. Thinking that it was indeed blood, she stooped and drank. Again and yet again she drank, laughing with delight; and the strength of the beer mounted to her brain, so that she could no longer slay.
At last she came reeling back to where Ra was waiting; that day she had not killed even a single man.
Then Ra said: "You come in peace, sweet one." And her name was changed to Hathor, and her nature was changed also to the sweetness of love and the strength of desire. And henceforth Hathor laid low men and women only with the great power of love. But for ever after her priestesses drank in her honour of the beer of Iunu coloured with the red ochre of Abu when they celebrated her festival each New Year.
Note that in the above tale, the goddess called 'Eye of Ra' was Hathor who became 'Sekhmet', then 'Hathor'. But afterwards, Sekhmet and Hathor were two separate deities, both having claim to the title 'Eye of Ra'!
Hathor was a very clear example of the Egyptian idea of duality - Hathor was both the 'sweet one' of music, dance and pleasure as well as a goddess of destruction, an ancient goddess who was loved by the people of Egypt.
Hatmehyt was a fish-goddess worshipped in the Delta, particularly in the
northeast at Mendes.
The fish as a divinity is comparatively rare in the Egyptian pantheon, but Hatmehyt's name means "she who is in front of the fishes" referring to her pre-eminence in relation to the few rival fish cults. However, it could also be interpreted in a temporal sense to stress the goddess as the "beginning" i.e. earliest fish-goddess to exist when Egypt emerged from the primeval waters.
She can be represented completely as a fish, the shape of which led to former suggestions that it was a dolphin. This has now been discarded in favor of an identification with the lepidotus fish, common in the Nile.
At Mendes, in a district for which the ancient standard was the fish symbol indicating that Hatmehyt was the senior deity in terms of residence there, her cult becomes subordinated to that of the ram-god Banebdjedet - interpreted after his arrival as her consort.
Haurun was an earth-god of Canaan identified most importantly in Egypt with the Great Sphinx at Giza.
Haurun is attested as a name in Egypt for over 1200 years from 1900 BC when he occurs in the name of a foreign prince whom the Egyptians ceremonially curse.
It is likely that a settlement of Canaanite-Syrian workers near the Sphinx in the New Kingdom made the initial analogy between the guardian figure of Khephren carved over a thousand years earlier, and Haurun. Possibly from its position on the western desert looking towards the rising sun, reinterpreted by this time as the sun-god Harmachis, the Sphinx suggested to the foreign artisans the god Haurun viewing the "City of the East" which Canaanite legend has him founding. A temple to this god, the "House of Haurun" as it was called, was constructed in front of the Sphinx.
Haurun also figures in a magical spell against the dangers of wild animals such as lions or ferocious dogs; he provides the protection under his epithet "the victorious herdsman". There is an inherent contradiction (or dualism) in his character since his role as a healing god in Egypt must be balanced against his action as a god of doom in the Canaanite myth where Haurun is responsible for planting a "tree of death".
The Egyptians believed that before the world was formed, there was a watery mass of dark, directionless chaos. In this chaos lived the Ogdoad of Khmunu (Hermopolis), four frog gods and four snake goddesses of chaos. These deities were Nun and Naunet (water), Amen and Amaunet (invisibility), Heh and Hauhet (infinity) and Kek and Kauket (darkness). The water stretched infinitely off in all directions, as ever lasting as time itself. Heh and Hauhet came to symbolise infinity. After the Egyptians believed that time began, Heh and Hauhet came to symbolise limitless time, and long life.
The frog or human headed god Heh (Huh) was one of the original eight gods of the Ogdoad of Khmunu (Hermopolis). He was the god of infinity and time, the god of long life and eternity. In his hand he is shown holding one or two palm fronds of 'A Million Years' in his hands, the Egyptian sign of long life. Sometimes he was shown wearing a palm frond on his head, as a headdress .
As a god of infinity, his name was linked to numbers. His determinative - an image of Heh with his arms raised was used for 'one million'. It seems that 'million' was a number for eternity - the 'Barque of a Million Years' was the name of the boat that the sun god Ra travelled in during the day, which the Egyptians believed would happen until the end of time, when chaos took over the land once more.
This centerpiece of a princess' necklace is composed around the throne name of King Senwosret II. It was found among the jewelry of Princess Sithathoryunet (sit-hathor-you-net) in a special niche of her underground tomb beside the pyramid of Senwosret II at Lahun. Hieroglyphic signs... might be read as a text saying, "The god of the rising sun grants life and dominion over all that the sun encircles for one million one hundred thousand years [i.e., eternity] to King Khakheperre [Senwosret II]."
... The cartouche rests on the bent tops of palm fronds (signs for "year") that are held by a kneeling Heh, god of eternity and sign for "one million." A tadpole (sign for "one hundred thousand") dangles from the god's right elbow.
As well as being a god of time and infinity, he was also an air god. Identified with Shu , Heh was a god of the wind who was linked to the four pillars that held up the sky. Like Shu , he was sometimes shown with his arms raised to help hold up the sky.
O you eight chaos gods, keepers of the chambers of the sky, whom Shu made from the efflux of his limbs, who bound together the ladder of Atum...The bnbn [phoenix] of Ra was that from which Atum came to be as Heh... I am the one who begot the chaos gods again, as Heh, Nun , Amen, Kek . I am Shu who begot the gods.
-- Coffin Text, Spell 76
Heh was also eight different gods - like Hathor and the seven
Hathors - who were believed to support the great celestial cow in the heavens.
He, like Nun , was also believed to hold up the solar barque of Ra, and to life
it up into the sky at the end of its voyage through the land of the dead.
Some believe that Heh was a representation of fire at one point, though it seemed
that he was regarded as representing different things over time. While being
a god of fire, he was shown as a snake headed god. Hauhet, as a goddess personifying
fire, was shown with the head of a cat.
The feminine of the god Heh, Hauhet (Hehet) was a much more obscure goddess
than her husband. She was a snake-headed woman who ruled over infinity with
her husband. He name was the same as her husband's, except with a feminine ending.
Heh and Hauhet are rather difficult ideas to grasp, perhaps active and passive infinity would be a good expression. This infinity is mostly conceived in relation to time, and is consequently equivalent to, and often described by the Greek Aion ; as infinity of form it resembles Eros ... The first act of a creation is the formation of an egg, which rises upon the hands of Heh and Hauhet out of the proto-matter. Out of the egg arises the god of light, Ra, the immediate cause of life in this world.
Hauhet was the feminine to Heh's masculine, more of a representation of duality than an actual goddess, so she was even less of a deity than Heh, and more of an abstract.
Heqet (Heket) was a goddess of childbirth, creation and grain germination. She was depicted as a frog, or a woman with the head of a frog, betraying her connection with water. As a water goddess, she was also a goddess of fertility where she was particularly associated with the later stages of labour. In this way, the title of "Servants of Heqet" may have been a title applied to her priestesses who were trained as midwives.
The ancient Egyptians saw thousands of frogs appear all along the Nile at certain times of the year. This appearance of the reptile came to symbolise fruitfulness and coming life.
She was thought to be the wife of Khnum, the god who creates men on his potter's wheel, and she gave the newly created being the breath of life before the child was placed to grow in the mother's womb.
In the story of the triplets who would be pharaohs, she was the goddess of magically "hastens the birth", in an unspecified manner.
In Hatshepsut's birth colonnade, it is Heqet, with Khnum, who led Ahmose to the birthing room. She also was depicted as the goddess who held the ankh sign of life to Hatshepsut and her ka, fulfilling her job as the giver of life to the newly created child.
She originally appears in the pyramid texts where she helps the pharaoh ascend into the sky. She is also connected with the Osiris myth in the "Funeral of Osiris" at Dendera:
Osiris, ithyphallic and bearded, in mummied form, lying upon
his bier; over his feet and his body hover the hawks. At the head kneels Hathor,
"Mistress of Amentet, who weepeth for 'her brother'," and at the foot
is a frog symbol of the goddess Heqet, beneath the bier are an ibis-headed god
holding the Utchat, two serpents, and the god Bes.
As such, she was not only a goddess of birth, but of rebirth, because of her
life-giving powers.
Amulets of Heqet were worn by women to protect them while they gave birth. During
the Middle Kingdom ritual ivory knives and clappers (a type of percussional
musical instrument) bore her name or image as protection for inside the home.
There was a Ptolemaic temple to Heqet at Qus, of which only a pylon remains. She was also known as "Lady of Her-wer": A tomb at Tuna el-Gebel has text speaks about a procession in her honour where she asks that the temple of Heqet at Her-wer be restored and protected from inundation, but this temple has not been found, yet.
A goddess who's name means, "She who is above the spirits", clearly indicating her dominating force in the Afterlife. She figures into temple foundation rituals in the Delta alongside Neith and Isis, and probably had a cult during the Old Kingdom, where we find reference to a priest of this goddess.
Heryshaf was a Ram-god who was prominent in Middle Egypt
at ancient Hnes (modern Ihnasya el-Medina) on the west bank of the Nile near
Beni Suef. His cult apparently, as recorded on the annals inscribed on the Palermo
Stone, existed at this location as early as the 1st Dynasty of the Old Kingdom.
However, the earliest cult site that can be attributed to him (at Hnes) is a
temple that dates to the Middle Kingdom (12th Dynasty). From this time, there
is a literary reference to the god in a narrative known as the "Eloquent
Peasant". Here, in his fourth attempt to obtain redress for the unwarranted
seizure of his donkeys and goods they were carrying, the peasant comes across
the official to whom he has been putting his complaints coming out of the temple
of Heryshaf. This temple of Heryshef was considerably enlarged during the New
Kingdom, particularly by Ramesses II, who was responsible for the monolithic
granite columns with palm-leaf capitals that adorn the Hypostyle Hall, and appears
to have thrived through the end of the Greek Period. was responsible for the
monolithic granite columns with palm-leaf capitals that adorn the Hypostyle
Hall within the temple.
A fine miniature gold statuette of Heryshaf wearing the "Atef" was found at the temple, which now resides in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. It provides the name of the ruler who lived at Hnes about 734 BC as Peftuaubast when Egypt was invaded by the Nubian King Piye.
He is known to have risen to considerable importance during the First Intermediate period when, for a time, Hnes became the capital of northern Egypt.
His name literally means, "he who is upon his lake", and it has been suggested that he was a creator god who emerged from the waters of the first primeval lake. However, this may just as easily refer to a topographical feature at his cult center, perhaps the sacred lake in his temple, which nevertheless is an architectural attempt to recreate the primeval waters. Unfortunately, inscriptional evidence of this god is scant, so his exact nature is unclear.
The Greek historical Plutarch rendered his name as Arsaphes, a word which means "manliness", though this seems to be based on an apparent etymology suggested by the procreative aspect that was part of the god's essential nature. However, George Hart believes that it is more likely derived from an original (and typical) Egyptian ply on words between "shaf", meaning "his lake" and a word of similar consonantal sound translating as "respect" or "manly dignity". The Greeks associated Heryshef with Herakles and thus the gods major cult site, named Hnes by the Egyptians, became Herakleoplis (town of Herkles) during the Ptolemaic Period.
The best description of the god is from a stela originally set up at Hnes but discovered in the temple of Isis at Pompeii, and now in the Naples Museum. In it, the career of Somtutefnakht is recorded during the time of the last native Egyptian pharaoh through the second Persian rule of Egypt. The god assures Somtutefnakht in the stela that he will remain unharmed during this turbulent period. Then, Heryshaf appears to him in a dream advising him to return to his home town of Hnes and serve in the temple. In the stela, the god is described as "king of the Two Lands" and "ruler of the riverbanks". These two titles ascribe the sovereignty of Egypt to Heryshaf, and solar symbolism is employed in the stela to invoke Heryshaf as a manifestation of Re.
Heryshef became associated with both Osiris and Re and was known as the ba of these gods. He was also associated with Atum, who was linked with the sacred "naret" (perhaps sycamore) tree of Hnes.
Iconographical representations of the god were usually as a long-horned ram or ram-headed man. In the latter pose, he took on a kingly stature wearing a royal kilt though with the head of a ram. Since he was associated with Osiris, Heryshef also frequently wore the Atif Crown, and since he had links with Re, he could also be depicted wearing the sun disk.
In popular religion, Heryshef appears on ivory wands of the Middle Kingdom and is also clearly the deity represented by many ram or ram-headed amulets during later times.
Patron of: food and drink.
Appearance: a cow carrying a tray of food on her horns with drink flowing from her udders.
Description: Heset was an ancient fertility goddess, though her cult was supplanted by the cult of Hathor, a very similar goddess. In later times she was changed to be a goddess of plenty or of food and drink. The ancient Egyptians referred to beer as the "milk of Heset."
Hetepes-Sekhus was an Underworld cobra goddess who by virtue of her power as the eye of Re annihilates the souls of Osiris' enemies. her invincibility is enhanced by her entourage of crocodiles.
Patron of: magic and medicine (though to the ancient Egyptians, they were one and the same).
Appearance: A man carrying a magic staff and a knife, the tools of a healer.
Description: Hike is the son of Khenmu and Menhit, though he is also said to be the eldest son of Atum (possibly due to Atum and Khenmu being associated with one another). Though he had no formal worship, his favor was beseeched by doctors and other healers, who were called "priests of Hike."
Patron of: the living Pharaoh, rulers, law, war, young men, light, the sun, many others depending on the particular variant.
Appearance: His most common form is that of falcon-headed man, but he is also shown as a falcon, a lion with the head of a falcon, or a sphinx. He is also shown as a falcon resting on the neck of the pharaoh, spreading his wings to either side of the pharaoh's head and whispering guidance in his ear.
Description: It is nearly impossible to distinguish a "true" Horus from all his many forms. In fact, Horus is mostly a general term for a great number of falcon gods, some of which were worshipped all over Egypt, others simply had local cults. Yet in all of his forms he is regarded as the prince of the gods and the specific patron of the living ruler.
The worship of Horus was brought from the outside by neighboring tribes who invaded and then settled into Egypt. He was their god of war, but was quickly absorbed into the state religion, first as a son of Ra, then changing to become the son of Osiris. He was the protector and guide to the pharaoh and later pharaohs were believed to be his avatar on earth. Horus was also the patron of young men and the ideal of the dutiful son who grows up to become a just man.
The most popular story of Horus is the one in which he grows to manhood to avenge the death of his father Osiris by battling against his cruel uncle Set. In many writings, he is said to continue to battle Set daily to ensure the safety of the world.
Worship: Worshipped widely throughout all of Egypt, even his variant forms were widespread.
Variants:
Harmakhet
God of the dawn and of the morning sun, he is also worshipped as a keeper of
secret wisdom. Harmakhet's form is that of a sphinx or a sphinx with the head
of a ram, often depicted as a companion to Khephri. It is thought that the Great
Sphinx, staring at the eastern horizon, represents him.
Har-Pa-Khered/Harpokrates
Rarely found depicted without his mother Isis. He is shown as a nursing infant
with the royal sidelock or sometimes even with a crown, thus demonstrating his
right to kingship from the moment of his birth. His worship became very popular
in the New Kingdom, spreading even into the Greek and Roman civilizations.
Har-Sa-Iset/Harsiesis
This is the form of Horus that is most familiar, the son of Osiris and Isis.
He was conceived magically after the death of Osiris, and Isis hid him away
on an island to protect him from Set. In this form he is worshipped as an infant
and is beseeched to gain his mother's protection for the worshipper.
Horus Behudety/Horus of Edfu
God of the noontime sun. This particular variant was first worshipped in the
western Delta and spread south, a cult center being established at Edfu. He
is represented by a winged sun or as a lion with the head of a hawk. Horus Behudety
fights constantly against Set and an army of darkness to ensure that the sun
rises each day.
Horus the Elder (Haroeris)
An early form of Horus, when his cult was still new in Egypt. A god of light,
his left eye was the sun and his right eye the moon. He was the brother of Osiris
and Set, and the husband of Hathor.
Ra-Harakhte
A combined god of Horus and Ra, he was the god of the sun and took it on its
daily path across the sky. He is represented as a falcon or a falcon-headed
man wearing the solar disk and the double crown. Sometimes he is pictured wearing
the atef crown and the uraeus.
The Egyptian god Hu was one of the minor gods in some respects, but he was one of the most important gods for those serious about Egyptian deities. Hu is the power of the spoken word. He personifies the authority of utterance.
One legend has it that the creator and Sun God, Re (Ra), evolved from the primeval waters of Egypt. Once alive, Re created the air (Shu) and the moisture (Tefnut). Next, the earth god, Geb and the sky goddess, Nut were created. Mortal men and women were created from the tears of Re. Re then drew blood from his own penis and created the gods Hu and Sia. These two gods represented the creative power of the gods.
Hu and Sia were partners. Sia was the personification of Divine Knowledge/Omniscience, the mind of the gods. Hu was the personification of Divine Utterance, the voice of authority. During Ancient times, Heka, the personification of Divine Power accompanied these two gods. Together, the three gods were very important to the rulers of Ancient Egypt. Along with the falcon-headed Sun God, they rode the Sunboat across the sky in order to create and sustain all life.
The act of the Sunboat traveling across the sky signifies that with each sunrise the world was created anew. Having traveled through the Underworld of night and making it past all the dangers therein, the Sunboat once again rises to confirm that life is created new each day.
Hu was particularly important because he was the epitome of the power and command of the ruler. Even after death, Hu was of the utmost importance to the Kings of Ancient Egypt. Hu acted as the King’s companion as the King entered the Afterlife. Through Hu, the King maintained his royal authority in the Afterlife. Hu allowed the King to cross the waters of his canal and acknowledged the King’s authority and supremacy.
So far, we know Hu as the personification of Divine Utterance. However, some legends maintain that he was not just a part of creation, but that he was the creator. It is said that as Hu drew his first breath, there was in that sound the essence of his name. Hence, we have the name Hu, which sounds remarkably like the sound of an expelling breath.
With each breath Hu expelled, creation took place. The first breath created the Soul of Osiris. His last creation was the Sun. So it is said that Hu is the Word of God, the first and the last breaths, Hu Hu.
The Ancient Egyptians recognized the Sphinx at the Giza Plateau as an image of Hu. The lion was a symbol of power and strength. Used as the body of the Sphinx, this was perfectly acceptable to the Ancient Egyptians. The face of the Sphinx wore the distinctive Red Crown of the Creator and the Osiris Beard. These were hallmarks of the time.
It’s been suggested that Ancient Egyptians would use the Sphinx in a ritual that reenacted the creation of the Universe. It was performed at dusk, as night was falling upon Egypt. This was considered the time before creation begun, when Hu (the Sphinx) sat silent.
When the signal was given, the sound of the first word of
creation filled the air, as people made the sound they recognized as that breath,
“Hhhhoooooooo.”
This “word,” the Word of God, would be chanted all through the night
symbolizing the night of progressive creating. The final act of the ritual came
at sunrise. As the sun rose out of the East, the last breath of Hu was recognized.
Sri Harold Klemp, Spiritual Leader of Eckankar, notes, “Hu is the ancient name of God, a love song to God. When Soul has heard this sound, Soul yearns to go home.”
Eckankar uses the singing of Hu’s name as a spiritual connection to the Heart of God. They sing the name Hu to draw closer to the Divine Being. For the people who follow this faith, the desires are reported to be love, freedom, wisdom, and truth.
Eckankar teaches, “A spiritual essence, the Light and Sound, connects everyone with the Heart of God. This Light and Sound is the ECK, or Holy Spirit. Direct Aspects of God opens the deep spiritual potential within each of us. The Light and Sound purify, uplift, and direct us on our journey to home.”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead, The Papyrus of Ani, mentions the ceremonies of Hu and Sa. One can only speculate as to the nature of such rituals and ceremonies. Could they be talking about the ancient ritual involving the Sphinx?
Hu may be considered a minor god in some ways, but it’s obvious that Hu was a not-so-minor god to most Ancient Egyptians.