Message #119847

[Josie Linde]

she has the head of a lion surmounted by the sun's disk, round which is a uræus; and she generally holds a sceptre, but sometimes a knife.

Bast, according to one legend, was the mother of Nefer-Tmu. She was the personification of the gentle and fructifying heat of the sun, as opposed to that personified by Sekhet. The cat was sacred to Bast, and the goddess is usually depicted cat-headed. The most famous seat of her worship was the city of Bubastis, the modern Tell Basta, in the Delta.

Nefer-Tmu was the son either of Sekhet or Bast, and he personified some form of the sun's heat. He is usually depicted in the form of a man, with a cluster of lotus flowers upon his head, but sometimes he has the head of a lion; in the little faïence figures of him which are so common, he stands upon the back of a lion.[1] He no doubt represents the sun-god in the legend which made him to burst forth from a lotus, for in the pyramid of Unas the king is said to

xaa em, Nefer-Tmu em sessen er sert Ra

Rise like Nefer-Tmu from the lotus (lily) to the nostrils of Ra,"

and to "come forth on the horizon every day."[2]

Neheb-ka is the name of a goddess who is usually represented with the head of a serpent, and with whom the deceased identifies himself.

Sebak a form of Horus the sun-god, must be distinguished from Sebak the companion of Set, the opponent of Osiris; of each of these gods the crocodile was the sacred animal, and for this reason probably the gods themselves were confounded. Sebak-Ra, the lord of Ombos, is usually depicted in human form with the head of a crocodile, surmounted by ###, ###, or ###, or ###.[3]

Amsu or Amsi is one of the most ancient gods of Egypt. He personified the power of generation, or the reproductive force of nature; he was the "father of his own mother," and was identified with "Horus the mighty," or with Horus the avenger of his father Un-nefer or Osiris. The Greeks identified

[1. See Lanzone, op. cit., tav. 147.

2 Recueil de Travaux, iv., t. p. 45 (l. 394).

3. Ibid., op. cit., tav. 353.

4 Also read Min and Khem.]

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him with the god Pan, and called the chief city where his worship was celebrated Khenimis,[l] after one of his names. He is depicted usually in the form of a man standing upon; and he has upon his head the plumes and holds the flail in his right hand, which is raised above his shoulder.[2]

Neb-er-tcher, a name which originally implied the "god of the universe," but which was subsequently given to Osiris, and indicated the god after the completed reconstruction of his body, which had been hacked to pieces by Set.

Un-nefer a name of Osiris in his capacity of god and judge of the dead in the underworld. Some make these words to mean the "good being," and others the "beautiful hare."

Astennu a name given to the god Thoth.

Mert or Mer-sekert the lover of silence," is a name of Isis or Hathor as goddess of the underworld. She is depicted in the form of a woman, having a disk and horns upon her head.[3]

Serq or Selk is a form of the goddess Isis. She is usually depicted in the form of a woman, with a scorpion upon her head; occasionally she appears as a scorpion with a woman's head surmounted by disk and horns.[4]

Ta-urt, the Thoueris of the Greeks, was identified as the wife of Set or Typhon; she is also known under the names Apt and Sheput. Her common titles are "mistress of the gods and "bearer of the gods". She is depicted in the form of a hippopotamus standing on her hind legs, with distended paunch and hanging breasts, and one of her forefeet rests upon ###; sometimes she has the head of a woman, but she always wears the disk, horns, and plumes[4].

Uatchit was a form of Hathor, and was identified with the appearance of the sky in the north when the sun rose. She is either depicted in the form of a woman, having upon her head the crown of the north and a sceptre, around which a serpent is twined, or as a winged uræus wearing the crown of the north.

[1. In Egyptian the town is called Apu.

2. See Lanzone, op. cit., tav. 332.

3. Ibid., tav 124.

4. Ibid., op. cit., tav. 362.]

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