djed-anp-ef-ankh - Tumblr blog

djed-anp-ef-ankh · 3 months

Text

Deity Archives: Kebechet

Also known as: Qeb-hwt, Qebhet, Khebhut, Kebehut, Kebehwet

Image by Hypernosis on DeviantArt; image cropped by me

Depictions

Often depicted as a snake or an ostrich carrying water, or a starry snake; later her depiction became more humanized as a woman with the head of a snake. She is associated with goddesses Ma'at and Nepthys, and as the daughter of Anpu and Anput.

Epithets

Lost Child

Wandering Goddess

Celestial Serpent

Lady of the cooling water

She of the purification by water

Associations

snakes

the color white

space/stars

day/night

cool water

the Nile River

embalming fluid

libation vessels

Areas of Influence/Invoking

compassion

kindness

cleansing/purification

embalming

reincarnation

spirits of the dead

libations

Overview - History and Mythos

Kebechet is the deification of embalming liquid and has her origins in the Pyramid Texts as the serpent who "refreshes and purifies the pharaoh." Her main role was to provide water and care to the spirits waiting for their mummification to be complete. It is also thought that she played a vital role in the reviving of the soul. A passage written by Richard W. Wilkinson, cited by Joshua J. Mark in his article "Qebhet" on the World History Encyclopedia website, reads that she "refreshes and purifies the heart of the deceased monarch with pure water from four nemset jars and that the goddess helped open the 'windows of the sky' to assist the king's resurrection." She is mentioned frequently in the Book of the Dead.

She was originally a serpent deity worshiped along Nile cities, often recognized as the "celestial serpent" that ruled over both day and night, and the Nile. She never had a very large cult following, but her role has been observed in religious holidays that celebrate the living and the dead such as in the Festival of Wadi which took place between harvest time and the Nile flood. It encouraged the living and the dead to commune.

Kebechet is most known to be the daughter of Anpu (Anubis) and his wife Anput, and helps Anpu in his role as the god of embalming by caring for the dead, purifying them, and fortifying the body against corruption. Her symbolic role may have been to comfort the living that their loved ones are cared for even in death, as well as to encourage care and compassion between the living as they would the dead.

She can be called upon for practices of purification of the body and mind, as well as provide gentle care and company for those dearly departed.

Resources

Hart, George (1986), A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

Qebhet - World History Ecyclopedia

Kebechet - Sesh Kemet Egyptian Scribe

#deity archives #kebechet #qebhut #kemeticism #kemetic #kemetism #egyptian mythology #egyptian gods #paganblr #witchblr #paganism #deity worship #deity work

10 notes · View notes

djed-anp-ef-ankh · 3 months

Text

Deity Archives: Khonsu

Also known as: Chons/Khons, Chonsu, Khensu, Khenshu

Different depictions of the moon god Khonsu, image from TheMarySue

Depictions

Khonsu himself is usually depicted as the son of Mut and Amin and shares their major worship center of Thebes. However, there were also other affiliations, and sometimes he'd be claimed as the son of Sobek and Hathor as depicted on the Kom Ombo Temple. Khonsu is also associated with Osiris, Shu, Horus, and Thoth with the latter most often being assimilated with Khonsu. Khonsu typically appears as either a young man with the side lock hair of youth and wearing his lunar headdress, or as a falcon-headed man with a lunar headdress.

Epithets

Embracer

Pathfinder

Defender

Decider of the Lifespan

The one who lives on hearts

Who traverses Egypt in order to rule the two halves in his great name

Pendulum of Heaven

Divider of Months

heart of Ra, Who knows all things

the lion, great in strength

He who makes slaughter of the foes of the wadjet eye

Khonsu the Child

Khonsu the Provider

Spellcaster of Thebes and Chaser of Demons

Associations

hawks

falcons

crescent moons

opals

the color white

baboons

side-lock of youth

Areas of Influence/Invoking

fertility

childbirth

protection against wild animals

protection for nighttime travel

healing

combating against negative spirits and presences

time

Overview - History and Mythos Part 1: The Cannibal Hymn and the Bentresh Stela

Khonsu is considered to be the personification of the moon as it travels across the sky. In the Pyramid Texts' "Cannibal Hymn," he aids the deceased pharaoh in slaying enemies and deities in the underworld to make the pharaoh stronger. It wasn't until the New Kingdom era that Khonsu was recognized as not only a god with this dark aspect of consuming souls, but also as a god of protective positive aspects as well. Such dominions include childbirth and healing ailments, and it is said that Khonsu "causes the crescent moon to shine, to make women conceive, to enable cattle to become fertile, and for all nostrils and throats to be filled with air." He was also often invoked for protection during nighttime travel and for protection against wild animals.

On a stela that was found in Thebes, known as the Bentresh Stela, there is an inscription that tells the story of how Ramses II had married the king of Bakhtan's daughter, Nefrure, as a treaty and diplomatic venture and went on to invoke Khonsu to save his sister-in-law's life while away. In summary, when Ramses II returned to Egypt after this marriage, a messenger was sent to him stating that Nefrure's sister, Bentresh, had fallen ill from a spirit possession. Ramses II then commissioned a statue to be made of a form of Khonsu (either Khonsu the Provider or Khonsu Spellcaster of Thebes and Chaser of Demons). This statue would be sent to his wife and sister-in-law; when received, it was said that Bentresh was instantly cured of this possession.

Translations of the Bentresh Stela heavily imply that Khonsu could not only be presented in multiple forms and faces but that these forms are separate and can interact with one another. The most recognized forms are Khonsu pa-khered (Khonsu the Child), Khonsu pa-ir-sekher (Khonsu the Provider), Khonsu heseb-ahau (Khonsu, Decider of the Lifespan), and Khonsu em-waset Neferhotep (Khonsu in Thebes-Neferhotep). In the stela, the Khonsu that had gone to Bakhtan had accepted the offerings given to him by the king and had stayed there for about a year. However, this form of Khonsu (most likely Khonsu, Spellcaster of Thebes and Chaser of Demons, though other sources say Konhsu the Provider) had eventually gone back to Egypt and kept none of the offerings given to him; rather, he had given the offerings to the Khonsu in Thebes-Neferhotep. It was also shown that, before the visit, Khonsu in Thebes-Neferhotep and Khonsu the Provider conversed by the request of Ramses II and gave the latter Khonsu magical protections as seen here:

"His Majesty then reported to Khons-in-Thebes-Neferhotep, saying: 'Good Lord, I report to you concerning the daughter of the prince of Bakhtan.' Then Khons-in-Thebes-Neferhotep proceeded to Khons-the-Provider, the great god who expels disease demons. Then His Majesty said to Khons-in-Thebes-Neferhotep: 'Good Lord, will you turn your face to Khons-the-Provider, the great god who expels disease demons, making him go to Bakhtan?' A very strongly approving nod. Then His Majesty said: 'Give your magical protection to him, and I will let His Majesty go to Bakhtan to save the daughter of the prince of Bakhtan.' A very strongly approving nod of the head from Khons-in-Thebes-Neferhotep. Then he created magical protection for Khons-the-Provider-in-Thebes four times." -- Except from the Mark-Jan Nederhof translation (2006.)

The Bentresh Stela

Top left: a priest offers incense to a barque carrying a form of Khonsu known as Khonsu-Spellcaster-of-Thebes-and-Chaser-of-Demons. Top right: Ramses II, presents incense to a bargue carrying a form of Khonsu known as "Khonsu-in-Thebes-Neferhotep." Inscription beneath tells the story of Ramses II and the Bakhtan princess.

Karnak, Egypt, 21st Dynasty. Paris, Musee de Louvre, C 284.

It's interesting to note that though this stela tells of Ramses II from the 19th Dynasty, the stela itself dates back to the 21st Dynasty. Thus this inscription is a story that is thought to have happened in the past.

Overview - History and Mythos Part 2: Khonsu's role in Wep Ronpet

A classic mythology concerning Khonsu sees towards his domains as the ruler of time, months, and of the night. The starry goddess, Nut, had become pregnant with her brother Geb, but Ra who feared anyone taking his throne as king of the gods forbade Nut from birthing on any day of the year. Nut then asked for Thoth to help, and so the god of wisdom approached the god of time and of the moon, Khonsu, to gamble on a game of Senet: each time that Khonsu would lose, he would have to give Thoth some moonlight. Thoth, after winning as much as he needed, then crafted the moonlight to form five extra days at the end of the 360-day year. Because these extra five days were not considered to be part of the year, Nut was able to conceive a child on each of those five days. These children were Osiris, Horus the Elder, Isis, Set, and Nepthys. From this story, we have our basis for the holiday Wep Ronpet that some modern Kemetics celebrate sometime in August.

Resources

Ancient Egypt Online - The Temple of Kom Ombo

Ancient History Encyclopedia - Bakhtan Stela

Bentresh Stela translation by Mark-Jan Nederhof

Kemetic Orthodoxy - Khonsu

Neoalexandria - Khonsu

The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt by Richard H. Wilkinson p 113

Plutarch's Moralia (Loeb)/Isis and Osiris. Translated by Babbitt, Frank. p. 12.

#deity archives #Khonsu #egyptian mythology #kemeticism #paganblr #egyptian gods #witchblr

9 notes · View notes