KHONSU
The ancient African lunar deity, Khonsu, was the
divine child of Amen-Ra and Mut during the new
kingdom. He was the son of Het-Heru and Sobek
at Kom Ombo and was revered as the spirit of
light in the night sky. He was associated with the
placenta of the per-aa (pharaoh). Ancient Africans
wrote about Khonsu in the earliest Pyramid and
coffin texts as the aggressive spirit who aligned
himself with the deceased king to put down ene-
mies in the Underworld, devouring their life force
to absorb their strength for the benefit and protec-
tion of the King.
During the middle kingdom, Khonsu replaced
the aggressive god of War Montu as the son of
Mut in Theban theology. The root of his name
Khnsdenotes to travel, move about, crossover,
or run. It derives from two roots:kh(placenta)
andnesu(king), representing the royal placenta.
His name is associated with the Moon and
means the wanderer, adventurer, embracer, and
pathfinder. As Khonsu nefer-hotep, he is a beau-
tifully satisfied pathfinder. His name meant
defender because he possessed absolute power
over evil spirits.
Ancient Africans believed that when Khonsu
caused the moon to shine, women conceived, cat-
tle became fertile, and the nose, throat, and lungs
filled with fresh air. At Waset, also called Thebes,
the main center of his veneration, he was associ-
ated with the termination, healing, extension, and
regeneration of life. Africans knew him as the
protector and provider in Theban times, often
invoked to increase male virility and aid with
healing.
A story goes that Ramesses III fell in love with
a prince’s daughter while on tour in Syria. He
married her and returned to Kemet with her as his
Great Royal Wife Neferure. He received word
later that his wife’s younger sister had fallen ill.
He consulted Khonsu in Thebes, known then as
the place of beauty and peace. Khonsu responded
by sending a representation of himself as Pa-ir
sekher—the one who heals and drives out omens.
Ramesses, then, sent the Khonsu form on a
17-month trek to Bakhtan to the aid of his wife’s
sister, resulting in her recovery.
The Prince of Bakhtan, however, retained the
statue for 3 more years. The prince subsequently
experienced a crisis of conscience after having a
dream of Khonsu flying away as a golden falcon.
Feeling ashamed, the prince gratefully returned
the statue of Khonsu in Thebes adorned in trea-
sures. Thereafter, Africans revered Khonsu as the
god who could perform mighty deeds and mira-
cles, vanquish the demons of darkness, and influ-
ence the gestation of humans and animals.Khonsura A. WilsonSeealsoAmenFurtherReadings
Armour, R. A. (2001).Gods and Myths of Ancient
Egypt. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo
Press.
Hart, G. (2005).The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian
Gods and Goddesses.London, New York: Routledge.
Wilkinson, R. H. (2003).The Complete Gods and
Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. New York: Thames &
Hudson.KIMBUNDU
The Kimbundu are a historic ethnic group found
in the country of Angola. European colonialists
often called them the North Mbundu; however,
they prefer the termKimbundu. Their area of con-
centration is across a wide swath of the Angolan
provinces of Malanga, Cuanza Norte, Bengo,
Cuanza Sul, and Luanda. Known for their highly
developed sense of culture, the Kimbundu believe
in exercising all efforts to maintain community.
According to their oral traditions, the Kimbundu
have been in the same area for more than 2,000
years. There are some reports that they migrated to
this area during the 1400s, but this latter conclu-
sion is probably a result of their interaction with
the Portuguese. In other words, because the
Portuguese met them in their current territory, they
assumed that the Kimbundu had to have come
from somewhere else because the Europeans had
developed an elaborate argument around AfricanKimbundu 363