Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt

FISH

The OXYRRHYNCHUS (2) was reviled because it ate the
phallus of the god Osiris after his brother, Set, dismem-
bered his body.

INSECTS

The BEEwas a symbol of Lower Egypt. The royal titulary
“King of Upper and Lower Egypt” included the hiero-
glyph for the bee. The SCARABbeetle in its form of Khep-
hri, was considered a theophany of the god Ré. The
image of a beetle pushing a ball of dung reminded the
Egyptians of the rising sun, thus the hieroglyph of a bee-
tle came to mean “to come into being.” The scarab beetle
was one of the most popular artistic images used in
Egypt.

SACRED TREES

The tamarisk, called the asher,was the home of sacred
creatures, and the coffin of the god Osiris was supposedly
made of its wood. The PERSEA, at the site called Shub, was
a sacred mythological tree where Ré rose each morning at
HELIOPOLISand the tree upon which the king’s name was
written at his coronation. The Persea was guarded by the
cat goddess, and in some legends was the home of the
Bennu bird. The ISHEDwas a sacred tree of life upon
which the names and deeds of the kings were written by
the god Thoth and the goddess SESHAT.
The SYCAMORE,nehet,was the abode of the goddess
Hathor and was mentioned in the love songs of the New
Kingdom. According to legends, the LOTUS,seshen,was
the site of the first creation when the god Ré rose from its
heart. The god NEFERTEMwas associated with the lotus as
well. The flower of the lotus became the symbol of begin-
nings. Another tree was the TREE OF HEAVEN, a mystic
symbol.

MYTHICAL ANIMALS

The sagetwas a mythical creature of uncertain composi-
tion, with the front part of a lion and a hawk’s head. Its
tail ended in a lotus flower. A painting of the creature was
found in BENI HASAN, dating to the Middle Kingdom
(2040–1640 B.C.E.).
AMEMAIT, the animal that waited to pounce upon
condemned humans in the JUDGMENT HALLS OF OSIRIS,
had the head of a crocodile, the front paws of a lion, and
the rear end of a hippopotamus. Other legendary animals
were displayed in Egyptian tombs, representing the pecu-
liar nightmares of local regions. One such animal gained
national prominence. This was the TYPHONEAN animal
associated with the god Set, depicted throughout all peri-
ods of Egypt.

Suggested Readings: Armour, Robert A. Gods and Myths
of Ancient Egypt.Cairo: American University of Cairo,
2001; Frankfurter, David. Religion in Roman Egypt.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000; Gah-

lin, Lucia. Egypt: Gods, Myths and Religion.New York:

Lorenz, 2001; Hornung, Erik, and John Baines, transl.

Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the

Many.Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1996; Kong,

S. The Books of Thoth: The Adventure that Unveiled the

Mysteries of Ancient Egypt.Victoria, B.C., Canada: Ever-

green Press Pty. Ltd., 1998; Lesko, B. The Great God-

desses of Egypt.Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,

1999; Meeks, Dimitri. Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods.

Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1996; Quirke,

Stephen. The Cult of Ra: Sun-Worship in Ancient Egypt.

London: Thames and Hudson, 2001; Sauneron, Serge,

and David Lorton, trans. The Priests of Ancient Egypt.

New edition. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press,

2000; Vernus, Pascal. The Gods of Ancient Egypt.New

York: George Braziller, 1998.

God’s Wife of Amun A mysterious and powerful

form of temple service that started in the first years of the

Eighteenth Dynasty (1550–1307 B.C.E.)and lasted until

later eras. Queen ’AHMOSE-NEFERTARI, the consort of

’AHMOSE(r. 1550–1525 B.C.E.), started the office of God’s

Wife when she served as a priestess in the cult of AMUN.

The office had its predecessor in the Middle Kingdom

(2040–1640 B.C.E.) when queens conducted some temple

rites.

HATSHEPSUT(r. 1473–1458 B.C.E.)not only assumed

this role while a queen but as pharaoh groomed her

daughter, NEFERU-RÉ, to perform the same powerful

office. During the time of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the

God’s Wife was one of the chief servants of Amun at

THEBES. A relief at KARNAK depicts such a woman as

destroying the enemies of “the God’s Father,” a male reli-

152 God’s Wife of Amun

The saget,a mythical creature found on a tomb wall in Beni

Hasan and dating to the Twelfth Dynasty.