and was therefore looked on as one who could
grant to the per-aa (pharaoh) or ordinary men the
power to father children.
Fertility was at the heart of the Sed Festival (the
Jubilee), where the per-aa had to demonstrate his
vigor and vitality by running around a course set
out by the priests, with different types of objects
in his hands, on his back, or on his head to be
symbolically rejuvenated. “Long live the per-aa”
was first spoken in Kemet by those who sought
the blessings of the god of fertility, Min, who
presided over the event. There are representations
of the per-aa watering the fields, hoeing the Earth,
and tending the crops while the patron god of fer-
tility looked on. Scenes representing Min in his
role as the deity of fertility in charge of the Min
festival can be seen on the walls of tombs. A spe-
cial fertility festival called the Min Festival was
held each year, where the per-aa participated as
the one who reaped the grain. Usually when an
heir was born, the Egyptians would have a festival
dedicated to the deity Min.
Min was originally an agricultural deity, as can
be seen in the paintings on the walls of Medinet
Habu, where Ramses III is presented as one cut-
ting a sheaf of wheat for the Festival of Min. The
association of fertility with agriculture and with
reproduction, however, is quite old. In fact, a vir-
gin was sometimes spoken of as one whose field
had been unplowed. It should also be noted that
Min was painted black in his representations as
the deity of fertility.
Min was usually represented in the Egyptian
writing as a barbed arrow or thunderbolt. A
palette from the Gerzean era called the Min
Palette shows an image of a double-ended arrow
on a hook. An ivory statuette of a human being
with an erect penis was another early example of
the deity from the El Amrah area of Egypt.
Actually, there are many representatives of Min
as a mummiform man standing with both legs
together and an arm raised holding a flail and
wearing the twin plumes of Amen. The Scorpion
King, the predynastic ruler, may have worshipped
the deity Min at the cult center at Gebtu (Koptos).
Later one discovers Min being associated with the
cult center at Akhmim (Panopolis).
During the New Kingdom Era from the 14th
to the 21st dynasties, Min was portrayed as the
Bull of the Great Phallus. Thus, Min as the deity
of fertility and sexuality extended throughout
most of the dynastic history of Egypt.Molefi Kete AsanteSeealsoFertilityFurther Readings
Erman, A. (1971).Life in Ancient Egypt. New York:
Dover.
Grimal, N. (1992).A History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford,
UK: Blackwell.MONTU
The ancient Egyptian god Montu was the chief god
of Waset, called Thebes by the Greeks (modern
Luxor); he appeared as early as the Middle Kingdom
(11th dynasty). The most significant literary evidence
referring to Montu was “the story of Sinuhe,” when
he was praised by the tale’s hero after he defeated
“the strong man.” His name was associated with the
name of the founder of this dynasty, Mentuhotep II,
whose name means “god Montu is in peace.”
King Mentuhotep II, who was from Waset, suc-
ceeded in unifying both Upper and Lower Egypt after
a period of chaos known as the First Intermediate
period. Upon ascending the throne, he moved the
capital from Middle Egypt to Waset, and he chose the
local god of the area by that time, Montu, as the chief
god. The position of the god Montu as a supreme god
did not last for a long period because the god Amen,
who originated as well in Upper Egypt, started to gain
more power in the 12th dynasty, a process that would
culminate with Amen being known later on as “the
king of all gods.”
Nevertheless, Montu had temples in four differ-
ent places in the Theban area: Armant (southwest
of modern Luxor on the western bank of the
Nile), Medamud (northeast of modern Luxor),
Tod (southwest of modern Luxor, on the eastern
bank of the Nile), and Karnak (northeast of
modern luxor, adjacent to the northern side of the
great temple of Amun Amen).
Montu was the god of war, and his traditional
form was the human body with the head of a fal-
con surmounted by the solar disc and two plumesMontu 425