2 A bronze of the Saïte period, from the Posno collection,
and now in the Louvre; drawn by Faucher-Gudin. The god is
represented as upholding a libation vase with both hands,
and pouring the life-giving water upon the king, standing,
or prostrate, before him. In performing this ceremony, he
was always assisted by another god, generally by Sit,
sometimes by Thot or Anubis.
The latter were numerous. Sometimes, as in the case of Harkhobi, Horus of Khobiû,[*] a geographical qualification was appended to the generic term of Horus, while specific names, almost invariably derived from the parts which they were supposed to play, were borne by others. The sky-god worshipped at Thinis in Upper Egypt, at Zarît and at Sebennytos in Lower Egypt, was called Anhuri. When he assumed the attributes of Râ, and took upon himself the solar nature, his name was interpreted as denoting the conqueror of the sky. He was essentially combative. Crowned with a group of upright plumes, his spear raised and ever ready to strike the foe, he advanced along the firmament and triumphantly traversed it day by day.[**] The sun-god who at Medamôfc Taûd and Erment had preceded Amon as ruler of the Theban plain, was also a warrior, and his name of Montû had reference to his method of fighting. He was depicted as brandishing a curved sword and cutting off the heads of his adversaries.[***]
* Harkhobi, Harâmkhobiû is the Horus of the marshes
(khobiû) of the Delta, the lesser Horus the son of Isis,
who was also made into the son of Osiris.
** The right reading of the name was given as far back as
Lepsius. The part played by the god, and the nature of the
link connecting him with Shû, have been explained by
Maspero. The Greeks transcribed his name Onouris, and
identified him with Ares.
*** Montû preceded Amon as god of the land between Kûs and
Gebelên, and he recovered his old position in the Græco-
Roman period after the destruction of Thebes. Most
Egyptologists, and finally Brugsch, made him into a
secondary form of Amon, which is contrary to what we know of
the history of the province. Just as Onû of the south
(Erment) preceded Thebes as the most important town in that
district, so Montû had been its most honoured god. Heer
Wiedemann thinks the name related to that of Amon and
derived from it, with the addition of the final tû.
Each of the feudal gods naturally cherished pretensions to universal dominion, and proclaimed himself the suzerain, the father of all the gods, as the local prince was the suzerain, the father of all men; but the effective suzerainty of god or prince really ended where that of his peers ruling over the adjacent nomes began.
The goddesses shared in the exercise of supreme power, and had the same right of inheritance and possession as regards sovereignty that women had in human law.[*] Isis was entitled lady and mistress at Bûto, as Hâthor was at Denderah, and as Nit at Sais, "the firstborn, when as yet there had been no birth." They enjoyed in their cities the same honours as the male gods in theirs; as the latter were kings, so were they queens, and all bowed down before them. The animal gods, whether entirely in the form of beasts, or having human bodies attached to animal heads, shared omnipotence with those in human form. Horus of Hibonû swooped down upon the back of a gazelle like a hunting hawk, Hâthor of Denderah was a cow, Bastit of Bubastis was a cat or a tigress, while Nekhabit of El Kab was a great bald-headed vulture.[**] Hermopolis worshipped the ibis and cynocephalus of Thot; Oxyrrhynchus the mor-myrus fish;[***] and Ombos and the Fayûm a crocodile, under the name of Sobkû,[****] sometimes with the epithet of Azaï, the brigand.[v]
* In attempts at reconstituting Egyptian religions, no
adequate weight has hitherto been given to the equality of
gods and goddesses, a fact to which attention was first
called by Maspeeo (Études de Mythologie et d'Archéologie
Égyptiennes, vol. ii. p. 253, et seq.).
** Nekhabît, the goddess of the south, is the vulture, so
often represented in scenes of war or sacrifice, who hovers
over the head of the Pharaohs. She is also shown as a
vulture-headed woman.
*** We have this on the testimony of classic writers,
Steabo, book xvii. p. 812, De Iside et Csiride, § vii.,
1872, Paethey's edition, pp. 9, 30, 128. ^Elianus, Hist,
anim., book x. § 46.
**** Sobhû, Sovkû is the animal's name, and the exact
translation of Sovû would be crocodile-god. Its Greek
transcription is [ ]. On account of the assonance of the
names he was sometimes confounded with Sivû, Sibû by the
Egyptians themselves, and thus obtained the titles of that
god. This was especially the case at the time when Sit
having been proscribed, Sovkû the crocodile, who was
connected with Sit, shared his evil reputation, and
endeavoured to disguise his name or true character as much
as possible.
v Azaï is generally considered to be the Osiris of the
Fayûm, but he was only transformed into Osiris, and that by
the most daring process of assimilation. His full name
defines him as Osiri Azaï hi halt To-sit (Osiris the
Brigand, who is in the Fayûm), that is to say, as Sovkû
identified with Osiris.