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Amentet, Andjeti and Anubis: Three Ancient Egyptian Gods

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Abstract

This paper consists of three monographies, each dealing with one Egyptian god. The gods in question have nothing in particular in common. Amentet (“She from the West”) is a goddess of the West: the realm of the dead. Andjety is a god from the eastern Delta nomes. Anubis is a royal mortuary god. Their being treated here together is purely coincidental. The original plan was to write a series of monographies of 81 Egyptian gods: 9 enneads of 9 gods each. This was the second part of the first ennead.

Figures (14)
IAF III, fig. 319. Reproduced with permission. One very early example of the symbol for the West comes from a cylinder seal from the tir of king Djoser (3° dynasty): It is basically one of the general emblems of divinity or godhead (a falcon on a standard) with a feather added in front. It is here standing on a series of three times the sign for a nome, so this group means: “the western nomes’”. The person to the left is a goddess: we can tell by the Ankh-sign in her hand. Which goddess it is can not be determined though, because there is nothing distinctive in her depiction. When somewhat later the shape of hieroglyphs becomes more formalized, we find the following further evolution of the sign: Meaning and development of the symbol for the West
IAF III, fig. 319. Reproduced with permission. One very early example of the symbol for the West comes from a cylinder seal from the tir of king Djoser (3° dynasty): It is basically one of the general emblems of divinity or godhead (a falcon on a standard) with a feather added in front. It is here standing on a series of three times the sign for a nome, so this group means: “the western nomes’”. The person to the left is a goddess: we can tell by the Ankh-sign in her hand. Which goddess it is can not be determined though, because there is nothing distinctive in her depiction. When somewhat later the shape of hieroglyphs becomes more formalized, we find the following further evolution of the sign: Meaning and development of the symbol for the West
R13 is the oldest one: virtually identical to the one on the cylinder seal. The second form is slightly abbreviated: the standard has been simplified. It has been in use as early as the Pyramid Texts of Unas (last king of the 5" dynasty), where it alternates with R13. R14 is even further abbreviated. The falcon is now left out - which is a great thing, as anyone can testify who ever tried to accurately draw a falcon. This version starts appearing in the 6” dynasty.
R13 is the oldest one: virtually identical to the one on the cylinder seal. The second form is slightly abbreviated: the standard has been simplified. It has been in use as early as the Pyramid Texts of Unas (last king of the 5" dynasty), where it alternates with R13. R14 is even further abbreviated. The falcon is now left out - which is a great thing, as anyone can testify who ever tried to accurately draw a falcon. This version starts appearing in the 6” dynasty.
What does this symbol mean? It will be helpful to examine two related writings: the words for “East”, and for “Nubia”.
What does this symbol mean? It will be helpful to examine two related writings: the words for “East”, and for “Nubia”.
| Magic and Religion in Ancient Egypt. Part Il: 81 gods The shaded row in the middle is not really about gods: it comes from the table on page 11. It is inserted to provide a fuller context with respect to the personifications.
| Magic and Religion in Ancient Egypt. Part Il: 81 gods The shaded row in the middle is not really about gods: it comes from the table on page 11. It is inserted to provide a fuller context with respect to the personifications.
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Perhaps the Upper Egyptian kings of a united Egypt were at first not too excited about the crook as a royal emblem, and therefore only included the flail as one of the Lower Egyptian regalia into their attire - along with the Red Crown. In the meantime, crook & flail as a combination remained in use by Andjety, later to be used by his neighbor Osiris, too. When in the 5" dynasty Osiris became closely associated with the king, the crook could yet pass over into the royal regalia. Until such time, the crook by itself is not in use as honorary symbol: neither with gods, nor king. We should Keep in mind however, that here again the scarcity of pictorial (royal) materials from the 4" and 5" dynasty makes the drawing of conclusions hazardous. Both the rise of Osiris, and the crossing over of the crook into the royal domain, may have occurred earlier than can now he ectahliched.
Perhaps the Upper Egyptian kings of a united Egypt were at first not too excited about the crook as a royal emblem, and therefore only included the flail as one of the Lower Egyptian regalia into their attire - along with the Red Crown. In the meantime, crook & flail as a combination remained in use by Andjety, later to be used by his neighbor Osiris, too. When in the 5" dynasty Osiris became closely associated with the king, the crook could yet pass over into the royal regalia. Until such time, the crook by itself is not in use as honorary symbol: neither with gods, nor king. We should Keep in mind however, that here again the scarcity of pictorial (royal) materials from the 4" and 5" dynasty makes the drawing of conclusions hazardous. Both the rise of Osiris, and the crossing over of the crook into the royal domain, may have occurred earlier than can now he ectahliched.
The Pyramid Texts, being a more or less defined corpus, provide good material for a statistical analysis. In the, Pyramid Texts, Anubis’ name is mentioned 52 times (not counting three in the Supplement’). Including the variant texts, this amounts to a grand total of 87 writings. These are distributed as follows:
The Pyramid Texts, being a more or less defined corpus, provide good material for a statistical analysis. In the, Pyramid Texts, Anubis’ name is mentioned 52 times (not counting three in the Supplement’). Including the variant texts, this amounts to a grand total of 87 writings. These are distributed as follows:
In the Coffin Texts, more phonetic writings start appearing, and orthographic variation increases, as the following examples show: After the Old Kingdom, the jackal with a feather on his back only remains in use as emblem of the 17" Upper Egyptian nome, which is assumed to have been Anubis’ place of origin. It was located in Middle Egypt, about halfway between Memphis to the north, and Hermopolis in the south. The other ideograms all stay in use.
In the Coffin Texts, more phonetic writings start appearing, and orthographic variation increases, as the following examples show: After the Old Kingdom, the jackal with a feather on his back only remains in use as emblem of the 17" Upper Egyptian nome, which is assumed to have been Anubis’ place of origin. It was located in Middle Egypt, about halfway between Memphis to the north, and Hermopolis in the south. The other ideograms all stay in use.
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They all show us a room, with in it the sign for “god”. This sign resembles an axe, but detailed depictions from the Old Kingdom show, that it was a long object, like a staff, wrapped in textile, with a loose flap of cloth at the top. Since this is the most regularly used sign for "god” or “godly”, it must in some way capture the essence of the divine.*’ Perhaps sacred objects were wrapped in cloth to protect them from profane eyes, and / or to allow handling them without either “burning” oneself, or “defiling” the object. But whatever the reason: sacred objects were - in some context - wrapped in cloth. So inversely, wrapping an object in cloth could - provided one used the right rituals - turn an ordinary object into a sacred one, Such a procedure is a reverse-type of magic: mimicking a result, to bring about the cause.° “Them Shawn Danek taaem aw keer OS [UR OU OE Oem 06 peewee ttaAntinnk Optical thnks len.
They all show us a room, with in it the sign for “god”. This sign resembles an axe, but detailed depictions from the Old Kingdom show, that it was a long object, like a staff, wrapped in textile, with a loose flap of cloth at the top. Since this is the most regularly used sign for "god” or “godly”, it must in some way capture the essence of the divine.*’ Perhaps sacred objects were wrapped in cloth to protect them from profane eyes, and / or to allow handling them without either “burning” oneself, or “defiling” the object. But whatever the reason: sacred objects were - in some context - wrapped in cloth. So inversely, wrapping an object in cloth could - provided one used the right rituals - turn an ordinary object into a sacred one, Such a procedure is a reverse-type of magic: mimicking a result, to bring about the cause.° “Them Shawn Danek taaem aw keer OS [UR OU OE Oem 06 peewee ttaAntinnk Optical thnks len.
The word here translated as baldachin is only attested in the PT. Its phonetic value is known from full writings to have been mniw. The Wb. translates as: “art Raumlichkeit” (“type of room / space”). It is usually determined with three pieces of knotted cloth (see the first column in the table below). This gives the impression of a plural, but it is treated as a singular. It may mean that the baldachin was made of a series of pieces of cloth. 104 1380: ...my father Osiris the king, and Anubis of ~ the baldachin raises him. 744: Isis has grasped your hand and she inducts you into the interior of the baldachin. 10%
The word here translated as baldachin is only attested in the PT. Its phonetic value is known from full writings to have been mniw. The Wb. translates as: “art Raumlichkeit” (“type of room / space”). It is usually determined with three pieces of knotted cloth (see the first column in the table below). This gives the impression of a plural, but it is treated as a singular. It may mean that the baldachin was made of a series of pieces of cloth. 104 1380: ...my father Osiris the king, and Anubis of ~ the baldachin raises him. 744: Isis has grasped your hand and she inducts you into the interior of the baldachin. 10%
Occurrences of the recumbent jackal in IAF, Band III.
Occurrences of the recumbent jackal in IAF, Band III.
Two instances of a recumbent jackal in this material are in fact unlikely to represent Anubis (figs. 545 and 637). These combine the jackal with a sign of uncertain meaning, somewhat resembling an elephant’s tusk. This combination of jackal + tusk probably represents an official's title,"'° which means that in these instances, the sign of the jackal (although recumbent) is more likely to stand for “official”. The following table gives the details:
Two instances of a recumbent jackal in this material are in fact unlikely to represent Anubis (figs. 545 and 637). These combine the jackal with a sign of uncertain meaning, somewhat resembling an elephant’s tusk. This combination of jackal + tusk probably represents an official's title,"'° which means that in these instances, the sign of the jackal (although recumbent) is more likely to stand for “official”. The following table gives the details:
IAF, Band III, fig. 315. (The name in the serekh is that of Djoser: Netjerykhet). (Reproduced with permission). The conclusion then is, that the presence of Anubis in the record of the Early Dynastic Period is established beyond reasonable doubt.
IAF, Band III, fig. 315. (The name in the serekh is that of Djoser: Netjerykhet). (Reproduced with permission). The conclusion then is, that the presence of Anubis in the record of the Early Dynastic Period is established beyond reasonable doubt.

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