Early Dynastic Egypt
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Neith clearly remained important during the Second Dynasty, An inscribed stone bowl from the Step Pyramid complex shows the figure of the goddess in front of the serekh of Ninetjer, with an estate of Nebra also named (Lacau and Lauer 1959:14, pl. 16 no. 77). A Second Dynasty princess bore the name Neith-hotep (Lacau and Lauer 1959: pl. 21, no. 112), while a phyle (or more likely, perhaps, its head priest) was called hm Nt, ‘servant of Neith’ (Lacau and Lauer 1959:17, pl. 21 no. 116).
Nekhbet
The name Nekhbet simply means ‘she of Elkab’, and the main cult centre of the goddess was located at this site in southern Upper Egypt. However, from the very beginning of Egyptian history, Nekhbet assumed an additional, national importance as tutelary goddess of the whole of Upper Egypt. Depicted as a vulture, Nekhbet joined the cobra goddess of Buto, Wadjet, to form the Two Ladies’, divine protectresses of the Two Lands. The balance of opposites which Nekhbet and Wadjet embodied led to the inclusion of the Two Ladies’ in the formal titulary of the king, from at least the reign of Semerkhet. The earliest surviving depiction of the Two Ladies’ occurs somewhat earlier, on the celebrated ebony label from the tomb of Neith-hotep at Naqada, dating to the reign of Aha. Rock-cut inscriptions of Qaa near Elkab also show the figure of Nekhbet, and there is a reference to the goddess on the Palermo Stone in regnal year x+14 of Ninetjer. The incorporation of various important local deities (such as Nekhbet, Wadjet and Seth) into early royal titulary and iconography seems to have been one of the means by which the unity of the new state was promoted on a psychological level. It thus forms a key component of the mechanisms of rule developed by Egypt’s Early Dynastic rulers.
Osiris (?)
Although the god Osiris is not attested by name until the Fifth Dynasty Pyramid Texts, the probable antiquity of many of these texts makes it not unlikely that he was recognised at an earlier period, perhaps under the name Khentiamentiu. A central element of the later Osiris myth, the pairing of Horus and Seth, is attested from the middle of the First Dynasty, ‘antedating the first attestations of Osiris by six centuries or more’ (Quirke 1992:61). It may be significant that two ivory objects in the form of the djed-pillar, later one of the emblems associated with Osiris, were found amongst the grave goods in a First Dynasty tomb at Helwan (Saad 1947:27, pl. XIV.b).
Ptah
Later revered as the god of craftsmen, Ptah was always closely associated with the royal capital, Memphis. Manetho records that Menes, the legendary first king of Egypt, built a temple to Ptah at Memphis, but it is possible that a local cult of Ptah existed in the area before the beginning of the First Dynasty. The first definite attestation of Ptah is on a travertine bowl from tomb 231 at Tarkhan, dated to the middle of the First Dynasty, possibly the reign of Den (Petrie et al. 1913:12, 22, pls III.l, XXXVII). The figure of the god in his shrine is accompanied by the name ‘Ptah’, making the identification certain. A sculptor named Peh-en-Ptah is mentioned on a stone vessel from the tomb of Peribsen at Abydos (Amélineau 1905: pl. L.2) and on several similar vessels from the Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara (Lacau and Lauer 1959: pl. 25, nos 140–5).
Ra(?)
An ivory comb of Djet from Abydos shows a pair of outstretched wings and above them a falcon in a bark. This is the first known representation of a deity travelling across the sky in a bark, a common image in later religious iconography (cf. Hornung 1983:227). It
may be assumed that the falcon represents a cosmic deity, and more specifically the sun god ‘since the sun is the principal heavenly body that moves across the heavens’ (Quirke 1992:22). However, in the first two dynasties it is possible that the word r was used to denote the sun as an object rather than the name of a deity. Hence, the name of the Second Dynasty king may be read as Nebra, ‘Lord of the sun’, rather than Raneb, ‘Ra is (my) lord’ (Quirke 1992:22). Otherwise, the earliest depiction of the solar disc in a context where it may symbolise a deity is on a sealing of Peribsen from Abydos. Here, the sun disc appears above the Seth-animal, possibly suggesting an association between the two gods, perhaps even an early example of syncretism (Petrie 1901: pl. XXI.176).
A growing emphasis on Ra as the central deity associated with divine kingship is apparent during the Third Dynasty (cf. Quirke 1992:62). Imhotep, legendary architect of the Step Pyramid complex and chancellor in the reign of Netjerikhet, bore the title wr- m3(w), ‘greatest of seers’, held from the Old Kingdom onwards by the High Priest of Ra at Heliopolis. The construction of a decorated shrine at Heliopolis by Netjerikhet also suggests growing royal interest in the cult centre of Ra. The name of Hesira, a high official of the same reign, seems to indicate that the cult of Ra had already attained some prominence (Wood 1978:15).
Satet (?)
Satet was worshipped from an early period as the local goddess of Elephantine. The early shrine on Elephantine, which dates back to the late Predynastic period, is assumed to have been dedicated to Satet from its foundation. This assumption is made on the basis of evidence from later periods, but cannot be proven. It may be significant that in Utterance 439 (§812) of the Pyramid Texts the king is identified with Satet.
Sed
The fashioning or dedication of a divine image of Sed is recorded on the Palermo Stone in regnal year x+11 of Den. The name of the god is determined by ‘a wolf or wild dog on a divine standard with a protuberance at the foot (the šdšd-device) and a mace across the shaft’ (Brovarski 1984a). Since the same standard is sometimes shown accompanying the king in representations of the Sed-festival, one author suggested a possible connection between the festival and the god (M.A.Murray 1904:34). The same standard is also commonly identified with Wepwawet in later periods. Hence, it is possible that Sed and Wepwawet are the same god, Wepwawet being originally an epithet of Sed but later becoming the main name by which the deity was known (Brovarski 1984a).
Seshat
Seshat was the goddess associated with temple foundation ceremonies – in which record- keeping and measurement were important (Wainwright 1941)—and as such is attested several times in Early Dynastic sources. A temple foundation ceremony involving a priest of Seshat is recorded on the Palermo Stone for year x+7 of Den’s reign. A granite block of Khasekhemwy from the temple area at Hierakonpolis shows the king ‘stretching the cord’, assisted by Seshat (Engelbach 1934). A similar scene appears on a relief block
from the temple of Hathor at Gebelein, dated stylistically to the late Second or early Third Dynasty (W.S.Smith 1949: pl. 30). A fragment of a diorite cup from beneath the Step Pyramid gives a theophorous name which may be compounded with the goddess Seshat (Lacau and Lauer 1959:17, pl. 21 no. 115).
Seth
The local god of Naqada, Seth was closely associated with the king from the period of state formation. The link between Horus and Seth in the person of the reigning king is made explicit in the title borne by First Dynasty queens, ‘she who sees Horus-and-Seth’ (Petrie 1901: pl. XXVII.129). The exotic and probably mythical Seth-animal is first attested on the Scorpion macehead, surmounting one of the divine standards from which lapwings hang. Here, it may symbolise either a provincial deity or an aspect of royal power. The Seth-animal may also be depicted, together with sheep, on a First Dynasty pottery vessel (Habachi 1939:770; te Velde 1967:15). Seth is named on a private stela from a subsidiary grave surrounding the tomb of Djer at Abydos (Petrie 1901: pl. XXVII.96); whilst a First Dynasty travertine bowl purchased in Qena bears a crudely incised inscription mentioning a festival of Seth (Fitzwilliam Museum E.3.1901).
For reasons which remain unclear, Seth attained particular prominence in the late Second Dynasty, temporarily replacing, then joining, Horus as the god atop the royal serekh. The importance of Seth in the reign of Peribsen is also reflected in a sealing of the king from Abydos (Petrie 1901: pl. XXII.190). This refers to a god named ‘the golden one’ or, perhaps more likely, ‘he of Nubt (Naqada)’, the usual epithet of Seth in historic times. Seth seems to have been adopted by Peribsen as his personal deity, and this close connection is emphasised
in the wording of the inscription: ‘He of Nubt has handed over (?) the Two Lands to his son, the dual king Peribsen’. The Horus Sekhemib-Perenmaat (perhaps the same king as the Seth Peribsen) also seems to have expressed a close connection with the god Seth. A stone vessel fragment in the British Museum (BM 52862) shows the lower part of the serekh of Sekhemib-Perenmaat and also the lower part of a divine figure (Spencer 1980:42, pls 24, 26 [cat. 277]). The figure can probably be identified as Seth by a parallel fragment on which the figure of Seth is fully preserved and further identified by the accompanying label, ‘he of Nubt’ (Spencer 1980:42, pl. 26 [cat. 278]). The entries for Peribsen’s predecessor on the main Cairo fragment of the annals apparently included references to Seth, including an estate or temple of the god (hand copy by I.E.S.Edwards in the Library of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Cambridge University). A late Second Dynasty inscribed stone slab from Helwan belonged to a royal priest called Nfr-Stš, ‘Seth is beautiful’ (Saad 1957:51–3, pl. XXX [no. 25]). This is further evidence for the popularity of Seth at the time.
Shu (?)
The name of Shu, a sky deity and a member of the Heliopolitan ennead of gods, was restored by Sethe (W.S.Smith 1949:133–4) from the fragments of a decorated shrine built by Netjerikhet at Heliopolis. Otherwise, Shu is not attested until the Pyramid Texts of the late Fifth Dynasty.
Sobek
The crocodile god Sobek was originally a water and fertility deity, and his principal early cult centre seems to have been in the Fayum (Brovarski 1984b). On a seal-impression from Tarkhan grave 414, dated to the reign of Narmer, a shrine topped by a bucranium is depicted together with crocodiles (Petrie et al. 1913: pl. II.4). A shrine of this form was later associated with the cult centre of Sobek at Medinet el-Fayum (ancient Shedet/Krokodilopolis) and is used in the Pyramid Texts as a determinative for this locality (Brovarski 1984b). The proximity of Tarkhan to the Fayum tends to support the identification, although another crocodile god is later attested from the area of Akhmim (Fischer 1968:4, n. 14); and a shrine surmounted by a bucranium is not peculiar to the Fayum (Brovarski 1984b: n. 7) since it also appears to denote a cult centre at Herakleopolis (Petrie 1901: pl. VII.8). Facing the shrine on the Tarkhan sealing is the figure of a crocodile on a divine perch with two projections issuing from its back. These may be ostrich feathers, a divine attribute in Early Dynastic times (Petrie et al. 1913:22; cf. Petrie 1900: pls XXIX.86, XXX). A fragmentary sealing from subsidiary tomb W33 at Abydos, dating to the reign of Djet, shows several crocodiles, but they are not identified explicitly as representations of Sobek (Petrie 1900: pl. XXXII.40). An inscription on a stone vessel from the Step Pyramid complex refers to hm Sbk, ‘servant of Sobek’ (Lacau and Lauer 1959:17, pl. 22 no. 117), and the same name or title occurs on an incised stone vessel from the tomb of Khasekhemwy (Amélineau 1902: pl. XXII.l). A sealing from the Shunet ez-Zebib also mentions Sobek, though the context is unclear (Newberry 1909: pls XXV, XVIII).
Sokar (?)
Perhaps originally an earth and fertility god, Sokar became a mortuary deity because his cult centre was near the Memphite necropolis (Lurker 1980:113). It is possible that his festival was already celebrated during the First Dynasty, since several sources record a ritual involving a divine bark (see below, under ‘Religious festivals’).
Sopdu
In later periods, Sopdu bears the epithet ‘lord of the east’, and it has been suggested that his cult originated in the Sinai (Godron 1990:163). The festival of Sopdu is recorded in year 7 of Semerkhet, on the main Cairo fragment of the annals. An inscribed stone bowl from Helwan, bearing the serekh of the same king, names Sopdu (Saad 1969: pl. 32). The god is also attested in the early Second Dynasty: a sealing from the tomb of Hetepsekhemwy at Saqqara names a priest (ỉrỉ-h t) of Sopdu, Per-neb. The inscription also mentions the unidentified town of Iput, likely to be a cult centre of Sopdu, probably in the eastern Delta (Maspero 1902:189, type no. 5). Stone vase inscriptions from beneath the step pyramid likewise mention Iput, in conjunction with another priest (hm-n r) called Per-en-ka (Lacau and Lauer 1959:18, pl. 22 nos 121, 122). A third priest of Sopdu is mentioned in a more-or-less contemporary, fragmentary inscription found by Amélineau at Abydos (Weill 1908:196, no. 2; cf. Giveon 1984: 1107). A plumed figure depicted on a wooden label of Den has been identified as Sopdu (Godron 1990:58), though this interpretation has not received general acceptance.
Thoth
The fashioning or dedication of a cult image of an ibis deity—perhaps, though not necessarily, Thoth—is an event attested in three consecutive reigns of the First Dynasty. Year x+3 of the reign of Djer, on the Cairo fragment of the annals, records the dedication of such an image, as does a label of the succeeding king, Djet, from Saqqara (Emery 1954: fig. 105). A fragmentary label of Den from Abydos (Petrie 1900: pl. XIV.12) also seems to record the dedication of an ibis statue. The existence in Predynastic times of an ibis cult is confirmed by the depiction of an ibis standard on at least two late Predynastic palettes (Kaiser 1959:122–5). Thoth certainly plays a significant role in the Pyramid Texts (for example, Utterance 210 [§§126–130]), not least as scribe of the gods.
Wadjet
The Lower Egyptian counterpart to Nekhbet was Wadjet, a cobra goddess whose principal cult centre was at Buto. Utterance 601 (§1671) of the Pyramid Texts associates Wadjet more precisely with Dep, one of the twin cities which comprised ancient Buto. As we have seen, the earliest depiction of the Two Ladies’ is on the ebony label of Aha from Naqada. A sealing of Khasekhemwy from Abydos depicts a female figure holding an ankh in one hand and a large w3 -sign in the other; she has been identified as an anthropomorphic representation of Wadjet (Petrie 1901: pl. XXIII.192).
Wepwawet
The jackal deity Wepwawet was, in later periods, the local god of Asyut, but probably played a more general role in Early Dynastic religion. In contrast to Anubis and Khentiamentiu who are usually depicted as recumbent jackals, Wepwawet is usually portrayed in a standing position (Logan 1990:64). A jackal standard is a common element in Early Dynastic royal iconography, where it is shown accompanying the king in religious rituals, royal processions and military expeditions. Amongst other Early Dynastic depictions of Wepwawet are sealings of Djer from Abydos (Petrie 1901: pl. XV.108, 109), a sealing from the tomb of Merneith (Petrie 1901: pl. XVII.135) and an ivory label of Den from Abydos (Spencer 1980:65, pls 49, 53, 1993:87, fig. 67). A fragmentary sealing from the tomb of Den, on which the king is depicted performing an unidentified ceremony, shows what seems to be the standard of Wepwawet (Petrie 1900: pl. XXXII.39). The standing jackal may originally have been known as Sed, gaining the epithet Wepwawet, ‘opener of the ways’, in the Third Dynasty (F.D.Friedman 1995:5, citing a seal-impression from Beit Khallaf [Garstang 1902: pl. VIII.l]). As the name indicates, Wepwawet ‘opened the ways’ before the king, not only those in life but also the ways to the necropolis (Johnson 1990:53). Wepwawet was ‘leader of the gods’ and is sometimes shown accompanied by the warlike rearing cobra (Johnson 1990:53). One scholar suggested that Wepwawet may have had a particular connection with the first- born son of the king (Frankfort 1948:71), whilst in the Pyramid Texts, Wepwawet appears as a manifestation of the living king (F.D.Friedman 1995:20).
Other unnamed cultic objects attested in the Early Dynastic period
HIPPOPOTAMUS
A sealing of Den from Abydos shows the king wrestling with a hippopotamus (Petrie 1901: pl. VII.5–6), and the ritual harpooning of a hippopotamus is recorded as the salient event of Den’s regnal year x+8 on the Palermo Stone (cf. Millet 1990:58). The apparent prominence of the hippopotamus in Den’s reign is hard to explain, and there is no evidence that the later association between the hippopotamus and Seth was current in the Early Dynastic period. More plausibly, perhaps, the hippopotamus may have represented in more general terms the untamed and aggressive forces of nature which it was the king’s duty, as upholder of the cosmic order, to control and suppress. A large limestone statue of a hippopotamus in Copenhagen (Ny Carlsbe
rg Glyptothek) dates to the Early Dynastic period (Koefoed-Petersen 1951:4, pl. 1). Its size and material suggest that it was a cult statue. A similar stone statue is in the Athens Museum (Cooney and Simpson 1976:203). Both examples emphasise the early importance of hippopotamus cults. Several smaller hippopotamus figurines of glazed composition or pottery have been found in deposits of early votive objects (van Haarlem 1996:34, pl. 2). The hippopotamus is likely to have been viewed with awe in early times because of the threat it posed to fishermen and people crossing the Nile. The dedication of hippopotamus figurines in provincial temples may have been acts of propitiation, designed to guard against such a threat.
PELICAN
One of the cult objects carried in procession on a label of Djer from Saqqara is clearly a pelican (Emery 1938:35, fig. 8, pls 17.A, 18.A, 1961:59, fig. 21). The references to pelicans in the Pyramid Texts may be significant in this regard, emphasising that the bird had a cultic symbolism in early times. No fewer than four separate Utterances (226, 293, 383, 387 [§§226, 435, 671, 680]) refer to ‘the Majesty of the Pelican’. Utterance 254 (§278) mentions two different pelicans: The hnt-pelican will prophesy, the ps t-pelican will go up’. Utterance 318 (§511) states that The pelican is the king’s mother’, suggesting that there may have been a connection between the pelican and the royal cult.
ROYAL PLACENTA (?)
One of the divine standards which frequently accompany the king on early royal monuments apparently shows the (royal) placenta (Seligman and Murray 1911; Blackman 1916:199; Rice 1990:109–10, 271–2). Ethnographic parallels for the worship of the royal placenta have been cited amongst the Baganda people of Uganda; the élite of this tribe are Hamitic in origin, and therefore supposedly share elements of a common Hamitic belief-system with the ancient Egyptians (Seligman and Murray 1911; Blackman 1916).