Renenutet
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Renenutet Rnnwtt The nourishing snake |
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.jpg) Nepret, Renenutet, Hu in the grave of Ramses III. ( KV11 ) |
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Renenutet is a goddess in the mythology of Ancient Egypt . Through its life-sustaining power for food, the thriving of humans and plants, it received a variety of functions.
presentation
Renenutet was represented as a snake, but also in human form with a uraeus snake on the forehead and as a woman's body with a snake's head. Occasionally she appears with the headdress of Hathor and Isis . As the goddess of mother, fate and death, Renenutet generally appears in human form, or with a woman's body and a snake's head.
meaning
She was a nurse goddess who gave man his ka at birth and, together with Mesechenet and Schai, determined his future fate and provided for the child's nourishment. Due to her connection with fate, in the broadest sense of luck and wealth, she merged very early with Ernutet, who personified the rich harvest ( renen = food) and was often identified with the " Utet snake" hiding in the grain . As the goddess of harvest, she was nicknamed "Mistress of the fruiting land" and "Mistress of the barns" and was thus also associated with Osiris . Some depictions also show them with the still small grain god Neper , who was considered the son of Renenutet in his function as god of the dead. Another epithet of the goddess was "The great in magic power" ( Weret Hekau ). A name that was also used by Isis , Sachmet and Hathor , among others .
As the protector of the pharaoh , she was equated with the goddess Wadjet . It symbolized the magical power of the linen dress the Pharaoh wore. Sometimes she was equated with Maat , and at the judgment of the dead Renenutet reported on the lives of the dead. Creator and sun gods as well as the king himself were nicknamed “Lord by Renenutets grace”.
Cult and cult place
Renenutet has been venerated since the 4th dynasty , especially in the Fayyum , which was made fertile in the 12th dynasty . Representations can be found in the temples of Amenemhet III. and Amenemhet IV in Medinet Madi . Places of worship in the 18th dynasty were Abydos , Thebes and Gizeh . In Greco-Roman times , Terenuthis was an important place of worship. After the harvest was brought in, Renenutet received firstfruits and the sacrifices were offered to her in front of a snake-headed or snake-shaped image.
Renenutet with the Greeks
The Greeks gave it the name "Thermuthis". They often took her to be the figure of Isis and also depicted her with a woman's head growing out of a snake's body.
See also
literature
- Mary Barnett : Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt. Gondrom, Bindlach 1998, ISBN 3-8112-1646-5 .
- Hans Bonnet : Renenutet. In: Lexicon of Egyptian Religious History. (RÄRG) Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6 .
- Rolf Felde : Egyptian deities. 2nd expanded and improved edition, R. Felde Eigenverlag, Wiesbaden 1995.
- Lucia Gahlin : Egypt - gods, myths, religions. Edition XXL, Reichelsheim 2001, ISBN 389736-312-7 .
- Veronica Ions : The gods and myths of Egypt (= the great religions of the world - gods, myths and legends ). Neuer Kaiser Verlag - Book and World, Klagenfurt 1988.
- Manfred Lurker : Lexicon of the gods and symbols of the ancient Egyptians. Handbook of the mystical and magical world of Egypt. Special edition, 1st edition, Scherz, Bern / Munich / Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-502-16430-4 .
- Guy Rachet : Lexicon of Ancient Egypt. Patmos-Verlag, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 978-3-491-69049-3 .