Anat (goddess)
Anat or Anath ("provision", "providence", "heaven's will") is an ancient Egyptian and an ancient Syrian goddess of war, protective goddess against wild animals. In addition to her role as the goddess of war, Anat also acts as the goddess of love. This goddess is probably not originally Egyptian, but was brought to Egypt by immigrants from the Middle East .
Ugarit texts
The mythological texts of Ugarit give us a more accurate picture of this goddess. She is the daughter of the god El and the Asherah (goddess) and is said to be married to her brother Ba'al ; the epidemic god Reshef is also named as her husband. She is the primordial mother from whom the universe and all gods arose. As the goddess of love, she never loses her virginity , although she is the beloved of all gods.
Anat is goddess of life and death at the same time. She can be cruel and bloodthirsty and adorns herself with skulls and the hands of those who have been murdered by her.
Mot , the god of death and drought, had lured her brother Ba'al into the underworld, let him die there and did not give up his corpse either. Thereupon Anat fell furious into the underworld , dismembered Mot with a scythe and scattered his remains over the world; the thereby redeemed Ba'al came back to earth and brought new fertility over the land. The myth is reminiscent of Ishtar and Tammuz .
There are also sources who describe Anat as extremely cruel, saying that she had all of Ba'al's followers slaughtered who did not pray to her .
Anat in Egypt
| Anat in hieroglyphics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| since the New Kingdom |
Anat |
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| transcription | ˁnt | ||||||
The Semitic goddess Anat has been known in Egypt since the Middle Kingdom , but only gained greater importance in the Ramesside period ( 19th dynasty ). From the beginning she appears as a warlike goddess who protects the king, his horses and his chariot . In her essence she shows a great resemblance to Astarte , with whom she is often mentioned together. Contrary to the virginity of Anat, which is envisaged in the Canaanite mythology, she even appears as the suckling mother of the king, since she was not only considered the goddess of victory, but also of fertility. Anat is rarely mentioned in private inscriptions, particularly in several mythological texts such as the quarrel between Horus and Seth .
Bible
Anat is not specifically mentioned in the biblical texts. There may still be allusions to them. In particular, the identification of the “Queen of Heaven” in Jeremiah 7 and 44 with Anat was discussed. In addition, Anat can be found again in the personal name Schamgar ben Anat and possibly in the place names Bet Anat and Anatot .
iconography
Anat is depicted in Egypt with a double pair of wings, two so-called hathor locks , as well as two horns with a sun disk between them. She is depicted with a shield, a battle ax, a spear and a high crown with ostrich feathers (on some depictions also with a helmet and a double pair of wings).
See also
List of Egyptian gods , Ugaritic religion
literature
- Hans Bonnet : Anat. In: Lexicon of the Egyptian religious history. Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6 , p. 37 f.
- Peggy L. Day: Anat: Ugatit's 'Misttess of Animals'. In: K. van der Toorn, B. Becking, Pieter W. van der Horst (eds.): Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. 2., comprehensively revised edition, Brill, Leiden / Boston / Cologne 1999, ISBN 90-04-11119-0 , pp. 36-43; and in: Journal of Near Eastern Studies 1992, Volume 51, Issue 3, pp. 181-190 ( excerpt online ).
- Hans Wilhelm Haussig (Ed.): Gods and Myths of the Indian Subcontinent (= Dictionary of Mythology . Department 1: The ancient civilized peoples. Volume 5). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-12-909850-X , pp. 235-241.
- Joe Heydecker : The Sisters of Venus. The woman in myths and religions. Heyne, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-453-07824-1 .
- Wolfgang Helck : The relations of Egypt to the Middle East in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC Chr. (= Egyptological treatises. Volume 5). 2nd edition, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1971, ISBN 3-447-01298-6 .
Web links
- Izak Cornelius: Anat. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (Hrsg.): The scientific Bibellexikon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff.