Chenti-irti
| Chenti-irti in hieroglyphics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old empire |
Mechenti- (n) -irti Mḫntj-jrtj |
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| Middle realm |
Chenti-irti Ḫntj-jrtj |
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| or |
Chenti-en-irti Ḫntj- (n) -jrtj |
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| Greco-Roman time |
Mechenti-irti Mḫntj-jrtj |
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Chenti-irti (more complete form Mechenti-irti ) is an ancient Egyptian falcon deity from Chem or Letopolis , the capital of the 2nd Lower Egyptian district . Here he was originally worshiped as Chenti-chem . Chenti-irti was, among other things, the god of healing for the blind and eye-sick, but could also send blindness himself.
Surname
There are different opinions about the meaning of his name. According to Richard H. Wilkinson , the name Chenti-irti could mean "sharp-eyed".
iconography
The representation of the Chenti-irti is very much influenced by its meaning in Egyptian mythology . A special feature of this god is that some depictions show him without a face. The portrayal of a shrew or a person with the head of a shrew, which occurred later in popular religion, also refers to this, since the shrew lives underground and is born blind. Another variant from this period is the representation as an Ichneumon .
mythology
The various legends about the eyes, the so-called eye saga (moon eye and sun eye), are a central point in Egyptian mythology in which many deities are integrated. In one of these legends, it is Chenti-irti - and not Horus - who loses and regains both his eyes. This explains not only his portrayal as an eyeless or shrew, but also as an Ichneumon that lives above ground and has large eyes.
Cult and meaning
Little is known about the cults around Chenti-irti. However, bronzes, mummies and coffins of the Ichneumon and the shrew testify to the worship of this god in many places in Egypt.
It has been documented since the Pyramid Texts (Pyr. 2078). At the time of the Old Kingdom , Chenti-irti in Letopolis (Ausim) was equated with Haroeris , which made him worshiped in Qus and Kom Ombo . On the other hand, he was also considered the son of Re , the goddess Nut , Osiris or Ptah . Chenti-irti was the main god of Letopolis and Athribis .
Chenti-irti was not just a healing god. Initially he was the god of blind harpers and singers and later became the god of all musicians. In the hereafter, this god was the protector of the dead and also acted as a judge.
See also
literature
- Hans Bonnet : Lexicon of the Egyptian religious history. Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6 , pp. 133-134.
- Rolf Felde: Egyptian deities . 2nd expanded and improved edition, R. Felde Eigenverlag, Wiesbaden 1995, p. 13.
- Richard H. Wilkinson : The world of the gods in ancient Egypt. Faith - Power - Mythology. Theiss, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8062-1819-6 , p. 203.