Mafdet

Mafdet in hieroglyphics

Early days

Old empire

Middle realm

New kingdom

Late period

Gr.-Roman time

Mafdet
Mȝfd.t
panther cat

Mafdet is first in the early days of an ancient Egyptian deity in the Duat , in which it as heaven Panther operates.

In connection with it, the illustration on an ancient Egyptian magic knife , exhibited in the British Museum in London , shows the solar and heavenly character of the panther. The phase of the sun's course can be seen on it. The entire composition including the panther head ends in the wings of an unrecognizable being. Egyptologists therefore locate the action in the body of the sky panther.

In the course of ancient Egyptian history , the sky goddess Nut took over the astral functions of the Mafdet. The change in their areas of responsibility becomes visible in their external appearance through the change to a cat- and lion-headed snake deity.

background

Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom

The goddess Mafdet can be seen on stone vessels from the early dynastic period , which probably date from the reign of Den and Semerchet . In a picture from Abydos , she functions as a divine panther , holding a what-scepter in her right paw , which in this arrangement could symbolize a phallus . She stands on a Neb - hieroglyph ; underneath there is an ankh sign in a house . The entire representation alludes to one of her epithets: "Mistress of the house of life " ("Nebet Hut-anch"). Mafdet is also associated with the execution stake, where she eats the heads of executed criminals.

In the Old Kingdom , the goddess is mentioned in the pyramid texts as "Mafdet with the knife in hand" and has the function of a protective goddess of the deceased, who ensures that the snake, as the enemy of the dead, cannot approach. The foot and arm of the deceased are considered to be the foot and arm of the Mafdet, who at that time bore the extended title “The one in the middle of the house of life”. Depictions on “magic knives” of the early Middle Kingdom show Mafdet as a panther cat in her main function of the Old Kingdom, in which she acts as a snake enemy and annihilator of the enemies of the sun god Re . In particular, she appears in association with other deities as the protector of Re in the phase as Chepri shortly after birth.

The claws of the Mafdet symbolize the bone tips of the double tip of the staff. In connection with the panther skin , Mafdet and Seschat are mentioned, since both are the only female deities to wear the insignia of the panther skin.

Middle and New Kingdom

Mafdet in association with Osiris. Anubis acts as the “opener of the ways”.

Changes in the nature of the Mafdet were already recognizable in the late Middle Kingdom, as she changed the passive status of her old function as protective goddess and additionally actively intervened in the cult of the dead . Her new areas of responsibility now include the “union of the members of Osiris ” and the care of the deceased, who from now on feed “on the young animals of the Mafdet”.

Mafdet appears as a panther skin wearer in the context of the embalming by Anubis and the ensuing union with Osiris, since Mafdet also fends off the powers of Seth with the panther skin .

In the New Kingdom , the complete transformation is complete, since Mafdet has now taken on the role of the deceased. Her old task as protective goddess and snake enemy is taken over by the dead himself, who " admonishes the serpent Iaret to stay away from him". In Egyptian mythology , it is she who tears Apophis ' heart out and is worshiped as one of the deities in the “house of life in Heliopolis ”.

Late Period and Greco-Roman Period

With the beginning of the Late Period , Mafdet also embodies Nephthys , while the new male deity of the dead Mafed is documented for the first time as equating the Behedeti . In the Greco-Roman period Mafdet becomes the temple goddess of the sixth and the 18th Lower Egyptian Gaus appointed and will also assume the functions of Menhit and courage .

She thus combines the attributes of the snake goddess Uto and the lion goddess Sachmet . The iconography of the Mafdet, which is now depicted as a lion-headed snake, changes accordingly . Amulets also show her as a cat that protects the deity Horus together with the falcon and lion . In addition, Mafdet appears as the Chronocrat of the 5th Schemu I at the beginning of the Greco-Roman period . About two centuries later she is genealogical in the function of Mafdet-sat-Geb as daughter of Geb and chronocrat of 3rd Schemu III. testified.

Mythological role of the Mafdet

Mafdet as a universal deity

The Egyptologist Wolfhart Westendorf postulated the appearance of the Mafdet in predynastic times as a "universal deity". Based on this foundation, Westendorf sees her as the embodiment of fertility, sexuality and vitality. Mafdet combined these traits as the ideal goddess of the throne, who therefore appears as the king's protective power and ensures the maintenance of his vitality. The properties were later passed on to Hathor , Isis, and Nephthys .

Further investigations in Egyptology cannot confirm Westendorf's statements regarding the functions of the Mafdet in the early period, as no reliable evidence is available to date. There are also no concrete indications for the assumption that the Mafdet lived on in other deities.

Mafdet as the embodiment of the panther

The further statements by Wolfhart Westendorf regarding the connection of the panther fur as a symbol of the Mafdet and their life-sustaining and resuscitating powers find approval in Egyptology. These functions are particularly evident in the titles held by Mafdet.

At the same time Mafdet is the "mistress of the supply of food" and was responsible for the personal well-being of the king. The panther fur cape worn by Mafdet can often be found in dining table scenes and as part of ritual offerings in the form of clothing for the deceased.

Worth mentioning

In 1988 a computer game with the goddess as the main character ( Mafdet and the Book of the Dead ) appeared for the Amiga and Atari ST computer systems .

literature

Hans Bonnet : Mafdet. In: Lexicon of Egyptian Religious History. Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6 , pp. 434f.
Wolfgang Helck , Eberhard Otto : Mafdet. In: Small Lexicon of Egyptology. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-447-04027-0 , p. 177.
Andrew Hunt Gordon, Calvin W. Schwabe: The Quick and the Dead: Biomedical Theory in ancient Egypt (= Egyptological Memoirs. Volume 4). Brill, Leiden 2004, ISBN 90-04-12391-1 .
Frank Kammerzell : Panther, lion and language development in the Neolithic: Comments on the etymology of the Egyptian theonym Mafdet, on the formation of some predatory animal names in Egyptian and on individual big cat names in Indo-European languages. Dedicated to Wolfhart Westendorf on his seventieth birthday. Seminar for Egyptology and Coptic Studies, Göttingen 1994.
Christian Leitz u. a .: Lexicon of the Egyptian gods and names of gods . Volume 3: P - nbw. Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 2-87723-646-3 , pp. 235-236.
Erhart Graefe , in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie. Volume 3, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1981, columns 1132-1133, with further literature.
Wolfhart Westendorf : The panther cat Mafdet. In: Journal of the German Oriental Society. No. 118, Leipzig 1968, ISSN 0341-0137 , pp. 248-256.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Hartwig Altmüller: The Apotropaia and the gods of Middle Egypt: A typological and religious historical investigation of the so-called "magic knives" of the Middle Kingdom. Part 2: Catalog. Dissertation, University of Munich, 1965, pp. 58–59.
^ ^A ^b Andrew Hunt Gordon. The Quick And The Dead: Biomedical Theory In Ancient Egypt. Leiden 2004, p. 158 → Mafdet as mistress of the life house ( on Google books ).
↑ Hartwig Altmüller: The Apotropaia and the gods of Middle Egypt: A typological and religious-historical investigation of the so-called "magic knives" of the Middle Kingdom, part 1 . Munich 1965, pp. 168 and 178-179.
↑ Wolfhart Westendorf: Ancient Egyptian depictions of the course of the sun on the sloping celestial path . Hessling, Berlin 1966, pp. VII – IX, 12–13 and 54.
^ Hans Bonnet: Lexicon of the Egyptian religious history. Hamburg 2000, p. 581.

[H1-1] Hartwig Altmüller: The Apotropaia and the gods of Middle Egypt: A typological and religious historical investigation of the so-called "magic knives" of the Middle Kingdom. Part 2: Catalog. Dissertation, University of Munich, 1965, pp. 58–59.

[Gordon,_The_Quick_And_The_Dead,_S._158-2] A ^b Andrew Hunt Gordon. The Quick And The Dead: Biomedical Theory In Ancient Egypt. Leiden 2004, p. 158 → Mafdet as mistress of the life house ( on Google books ).

[3] Hartwig Altmüller: The Apotropaia and the gods of Middle Egypt: A typological and religious-historical investigation of the so-called "magic knives" of the Middle Kingdom, part 1 . Munich 1965, pp. 168 and 178-179.

[4] Wolfhart Westendorf: Ancient Egyptian depictions of the course of the sun on the sloping celestial path . Hessling, Berlin 1966, pp. VII – IX, 12–13 and 54.

[5] Hans Bonnet: Lexicon of the Egyptian religious history. Hamburg 2000, p. 581.