Nau (Egyptian mythology)
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Nau / Nauti Nḥw / Nḥwtj The smooth |
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Nau (also Nauti ) has been documented in ancient Egypt as the god of the dead since the Old Kingdom . However, the mythological connections go back to the Früdynastik . Iconographically , Nau is depicted as a snake-headed god crouching or with a sun disk on his head, as well as in the shape of an anubis .
Mythological connections
Old to Middle Kingdom
In the pyramid texts Nau is described as the pioneer of the deceased king on his ascent into heaven , whereby the king is equated with Nau as "bull of the groove " and "bull of Nehebkau ".
In the Middle Kingdom , Nau is also referred to as the "bull of the judges' tribunal " and "bull of the nine ". Its seven cervical vertebrae were created by swallowing the seven king snakes , which is why it is also called "the one raised in the middle of the fire house". Occasionally Nau attacks the sun god Re with bites, whereupon he defends himself and "bites back". His seat is above the "elevations of the Shu near the snake goddess Nauet , who Atum put in this place". In addition, Nau appears as Neheb-kau and grandson of Schu and son of Geb and Serket-Hetit . As parts of the body of the deceased, Nau represents the fingers. In addition, he bears the title “the traveler”.
New Kingdom to Greco-Roman times
In the New Kingdom, Nau merges with the deities Hefau , Iarti and Scheseri . He is the God to whom the heads and hearts of the enemy are transferred. The divine serpent of life is addressed by Re on his behalf. Since the 21st Dynasty , Nau has been mentioned on steles in connection with Horus , although the mythological roots of this equation in connection with the Neheb-kau festival go back to the Old Kingdom.
With the beginning of the Late Period , Nau has been proven to be the god of the 22nd lunar day . In the Greco-Roman times, Nau was one of the eight patron gods of the Abaton . His place of worship is the Upper Egyptian two-falcon district of Seth and Min , where he is considered the protector of Osiris and Horus.
See also
literature
- Christian Leitz u. a .: LGG , Vol. 3 . Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 90-429-1148-4 , pp. 530-533.
Individual evidence
- ↑ PT 225a, 230d, 233a , 422d , 511a and 686c .