Sem (Egyptian mythology)

Sem in hieroglyphics
Middle realm
New kingdom	Sem Sm
Greco-Roman time	Setem Stm

Sem (also Setem ) is the name of an ancient Egyptian deity of the dead .

background

Old empire until the late period

In the Old Kingdom , Shem was venerated with the title “He should settle down and watch the dead cleanse”. In the Middle Kingdom , the epithet “He brings down his enemies” was added. In addition, Sem is the deity who " introduces the deceased into the eye of Horus " in the Middle and New Kingdom and was equated in the New Kingdom with the deity Hor-Inmutef ("Horus is the pillar of his mother"). In the late period , Sem represented the deity Anubis .

Greco-Roman time

In Greco-Roman times , Shem merged with Thoth and Anubis. He is depicted iconographically as a standing deity wearing a panther skin cloak , the cloak being held by a paw and the name of Sem changed to Setem. As Setem-Thoth "he hands over the house to his master". The title of Wab priest Inpu-Neb-Dun-anwi is documented from this time .

The liturgy describes the production of the panther skin cloak for the priests of Sem (Setem) : the god Seth turned into a panther while fleeing from Thoth and Anubis, who was killed and burned by Anubis. Anubis then made a cloak from the stripped fur of the panther. After Anubis had entered the embalming hall of Osiris with it, the Wab priests marked the panther skin with a brand . The Setem priest spoke the words " Seth is here ".

See also

• Sem-em-iritef
• Semu
• Setem-atef-Usir
• List of Egyptian gods

literature

• Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert : The vision of the statue in the stone. Studies on the ancient Egyptian mouth opening ritual (= Heidelberg Academy of Sciences / Philosophical-Historical Class: Writings of the Philosophical-Historical Class of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences. Vol. 5). Winter, Heidelberg 1998, ISBN 3-8253-0678-X .
• Christian Leitz u. a .: Lexicon of the Egyptian gods and names of gods . Vol. 6 H̱ - s. Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 90-429-1151-4 , p. 306.