Akhekh
{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian Mythical creature}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
| Country = Ancient Egypt
| name = Akhekh
| image = Magical Stela (Cippus of Horus) MET EG546 (cropped).jpg
| caption = An Akhekh pulling an archer's chariot over two crocodiles on the Metternich stele
}}
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
The Akhekh (also transliterated as Akekhu) is a legendary creature or dragon in Egyptian mythology and art.{{Cite web |last=abookofcreatures |date=2021-02-01 |title=Akhekh |url=https://abookofcreatures.com/2021/02/01/akhekh/ |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=A Book of Creatures |language=en}}
Etymology
The name comes from kkw, the Egyptian word for darkness.
Appearance
All descriptions of the creature have it as a quadruped with bird's wings, though different sources diverge: one description is that of an Oryx with a bird's wings and beak as well as serpent's tail,{{Cite book |last=Budge |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203040713 |title=Gods Of The Egyptians - 2 Vols |date=2013-10-28 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9780203040713 |isbn=978-0-203-04071-3}} while French archaeologist Paul Pierret gave it in a book of his as a winged lion akin to the griffin of European mythology.{{Cite journal |last=Gosselin |first=Guy |date=1989 |title=Guillen, Pierre. L'expansion (1881-1898). Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, Coll. « Politique étrangère de la France 1871-1969 », 1985, 525 p. Duroselle, Jean-Baptiste. La décandence (1932-1939). Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, Coll. « Politique étrangère de la France 1871-1969 », 1985, 571 p. Duroselle, Jean-Baptiste. L'abîme (1939-1944). Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, Coll. « Politique étrangère de la France 1871-1969 », 1986, 615 p. |journal=Études internationales |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=480 |doi=10.7202/702530ar |issn=0014-2123|doi-access=free }}{{Cite web |date=2019-03-24 |title=Akhekh |url=https://dragondreaming.wordpress.com/2019/03/24/akhekh/ |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=Dragon Dreaming |language=en}} Ancient egyptian myth writes of the Akhekh living in the deserts west of the Nile.{{citation needed|date= November 2023}}
Role
The Akhekh was associated with the god Set, as well as his domains of darkness, the western desert, chaos, and water. Much like the Sha, it was either an ally of the god or an incarnation of Set. It also symbolised power and strength of the pharaoh during wartime, such as Ramesses II being compared to the Akhekh as he conqeured the Hittites and terrorised them. The Metternich stele in particular depicts an Akhekh pulling an archer's chariot over two crocodiles.
See also
References
{{reflist}}{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer}}