Medjed

The Book of the Dead is made up of a number of individual Ancient Egyptian funerary texts with accompanying illustrations. They are in general written on papyrus and were used from the earliest period of the New Kingdom ({{circa|1550 BCE}}) until around 50 BCE. These texts consist of magic spells, some of which are to grant the dead person mystical knowledge in the afterlife, or to give them control over the world around them through their journey in the Duat, or underworld.Taylor (2010), p. 51–56

Of the Book of the Dead copies that have been found, a limited number reference an obscure entity in spell 17b named "Medjed" (also spelled "Metchet"),Budge (1898), pp. 55–56. which means "The Smiter".Cariddi (2018), p. 197.Kytnarová et al. (2018), pp. 15-19. In an English translation of the Papyrus of Ani, Raymond O. Faulkner renders the portion of the spell referring to Medjed as follows:

{{Blockquote|I know the name of that smiter [i.e., Medjed] among them who belongs to the House of Osiris, who shoots with his eyes, yet is unseen. The sky is encircled with the fiery blast of his mouth and Hāpi makes report, yet he is unseen.Andrews & Faulkner (1985), p. 48.}}

Apart from this short passage, nothing is known about Medjed. Hermann Grapow proposed that Medjed could refer to a star (given that Medjed is said to radiate light and to have a connection with the cyclical flooding of the Nile), but as Ilaria Cariddi notes, the name is never written with a star determinative.Cariddi (2018), p. 203.

According to Ilaria Cariddi, visual representations of Medjed can be found on only nine papyrus scrolls, all of which date to around the time of Egypt's Twenty-first Dynasty (1077{{en dash}}943 BCE).Cariddi (2018), pp. 197{{en dash}}200. These scrolls (of which the Greenfield papyrus is arguably the most well-known){{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=John H.|title=What is a Book of the Dead?|url=http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2010/09/22/what-is-a-book-of-the-dead/#comment-57|publisher=British Museum|date=22 September 2010|access-date=17 April 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417192941/http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2010/09/22/what-is-a-book-of-the-dead/#comment-57|archive-date=17 April 2015}}Salvador (2017), p. 11.Cariddi (2018), pp. 201{{en dash}}202. are as follows:

In these scrolls, Medjed is depicted as a dome with eyes, supported by two human-like feet. A few scrolls also portray the deity with a red knotted belt above or below his eyes.Cariddi (2018), pp. 197, 201. The scholars E. A. Wallis Budge, H. Milde, and Mykola Tarasenko have argued that Medjed's dome-like torso is either a shroud or a "shapeless body" that symbolizes the deity's imperceptible nature,Budge (1912), p. 13.Milde (1991), p. 44.Tarasenko (2012), p. 385. and Cariddi has proposed that Medjed's prominent eyes and legs could signify that he can "see, move and act even though humans cannot perceive him".Cariddi (2018), p. 203. In contrast, Bernard Bruyère and Terence DuQuesne have contended that Medjed is actually a personification of an oil jar, and that his red "belt" is actually a stylized lid fastener.Bruyère (1939, pp. 182{{en dash}}185, 190, 192.DuQuesne (2008), p. 19.

After the Greenfield papyrus illustrations were exhibited in 2012 at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo and the Fukuoka Museum of Art, Medjed became an internet meme on Japanese social media, thanks largely to his "cartoon ghost"-like appearance.Cariddi (2018), p. 204.{{cite news |date=7 August 2015 |title=Meet Medjed, The Egyptian God Who's Big in Japan! |work=Tor.com |url=http://www.tor.com/2015/08/07/medjed-obscure-egyptian-god-is-popular-in-japanese-culture/ |url-status=live |access-date=7 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220014953/https://www.tor.com/2015/08/07/medjed-obscure-egyptian-god-is-popular-in-japanese-culture/ |archive-date=20 December 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Stimson |first1=Eric |date=31 July 2015 |title=The Obscure Egyptian God Medjed and His Bizarre Afterlife on the Japanese Internet |work=Anime News Network |url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-07-31/the-obscure-egyptian-god-medjed-and-his-bizarre-afterlife-on-the-japanese-internet/.91149 |url-status=live |access-date=7 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208113755/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-07-31/the-obscure-egyptian-god-medjed-and-his-bizarre-afterlife-on-the-japanese-internet/.91149 |archive-date=8 December 2020}}Salvador (2017), p. 11. He has since entered into Japanese popular culture and has appeared in video games (e.g., Fate/Grand Order)Salvador (2017), pp. 17–18. and anime (e.g., Kamigami no Ki and Oh, Suddenly Egyptian God).{{Cite web |title=Egyptian God Medjed Stars in New TV Anime Series Starting in November |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-10-25/egyptian-god-medjed-stars-in-new-tv-anime-series-starting-in-november/.108063 |date=25 October 2010 |access-date=13 May 2021 |work=Anime News Network |language=en |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513130717/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-10-25/egyptian-god-medjed-stars-in-new-tv-anime-series-starting-in-november/.108063 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Mateo |first=Alex |date=20 November 2020 |title=Tōtotsu ni Egypt Kami Net Anime Reveals Extended Promo Video, December 7 Premiere |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-11-20/tototsu-ni-egypt-kami-net-anime-reveals-extended-promo-video-december-7-premiere/.166558 |access-date=23 January 2023 |work=Anime News Network |language=en |archive-date=24 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124131728/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-11-20/tototsu-ni-egypt-kami-net-anime-reveals-extended-promo-video-december-7-premiere/.166558 |url-status=live }}

In the 2016 Japanese video game Persona 5, his name is used for a fictional antagonistic hacker group that describe themselves as the "true executors of justice".{{Cite web |last= |last2= |last3= |first3= |last4= |first4= |date=August 16, 2020 |title=August 21 {{endash}} Persona 5 Guide |url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/persona-5/August_21 |access-date=October 28, 2023 |website=IGN |language=en}}

File:Medjed Cairo 95658.png|alt=A vignette from a larger papyrus scroll. On the far right is Medjed, who appears as an oculated dome-like figure, supported by two human-like feet. The entity wears a knotted belt around his waist.|A vignette from the Papyrus Cairo JE 95658 scroll. Medjed is shown on the far left.

File:Medjed Bodmer 100.jpg|alt=A detail of Medjed, taken from a larger papyrus scroll. The entity appears as an oculated dome-like figure, supported by two human-like feet. The entity wears a knotted belt around his forehead.|A detail taken from the Papyrus Bodmer 100 scroll. Medjed is the figure at centre.

File:A depiction of Medjed from Papyrus Bodmer 101. 21st Dynasty.jpg|A detail taken from the Papyrus Bodmer 101 scroll. Medjed is the figure at centre.

File:Greenfield papyrus - sheet 12 - vignettes.png|alt=A vignette from a larger papyrus scroll. On the far left is Medjed, who appears as a dome-like figure with a pair of eyes, supported by two human-like feet.|A vignette from the Greenfield papyrus, sheet 12. Medjed is depicted on far-right, with feet facing both directions.

File:Greenfield papyrus - sheet 76 - vignettes.png|alt=A vignette from a larger papyrus scroll. In the middle is Medjed, who appears as an oculated dome-like figure, supported by two human-like feet.|A vignette from the Greenfield papyrus, sheet 76. Medjed is depicted on centre-left, with both feet facing right.

File:Medjed (Deity).png|A depiction of Medjed based on the Greenfield papyrus.

• {{Commons category-inline}}
• Medjed (fish), also worshipped in ancient Egyptian religion

{{Subject bar|portal1=Religion|portal2=Egypt|portal3=Ancient Egypt}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite book|title= The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead|translator=Raymond O. Faulkner|publisher=University of Texas Press|location=Austin, TX|date=1985|editor=Andrews, Carol|edition=Revised|ref=Faulkner}}
• {{cite book|author=Bruyère, Bernard|title=Rapport sur les fouilles de Deir el Medineh: 1934–1935|year=1939|publisher=Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale|location=Cairo, Egypt|language=fr|ref=Bruyère}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Budge|first1=E. A. Wallis|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofdeadchapte02budg/page/54/mode/2up|title=Book of the Dead: the Chapters of Coming Forth by Day|date=1898 |publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd.|via=The Internet Archive|location=London, England|ref=Budge}}
• {{cite book|author=Budge, E. A. Wallis|title=The Greenfield Papyrus in the British Museum|location=London, England|publisher=British Museum|year=1912|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KI1OAQAAMAAJ|access-date=April 12, 2023|via=Google Books|ref=Budge1912}}
• {{cite book |last1=Cariddi |first1=Ilaria |chapter=Reinventing the Afterlife: The Curious Figure of Medjed in the Book of the Dead |date=2018 |title=Tradition and Transformation in Ancient Egypt |publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences Press |isbn=9783700180050 |editor-last1=Kahlbacher |editor-first1=Andrea |location=Vienna, Austria |pages=197–206 |editor-last2=Priglinger |editor-first2=Elisa|doi=10.2307/j.ctvdf0j5w.15|s2cid=192570521 |ref=Cariddi}}
• {{cite book|author=DuQuesne, Terence|chapter=The Great Goddess and her Companions in Middle Egypt|title=Mythos und Ritual: Festschrift für Jan Assmann zum 70|location=Münster, Germany|publisher=LIT Verlag|date=2008|pages=1–26|editor1-last=Rothöhler|editor1-first=Benedikt|editor2-last=Manisali|editor2-first= Alexander|isbn=9783825811457|ref=DuQuesne}}
• {{cite book |last1=Kytnarová |first1=Katarína Arias |first2=Lucie |last2=Jirásková |first3=Martin |last3=Odler |chapter=Old Kingdom Model and Miniature Vessels from Giza |pages=15–29 |title=Tradition and Transformation in Ancient Egypt |publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences Press |location=Vienna, Austria |isbn=9783700180050 |editor-first1=Andrea |editor-last1=Kahlbacher |editor-first2=Elisa |editor-last2=Priglinger |year=2018 |doi=10.2307/j.ctvdf0j5w.4|s2cid=134211246 |ref=Kytnarová}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|author=Lucarelli, Rita|year=2010|title=Demons (Benevolent and Malevolent)|editor1-last=Wendrich|editor1-first=Willeke|editor2-last=Dieleman|editor2-first=Jacco|editor3-last=Frood|editor3-first=Elizabeth|editor4-last=Baines|editor4-first=John|encyclopedia=UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology|publisher=UCLA Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures|location=Los Angeles, CA|url=http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0025fks3|access-date=5 April 2023|pages=1{{en dash}}10|ref=Lucarelli}}
• {{cite book|title=Vignettes of the Book of the Dead of Neferrenpet|author=Milde, H.|location=Leiden, Netherlands|publisher=The Netherlands Institute for the Near East|date=1991|ref=Milde}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Salvador |first1=Rodrigo |year=2017 |title=Medjed: From Ancient Egypt to Japanese Pop Culture |url=https://www.academia.edu/34232213 |format=PDF |journal=Journal of Geek Studies |volume=4 |pages=10–20 |number=2 |accessdate=December 1, 2022|ref=Salvador}}
• {{cite journal|title=The Vignettes of the Book of the Dead Chapter 17 during the Third Intermediate Period (21st–22nd Dynasties)|author=Tarasenko, Mykola|journal=Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur|date=2012|volume=41|pages=379–394|jstor=41812234 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41812234|access-date=April 12, 2023|ref=Tarasenko}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Taylor|editor-first=John H.|title=Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Journey through the Afterlife|publisher=British Museum Press|location=London, England|date=2010|isbn=9780714119939|ref=Taylor}}
• {{cite book|author=te Velde, Herman|year=1975|chapter=Dämonen|pages=980{{en dash}}984|title=Lexikon der Ägyptologie|volume=I: A {{en dash}} Ernte|editor1-last=von Wolfgang Helck|editor1-first=Herausgegeben|editor2-last=Otto|editor2-first=Eberhard|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|location=Wiesbaden, Germany|ref=te Velde}}

{{refend}}

{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer|collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Internet memes introduced from Japan

Category:Internet memes introduced in the 2010s

Category:Book of the Dead

Category:Egyptian gods

Category:Egyptian death gods