Menhit
{{Short description|Nubian war goddess}}
{{Distinguish|Mehit}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Nubian
| image = menhit.svg
| hiero =
| god_of = Nubian lioness goddess of war and the Sun
| offspring = Heka
| consort = Khnum
}}
{{Kushite religion}}
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
Menhit {{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɛ|n|ˌ|h|ɪ|t}} (also known as Menhyt, and Menchit) was originally a Nubian lion goddess of war in the Kingdom of Kush, who was regarded as a tutelary and sun goddess. Her name means either "she who sacrifices" or "she who massacres."Farid, Mona; Fekri, Magdi Mohamed; Abd-elaal, Magdi Ismail (Hesham Ezz-eldin). "[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338839333_Archeological_Study_of_Wild_Animals_in_the_New_Kingdom Archeological Study of Wild Animals in the New Kingdom]". University of Sadat. ResearchGate. Retrieved 2023-09-07
History
Believed to have origins as a Nubian goddess, Menhit is always depicted as a lioness with solar disk and a uraeus symbol.{{Cite book |last=Budge |first=E. A. Wallis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G5ZgDwAAQBAJ |title=The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Prayers, Incantations, and Other Texts from the Book of the Dead |date=2018-08-28 |publisher=Crestline Books |isbn=978-0-7603-6443-7 |language=en}} Coffin texts associate her with being a tutelary and solar deity. Some sources identify her as the subject of the "Distant Goddess" myth. In one legend, the Eye of Ra flees from Egypt. Her counterpart, Ra, sends another god to track her down in Nubia, where she transforms into a lioness. When she is returned to Ra, she either becomes or gives birth to Menhit.{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Joshua J. |date=2016-04-14 |title=Egyptian Gods - The Complete List |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/885/egyptian-gods---the-complete-list/ |access-date=2023-09-03 |website=WorldHistory.org}}
She also was believed to advance ahead of the Egyptian armies and cut down their enemies with fiery arrows, similar to other war deities. She was less known to the people as a crown goddess{{Cite book |last=Felde |first=Rolf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=thZFDwAAQBAJ |title=Gottheiten, Pharaonen und Beamte im alten Ägypten |date=2017-12-29 |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |isbn=978-3-7460-4935-9 |pages=34 |language=de}} and was one of the goddesses who represented the protective uraeus on royal crowns.{{Cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Richard H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ozgBOQAACAAJ |title=The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt |date=2017 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-28424-7 |pages=179 |language=en}}
Cults
In the 3rd Nome of Upper Egypt, particularly at Esna, Menhit was said to be the wife of Khnum and the mother of Heka. She was also known to be the mother of Shu.{{Cite book |last=Budge |first=E. A. Wallis |url=http://archive.org/details/Budge.AnEgyptianHieroglyphicDictionary.vol.1 |title=An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary with an Index of English Words, King List and Geological List Vol. 1 |publisher=John Murray |year=1920 |location=London |pages=303–304}} She was also worshipped in Lower Egypt, where she was linked with the goddesses Wadjet and Neith. She became identified with another lioness goddess, Sekhmet.Hans Bonnet: Menhit, in: Lexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte (English: Lexicon of Egyptian History of Religion) p.451f
References
{{reflist}}
Literature
- Rolf Felde: Ägyptische Gottheiten. Wiesbaden 1995
- Hans Bonnet: Lexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte, Hamburg 2000; {{ISBN|3-937872-08-6}}
{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer|collapsed}}{{Kushite religion footer}}{{Egyptian-myth-stub}}