Meretseger
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Infobox deity
Meretseger (also known as Mersegrit<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>' or Mertseger) was a Theban cobra-goddess in ancient Egyptian religion,<ref>Pinch 2004, p. 164.</ref> in charge with guarding and protecting the vast Theban Necropolis — on the west bank of the Nile, in front of Thebes — and especially the heavily guarded Valley of the Kings.<ref name=":2">Hart 1986, pp. 119–120.</ref><ref name=":0">Wilkinson 2003, p. 224.</ref><ref name=":1" /> Her cult was typical of the New Kingdom of Egypt (1550–1070 BC).<ref name="Hart 1986, p. 120">Hart 1986, p. 120.</ref>
Role and characteristicsEdit
Template:Ancient Egyptian religion Meretseger's name means "She Who Loves Silence",<ref name=":3">The British Museum Book of Ancient Egypt (2007), London: The British Museum Press. Template:ISBN. p. 104.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in reference to the silence of the desert cemetery area she kept<ref name=":5"/> or, according to another interpretation, "Beloved of Him Who Makes Silence (Osiris)".<ref name=":4">Ions 1973, pp. 116, 118.</ref>
Meretseger was the patron of the artisans and workers of the village of Deir el-Medina, who built and decorated the great royal and noble tombs.<ref name=":3" /> Desecrations of rich royal burials were already in progress from the Old Kingdom of Egypt (27th/22nd century BC), sometimes by the workers themselves: the genesis of Meretseger was the spontaneous need to identify a guardian goddess, both dangerous and merciful,<ref name=":5">Hart 1986, p. 119.</ref> of the tombs of sovereigns and aristocrats. Her cult, also present in Esna (near Luxor), reached its peak during the 18th Dynasty. A royal wife of the Middle Kingdom pharaoh Senusret III (c. 1878–1839 BC) was called Meretseger; she was the first to bear the title Great Royal Wife (which became the standard title for chief wives of Pharaohs) and the first whose name was written in a cartouche: however, as there are no contemporary sources relating to the Great Royal Wife Meretseger, this homonym of the goddess is most likely a creation of the New Kingdom.<ref>Dodson, Aidan & Dyan, Hilton (2004), The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson, Template:ISBN. pp. 26–7.</ref>
The goddess Meretseger was worshiped by the workers' guild, who feared her wrath very much. Being a local deity, only small rock temples were dedicated to her (such as the one located on the path leading to the Valley of the Queens) and some stelae with prayers and poignant requests for forgiveness,<ref name=":0" /> as well as various cappelletti right at the foot of the hill dedicated to her — which was her embodiment too.<ref name=":1" /> She was sometimes associated with Hathor: even the latter was considered a protector of the graves in her funerary aspects of "Lady Of The West" and "Lady Of The Necropolis" who opened the gates of the underworld.<ref>Hart 1986, pp. 78–9.</ref><ref>Pinch 2004, p. 139.</ref> Her close association with the Valley of the Kings prevented her becoming anything more than a local deity, and when the valley ceased being in use (and Thebes was abandoned as a capital), so she also ceased being worshipped (11th/10th century BC).<ref name="Hart 1986, p. 120"/>
Meretseger's hillEdit
Template:Further Meretseger was especially associated with the hill now called el Qurn "The Horn" (Template:Langx "The Peak"<ref name=":0" />), a natural peak, the highest point (420 m) in the Theban Hills, which dramatically overlooks the Valley of the Kings.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> It has an almost pyramidal shape when viewed from the entrance to the Valley of the Kings, and therefore some Egyptologists believe it may have been the reason for choosing the location as a royal necropolis. El Qurn, also believed to be one of the entrances to the Duat (underworld),<ref>Pinch 2004, p. 200.</ref> was sacred to both Meretseger and Hathor, but the former was considered its real personification.<ref name=":1" /> For this reason, two of Meretseger's many epithets were "Peak of the West" (Dehent-Imentet)<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> and "Lady Of The Peak".<ref name=":8">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Many small stelae created by artisans and workers have been found as evidence of devotion to their favorite deities: in addition to Meretseger, Ptah,<ref name=":7">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Amun,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hathor,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Thoth<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the deified pharaoh Amenhotep I (c. 1525–1504 BC), whose cult was very popular in Deir el-Medina.<ref>Bleiberg, Edward. "Amenhotep I," The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Ed. Donald Redford. Vol. 1, p. 71. Oxford University Press, 2001.</ref>
Stela of NeferabuEdit
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It was believed that Meretseger punished the workers who committed a sacrilege (by stealing something from the royal graves or the building sites — copper instruments were particularly precious — as well as those who failed in an oath) poisoning them with her bite.<ref name=":6">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> But she was also considered generous in forgiving those who repented to her and, in this case, would heal him from physical evil.<ref name=":6" /> This is the case of the draftsman Neferabu, who would have been cured of blindness after having begged Meretseger, as he himself was able to attest on a limestone stela (Museo egizio, Turin) dedicated to her:<ref name=":1">Lichtheim, Miriam (1976). Ancient Egyptian Literature. Volume II: The New Kingdom, Los Angeles: University of California Press, Template:ISBN. pp. 107–9.</ref>Template:QuoteIn relation to the Egyptians with their divinities, the concepts of sin, repentance and forgiveness were very unusual; these characteristics of Meretseger's cult appear to be a unicum.<ref name=":6" />
Rock shrine in Deir el-MedinaEdit
Meretseger's rock shrine in Deir el-Medina was formed by a series of caves placed in a semicircle, whose vaults however collapsed due to earthquakes, and on the outer walls still retains many steles, while a large number of fragments have been inventoried and distributed to various museums. It was also dedicated to the most revered Ptah, god of craftsmen and artisans. Overlying the temple there is a rock with the shape of a snake's head.<ref name=":6" /> The large amount of material found confirms that the temple was very popular and famous — locally.
IconographyEdit
Meretseger was sometimes portrayed as a cobra-headed woman, though this iconography is rather rare:<ref name=":6" /> in this case she could hold the was-sceptre<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as well as having her head surmounted by a feather and being armed with two knives.<ref name=":8" /> More commonly, she was depicted as a woman-headed snake or scorpion,<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a cobra-headed sphinx, lion-headed cobra or three-headed (woman, snake and vulture) cobra.<ref name=":6" /> On various steles, she wears a modius surmounted by the solar disk and by two feathers, or the hathoric crown (the solar disk between two bovine horns).<ref name=":8" /> Her main artistic depictions are inside lavish royal tombs, for example:
- the tomb (TT56) of Userhat, "Scribe who Counts the Bread for Upper And Lower Egypt" under Pharaoh Amenhotep II (1427–1401 BC), where she appears with Montu;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- the tomb (KV14) of Queen Twosret (c. 1191–1189 BC) and Pharaoh Setnakhte (c. 1189–1186 BC), where she appears genuflected;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- the tomb (KV9) of Pharaoh Ramesses VI (c. 1144–1136 BC), where she appears, along with Khonsu, Amun-ra, Ptah-Sokar and Ra-Horakhty, receiving offerings by the King himself;<ref>Richardson, Dan (2013), The Rough Guide to Egypt, London: Rough Guides. Template:ISBN. p. 396.</ref>
- the tomb (KV18) of Pharaoh Ramesses X (c. 1111–1107 BC), where she appears with Ra-Horakhty;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- the tomb (KV4) of Pharaoh Ramesses XI (c. 1107–1077 BC), where she appears with many deities.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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GalleryEdit
- Stele Nakhtimen Meretseger Louvre N4193.jpg
Stela with the drawer Nakhtimen adoring Meretseger. Louvre, Paris.
- Ägyptisches Museum Kairo 2016-03-29 Ostrakon 03.jpg
Meretseger on an ostracon. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
- Ägyptisches Museum Berlin 033.jpg
Stela with a woman adoring Meretsenger. Egyptian Museum of Berlin.
- Meretseger stele-E13084-mp3h8847.jpg
Stela with a woman adoring Meretseger above many snakes. Louvre, Paris.
ReferencesEdit
BibliographyEdit
- Hart, George (1986), A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, London: Routledge, Template:ISBN.
- Ions, Veronica (1973). Egyptian Mythology, London: Paul Hamlyn. Template:ISBN.
- Pinch, Geraldine (2004). Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt, Oxford: University Press. Template:ISBN.
- Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003), The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson, Template:ISBN.