Menhit

Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox deity Template:Kushite religion Template:Ancient Egyptian religion Menhit Template:IPAc-en (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.<ref name="Wilkinson 179" /> Her name means either "she who sacrifices" or "she who massacres."<ref>Farid, Mona; Fekri, Magdi Mohamed; Abd-elaal, Magdi Ismail (Hesham Ezz-eldin). "Archeological Study of Wild Animals in the New Kingdom". University of Sadat. ResearchGate. Retrieved 2023-09-07</ref>

History

Believed to have origins as a Nubian goddess, Menhit is always depicted as a lioness with solar disk and a uraeus symbol.<ref name="Wilkinson 179" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Coffin texts associate her with being a tutelary and solar deity.<ref name="Wilkinson 179" /> 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.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

She also was believed to advance ahead of the Egyptian armies and cut down their enemies with fiery arrows, similar to other war deities.<ref name="hansbonnet"/> She was less known to the people as a crown goddess<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and was one of the goddesses who represented the protective uraeus on royal crowns.<ref name="Wilkinson 179">Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> She was also worshipped in Lower Egypt, where she was linked with the goddesses Wadjet and Neith.<ref name="Wilkinson 179" /> She became identified with another lioness goddess, Sekhmet.<ref name="hansbonnet">Hans Bonnet: Menhit, in: Lexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte (English: Lexicon of Egyptian History of Religion) p.451f</ref>

Literature

• Rolf Felde: Ägyptische Gottheiten. Wiesbaden 1995
• Hans Bonnet: Lexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte, Hamburg 2000; Template:ISBN