Through the Eras

Religionof revival associated with fertility. The aggressive andhostile Seth was shown with red skin, the color of therising and setting sun.PERSONIFICATIONS. Some Egyptian deities fall intothe category of personifications, that is, deities who embodysome characteristic or trait. The names of thesedeities are also found as nouns having a non-personalmeaning. Examples of personifications include Amun(imn, also the word for “hidden”) and Gereh (gereh, alsothe word for “darkness”). Many types of things could bepersonified, including geographical locations (such asnames of nomes or temples); time, including the seasons(such as Renpet for “Spring”); directions (includingImenet for “West” and Iabt for “East”); emotions (suchas Hetepet for “peace”); products (such as Nepri for“corn” or Nub for “gold”); and various activities (suchas Tayt for “weaving”). Personifying such entities allowedthem to be depicted or described as interacting withother entities, including the other gods, and living ordead individuals. Major personifications include thegoddess Maat for Truth and Order, the god Heka formagic, and Hapy, for the personified inundation of theNile. A particularly important category of personificationincludes gods of birth and destiny and deities whoprotected women during childbirth such as Bes andTaweret.DEMONS. For the ancient Egyptians, “demons”were not considered evil. In fact, the Egyptians did nothave the dichotomy between good and evil found inWestern thought. They distinguished between thosethings that upheld order (maat), and those that did not(isfet). The real dichotomy for the Egyptians was betweenbeing and non-being, that is, those things whichbelonged to the created world, Maat, and that which belongedto the uncreated world of chaos, called Nun.Demons belonged to chaos. They were thought to inhabitthose areas that the Egyptians associated withchaos, such as deserts, foreign places, water, night, anddarkness. Demons were not able to receive the light ofthe sun, either because they were blind or had an “evileye.” They did not speak in comprehensible language,but in incomprehensible howling. They had a foul smelland ate excrement. Demons were never the focus of acult, which distinguishes them from gods who werethought to be responsible for various calamities. Demonscould take many forms, including a crocodile, snake, ass,jackal/dog, bull, or cat. They were frequently shownbrandishing knives. They had fearsome names such as“Slaughterer,” “Fighter,” “Rebel,” or “Black-faced One.”Demons inhabited liminal areas, or were particularlydangerous at liminal times. They were particularly fearedduring times of transition, such as the five days addedat the end of the 360-day year of the Egyptian calendar,called the epagomenal days. They inhabited bodies ofwater, and were responsible for causing disease. The underworldteemed with demons that punished those whodid not make the successful transition to the next life.They guarded the various gates of the underworld thatthe deceased had to pass, and if the dead did not knowtheir names, they put their fearsome knives to use. Majordemons included Apophis, the snake demon whothreatens creation by attempting to stop the sun in itspath, and Ammemet, “She who devours the dead.” Thisgoddess had a composite form, consisting of a crocodile’shead, the forepart of a lion or leopard, and the hindquartersof a hippopotamus. She sat near the scales of justice,and gobbled up the heart of the unfortunatedeceased individual who did not meet the requirementsof justice, represented by the goddess Maat.FOREIGN GODS. Throughout their history, theEgyptians added several foreign deities to their pantheon.During the Old and Middle Kingdoms, only one foreigngod—the Nubian god Dedun—entered the Egyptianpantheon. Beginning with the Second IntermediatePeriod, there were several Syro-Palestinian deities worshippedin Egypt. There are several possible explanationsfor their appearance. The Hyksos brought their Asiaticdeities with them when they entered Egypt, and identifiedthem with Egyptian deities, such as Baal with Seth,and Anat with Hathor. Also, Egyptian traders and soldierswho went abroad brought back the gods they encounteredon their travels. It was common for people topray to the gods of the lands in which they were, andgods were thought to be portable. If an individual feltthat a particular god had been beneficial to him, thenhe may have brought that god back with him to Egypt.During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties, theEgyptians brought back many prisoners of war from theircampaigns in Syria-Palestine, and these people wouldhave brought their gods back with them.MEMPHIS AND MAJOR FOREIGN GODS. Memphis,the political capital of Egypt, was a major center of theworship of foreign gods in Egypt. Among the significantforeign gods found in Egypt are Reshep, a Semitic godof plague and lightning who was thought to live in a valleysouth of Memphis. He was frequently associated withthe Theban god Montu. At Deir el-Medina he was considereda healer god, the patron of good health and honesty.The Semitic god Baal appeared in two guises. Thefirst was Baal of Sapan, a mountain in north Syria, whowas honored as a protective deity of sailors and had hiscult place at Peru-nefer, the harbor of Memphis. TheArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 213