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[German version] I. Mesopotamia …

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[German version] ( Ḥ.t-šps.wt, ‘first among noble women’). Daughter of  Thutmosis [1] I, wife of Thutmosis [2] II; after his death she assumed the rulership for her underage stepson and nephew Thutmosis [3] III. Soon thereafter, she had herself crowned  Pharaoh and was depicted as a man. Her reign ( c. 1490-1469 BC) was marked by an important building programme. Aside from extensions to the Imperial temple in K…

[German version] Egyptian goddess, wife of Ptah (Ptah) and mother of the lotus god Nefertem. S. is usually depicted as a lion-headed woman; her main cult site is Memphis. As her name ('the powerful') suggests, S. is a dangerous goddess par excellence. She is the ruler of the demons, especially the ḫ.tiw ('slaughter demons', the seven invisible decan stars; Astronomy B.2.). Hence statues, primarily in the late period (713-332 BC), often represent her on a throne the sides of which are decorated with decan figures in the form of snakes. Identifie…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia Myths, Epics, Prayers and Rituals of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, in the Sumerian and Akkadian languages, describe the location and nature of the Underworld, along with the circumstances under which its inhabitants live. This domain, located beneath the surface of the earth and surrounded by the primeval ocean called Apsȗ, is known in Akkadian as erṣetu (Sumerian: ki), a term that can refer both to the surface of the earth and to the Underworld. There are other terms for certain characteristics of…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia In Mesopotamia, the Sumerian sun god Utu (written with the Sumerian sign for day, ud, which may be an etymological connec…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East Knowledge of one's own progenitors in the ancient Near East legitimized one's status and material and immaterial rights in the individual and societal spheres. Such knowledge was based on patriarchal relationships of kinship. Evidence for this comes, for example, from lineage lists (Genealogies; OT: Gn 5; 11:10-32; 22:20-24; 25:1-9; Judges 4:18-22: progenitors of David [1]; 1 Sam 9:1-2: progenitors of Saul; Mt 1:1-17: progenitors of Jesus), the Assyrian Kings' Lis…

[German version] As the killer of his brother Osiris, S. is a central figure of Egyptian mythology [8]. He is usually depicted with the head of an unidentified animal (known as the S. animal). He litigates and fights with the son of Osiris, Horus, over Egy…

[German version] (Σάτις/ Sátis, Egyptian Sṯ.t), Anuket and Chnum (Chnubis [1]) are the three chief deities of the island of Elephantine. The temple of S. on Elephantine is archeologically attested as early as the Early Dynastic Period (from c. 2800 BC) [1]. S. is depicted as a woman wearing a crown with horns. Because of the phonological similarity of S. and Sothis, the two goddesses were identified with one another in the Late Period (713-332 BC) [2]. This connection is reinforced by the association of Sothis with the flooding of the Nile, since the source of the Nile was assumed to be located at Elephantine among other places. S. and Anuket appear in astronomical depictions as guarantors of the vitally important flooding. von Lieven, Alexandra (Berlin) Bibliography 1 G. Dreyer, Elephan…

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[German version] I. Ancient Near East With the possible exception of the numerous depictions of the sexual act on terra cotta reliefs and lead tablets - many of which may have served as magical amulets or represented ex voto gifts [1. 265] - there is no evidence of pornography from the ancient Near East. In literary texts, explicit verbal depictions that refer to sexuality are found in literary texts (e.g. hymns to Ishtar, who was, among other things, the goddess of sexual love) and therefore are to b…

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[German version] (Egyptian z-nh.t). Hero of an Egyptian story, generally regarded as a masterwork of Egyptian literature. The text has come down to us in various papyri and ostraca from the period of c. 1800 to 1100 BC. The original probably dates from the time of Sesostris I. In the story, S. is a liegeman to the crown prince Sesostris . On the way back from a campaign in Syria,…

[German version] (σωθίς/ sōthis according to Heph. [5] 1,1). Constellation (Egyptian śpd.t, from śpd 'sharp'), essentially corresponding to Sirius (its main star). Identified with Isis, it appeared in a prominent role as early as the Pyramid texts (Funerary literature) [1]. It retained this role until the end of the Egyptian religion. S. is one of the 36 decan stars (Astronomy B.2.). Its first heliacal rising was thought to introduce a new  year and forebode the flooding of the Nile. Its 70-day phase of invisibility was associated with the equally long period of embalming. S. was considered to be the eye of the sun [2]. The myth of the 'Distant Goddess' (Tefnut, legend of), in which S. is identified with Tefnut, is base…

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[German version] (Θωύθ/ Thōýth and similar; Latin Theuth; Egyptian Ḏḥwtj). Egyptian god of wisdom, knowledge and writing and moon god. The cult of T. was practiced mainly in Hermupolis (magna); however, there were also cults of T. in numerous other places. T. has probably been worshipped since the Early Period; reliable documentation is extant from the period of the Old Kingdom ( c. 2700-2190 BC). He is mostly represented as a man with the head of an ibis; the ibis and the baboon are sacred to him. T. is supposed to be either a son of Neith or, having no m…

[German version] ( Wp-w.wt/Upuaut, 'Opener of the Ways') is represented as a standing jackal or a jackal-headed man. He is a god of the dead (cf. Anubis), but his standard also leads the king's 'Horus escort', when he walks in public. This is reflected in Hdt. 2,122, where a priest is led by two jackals to the Sanctuary of Demeter [3. 58 f.]. Presumably W. is also the Macedon mentioned in Diod. Sic. 1,18 as a companion of Osiris [1. 83]. Clem. Al. Strom. 5,7,43 suggests an astronomical interpretation of the figure of W. …

[German version] (Σοκνοπαΐου νῆσος/ Soknopaïou Nêsos; Egyptian paj, later t mj(.t), modern Dīmā). Town in the Faiyum; the chief god was Sobek. Like Tebtynis, S. is primarily significant because of its papyri (Greek documents, temple library with Hieratic and a large number of Demotic religious, literary and scientific papyri, c. 1st-2nd cent. AD) [2]. Their edition is still in progress [4]. von Lieven, Alexandra (Berlin) Bibliography…

[German version] ( śbk, Graecised as Σοῦχος/ Soûchos, cf.  Damascius, Vita Isidori P 99) was the crocodile-headed chief god of the Faiyum. The most important local form was S. of Šedet (Crocodilopolis, from 256 BC Arsinoe [III 2], modern Madīnat al-Fayyūm). His cult was widespread; a temple to him (together with Haroeris) in Kom Ombo is pa…

[German version] (Ὄσιρις/ Ósiris, Eg. Wsr). The ruler of the afterlife, one of the central figures in Egyptian mythology from the Old Kingdom; he was regarded as the son of Geb and Nut, brother and husband of Isis and the posthumous father of Horus; additional siblings were Seth and Nephthys. There was no coherent version of the myth of O. until Plutarch ( De Iside et Osiride, [7]), although it is already attested in allusions and extracts in the oldest texts. O. was regarded as the mythological king at a time when the gods reigned on earth and evil did not yet exist. Plutarch described O. as a purveyor of culture, Diodorus 1,19 even reports of an Indian expedition. Seth, being jealous of O., murdered him and in this way brought evil into the world. He dismembered O.'s body and scattered it all over Egypt; his coffin is said to have been washed ashor…

[German version] I. General The status of the moon in ancient mythological speculation and cult worship reflected its central position in the calendar cycles, agricultural cycles and monthly cycles with respect to their various aspects. The moon (personified) could be the addressee of the cult; the cult also included the male and female deities embedded in the traditional panthea and associated with the moon as moon deities (MD) with regard to their particular aspect. Whilst e.g. Selene…

[German version] (Eg. Nwt). The Egyptian goddess of the sky, daughter of Shu (air) und Tefnut (fire; Tefnut, legend of), wife of the earth-god Geb und mother of Osiris, Seth, Isis and Nephthys as well as the sun god Re and the 36 decan stars. N. appears either in a purely human form with a nw-jar on her head or as a cow. She is depicted frequently in cosmological representations, which show Geb on the earth, separated from N. who is held over him by Shu. According to the so-called ‘Book of Nut’,  a cosmological treatise about the course of the heave…

[German version] I. Term Ritual refers to an elaborate sequence of individual rites which, following an established ritual syntax, are logically connected within a certain functional context. Rituals are not limited to religious contexts but exist in other cultural contexts, political as well as social. The significance of rituals for those who participate in them can be reduced neither to an integrativ…

[German version] (Egyptian Bst.t). Chief goddess of  Bubastis, represented as a cat or a cat-headed woman. B. is syncretistically associated with  Sachmet,  Hathor,  Isis and similar goddesses [1. 11-69]. In the   interpretatio [2] graeca she is seen as  Artemis (e.g. Hdt. 2,137), infrequently also as  Aphrodite (e.g. Pistis Sophia 139-140, [5]). B. can be understood as a more benign aspect of Sachmet, but she herself may be said to be mistress of a particular class of demon. In this capacity, she is assigned the lion god Maih…

[German version] (Φθᾶς/ Phthâs, Φθάς/ Phthás; Egyptian Ptḥ, Ptah) was initially the creator god of Memphis, but later he also had cults in other places, e.g. in Egyptian Thebes [10]. Just as Thot was the scribe and scholar par excellence, so P. was considered the artisan, especially the metal worker [4]; the interpretatio Graeca (Interpretatio II. Religion) calls him Hephaestus. P., his wife Sekhmet, a lion-headed goddess of the plague, and their son Nefertem (connected with the lotus) formed the Memphitic Triad of Gods. Particularly…

[German version] Region beyond the western edge of the Egyptian delta, esp. in the area which today is referred to as Wādī n-Naṭrūn. Christian monks retreated there beginning in the 4th cent. AD, four monasteries are still occupied today. von Lieven, Alexandra (Berlin) Bibliography A. Cody, in: A. S. Atiya (ed.), The Coptic Encyclopedia, vol. 7, 1991, 2102-2106.

[German version] I. Mesopotamia The cult of the dead in Mesopotamia is documented in written as well as archaeological sources. In the written sources, the term kispum is used for the act of supplying the dead with food and drink (monthly or bimonthly). An important part of the ritual was the ‘calling of the name’ [3. 163] ─ kispum thus served to ensure not only the existence but also the identity of the dead in the  Underworld. In the absence of the cult of the dead, the Underworld changed into a dark, inhospitable place. The living also ha…

[German version] [1] Roman coinage In the Roman system of weights and measures the bes ( binae partes assis) represents 2/3 (8/12) of the as and, on the basis of the Roman pound (327.45 g), weighs 218.30 g [1. 72]. In Roman minting the bes was stamped with S as its symbol of value; only issued by C. Cassius in 126 BC in bronze (with the head of Liber/ prora) [2. 290].  As;  Small coin, shortage of;  Libra Mlasowsky, Ale…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the Ancient Orient the deification of  rulers always occurred in the context of the legitimization and exercise of  rulership. Deified rulers and proper gods were always differentiated on principle. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [German version] A. Mesopotamia References to the deification of living rulers are geographically restricted to Babylonia and temporally to the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC: a) individual rulers claimed divine descent for themselves as a means of legitimizing their rule…

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[English version] (Νέφθυς, Plut. Is. passim; Epiphanios, Expositio fidei 3,2,12; äg. Nb.t-Ḥw.t, “Herrin des Hauses”). N. ist in der äg. Mythologie die Tochter des Geb und der Nut und die Schwestergemahlin des Seth, weitere Geschwister sind Isis und Osiris. Sie tritt hauptsächlich als Helfe…

[English version] I. Alter Orient P. ist aus dem Alten Orient nicht überl., es sei denn, man betrachtet zahlreiche Darstellungen des Geschlechtsaktes auf Terrakottareliefs und Bleiplaketten - von denen möglicherweise viele als magische Amulette dienten oder ex-voto-Gaben darstellten [1. 265] - als P. Explizite verbale, auf Sexuelles Bezug nehmende Schilderungen stammen aus lit. Texten (z. T. Hymnen auf Ištar, die u. a. als Göttin der geschlechtlichen Liebe galt) und sind so eher ein Zeugnis für eine unvoreingenommene Einstellung z…

[English version] (Ὄσιρις, äg. Wsr). Der Jenseitsherrscher, eine der zentralen Gestalten der äg. Mythologie seit dem AR; gilt als Sohn von Geb und Nut, Brudergemahl der Isis und postumer Vater des Horus; weitere Geschwister sind Seth und Nephthys. Erst Plutarch ( De Iside et O…

[English version] I. Allgemeines Die Stellung des Mondes in der ant. myth. Spekulation und kultischen Verehrung reflektiert seine zentrale Position in den kalendarischen, agrarischen und Monatszyklen in ihren unterschiedlichen Aspekten. Adressat von Kult kann der (personifizierte) Mond sein; Kult gilt auch den in ihrem Aspekt als M. mit dem Mond assoziierten männl. oder weibl., in den traditionellen Panthea verankerten Gottheiten. Während z.B. Selene/Luna ebenso wie Helios/Sol in der öffentl. Rel. d…

[English version] (Φθᾶς, Φθάς; äg. Ptḥ, Ptah) war zunächst der Schöpfergott von Memphis, erhielt jedoch später auch andernorts, z.B. im äg. Theben, Kulte [10]. Wie Thot der Schreiber und Gelehrte par excellence war, galt Ph. als der Handwerker, speziell Metallbearbeiter [4]; die interpretatio Graeca kennt ihn als Hephaistos. Zusammen mit seiner Gemahl…

[English version] I. Begriff Der Begriff R. bezeichnet die komplexe Handlungssequenz einzelner, in einem logischen Funktionszusammenhang und nach einer festgelegten R.-Syntax miteinander verbundener Riten. R. finden sich nicht nur in rel., sondern auch in anderen gesellschaftlichen - polit. wie sozialen - Kontexten. Die Bed. von R. für die Teilnehmer läßt sich weder auf eine integrative (Legitimations-R.) noch a…

[English version] (äg. Nwt). Die äg. Himmelsgöttin, Tochter von Schu (Luft) und Te…

[English version] Äg. Göttin, Gattin des Ptah (Phthas) und Mutter des Lotosgottes Nefertem, üblicherweise als löwenköpfige Frau dargestellt; Hauptkultort: Memphis. Wie ihr Name (“die Mächtige”) schon andeutet, ist S. die gefährliche Göttin par excellence. Sie ist die Herrin der Dämonen, speziell der ḫ.tiw (“Schlächterdämonen”, die jeweils sieben unsichtbaren Dekansterne; Astronomie B.2.). Statuen, v. a. der Spätzeit (713-332 v. Chr.), stellen sie daher oft auf einem Thron dar, dessen Seiten mit schlangengestaltigen Dekanfiguren geschmü…