The Egyptian Gods their main centers of worship and some festival days

On this page: Hapi, Hathor, Hat-Mehit, Heka, Heket, Horus, Hu

Please note - Festival days are an estimation compiled from several sources.




Hapi/Hapy

Hail to thee, O Nile! Who manifests thyself over this land, and comes to give life to Egypt! Come and prosper! Come and prosper! O Nile, come and prosper! O you who make men to live through his flocks and his flocks through his orchards! Come and prosper, come, O Nile, come and prosper! Hapi (Hep, Hap, Hapy) was probably the Predynastic name for the Nile. ('Nile' comes from the Greek word Neilos - which is a corruption of the Egyptian 'nwy' which means 'water'.) The Egyptians called the Nile Iterw. Hapi was more the personification of the Inundation of the Nile, than of the river itself. He was worshipped for two reasons; the actual waters of the Inundation which were life-bringing to Egypt, and the fertility and sustainment made possible by the Nile silt left on its shores when the Inundation drew back again. It is not wrong to say that Hapi, together with the special geographical situation in the Nile valley, was what made Egypt into the civilization it was. But there were no guarantees for Hapi always giving an abundance; references have been found to a 'large' or 'small' Hapy. The Inundation could be either too high or too low, which meant threats as people could drown, or famine because of no growth. Hapi was depicted as a somewhat overweight man, to symbolize abundance, and with female breasts to symbolize the river’s fertile properties. In this aspect he is linked to several fecundity figures, or 'Nile gods' which personify abundance of various kinds, of which the Inundation is the most important and fundamental one. These fecundity figures can be seen bringing offerings to the King, or they can, together with the King bring offerings to deities in their temples. Hapi is an ancient god, mentioned already in the Pyramid Texts. In Utterance 581 it says: "...those who see the Nile when it surges, tremble, the meadows laugh, and the riverbanks are inundated." In the Middle Kingdom he is called 'Master of the river bringing vegetation'. It is also from this time that the great 'Hymn to the Flood' was written, though existing only as copies from the New Kingdom. It is along hymn and below is only a short sample. As Hapi was connected to water, he sometimes shared the epiteth 'father of the gods' with Nun and other deities connected with the process of creation, like Amun, Atum, Geb and Shu. Hapi was a god of both Upper Egypt, where he was called Hap-Meht and having Nekhbet for a wife. In Lower Egypt, his name was Hap-Reset and his wife here was Wadjet. Depictions show the two Hapis tieing together the two lands with their symbolical flowers; lotus for Upper Egypt and papyrus for Lower Egypt. They were often shown as twin deities with these plants as a crown on each of their head. From the Middle Kingdom and onwards we find Hapi depicted as a statue wearing the regent´s features, to point at the king´s importance to the regeneration of the land. The statue is standing behind an offering table which is decorated with flowers and fruits, denoting the rich vegetation, some of them are tied together to show the unification of the Two Lands. Other epithets for Hapi were "lord of the fishes and birds of the marshes", and he is followed by crocodile-gods and a company of frog-goddesses with braided tresses of hair. In the temple of Abydos Hapi is depicted with a double-goose head, perhaps alluding to his aforementioned epiteth. Often he carries a tray of offerings with the gifts of the Nile, the produce of the Nile silt. He wears a crown of either the lotus of Upper Egypt or the papyrus of Lower Egypt. Hapi influenced the whole stretch of the Nile, and is seen holding both papyrus and lotus plants, or two vases in his hands. In the Luxor Temple, Thebes, there is a relief showing two Hapi figures standing over respectively a lotus and a papyrus plant, tieing together Upper and Lower Egypt into the wind-pipe (sema) hieroglyph which denoted the Unification of the Two Lands. His home was thought to be in caverns near the First cataract of the Nile, which were in Khnum´s domain, and where his main center of worship als were. He was also worshipped at Gebel el-Silsileh, Aswan and Abu (Gr: Elephantine) where he was closely associated with the god Khnum. No temples or sanctuaries were built specifically in his honor, he was worshipped at annual festivals and with lavish offerings all over Egypt, but no temples have been found built to him epsecially. But his statues and reliefs are found in the temples of other deities. As early as the mortuary temple of Sahure in the 5th Dynasty to the Graeco-Roman temple for Heru at Kom Ombo, the lower register of temple walls are decorated with processions of fecundity figures in the shape of Hapy, carrying offerings. Such figures can also be seen in the temple of Ramesses II at Abydos. Sources used for Hapi: Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses - George Hart Ancient Egyptian Literature Vol I - Miriam Lichtheim Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt - Erik Hornung The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts - transl. R.O. Faulkner Ancient Egyptian Religion - Stephen Quirke

Main center of worship:   Abu, where he was worshipped in conjunction with other Netjeru; Khnum, Satet, Anuket. 1st Nome, Upper Egypt Festivals:(dates not historically verified) End September– 12th Hethara - Fest of Hapi: Creating of the Nile Middle December– 30th Tybi - Day of crossing before Nun in the Temple of Hapi From the Hymn to the Flood: "Lightmaker who comes from dark, Fattener of herds, Might that fashions all, None can live without him. People are clothed with the flax of his fields, For he made Hedj-hotep serve him; He made anointing with his unguents For he is the like of Ptah. All kinds of crafts exist through him, All books of godly words, His produce from the sedges From Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature Vol I. Hapi ties together Upper and Lower Egypt.

Het-Hert/Hathor

Names Ancient Kemetic name: Het-Hert, Greek: Hathor. Her name means "House of Horus", or "Mansion of Horus". Het-Hert was known by many names; she was the 'Lady in the Sky' whose womb protected the hawk god, she was the 'Celestial Cow' or 'Lady of the Southern Sycamore'. The epiteth 'Eye of Re' she shares with several other goddesses, like Bast, Sekhmet, Aset and Mut. Another one was 'Lady to the Limit', by which is meant the then known universe. Earliest appearance: Originally a universal cow-goddess and symbolic mother of Pharaoh. Thereto she was the daughter of Ra. The ancient Egyptians often chose animals to symbolize a deity´s properties, and as the wild cow was very protective about its calves, it was therefore a perfect ideal for maternal protectiveness and so was used in depictions for Het-Hert and Bat. Cow-goddesses seem to have been prominent in Predynastic times, but since there were no hieroglyphs at tis early time, this cult could belong either to Het-Hert or to Bat, the cow-horned deity who is said to be depicted on the Narmer Palette (ca 3000 bc.). From the Early Dynastic Period, there is an ivory plaque showing either Het-Hert or Bat between two symbols of Min. Some relief blocks from the temple at Gebelein date probably to the reign of Khasekhemwy or from the 3rd Dynasty. The absence of hieroglyphs make it impossible to know for sure which deity is referred to. What we know is that the earliest representations of Het-Hert are dated to the 4th Dynasty but these do not show bovine forms. In the 4th Dynasty, Het-Hert was described in the Pyramid Texts as the Eye of the Sun (Utt. 405). By this Het-Hert became the foremost of goddesses, and the Divine Mother of the King. Depictions: Her forms were many, she was frequently shown with a woman's head and a cow's ears. This can be found on pillar heads, like at Denderah and her image, smiling and naked, is often found decorating mirrors. Another often seen depiction of her is with a sun-disc surrounded by cow's horns on her head but also with a cow's head or in full bovine form. Also as a lioness, a snake and a tree nymph among the branches of the Sycamore, her sacred tree, which she shared with Aset in later periods. During the Middle and New Kingdom, she and Aset shared many traits until they were merged as the same deity in the Late Period. Goddess for Women Her greatest influence was as a goddess especially for women, a patron of beauty, love, sexuality, joy, dance and music. At various periods she had a large female priesthood who acted as singers, musicians and dancers in temple rituals and processions. At Denderah Ihy, the personification of the jubilation associated with sistrum playing, is a child of Hathor and Horus. In her motherly aspect she protected pregnant women and children and at some of her temples people could get their dreams interpreted. Het-Hert in myth In myth her association with dance and love is apparent when in the myth 'Contendings of Horus and Set' she makes Re, her father, change his bad mood by dancing in front of him with raised clothes until he forgets his anger and starts laughing. In another myth, 'The Destruction of Mankind', Het-Hert´s other side comes to show as she changes into Sekhmet, who on the order of Re goes out to punish mankind for their transgressions against him. In her rage and bloodthirst she nearly wipes out all humans and the gods have to contrive to make her drink beer coloured red. She gets drunk, falls asleep and when she wakes up, she turns back to being Het-Hert. There is also the myth of 'The Distant Goddess', in which Het-Hert becomes angry with her father Re and decides to leave Egypt altogether. Re of course gets very sad because of losing his 'Eye' and wants her back. In the wilderness Het-Hert has now changed into a wild cat and totally unmanageable for gods or man, she kills those who tries to get near her. In the long run, Thoth disguises himself and manages to lure her back to Egypt, all the time telling her stories to keep her attention. Finally back, she bathes in the Nile which cools her rage and changes her back into Het-Hert, but not before the water has turned all red from her anger. (There is another version of this myth, where it is Tefnut who leaves Egypt and Shu who gets her back.) Mortuary Deity: In Thebes Het-Hert held some importance even as a mortuary deity, shown here in the form of a cow and thought to receive the deceased, just as she received the setting sun, preserving it from the powers of darkness. In fact, in the Book of Going Forth By Day, she is said to join Re as he disappears below the horizon. Thus she was sometimes called the 'Female Soul with Two Faces' or 'Lady of the West'. In the Underworld her outer garment, if worn by a person travelling through there, can provide safe passage. The Seven Hathors The Seven Hathors were goddesses of fate. Their rôle was to determine the destiny of a child and in tombs (Nefertari´s) and in the Book of Going Forth By Day they were shown in cow form. Th reason for such a grouping is probably because the number seven was considered symbolic in ancient Egypt and therefore associated with different groupings of deities. For example was Re said to have seven 'baus' (souls). The Seven Hathors are a grouping of various aspects of Het-Hert. Perhaps this is more due to the symbolical properties of the number seven than the character of the aspects. Other groups of Hathors existed besides. There is nothing specific found about these individual names, they appeared in their groupings and the names of these aspects varied. G. Hart mentions: 1. Lady of the universe 2. Sky-storm 3. You from the land of silence 4. You from Khemmis 5. Red-hair 6. Bright red 7. Your name flourishes through skill. In mythological papyrii there were varying names: 1. Lady of the house of jubilation 2,3. Mistresses of the west 4,5. Mistresses of th east 6,7. Ladies of the sacred land Wilkinson mentions names like: Mansion of Ka´s Silent One She Who Protects Much Beloved During the New Kingdom Het-Hert merged with Aset (Isis) into becoming the same deity, sharing the same headdress and depicted in the same way. Only by reading the accompanying hieroglyphs, one could safely say which deity was depicted. Het-Hert was however never shown with the throne above Her head as Aset was. Another difference is that Aset is depicted either wearing a dress with a feather (Rishi) pattern in several colors together with the horned disc, or the vulture headdress, which also is associated with Mut, the consort of Amun at Thebes. Temples: At Gebelein was found a limestone block with relief decorations from the temple of Het-Hert. It is dated to the Early Dynastic Period. When Schiaparelli excavated it in 1910, it was so poorly documented that no particulars could be observed later. Already in the Old Kingdom her cult center seems to have been in Dendera. Much later, during the Ptolemeian period, a great temple was built here, and dedicated to her. There were also other early cult centers for Het-Hert, though she is not directly attested until the 4th Dynasty. Queens already from this period onwards could be called 'Priestess of Het-Hert'.

Symbols: Sistrum and Menat The sistrum is perhaps the most frequently associated of Het-Hert´s symbols. This is a metal rattle which was used to be shaken in front of statues of deities (also other than Het-Hert) in invocation. The menat is a necklace thick with beads. It was not worn but shaken by priestesses of Het-Hert during rituals. There is much, much more to know about this remarkable Netjer. This is a great site with lots of well-researched info! Main center of worship: Iunet/Tentyris/Dendera 6th Nome,Upper Egypt Other Temple sites: Iunu/Heliopolis/Cairo 3rd Nome, Lower Egypt Mennefer/Memphis 1st Nome, Lower Egypt Aphroditopolis/Atfih, 22th Nome, Upper Egypt Quis/Cusae/el-Qusiya, 14th Nome,Upper Egypt Per-Hathor/Pathyris/Gebelein, 4th Nome, Upper Egypt P-aaleq/Philae 1st Nome, Upper Egypt Festivals:(dates not historically verified) 21 June - 21 Shomu - Festival of the Beautiful Reunion (Hathor Going Forth from Dendera to marry Horus at Edfu once a year) 29 August - 12th Paopi - Birthday of Het-Hert (Hathor) 17th September - 1st Hethara - Feast of Het-hert (Hathor) 21st September - 5th Hethara - Autum Equinox; Honors to Het-hert (Hathor) 4th October - 18th Hethara - Festival of Het-Hert (Hathor) 21st October - 5th Koiak - Het-Hert Goes Forth to Her people 29th October - 13th Koiak - Day of Going Forth of Het-Hert and the Ennead 2dn November - 17th Koiak - Festival of Het-Hert. 28th November - 13th Tybi - Feast of Het-Hert and Sekhmet 23rd December - 8th Mechir - Festival of the Great Heat; Feast Day of Het-Hert 23rd January - 9th Pamenot - Day of Het-Hert (Hathor) 1st April - 17th Pachons - Day of Het-Hert (Hathor) 15th May - 1st Epipi - Festivals of Het-Hert and Bast 19th May - 5th Epipi - Het-Hert(Hathor) returns to Punt; the Netjers are saddened 21st May - 7th Epipi - Sailing of the netjers after Het-Hert(Hathor) 16th June - 3rd Mesore - Feast of Raet, Feast of Het-Hert as Sirius

Hat-Mehit

Hat-mehit, Hat-mehyt, a local fish-goddess from the Delta city of Mendes in the 16th Nome, Lower Egypt. The importance of Hat-mehit´s cult became lessened after the ram-headed BaNebDjedet appeared as her consort. He then took over as the main god. Sometimes BaNebDjedet, Hatmehit and their son Harpocrates were called for the Mendesian triad. Hat-Mehit was usually depicted in the form of a woman with a fish above her head. Her name means 'she who is in front of the fishes', as her cult was considered the foremost of the relatively rare fish cults of ancient Egypt. Another interpretation could mean that Hat-mehyt was the earliest fish-goddess, from the very mythical beginning when Egypt emerged out of the primeval waters. Apart from being depicted as a woman with a fish on top of her hed, she can also be represented in fish form. This particular form of fish was earlier believed to be a dolphin but has now been identified with the lepidotus fish, which is common in the Nile.

No festivals are known from history.

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Heka

There are two aspects of this concept. The first one is the name of the deity Heka. The other one is the act of using heka. Heka the deity: One of the three creative powers of the Sungod Ra, which were necessary for Creation to come about. Thus Heka was the divine energy or the life force, the other two were Hu - divine utterance, and Sia - divine knowledge. Heka was personified as a man standing in front of the naos where the Sungod is seen, in the sunboat, and sometimes holding different ritual objects. Using Heka - A note about heka and "magic": The ancient Egyptian word heka could be translated as "magic". It would be more correct to call it Life Force in Action. In our modern day Western society the word magic has other connotations than the ancient Egyptians attached to the concept of heka. The word was neutral in itself and could be used to direct oneself to the centerpoint of cult and of creation, for maintaining the Cosmic Order and Balance (see Ma´at). In other words, it was no more and no less a form of ritualized prayer. It could be used to refer to texts which were written or spoken.

Words in themselves were regarded as divine by the ancient Egyptians, and were to be treated with great respect. Weret-Hekau, Great of Magic, was one of the titles of Aset, as in myth she managed to trick Ra into revealing his secret name to her. The same title was also used for Sekhmet. To know the name of something meant to have power over it. Heka was not only particular to the deity who acted from and with it, humans too have life force and can of course use heka to come into contact with the divine. The ancients believed that with the help of heka they could influence the world of the gods. As heka was used both in temple ritual and in more informal situations, one sees the possible reason of equating it for "magic". It had, however, nothing to do with evoking spirits or any supernatural phenomena. It was a way of addressing oneself to God.

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Heket/Heqet

Heket - a water deity in the form of a frog or a frog-headed woman. She made her debut into the Egyptian pantheon in pyramid inscriptions, in a magical text destined to allow the king to ascend into the sky. Later she became connected with birth, in a Middle Kingdom papyrus, containing tales of wonder from the age of the pyramids. As she developed into a symbol of fecundity and resurrection, Heket, who helped Osiris to rise from the dead, presided over the birth of kings and queens. In a passage concerning the wife of the High Priest of Ra giving birth to the three kings who inaugurated the fifth dynasty, she hastens the final stage of labor. Amulets and scarabs worn by women to protect them in childbirth often bear the image of the frog-goddess. Similarly, magical knives of ivory which were popular in the Middle Kingdom, bore her image to protect the home. She was often called the wife of Khnum and a birth-deity of all his creatures. Sometimes Heket was taken as a form of Hathor, and called the mother of Horus the Elder.

Temples: Herwer (modern Hur near el-Ashmunein?) Abu (Ancient Elephantine) Qus (Apollinopolis Parva, anc. Gesy.) Other places: Depicted in the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, receiving an offering of wine. Mentioned in the tomb of Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel (c 300 BC). She also appears in temples of other deities.

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Horus/Heru

There are many names in combination with the name of Horus, or Her/Har. Among the Names we meet are (in ancient Egyptian and Greek:): Heru-sa-Aset - Gr: Harseisis (Heru son of Aset) Har-pa-khered/Heru-pa-khered - Gr: Harpocrates (Heru the Child) Heru-nedj-itef - Gr: Harendotes (Heru Saviour of His Father) Heru-Wer - Gr: Haroeris (Horus the Elder) Ra-Heru-Akhety - Ra-Horakhty/Horakhty (Ra-Heru of Two Horizons Heru-Behdety - Gr: Haidith (Heru of the city of Behdet) Heru-sema-Tawy (Horus Uniter of the Two Lands) Har-em-akhet/Heru-em-akhet - Gr: Harmachis (Horus in the Horizon [the Great Sphinx]) The Living Horus - The ruling King. Horus was worshiped all over Egypt in many different forms, as sky god, sun god, god of kingship and as son of Isis. Let´s differ first between Horus the Elder and Horus son of Isis. To this comes also the Living Horus, the title of the ruling King of Egypt. Heru-Wer - Horus the Elder Horus the Elder or the falcon or hawk, soaring with outstretched wings was already in Predynastic times seen as the sky-god, his eyes were called the sun and the moon. He is depicted on Predynastic pottery and in the royal serekh, marking the king´s name from this period. In ancient Kemetic the word Her or Heru means 'The One on High' or 'The Distant One', referring to the falcon soaring in the sky. The sky, the sun and the falcon were at this time equaled with the king and out of this came the symbol of the winged disc which was one of the many forms of Heru/Horus. This became the royal insignia, used on lintels over doors of temples and royal buildings, as well as in many other places. This is the form which refer to him as "Horus the Elder", or 'Heru-Wer'. In Kom-Ombo he was identified as the son of Re and it is likely that the ancient falcon god of Nekhen (Gr: Hierakonpolis), 'City of the Hawk', from Predynastic times, is the same as Horus. Heru-sa-Aset - Horus son of the goddess Isis or Harseisis in Greek. This is the son of Isis and Osiris from the myth cycle which tells about the treason of Set and the conception of Heru. In the tale of the 'Contendings of Horus and Set' it is told about his fight against his uncle Set, who had slain his father Osiris and how he finally gained his father´s throne back from Set. To this aspect of Heru, the name 'Heru-pa-khered' (Gr: Harpokrates) is associated, by which is denoted the young child with a lock-of-youth, sitting in the lap of Aset and being suckled by her. From the Late Period, there are so called 'cippi', objects inscribed with the image of Her-pa-khered and used as amulets protecting against bites of snakes, scorpions and crocodiles. The Living Horus - God of Kingship This is the form which embodies the ruling King, or rather his spirit or 'ka'. When a king died, it was the duty of his son or in many instances, his heir, to perform the 'Opening of the Mouth Ceremony' on the mummy, in order for it to be revived and to become Osiris, king of the Afterlife. Through this, the new king stepped into the place of the deceased king as Horus, his son and heir, all according to the myth. To this aspect of the god, the name 'Heru-Yun-Mutef' can be associated, by which is meant 'Horus, pillar of his mother'; the son who showed the result of Isis´ striving to bring him up in secret in Chemmis so that he would regain the throne of his father. What makes it so confusing is that these two main forms are also given local names, at the various numerous places of worship. But in reality they all come from the two different ones, Horus the Elder and Horus son of Isis. The Living Horus is all tied in with the concept of the Divine Kingship so that is a bit different. Some of the names tied to places are: Heru-Behdety - Horus of Behdet It is uncertain how far back Horus was worshiped at Behdet in the Delta. His form here is the sundisc surrounded by falcon wings, the motif which is frequently seen in temple ceilings and on lintels. This is tied in with the myth where Behdety fights against Set and the outcome is so even that Re transforms Behdety into the winged sun-disc, which flies up and blinds the foes, thus securing the victory. Heru-Khenty-Irty - Kehty-Khem This is Khem,the Greek Letopolis, modern Ausim, where the falcon-god was worshiped already in the 4th Dynasty. Here are hardly any remains to be seen however. Horus of Mesen Mesen is modern Edfu, where Horus was worshiped since the Old Kingdom if not earlier. In the Ptolemeian Period, Horus, his spouse Hathor and their son Harsomtus (who is a form of Horus the Elder, yes very confusing!) were worshiped here. The sacred drama depicted on the walls of the Edfu temple shows Horus spearing Set in the form of a hippopotamus. In ancient times, each year a falcon was chosen to represent the King, and the 'Coronation of the Sacred Falcon' was performed here, in which the ancient falcon deity was merged with Horus as the son of Osiris and the Living King. Horus of Nekhen This is the modern site of Kom-el-Ahmar. In the early dynastic period, Horus probably assimilated an earlier falcon deity, the 'Nekheny', here, and the place remained a cult center for Horus into the Greco-Roman Period when it was known as Hierakonpolis.

The Wedjat Eye - The Eye of Horus In the 'Contendings of Horus and Set', the myth which tells about the fight between these two gods for the rulership of Egypt, Set injures the eyes of Horus. They are healed by Hathor who uses gazelle´s milk on them. The healed eyes became the symbol for perfection, called the 'Wedjat' or 'Udjat' Eye and are spoken of in singular. Amulets in the form of eyes were used as a sign of protection and were worn around the neck or placed in mummy wrappings. Besides protection, they can stand for various things: the strength of the King, for kingship, for protection against Set, and others. Main center of worship: Iunu/Heliopolis/Cairo 13th Nome, Lower Egypt: Other temple sites: Nebet/Ombi/Kom Ombo 1st Nome, Upper Egypt: Djeba/Apollinopolis Magna/Edfu 2nd Nome, Upper Egypt Nekhen/Hierakonpolis 2nd Nome, Upper Egypt Gesy/Apollinopolis Parva/Qus 5th Nome,Upper Egypt Iunet/Tentyris/Dendera 6th Nome, Upper Egypt Men´at-khufu/el-Minya 16th Nome, Upper Egypt (Horus the Elder) Khem/Letopolis/Ausim 2nd Nome, Lower Egypt (Kehnty-irty, a form of Horus) Hut-Heryib/Athribis 10th Nome,Lower Egypt (Khenty-Khety, a form of Horus) Festivals:(dates not historically verified) The Festival of the Beautiful Reunion between HetHert and Horus was celebreated each year in the third month of Shomu (June/July) at Edfu. 15th of July, the 2nd Epagomenal Days, is the Birthday of Heru(Horus) 13th August - 26th Thuti - Day of battle between Horus and Set 14th August - 27th Thuti - Day of Peace between Horus and Set 17th August - 30th Thuti - Rituals in the Temples of Ra, Horus and Osiris 19th August - 2ndPaopi - Procession of Heru to Neith 20th August - 3rd Paopi - Thoth orders the healing of the eye of Horus 31st August - 14th Paopi - Horus receives the White Crown 9th October - 23rd Hethara - Ra judges the dispute of Set and Horus 12th October - 26th Hethara - The Black Land is given to Horus, The Red Land is given to Set 14th October - 28 Hethara - Festival of establishing Heru as King, The appearance before Ptah 15th November - 30th Koiak - The Ennead feast in the House of Ra, Heru and Wasir 25th December - 10th Mechir - Birth of Heru (Horus), the child of Aset (Isis), Day of elevating the Great Netjret (goddess) in all her names and manifestations. 6th February - 23rd Pamenot - Feast of Heru (Horus) 21st February - 8th Parmutit - Day of counting the partos of the eye of Heru (Horus) 15th March - 30th Parmutit - Offerings to Ra, Wasir, Heru, Ptah, Sokar and Atum 16th March - 1st Pachons - Feat of Heru and His Companions 15th April - 1st Payni - Festival of Heru (Horus) 29th May - 15th Epipi - Heru(Horus) hears prayer in the presence of the Netjers 30th June - 13th Epipi - Ceremony of Heru the Beloved 26th June - 13 Mesore - Holiday for the Shemsu (followers) of Heru

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Hu

Personification of the sound of the creative speech, the principle of Divine Utterance, which together with Heka (divine power) and Sia (divine omniscience) were necessary for the King´s creative powers during the Old Kingdom. They are seen together with the falcon-headed sungod standing in the Sunboat as it travels across the sky; "in order to sustain the life of men, and all the cattle, and all the worms, [everything] he has created". This points to the mythical concept that every sunrise is equal to the world being created anew, after having fought back all dangers on its way through the Underworld.

Hu is a deity without a special worship, belonging to the Heliopolitan Creation myth and its´ early sun cult.

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All the Egyptian Deities A - W: A   B   D   G   H   I   K   M   N   O   P   R   S   T   U   W   Y

Or go straight to some of them: Amun, Anubis, Aset - Bast -Djehuty - Hathor, Horus - Isis - Khepri - Ma'at - Nephtys - Osiris - Ptah - Re - Sekhmet, Seth - Thoth - Wadjet, Wesir

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A selection of sources:

The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt - Richard H. Wilkinson
Temples of Ancient Egypt - Dieter Arnold
Temples of the Last Pharaohs - Dieter Arnold
The Pyramid Texts - transl: R.O. Faulkner
The Coffin Texts - transl: R.O. Faulkner
Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods - by Dimitri Meeks & Christine Favard-Meeks
Egyptian Myths - by George Hart
A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses - George Hart
The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt - Richard H. Wilkinson
Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt - R.T. Rundle Clark

My special thanks to House of Netjer for allowing me to draw from their knowledge of the Netjeru!


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