#wepiu

[bronzegods]

Hor the Elder and Setesh the Elder

Pre-Dynastic deity brothers who fuckin’ hate each other but live together in a Libyan oasis temple anyway, because obviously that’s how you solve your familial problems. Exposure. Or whatever.

In the timeline of Pantheon, their story begins in the pre-dynastic period prior to the unification of Kemet. Hor and Setesh, both royal princes who rule in Nekhen and Naqada respectively, got along fine with each other (aside from general sibling rivalry) until the abrupt death of their father, Andjety, the god of kingship, who drowned in the Nile. His body was not recovered.

Shit hit the fan.

See, there were two problems: first, the brothers encountered their first experience with true death. Not the kind where you go take a visit to the underworld and reunite your ba with your ka, but True Oblivion that comes from dying and leaving behind an unrecoverable body. Without the body preserved, there can be no resurrection.

The second issue? Andjety also didn’t leave a will for his kingdom. Lack of writing systems and all back in those days. So Hor and Setesh, shattered by the loss of their father, both sank into their grief, and both felt obligated to step into their father’s sandals and become the new king.

This resulted in constant warfare between the two Upper Egyptian city-states as their patron gods struggled to handle their loss. In the process, they crushed the kingdom of Abdju between them, sending its gods—Khenti-Amentiu, Anpu, Wepwawet, and Wepiu—fleeing north, where they allied with the Delta gods: Ptah, Sokar, Kherty, and Neith.

Hor and Setesh set aside their differences and united against the common threat. The two, reconciled, steamrolled the Delta resistance. Khenti-Amentiu and sons fled to the underworld through Saqqara, displacing Sokar and Kherty’s family in an attempt to avoid getting killed by the enraged brothers.

But after their victory, Hor turned against Setesh and banished him to a Libyan oasis. He wanted to be the one and only king, and even the mortal kings loved and took on his name. Sure, Peribsen tried recalling Setesh, but Hor chased him away again.

Which worked great, until a new threat arrived. He called himself Ra, and Hor was no match for him. He begged Setesh to help. Setesh told him to go fuck himself. Ra took over the lands by the 3rd Dynasty and banished Hor to Libya as well, laying the foundation for his ironclad rule.

The age of the sun had arrived.

Commissioned work, illustrated by Eaglidots

[pagan-omen]

More Lesser Known Kemetic Gods:

Seshat (Sefkhet-Abwy or Safekh-Aubi) - She was the goddess of writing, books, notations, and measurements. Her name means "The Female Scribe" and she was the consort of Thoth, god of wisdom and writing (though sometimes she is depicted as his daughter). She is the patroness of libraries, both public and private, and was known as "She Who is Foremost in the House of Books". She was also the patron goddess of scribes.

Shay (Shai) - The personification of fate. Shay presided over one's personal destiny and so was associated with goddesses like Meskhenet and Renenutet. Similar to The Fates of the ancient Greeks, no one could resist or alter Shay's decisions. The scholar Wilkinson cites a text known as Instructions of Amenemopet which states, "None can ignore Shay" (128). This statement epitomizes Shay's chief characteristic: inevitability. He is depicted as being present at the weighing of the heart of the soul in the afterlife or as a man standing in a posture of patience.

Shed - A protective god who guarded against personal harm from wild animals or mortal enemies. He was invoked by hunters and soldiers and known as "He Who Rescues" and "The Enchanter". He was lord of the wild animals and weapons and so could control both to protect a person who invoked his name. He was also sought in protection against magic spells cast by one's enemies and possibly against demons or ghosts.

Sia-  - The personification of perception and thoughtfulness who represented the heart (seat of emotion, thought, and character). Sia formed a dyad with Hu (representing the tongue), personification of the authority of the spoken word, and a triad with Hu and Heka, god of magic and medicine but also the primordial force in the universe which empowered life and sustained ma'at. 

Sobek - An important protective deity in the form of a crocodile or a man with a crocodile's head, Sobek was a god of water but also associated with medicine and particularly surgery. His name means "Crocodile" and he was lord of marshes and wetlands and any other wet areas of Egypt. In the Pyramid Texts he is claimed to be the son of Neith and was worshipped widely from the Old Kingdom (c. 2613-2181 BCE)

Sokar (Seker) - A protective falcon god of Memphis who was originally an agricultural deity and one of the oldest in Egypt. His festival was one of the earliest observed and, merged with the Khoiak Festival of Osiris, continued to be celebrated throughout Egypt's history. 

Sothis - The personification of the star Sirius (the "dog star") whose appearance heralded the annual inundation of the Nile. She was worshipped as a cow-goddess in the Predynastic Period (c. 6000-3150 BCE) associated with Sirius. She was the consort of Sah, who personified the constellation Orion, and the two were associated with Osiris and Isis

Waset (Wosret) - A protective goddess of the city of Thebes whose name means "The Powerful Female One". She was the personification of the city which was also known as 'Waset'. She was originally an aspect of Hathor but emerged with her own distinct character and iconography by the time of the Middle Kingdom (c. 2040-1782 BCE). 

Weneg - A protective god first referenced in the Old Kingdom period (c. 2613-2181 BCE) who held up the sky and maintained order between the heavens and the earth. He is closely associated with ma'at the concept and Ma'at the goddess who personified harmony in that he served as a just mediator between the gods in their disputes.

Wepwawet (Wepiu or Wepuaut) - One of the most ancient gods of Egypt and the oldest depiction of a jackal god, pre-dating Anubis, with whom he is often confused. His name means "Opener of the Ways" and this has been interpreted as opening the way for king in battle, opening the way to the afterlife, and opening the way at one's birth. He is depicted on the Narmer Palette (c. 3150 BCE) and associated with Wadjet. He eventually became closely associated with Horus and, as Wepwawet-Ra, with the sun god Ra. He is depicted as a jackal, sometimes wearing a scarf with a falcon before him

[bigbadjackal]

“Observations” Lecture Paper

While looking through some of my files, I came across an excellent paper about the jackal deities which Terence wrote for a lecture back in 1999. While I don’t intend to upload everything I have of his, this was too relevant not to share on Per-Sabu. Enjoy. 

Link: http://www.per-sabu.org/observations-lecture.html

[thetwistedrope]

Followed a trail the other day which lead me to the catalog of an old private collection because it featured some amulets of a female jackal deity — quite a rare thing. But there was also something about Wepwawet.

Read the full post here!