Kherty

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Kherty is a Ancient Egyptian deity. Despite he is

Kherty in hieroglyphs
archaeologically attested since the early 2nd dynasty, his
original mythological role during this era is unclear. The
earliest mythological descriptions of Kherty's role appear not [1]

until the 6th dynasty in the Pyramid Texts.[2] Kherty

r.tj
The slaughterer

Contents
[1]
Kherty
1 Description r.tj
The slaughterer
2 Cult

3 Mythology

4 References

Description
The earliest depictions of Kherty appear during the early 2nd dynasty, under king (pharaoh) Hotepsekhemwy
and Raneb. He is shown as a recumbent and mummified ram. The figurine is always guided by the hieroglyphic
signs of a shamble and a bread loaf, giving a reading as kherty. The meaning of this word is commonly "to
slaughter", thus Kherty's name may mean "the slaughterer".[2][3]

Cult
Kherty was worshipped since the early 2nd dynasty, his name appears first time on stone bowls of king
Sneferka. Stone bowl inscriptions from the reign of king Peribsen mention first time the title "god servant of
Kherty" (egpt. hem-netjer Kherty). The main centre of the Kherty cult was located at Letopolis (today Ausim),
a second cult centre was later founded at Nesat (exact location unknown).[1]

Mythology
Kherty was a death deity with a contradicting character: The pyramid texts reveal that he was worshipped at one
side as a guide, who brought the deceased king safely to "the yonder site" by "being the ferryman". He also
protected the deceased against various demons (named inmetjw in the texts) sent by Seth. The deceased king
was then brought to his destination by Ra.[2][3]
On the other site, however, Kherty was feared as "death in persona", a god that "lives on the heart of men",
making them stop pounding. Interestingly enough, the pyramid texts reveal that Kherty attacked the physical
heart (khat(jw)) of the dying peoples, not the metaphysical, symbolic heart (jb) as the "seat of thoughts and
feelings". For this reason, a lot of spells and prayers were addressed to Kherty in attempt to befriend and please
him.[2] Other prayers beg Ra to "take the deceased king away from Kherty". These prayers also mention Osiris,
the judge of the underworld. Thus, Kherty and Osiris were mythologically connected to each other.[3]

Kherty is not mentioned in the famous Coffin Texts of Middle Kingdom period. Instead, he is replaced by a god
Aker, who is now the ferryman. In the prayers of the Book of the Dead, Kherty is described as a guard who
guides the celestial bark of Ra.[1]

References
1. Christian Leitz: Lexikon der gyptischen Gtter und Gtterbezeichnungen (LGG) (= Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta,
vol. 6). Peeters Publishers, Leuven 2002, ISBN 9042911514, pp. 48.
2. John Gwyn Griffiths: The Origins of Osiris and His Cult (= Studies in the history of religions, vol. 40). BRILL, Leiden
1980, ISBN 9004060960, p. 6, 173 & 174.
3. Georg Meurer: Die Feinde des Knigs in den Pyramidentexten (= Orbis biblicus et orientalis, vol. 189). Saint-Paul,
2002, ISBN 3525530463, pp. 73, 74 & 76.

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Categories: Death gods Underworld gods Egyptian gods Egyptian mythology

This page was last modified on 18 April 2016, at 09:20.

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