Selket [1] ( Egypt. Srqt ; also known as Serket [2] , Serket Hetite ) is an ancient Egyptian goddess, patroness of the dead, daughter of Ra , helping him defeat enemies. Especially revered in Lower Egypt .
| Selket | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | |||||
| patroness of the dead | |||||
| Mythology | ancient egyptian | ||||
| Latin spelling | Selket, Serqet, Selqet, Serket, Serket-Hetit, Serket-hetet, Selkis, Selqis | ||||
| Floor | female | ||||
| Father | Khnum or Ra (single-handedly) | ||||
| Mother | Nate | ||||
| Spouse | Gore | ||||
| Children | Four sons of Horus and sometimes Nehebkau | ||||
| Animal | Scorpio | ||||
Content
- 1 Image
- 2 Name
- 3 Mythology
- 4 Cult
- 5 See also
- 6 notes
- 7 Literature
Image
The best known version of the image is Selket in the form of a standing woman with a scorpion on her head, which is why she is also called the goddess of scorpions. Nevertheless, significant doubts are expressed about the generally accepted identification: the creature depicted on the head of the goddess is devoid of a tail curved in the opposite direction with a sting, which is surprising against the background of the usual accuracy of Egyptian animal images. At the same time, the image corresponds to the appearance of a water scorpion (Nepa rubra), which is not related to scorpions, a variety of aquatic insects, characteristic of which the breathing tube also indicates the meaning of the name Selket “The one who lets you breathe”. In the guise of the canopy goddess Kebekshenuf, she appears with outstretched arms, ready to embrace and protect.
However, in the hypostasis of the divine mother, Selket is portrayed in a completely different way: with the body of a woman and with the head of a lion or crocodile , armed with knives. The images in the tombs show it not only in an anthropomorphic form, but also in a purely zoomorphic one - in the image of a scorpion, lion or raised cobra . [3] .
Name
Selket dates back to the old phonetic interpretation of hieroglyphs . However, at present, it is assumed that the interpretation of the Pharaohs will be closer to the reading of Serket , which approximately means "the one who lets you breathe." The Serket-Hetit variation is based on a clearly earlier form of the name. Hetite is translated as “throat”, so the name of the goddess sounds like “the one who gives the throat a breath” [4] . Finally, the variant of writing Selkis , adopted in Greek texts, passed from there to other languages.
Mythology
The Selket cult originates from the Nile Delta , indications of the worship of this goddess are found in the era of the First Dynasty . Also, as one of the divine mothers, she is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom , where she is called the mother of the serpent god Nehebkau [5] and in this regard, “feeding the king” [6] . She is the patron goddess of healers, as she removes and heals the bites of poisonous animals and insects, especially scorpions. Selkett also fights Apophis .
Further mention of Selket is also found in the mythological story of the birth of the god Horus , where she and Nephthys help the goddess Isis after the scorpion bit the baby god. Together with Isis, Nate and Nephthys, she is one of the four goddesses who patronize the sons of Horus . It protects the canoe of Kebechsenuf , which stores the intestines of the deceased [7] . Presumably, therefore, Selket is also referred to in the ancient Egyptian text as Nebet-per-nefer, that is, “Mistress of a beautiful house”, as the place of embalming or “House of improvement” was called.
Cult
The Selket cult is firmly connected with the story of the great warrior Menes . Under the auspices of the Scorpion Goddess, Menes won many wars and became her faithful priest. The Pharaoh loved, respected the goddess and therefore wore a coat of arms with a picture of a scorpion and called himself the King of a scorpion. After the death of a warrior, Selket took him into her ministry in heaven, thereby taking away from her soul the opportunity to reincarnate.
See also
- Hedetet
- Scorpio I
- Scorpio II
Notes
- ↑ Moscow University Physics Bulletin: History . - Publishing house of Moscow University., 1983 .-- 540 p.
- ↑ Cancer I.V. Egyptian mythology. - Terra. - 422 p. - ISBN 9785275009972 .
- ↑ Richard H. Wilkinson. Die Welt der Götter im alten Ägypten: Glaube - Macht - Mythologie. - Stuttgart: Theiss, 2003 .-- S. 235. - ISBN 3-8062-1819-6 .
- ↑ Lurker, Manfred. Lexikon der Götter und Symbole der alten Ägypter. - Bern / München / Wien: Scherz, 1998 .-- S. 182. - ISBN 3-502-16430-4 .
- ↑ The Pyramid Texts: 12. The Ferryman and the Deceased King's Ascension, Utterances unopened . The Pyramid Texts . www.sacred-texts.com. Date of treatment November 16, 2018.
- ↑ Richard H. Wilkinson. Die Welt der Götter im alten Ägypten: Glaube - Macht - Mythologie. - S. 234.
- ↑ Rolf Felde. Ägyptische Gottheiten. - 2. erweiterte und verbesserte Auflage. - Wiesbaden: R. Felde Eigenverlag, 1995 .-- S. 57.
Literature
- Selket // Mythological Dictionary / Ch. ed. E. M. Meletinsky . - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1990 .-- 672 p.