Shesmu
Long-time readers of this blog may have noticed my obsession with lion-headed Egyptian deities. I remember as a kid being slightly puzzled as to why there was a lioness goddess, Sekhmet, but no lion god. But of course, there are several known male deities who are portrayed with lion heads or as lions, such as Apedemak and Mahes - even Horus has a go at Edfu.
Here's the god Shesmu, on the southern staircase at Denderah:
His name appears above him - I've highlighted it in red here:
It's the sign for a wine press, plus an adorable little lion-headed determinative. :) Up to the Middle Kingdom, explains Mark Ciccarello, Shesmu was the patron of the wine press, but swapped making wine for making ointment in the New Kingdom.
From his first appearances in the Pyramid Texts, Shesmu is one of those Egyptian deities who's both friendly and dangerous: he presents the dead pharoah with wine, but also chops up gods for the meal in the Cannibal Hymn. Similarly, in both the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead, he's described as both feeding the deceased and as one of the god who traps them in a net. (He even has a staff of demons, the Shesmus, to help him.) In the BD he's a butcher again, described as the "mutilator of Osiris" (does that mean he's the guy who chopped Osiris into pieces?). ETA: Uh-uh. See the comments. :)
Shesmu is shown in a number of temples; probably the first actual image of him is in Seti I's temple at Abydos. He's pretty benevolent in these contexts, presenting ointment and helping to embalm the dead, and starts being shown with a lion's head. Interestingly, Ciccarello points out that Shesmu tends to be depicted with a lion head when he's acting benevolently; generally, it's the one with a human head you've got to watch out for!
(Plenty more detail at the entry on Shesmu over at the amazin' Henadology!)
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Ciccarello, Mark. "Shesmu the Letopolite." in Mark Ciccarello, Mark, et al (eds). Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes. Chicago, Oriental Institute, 1976.
Here's the god Shesmu, on the southern staircase at Denderah:
His name appears above him - I've highlighted it in red here:
It's the sign for a wine press, plus an adorable little lion-headed determinative. :) Up to the Middle Kingdom, explains Mark Ciccarello, Shesmu was the patron of the wine press, but swapped making wine for making ointment in the New Kingdom.
From his first appearances in the Pyramid Texts, Shesmu is one of those Egyptian deities who's both friendly and dangerous: he presents the dead pharoah with wine, but also chops up gods for the meal in the Cannibal Hymn. Similarly, in both the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead, he's described as both feeding the deceased and as one of the god who traps them in a net. (He even has a staff of demons, the Shesmus, to help him.) In the BD he's a butcher again, described as the "mutilator of Osiris" (does that mean he's the guy who chopped Osiris into pieces?). ETA: Uh-uh. See the comments. :)
Shesmu is shown in a number of temples; probably the first actual image of him is in Seti I's temple at Abydos. He's pretty benevolent in these contexts, presenting ointment and helping to embalm the dead, and starts being shown with a lion's head. Interestingly, Ciccarello points out that Shesmu tends to be depicted with a lion head when he's acting benevolently; generally, it's the one with a human head you've got to watch out for!
(Plenty more detail at the entry on Shesmu over at the amazin' Henadology!)
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Ciccarello, Mark. "Shesmu the Letopolite." in Mark Ciccarello, Mark, et al (eds). Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes. Chicago, Oriental Institute, 1976.