Mut
I'm still gradually adding notes to my catch-all posting on Sekhmet; here's one for the closely related goddess Mut. (Also see the goddess: ithyphallic mut tag.)
Capel, Anne K. and Glenn E. Markoe (eds). Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt. New York, Hudson Hills Press in association with Cincinnati Art Museum, 1996.It's possible that the numerous Sekhmet statues found at Mut's Karnak temple were actually made for Amenhotep III's funerary temple on the west bank of the Nile, but later dispersed by Ramesses II. It was during his reign that the Isheru festival began to be celebrated at Karnak, and also that Mut really began to be called the Eye of Re (she's occasionally given this title, as well as "Lady of Terror", in the late 18th Dynasty), so the Sekhmet statues could have created or enhanced the link between Mut and the Eye of Re. (Even before this she could be shown as lioness-headed.) Mut is "one of the few goddesses who can appear as a cat, among whose meanings is the dangerous goddess appeased". The Ptolemaic entrance to the precinct shows the pharaoh as a musician: "I am the perfect sistrum player for the Golden Lady, who pacifies the heart of my mistress every day". [Hang on, isn't the Golden Lady Hathor? Find this text!] A Third Intermediate Period hymn from the daily temple ritual links Mut and Sekhmet as Eyes of Re "and refers to Mut's return and her appeasement, which includes rituals of music and dance." A possible political motive for linking Mut with Sekhmet would be their spouses: Amun-Ra of Thebes in Upper Egypt, and Ptah of Memphis in Lower Egypt. On one of Amenhotep III's statues, the two goddesses are called "united"; in the Ptolemaic period they could be seen as the serene and destructive aspects of the one goddess.
Bryan, Betsy M. "The Temple of Mut: New Evidence on Hatshepsut's Building Activity". in Roehrig, Catharine H., Cathleen A. Keller, and Renée Dreyfus (eds). Hatshepsut: from Queen to Pharaoh. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven, Yale University Press, 2005."The earliest cult place for Mut may have been constructed in the Middle Kingdom or the Second Intermediate Period, but remains of the original structure have yet to be identified." Hmmm, I'm not sure if that refers to the site at Karnak, or elsewhere. Further reading will clarify.
"While the oldest known written reference to the temple dates to the Seventeenth Dynasty, it may be that a structure was erected in stone only in the Eighteenth Dynasty - perhaps during Hatshepsut's rule... during the co-regency Hatshepsut chose to carry out construction at the temple of Mut." Also at this time, "Mut's role as the divine consort of Amun-Re was emphasized in rituals for the god at Thebes". Describing the Hathor shrine, Bryan remarks that "Hatshepsut seems to have sought a special relationship with the goddess, presenting herself as a reborn Hathor".
te Velde, Herman. "Towards a Minimal Definition of the Goddess Mut". in Jaarbericht van het Voor-Aziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap Ex Oriente Lux 26 (1979-1980), pp 3-9.Mut is more than the divine mother and spouse; she is often depicted with her consort Amun, but was also worshipped by herself - "near Antaeopolis as mistress of Megeb, in Memphis as Mut in the house of Ptah, in Gizeh as Mut-Khenty-Abu-Neteru, and at Heliopolis as Mut hr-snwt.s.)
Te Velde remarks that Mut "does not play a striking part in Egyptian mythology". Mentions of Mut in the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and Book of the Dead are rare; in fact, she "hardly appears" until the 18th Dynasty. The earliest known representation of Mut is on a magic wand dating from about 1730 BCE (ie MK, Dynasty 13).
The Isheru or Asheru was a "crescent-shaped lake", first given that name in the time of Amenhotep I, "where lioness-goddess were appeased". There was an Isheru of Wadjet near Memphis, of Bastet in Bubastis, of Sekhmet in Memphis.
Mut's name is found in more personal Egyptian names than any other goddess, including many men's names.
te Velde, Herman. "Mut, the Eye of Re." in S. Schoske (ed). Akten des vierten Internationalen Ägyptologen-Kongresses München 1985 3, (Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur Beihefte 3), pp 395-403. Hamburg, Helmut Buske Verlag.
The first mention of Mut is on a 17th Dynasty stela. Her relationship with Amun was not "fundamental in origin": even at Thebes, she had her own temple, and her own relations with other gods.
At Luxor, a temple decoration dating from Amenhotep III's reign portrays Mut with a lioness head; but she was first called "Eye of Re" in the reign of Ramesses II (and was increasingly given this title from then on). The cult of the Eye of Re "received its established form in Ramesside times". A text from the time of Thutmose III mentions the "festive navigations" of Wadjet, Bastet, and Shesemtet; but in Ramesside times, it's always the navigation of Mut.
Troy, Lana. "Mut Enthroned". in van Dijk, J. (ed.), Essays on Ancient Egypt in Honour of Herman te Velde, Groningen, 1997, pp.301-315.
The block containing Crossword Hymn to Mut includes a relief of a "line-up of at least nineteen gods" making "a gesture of adoration". "Mut as bearer of the Double Crown, mistress of heaven, the eye and daughter of Re, becomes in this hymn a vision of the solar goddess, daughter, mother, regent, and creator." She is "his daughter of his two eyes, she having appeared as his mother, through whom he is protected". She is the fiery uraeus on his brow, his crown, and his throne, and is herself "female king", "the occupant of the throne", her "authority emanat[ing] from Re"; rather than being identified with Ma'at, her relationship with Ma'at is that of a ruler, nourished by and creating Ma'at. "The text is replete with references to this goddess as a manifestation of the sun" -"the one who makes the lands live with her rays, this Sound Eye of Re", "the Akhet who illuminates the entire land with her rays". She is creator of water, land, and vegetation, gods, and human beings. The whole thing creates "a mirror image, in feminine form, of the male solar creator".
Mut and Amaunet as Amun's co-consorts "create a reference to the Two Ladies". (The shared attribute of the red crown connects both goddesses to Neith, an "alter ego" of Mut in the Crossword Hymn.
The goddess' two forms as "the uterine eye and the phallic uraeus suggests an androgyny which gives this daughter the capacity for independent creation." If she is separated from her father, he becomes helpless, she becomes dangerous; their reunion, in which she is pacified and gives birth to their son, is the basis of festivals and literature. She is "a female version of the Kamutef".
__
Capel, Anne K. and Glenn E. Markoe (eds). Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt. New York, Hudson Hills Press in association with Cincinnati Art Museum, 1996.
Bryan, Betsy M. "The Temple of Mut: New Evidence on Hatshepsut's Building Activity". in Roehrig, Catharine H., Cathleen A. Keller, and Renée Dreyfus (eds). Hatshepsut: from Queen to Pharaoh. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven, Yale University Press, 2005.
te Velde, Herman. "Mut, the Eye of Re." in S. Schoske (ed). Akten des vierten Internationalen Ägyptologen-Kongresses München 1985 3, (Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur Beihefte 3), pp 395-403. Hamburg, Helmut Buske Verlag.
te Velde, Herman. "Towards a Minimal Definition of the Goddess Mut". in Jaarbericht van het Voor-Aziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap Ex Oriente Lux 26 (1979-1980), pp 3-9.
Troy, Lana. "Mut Enthroned". in van Dijk, J. (ed.), Essays on Ancient Egypt in Honour of Herman te Velde, Groningen, 1997, pp.301-315.
"While the oldest known written reference to the temple dates to the Seventeenth Dynasty, it may be that a structure was erected in stone only in the Eighteenth Dynasty - perhaps during Hatshepsut's rule... during the co-regency Hatshepsut chose to carry out construction at the temple of Mut." Also at this time, "Mut's role as the divine consort of Amun-Re was emphasized in rituals for the god at Thebes". Describing the Hathor shrine, Bryan remarks that "Hatshepsut seems to have sought a special relationship with the goddess, presenting herself as a reborn Hathor".
Te Velde remarks that Mut "does not play a striking part in Egyptian mythology". Mentions of Mut in the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and Book of the Dead are rare; in fact, she "hardly appears" until the 18th Dynasty. The earliest known representation of Mut is on a magic wand dating from about 1730 BCE (ie MK, Dynasty 13).
The Isheru or Asheru was a "crescent-shaped lake", first given that name in the time of Amenhotep I, "where lioness-goddess were appeased". There was an Isheru of Wadjet near Memphis, of Bastet in Bubastis, of Sekhmet in Memphis.
Mut's name is found in more personal Egyptian names than any other goddess, including many men's names.
The first mention of Mut is on a 17th Dynasty stela. Her relationship with Amun was not "fundamental in origin": even at Thebes, she had her own temple, and her own relations with other gods.
At Luxor, a temple decoration dating from Amenhotep III's reign portrays Mut with a lioness head; but she was first called "Eye of Re" in the reign of Ramesses II (and was increasingly given this title from then on). The cult of the Eye of Re "received its established form in Ramesside times". A text from the time of Thutmose III mentions the "festive navigations" of Wadjet, Bastet, and Shesemtet; but in Ramesside times, it's always the navigation of Mut.
The block containing Crossword Hymn to Mut includes a relief of a "line-up of at least nineteen gods" making "a gesture of adoration". "Mut as bearer of the Double Crown, mistress of heaven, the eye and daughter of Re, becomes in this hymn a vision of the solar goddess, daughter, mother, regent, and creator." She is "his daughter of his two eyes, she having appeared as his mother, through whom he is protected". She is the fiery uraeus on his brow, his crown, and his throne, and is herself "female king", "the occupant of the throne", her "authority emanat[ing] from Re"; rather than being identified with Ma'at, her relationship with Ma'at is that of a ruler, nourished by and creating Ma'at. "The text is replete with references to this goddess as a manifestation of the sun" -"the one who makes the lands live with her rays, this Sound Eye of Re", "the Akhet who illuminates the entire land with her rays". She is creator of water, land, and vegetation, gods, and human beings. The whole thing creates "a mirror image, in feminine form, of the male solar creator".
Mut and Amaunet as Amun's co-consorts "create a reference to the Two Ladies". (The shared attribute of the red crown connects both goddesses to Neith, an "alter ego" of Mut in the Crossword Hymn.
The goddess' two forms as "the uterine eye and the phallic uraeus suggests an androgyny which gives this daughter the capacity for independent creation." If she is separated from her father, he becomes helpless, she becomes dangerous; their reunion, in which she is pacified and gives birth to their son, is the basis of festivals and literature. She is "a female version of the Kamutef".
__
Capel, Anne K. and Glenn E. Markoe (eds). Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt. New York, Hudson Hills Press in association with Cincinnati Art Museum, 1996.
Bryan, Betsy M. "The Temple of Mut: New Evidence on Hatshepsut's Building Activity". in Roehrig, Catharine H., Cathleen A. Keller, and Renée Dreyfus (eds). Hatshepsut: from Queen to Pharaoh. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven, Yale University Press, 2005.
te Velde, Herman. "Mut, the Eye of Re." in S. Schoske (ed). Akten des vierten Internationalen Ägyptologen-Kongresses München 1985 3, (Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur Beihefte 3), pp 395-403. Hamburg, Helmut Buske Verlag.
te Velde, Herman. "Towards a Minimal Definition of the Goddess Mut". in Jaarbericht van het Voor-Aziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap Ex Oriente Lux 26 (1979-1980), pp 3-9.
Troy, Lana. "Mut Enthroned". in van Dijk, J. (ed.), Essays on Ancient Egypt in Honour of Herman te Velde, Groningen, 1997, pp.301-315.