Meretseger
Meretseger | ||||||
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Name in hieroglyphs |
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Major cult center | Theban Necropolis, Deir el-Medina | |||||
Symbol | Cobra snake |
Meretseger (also known as Mersegrit[1]' or Mertseger) was a Theban cobra-goddess in ancient Egyptian religion,[2] in charge with guarding and protecting the vast Theban Necropolis — on the west bank of the Nile, in front of Thebes — and especially the heavily guarded Valley of the Kings.[3][4][5] Her cult was typical of the New Kingdom of Egypt (1550–1070 BC).[6]
Role and characteristics
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Meretseger's name means "She Who Loves Silence",[7][8] in reference to the silence of the desert cemetery area she kept[9] or, according to another interpretation, "Beloved of Him Who Makes Silence (Osiris)".[10]
Meretseger was the patron of the artisans and workers of the village of Deir el-Medina, who built and decorated the great royal and noble tombs.[7] Desecrations of rich royal burials were already in progress from the Old Kingdom of Egypt (27th/22nd century BC), sometimes by the workers themselves: the genesis of Meretseger was the spontaneous need to identify a guardian goddess, both dangerous and merciful,[9] of the tombs of sovereigns and aristocrats. Her cult, also present in Esna (near Luxor), reached its peak during the 18th Dynasty. A royal wife of the Middle Kingdom pharaoh Senusret III (c. 1878–1839 BC) was called Meretseger; she was the first to bear the title Great Royal Wife (which became the standard title for chief wives of Pharaohs) and the first whose name was written in a cartouche: however, as there are no contemporary sources relating to the Great Royal Wife Meretseger, this homonym of the goddess is most likely a creation of the New Kingdom.[11]
The goddess Meretseger was worshiped by the workers' guild, who feared her wrath very much. Being a local deity, only small rock temples were dedicated to her (such as the one located on the path leading to the Valley of the Queens[12]) and some stelae with prayers and poignant requests for forgiveness,[4] as well as various cappelletti right at the foot of the hill dedicated to her — which was her embodiment too.[5] She was sometimes associated with Hathor: even the latter was considered a protector of the graves in her funerary aspects of "Lady Of The West" and "Lady Of The Necropolis" who opened the gates of the underworld.[13][14] Her close association with the Valley of the Kings prevented her becoming anything more than a local deity, and when the valley ceased being in use (and Thebes was abandoned as a capital), so she also ceased being worshipped (11th/10th century BC).[6]
Meretseger's hill
Meretseger was especially associated with the hill now called
Stela of Neferabu
It was believed that Meretseger punished the workers who committed a
In relation to the Egyptians with their divinities, the concepts of sin, repentance and forgiveness were very unusual; these characteristics of Meretseger's cult appear to be a unicum.[22]
Rock shrine in Deir el-Medina
Meretseger's rock shrine in Deir el-Medina was formed by a series of caves placed in a semicircle, whose vaults however collapsed due to earthquakes, and on the outer walls still retains many steles, while a large number of fragments have been inventoried and distributed to various museums. It was also dedicated to the most revered Ptah, god of craftsmen and artisans.[12] Overlying the temple there is a rock with the shape of a snake's head.[22] The large amount of material found confirms that the temple was very popular and famous — locally.[12]
Iconography
Meretseger was sometimes portrayed as a cobra-headed woman, though this iconography is rather rare:[22] in this case she could hold the was-sceptre[23] as well as having her head surmounted by a feather and being armed with two knives.[16] More commonly, she was depicted as a woman-headed snake or scorpion,[16][24] a cobra-headed sphinx, lion-headed cobra or three-headed (woman, snake and vulture) cobra.[22] On various steles, she wears a modius surmounted by the solar disk and by two feathers, or the hathoric crown (the solar disk between two bovine horns).[16] Her main artistic depictions are inside lavish royal tombs, for example:
- the tomb (TT56) of Userhat, "Scribe who Counts the Bread for Upper And Lower Egypt" under Pharaoh Amenhotep II (1427–1401 BC), where she appears with Montu;[25]
- the tomb (KV14) of Queen Twosret (c. 1191–1189 BC) and Pharaoh Setnakhte (c. 1189–1186 BC), where she appears genuflected;[26]
- the tomb (Ra-Horakhty, receiving offerings by the King himself;[27]
- the tomb (KV18) of Pharaoh Ramesses X (c. 1111–1107 BC), where she appears with Ra-Horakhty;[28]
- the tomb (KV4) of Pharaoh Ramesses XI (c. 1107–1077 BC), where she appears with many deities.[29]
Gallery
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Stela with the drawer Nakhtimen adoring Meretseger. Louvre, Paris.
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Stela with a woman adoring Meretsenger. Egyptian Museum of Berlin.
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Stela with a woman adoring Meretseger above many snakes. Louvre, Paris.
References
- ^ Budge, E. A. Wallis. An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Volume 1. p. 311.
- ^ Pinch 2004, p. 164.
- ^ a b Hart 1986, pp. 119–120.
- ^ a b c d Wilkinson 2003, p. 224.
- ^ ISBN 978-0520036154. pp. 107–9.
- ^ a b Hart 1986, p. 120.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7141-1975-5. p. 104.
- ^ Budge, E. A. Wallis. An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Volume 1. p. 311.
- ^ a b c Hart 1986, p. 119.
- ^ a b Ions 1973, pp. 116, 118.
- ISBN 0-500-05128-3. pp. 26–7.
- ^ a b c d Peacock, Lenka. "Rock-cut shrine to Ptah and Meretseger at Deir el-Medina". www.deirelmedina.com. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
- ^ Hart 1986, pp. 78–9.
- ^ Pinch 2004, p. 139.
- ^ Pinch 2004, p. 200.
- ^ a b c d Peacock, Lenka. "Goddess Meretseger at Deir el-Medina". www.deirelmedina.com. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
- ^ Peacock, Lenka. "Deir el-Medina stelae in the Egyptian Museum in Turin". www.deirelmedina.com. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ "stela". British Museum. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ "W1326 - Y Ganolfan Eifftaidd / Egypt Centre". Y Ganolfan Eifftaidd / Egypt Centre. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ Bleiberg, Edward. "Amenhotep I," The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Ed. Donald Redford. Vol. 1, p. 71. Oxford University Press, 2001.
- ^ "The Courtyard of the Cachette in the Temple of Amun at Karnak in Luxor (Ancient Thebes), Egypt, Part II: Statue of Amenhotep II with Meretseger". www.touregypt.net (in Russian). Retrieved 2018-05-09.
- ^ a b c d e f "Gods of Ancient Egypt: Meretseger". www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
- ^ "Stela Showing Meretseger, Ancient Egypt collection". www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
- ^ "MERT SEGER in "Enciclopedia dell' Arte Antica"". www.treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-05-09.
- ^ BENDERITTER, Thierry. "The tomb of Userhat, TT56". Osirisnet: Tombs of Ancient Egypt. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
- ^ Keops. "Depictions of Deities in Different Corridors of the Tomb of Tausret and Setnakht". egyptopia.com. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
- ISBN 978-1409362463. p. 396.
- ^ "Egypt: KV18, The Tomb of Ramesses X, Valley of The Kings, Egypt". www.touregypt.net (in Russian). Retrieved 2018-05-09.
- ^ Sitek, Dariusz. "Ancient Egypt - History and Chronology". www.narmer.pl. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
Bibliography
- Hart, George (1986), A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-05909-7.
- Ions, Veronica (1973). Egyptian Mythology, London: Paul Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-02365-6.
- ISBN 978-0195170245.
- ISBN 0-500-05120-8.
External links
- Media related to Meretseger at Wikimedia Commons