Towards the Late Period the head of Bes appeared as amulets and on various other items and in the Greek days he was even depicted wielding a sword and shield, to increase his protective power as he was assimilated into a war deity.
The worship of Bes spread far beyond Egypt, images of him has been found on Cyprus, Syria and Assyria.
Mafdet
General
Mafdet is mentioned both in the Pyramid Texts and on the Palermo Stone, her claws decapitating Reīs enemies. With her claws she killed scorpions and snakes, and in the tomb she protected the mummy from snakebites. In the New Kingdom she is a funerary deity punishing wrongdoers.
Origin:
Attested already in the 1st Dynasty when she was associated with a mongoose.
Depiction:
There are several animals which Mafdet might have taken her form from: a feline predator, perhaps the lynx or a cat or even a panther but the ozelot, mongoose and civet are also in the picture. In the Pyramid Texts are mentionings of an 'instrument of punishment', which looks like a pole with a curved top where a knife with a lenght of rope was attached. sometimes Mafdet was seem running up this pole, in a feline form. As she was a protector of Re, she culd sometimes be depicted with the solar disc and even an uraeus on top of her head.
Worship:
Mafdet had no cult or temples of her own but is mentioned in several temple inscriptions from the Late Period. In daily life she was invoked in rituals to ward off ghosts or demons, and also to protect from snakebites.
Mahes
General
Mahes (Gr: Miysis, Mihos) is sometimes said to be the son of Bast or even Sekhmet. His popularity seem to go back only to the Middle Kingdom when his name was used in combination with personal names. He isnīt much featured in mythology but seems to have been a god of war and also helping Re against Apep. He became identified with several other deities, among these Re himself, Horus and Nefertem. In a late Greek text he is called a god of darkness, winds and storms.
Origin:
The word mahes is used in the Pyramid Texts with the meaning of 'lion' but there are no other signs of an early worship. His origins are therefore obscure and it wasnīt until the Late Period when he became more widely known.
Depiction:
Mahes could be shown either as a lion or as a man with a lionīs head and a short kilt. He could wear different headdresses;
the sundisc, the headdress with flowers which Nefertem is seen wearing, or the Atef Crown. He is often holding a knife in one paw, together with some lotusflowers.
Worship:
His worship is best known from the Late Period with the main cult center being at ancient Taremu (Gr: Leontopolis, modern Tell el-Muqdam). The ruins show there was a temple already in the 18th dynasty. At Per Bast there was a temple to him erected by Osorkon in the 23rd Dynasty, as part of the Bast Temple. In Upper Egypt Mahes was worshipped at Aphroditopolis and from these two places his worship spread so that he became frequent in the Greco-Roman temples at Philae, Edfu and Dendera and all the way to Dabod and Dendur in Nubia as well as the oases of Siwa and Bahariya.
In everyday life, Mahes is mentioned in magical and amuletic papyri already in the New Kingdom, and in the Late Period there were small glazed or bronze amulets with his depiction.
Mekhit
General:
Mekhit is not much known from mythology. She was a lion goddess, and like Sekhmet and other deities, she could be the *Eye of Re' in its vengeful aspect. Her consort was Onuris who mythologically brings back the Eye of Re from its desert roamings. This might point at the myth of the Return of the Distant One which in its turn links Mekhit with Sekhmet and Tefnut.
Origin:
Obsucre.
Depiction:
Mekhit was depicted as a woman with a lionīs head, crowned with a round disc and the uraeus.
Worship:
Both Onuris and Mekhit had a cult center at This near Abydos, Upper Egypt.
Menhyt
General:
This lion goddess, who is not much known, was associated with Neith at Sais in the Delta. In the Coffin Texts she is associated with Wadjet, the patron deity of Lower Egypt. Like several other lion goddesses, she could be the uraeus on the brow of Re and as such she was considered a solar deity.
Origin:
Not known.
Depiction:
Shown in female form, with a lionīs head.
Worship:
Besides at Sais in the Delta area, she was worshipped in the area around Edfu in Upper Egypt.
Mestjet
General
This lion deity is know only from one single inscription. Mestjet too, was one of the many female deities who appeared as the vengeful 'Eye of Re'.
There is a stela from the 21st Dynasty, on which the name of Mestjet is inscribed, which points at her being a local form of the 'Eye of Re'. And that is all we know about her.
Mut
General:
The word 'Mut' means 'mother' in ancient Egyptian. She was the spouse of Amun and queen of the deities at Waset (Gr: Thebes, modern: Luxor) and also considered the mother of the king. At some point in time she replaced Amaunet, the original consort of Amun, and together with him and their 'son' Khonus' they made up the Triad of Waset. To that came that she was identified with the queen, who in the New Kingdom period was seen wearing the vulture headdress, a symbol of divine motherhood. Her influence was in the world of the living, unlike other important goddesses who also had a funerary function.
From this period Mut became associated with the lioness, becoming the southern counterpart of Sekhmet who was the northern lioness deity. As Mut-Bast she was associated with Bast. Her leonine form made her one of the several deities called the 'Eye of Re'.
In the later New Kingdom, Mut had a punishing function: traitors and rebles were to be destroyed in the 'Brazier of Mut', which shows that she protected not only the king but also the state.
Origin:
The origins of Mut arenīt totally clear. She is not know before the end of the Middle Kingdom but she may have come forward in the Waset area earlier than that. some people think she might have been 'invented' as a spouse for Amun, when his worship rose, others believe Mut must have been a minor local deity gaining popularity at the same time as Amun.
Depiction:
The earliest depiction of Mut is from ca 1700 b.c. and shows her in leonine form. Later she was most frequently shown in human form, wearing a bright red or blue dress, possibly with the pattern of feathers. She wears the vulture headdress and the Double Crown on top of it.
Mut was also depicted with a lionessī head, linked with Sekhmet which is seen in the great number of lion-headed statues which were placed in the Precinct of Mut at Karnak. Her association with Bast is attested by a great number of dedications in the form of cat statues. There is also an informal image from the New Kingdom showing a cat with its arm around a goose, the sacred animal of Amun.
Worship:
Mut was apparently worshipped in the Middle Kingdom in Megeb in the 10th Sepat (Gr: Nome) not far from modern Qaw el-Qabir. There were also sanctuaries at Giza, Heliopolis and Tanis but her most importan center of worship was her own Isheru, the Temple of Mut, some short distance from the Temple of Amun at Karnak. Despite bieng the consort of Amun, Mut had her own cultic rituals and ceremonies. One of them is the Festival of the 'Navigation of Mut' which was performed on the sacred lake at the precinct of Mut. There was also the 'Overthrowing of Apep' which was held in her own sanctuaries, apart from Amun. Ritual waz models of enemies were made and called by name before they were destroyed. There was also an oracle at her temple to which people could come for help with their troubles and problems. As the 'Great Mother', she was depicted in many votive statuettes and amulets, which point at the importance she had in personal worship.
Pakhet
General:
( The image here is representative of several lionheaded goddesses, not specificially Pakhet. Itīs from the Khonus temple at Karnak)
The liongoddess Pakhet was worshipped locally at the entrance of the wadi near Beni Hasan in the eastern desert. This was probably because lions had the habit of prowling areas with water at the desertīs edge. Her name means 'she who snatches' or 'she who tears' which indicate that she was looked at as a fierce deity. She was associated both with Sekhmet and with Isis, and Horus was considered her partner. She had her own bark and escorted the Solar Bark. The Greeks identified her with their own huntress goddess Artemis.
Origin:
She is known from the Middle Kingdom. In the Coffin Texts itīs said that she is a night huntress with sharp claws. At Beni Hasan there is no evidence of her worship before the New Kingdom.
Depiction:
There arenīt many depictions of Pakhet, but mostly she appeared as a woman with a lionessīhead.
Worship:
In Dynasty 18 a rock chapel was cut out for her at Beni Hasan, probably by Hatshepsut. The place is known by its Greek name Speos Artemidos. In the area lies a whole necropolis, mostly dating to the Late Period, of cats sacred to her. Amulets showing a lioness deity standing over prostrate enemies are likely to be Pakhet, and these were worn in daily life for protection and maybe also for fertility.
Ruty
General:
This is a headrest from the tomb of Tutankhamun, with the skygod Shu as support. He is flanked by the two lions Ruty (could also be Aker) so that the king was sleeping with hishead resting between the horisons of the east and the west.
This is a confusing double lion which is very easily taken to be Aker, Re or Atum. Originally Ruty signified the pair of Heliopolitan deities Tefnut and Shu together but later they also became associated with the desert border east and west of the Nile as that is where lions like to prowl. As leonine deities were staedily associated with Re, Ruty became the double lion upon whose back Re rose each day. But there is more: Atum, Geb, Nut and even Osiris are all equated with Ruty in various texts.
Origin:
Ruty is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts where he is equated with Atum.
Depiction:
Ruty was sometimes depicted as a man with a lionīs head, but most often as two lions seated or lying back to back, just like Aker, and with the sundisc or the hieroglyphs for the akhet between them. And just like Aker, the two lions faced the sunrise respectively the sunset, so they were said to replace the mountains on either side of the horizon.
Worship:
The pair of lions, Ruty, was in the Old Kingdom worshipped at Iunu (Gr: Heliopolis) and many other places. The worship was probably begun at Nay-ta-hut (Gr: Leontopolis, modern Tell el-Yahudiyia). Amulets with the two lions were used in daily life, so that the wearer was linked to the daily regeneration of the sun and thus with life.
Sekhmet
General:
Sekhmet, whose mane means 'the Powerful One', was, like many other goddesses, double-aspected. She was both a fierce lion-goddess whou could bring on slaughter and pestilence, and in her association with Hathor, she was benign, protective and healing. From early times she was regarded the 'Eye of Re' and as such she was perhaps the most important deity with this epiteth . This association she shared especially with Hathor and several other deities like Aset, Tefnut, Bast and Mut.
Called 'Daughter of Re', at MenNefer (Gr: Memphis), her spouse was Ptah and their 'son' Nefertem, making up together the Memphite Triad.
Because of her fierceness, many ancient kings adopted her as a military patroness and she became their symbol in battle. Here her duality can be demonstrated in that she used her power to protect the king in an almost motherly way.
Origin
In the Pyramid Texts, Sekhmet is said to have conceived the king but she probably goes back further than the Old Kingdom.
Depiction
Sekhmet was mostly depicted in anthoropomorphic form as a seated woman with a lionīs face. She wore a wig and a sundisc on top of her head and there was often a was sceptre in her hand. There are also depictions of lionheaded goddesses wearing the Double Crown. This is usually a fusion of Sekhmet with Mut. More seldom is she represented in full leonine form.
Worship:
Physicians were 'priests of Sekhmet', this goes back to at least the Old Kingdom when they were already organized for her service. It seems they still held their position in later times. Prayers to the goddess were an integral part of every healing ministration. There was even a formal rite called 'Appeasing Sekhmet' which was recited by priests in effort to stop epidemics from spreading. Among common poeople there was a great fear of the 'Seven Arrows of Sekhmet', which were believed to bring unluck. Many spells and charms were used to avert the wrath of Sekhmet and there was the 'Book of the Last Day of the Year' which was recited over a piece of cloth worn around the neck at the end of they year, which was considered a dangerous period. On the first day of the new year (Wep Ronpet) People
exchanged amulets in the form of Sekhmet or Bast for appeasing them. Still today, statues of Sekhmet can invoke some apprehension, even in museums. In the small temple of Ptah at Karnak, there is a statue of Sekhmet holding a was scepter in her hand, looking quite impressive across the millennia.
Her main cult center was in MenNefer (Gr: Memphis) but there were many temples and shrines erected to her all throughout Egypt and all the time into the Greco-roman Period. Through her association with other deities, special temples, like the one for Sekhmet-Hathor at Kom-el-Hisn were also built.
Two myths about Sekhmet:
The Destruction of Mankind and The Return of the Distant One.
Seret
General:
This lion goddess is attested in the 3rd Sepat (Gr: Nome) of Lower Egypt from the 5th Dynasty. At this early period the population in the area was mostly Libyan. Seret might therefore have originated in Libya. Apart from this, not much is known about her.
Sometimes Seret is called a 'goose goddess' but this is a misunderstanding of the way her name is written.
Shesmetet
General:
This lion goddess could probably be a form of Bast or Sekhmet but she could just as well have her own origin. In the Pyramid Texts as giving birth to the king and in funerary texts from later times she is also the mother of the dceased. She was associated with the shesmet girdle which kings in the Early dynastic Period and Old Kingdom wore. This was a belt with an apron of beads, also worn by certain deities.
Origin:
The title 'Lady of Punt' might indicate that she was of African origin and came to Egypt from the south. She is known from the Early Dynasty Period at least.
Depiction:
Shesmetet could be depicted either in leonine form or as a woman with the head of a lioness.
Worship:
In daily life Shesmetet was called on as a protective deity and for magical spells.
Tefnut
General:
Tefnut is one of the deities in the Heliopolitan Ennead. She was the daughter of Atum and the sister-wife of Shu. She is said to be a goddess of moisture though her name has no certain etymology but it has been suggested that the sound might be that of spitting as that was the way in which she and Shu was created by Atum. In later texts her name was written with a pair of spitting lips. The pair Tefnut and Shu was also said to have been created in the form of two lion cubs, which might account for Tefnut being a leonine goddess. Tefnut is one of the several goddesses with the epiteth 'Eye of Re' and in late papyri it is told about how she quarrels with Re and runs off in a flurry to Nubia, from where Djehuty (Gr: Thoth) has to coax her back. Some versions ascribe this myth to Sekhmet. (The Destruction of Mankind).
Origin:
As member of the Ennead, Tefnut goes back to at least the Old Kingom and she is also mentioned in the Pyramid Texts.
Depiction:
Tefnut can be depicted both as a lioness and as a woman with a lionīs head like Sekhmet whose ears are rounded while Tefnutīs are pointed. Sometimes she is also depicted as a rearing serpent upon a sceptre or a lion-headed serpent.
Worship:
Her main cult center was at Heliopolis where she was one of the Heliopolitan Ennead and where there was a sanctuary to her. At Leontopolis she was worshipped together with her brother-husband Shu, depicted as a pair of lions.
In the Late period there were amulets and plaques with her picture, though her worship was probably centered around her cult places and not widely spread.
Tutu
General:
Tutu was popular mainly in the Greco-Roman Period. He was called 'he who keeps enemies at a distance', by which was meant demons and evil deities. He was said to be the son of Neith and he was depicted in the form of a lion standing upright. He could also be seen as a composite deity: a lion with a human head and with bird wings and the tail of a snake. As to his origins things are unclear.
