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Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods
Apr. 25th, 2006 07:41 pmI need to give this book a proper read, but in the meantime, here are some quick notes on Sekhmet and related goddesses.
A "butler" was in charge of feeding the gods. Sometimes he slipped up: "Bastet-Sakhmet once complained that she had accidentally swallowed a sharp little bone that had found its way into a platter of grilled meat. The accident obviously caused her some discomfort and provoked no end of coughing."
Discussing how the gods commanded respect from each other, the author says, "... the goddesses said to be 'dangerous', Sakhmet and Bastet, constituted special cases. Their fits of rage were so terrifying that the king of the gods himself could not remain in their neighbourhood without risk." Isis "was transformed into Sakhmet the better to crush her husband's enemies." Sekhmet's fiery breath formed part of the deadly burning third portal of the underworld.
The gods created various bodyguards and servants; "enfeebled by death", Osiris' guards both protected him and kept "the hereafter supplied with the damned". "The most famous of these teams of guards, but also the one it is hardest to identify precisely, was the group of messengers placed under the responsibility of the 'dangerous' goddess, whatever form she might take (generally, Sakhmet). They were closely associated with the vengeful, punitive aspect of the solar eye, from which they were supposed to have issued [ie they came from Sakhmet herself]. Seven in number, they simultaneously personified the seven creative words pronounced at the beginning of the world and the seven arrows the dangerous goddess shot at the cosmic enemies; they were identical with the seven decans who accompanied the sun, a circumstance that, for obvious reasons, ensured their periodic return. No miscreant could elude them, so swift were they and so sure of the mark were the darts they shot or spat."
(Sometimes the author uses hyphens to link related deities - for example, "Bastet-Sakhmet" above. That's confusing, because hyphens are also used to indicate deities such as Amon-Re, who are an individual god unto themselves, rather than two gods related by similar characteristics or roles.)
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Meeks, Dimitri and Christine Favard-Meeks. Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods. John Murray, London, 1997.
A "butler" was in charge of feeding the gods. Sometimes he slipped up: "Bastet-Sakhmet once complained that she had accidentally swallowed a sharp little bone that had found its way into a platter of grilled meat. The accident obviously caused her some discomfort and provoked no end of coughing."
Discussing how the gods commanded respect from each other, the author says, "... the goddesses said to be 'dangerous', Sakhmet and Bastet, constituted special cases. Their fits of rage were so terrifying that the king of the gods himself could not remain in their neighbourhood without risk." Isis "was transformed into Sakhmet the better to crush her husband's enemies." Sekhmet's fiery breath formed part of the deadly burning third portal of the underworld.
The gods created various bodyguards and servants; "enfeebled by death", Osiris' guards both protected him and kept "the hereafter supplied with the damned". "The most famous of these teams of guards, but also the one it is hardest to identify precisely, was the group of messengers placed under the responsibility of the 'dangerous' goddess, whatever form she might take (generally, Sakhmet). They were closely associated with the vengeful, punitive aspect of the solar eye, from which they were supposed to have issued [ie they came from Sakhmet herself]. Seven in number, they simultaneously personified the seven creative words pronounced at the beginning of the world and the seven arrows the dangerous goddess shot at the cosmic enemies; they were identical with the seven decans who accompanied the sun, a circumstance that, for obvious reasons, ensured their periodic return. No miscreant could elude them, so swift were they and so sure of the mark were the darts they shot or spat."
(Sometimes the author uses hyphens to link related deities - for example, "Bastet-Sakhmet" above. That's confusing, because hyphens are also used to indicate deities such as Amon-Re, who are an individual god unto themselves, rather than two gods related by similar characteristics or roles.)
___
Meeks, Dimitri and Christine Favard-Meeks. Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods. John Murray, London, 1997.
