Pakhet

Pachet or Pechet is an ancient Egyptian goddess from the territory of Beni Hassan. Her name means " The Scratching " or " Tearing ", indicating its importance as a war goddess.

Iconography

It can be found in ancient Egyptian art very little representations of this goddess. It has usually the form of a lion, but also appears as a woman with a lion's head, wearing a sun disk on his head. Representations in Hibis show Pachet as a seated baboon. You are no specific divine attributes.

Mythology

It is known from Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom of Beni Hassan. Günther Roeder they dubbed "the goddess with sharp eyes and sharp claws, procures the food in the night ." From Pachet it was said that they would inspire their enemies with terror. The Goddess is one of the lion deities and is aggressive by nature.

Pachet has different epithets. So it was called "Goddess at the entrance of Wadi ", but she was also " Lady of the Desert, which dwells in the midst of the Eastern Desert " and is also known as " Mistress of the Two Lands " ( upper and lower Egypt) as well as the " Lady of the Sky " dubs.

It was equated with the goddesses Weret Hekau, Sekhmet and Isis. As a lion goddess she is also one of those deities who participate in the "Eye Sage ".

Cult and worship

The cult of Pachet was locally somewhat limited. Their main influence and main worship area was the area of Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt. Here lies the temple sanctuary, a rock temple created by Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III. has been and Seti I then expanded further. From the Ptolemies, the sanctuary was later Speos Artemidos called ( " Grotto of Artemis " ), as they equated Pachet with its Greek goddess Artemis. For their cult extensive cats cemeteries originated in the late period in the temple nearby.