Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 4. [61], Cult images and altars of Hecate in her triplicate or trimorphic form were placed at three-way crossroads (though they also appeared before private homes and in front of city gates). "page21 (image of Hecate attended by a dog)", "CULT OF HEKATE: Ancient Greek religion", "Travels in Greece and Turkey: Undertaken by Order of Louis XVI, and with the Authority of the Ottoman Court", Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Claviger, "Baktria, Kings, Agathokles, ancient coins index with thumbnails", "No Fear Shakespeare: Macbeth: Act 2, Scene 1, Page 2", Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. [19][20], Modern egyptologists, such as Christiane Zivie-Coche, do not consider Qetesh to be a hypostasis of Anat or Astarte, but a goddess developed in Egypt possibly without a clear forerunner among Canaanite or Syrian goddesses, though given a Semitic name and associated mostly with foreign deities.[21]. ), "A top of Hekate is a golden sphere enclosing a lapis lazuli in its middle that is twisted through a cow-hide leather thong and having engraved letters all over it. 9. As a goddess of sovereignty and power, Danu would grant gifts to rulers and those of noble birth. ", deEste, Sorita. [2] https://arce.org/resource/statues-sekhmet-mistress-dread/#:~:text=A%20mother%20goddess%20in%20the,as%20a%20lion%2Dheaded%20woman. A triple deity is a deity with three apparent forms that function as a singular whole. [27] Farnell states: "The evidence of the monuments as to the character and significance of Hecate is almost as full as that of to express her manifold and mystic nature. The ancient text is corrupted; an alternative correction of the name into 'Phoebus' (that is, Apollo) has been also suggested. However, have you ever come across a single deity, who is not the creator or primordial deity, and yet presides over opposing qualities? [69] In Seneca's Medea, the titular Medea invokes her patron Hecate whom she addresses as "Moon, orb of the night" and "triple form". Weird Rituals Laid to Primitive Minds, Los Angeles Examiner, 14 October 1929. As a consort of the female Triple Goddess, the two aspects of the Horned God highlight night and day, battle and peace, sun and the moon, cold and warmth. 5. [3], The 2nd-century travel writer Pausanias stated that Hecate was first depicted in triplicate by the sculptor Alcamenes in the Greek Classical period of the late 5th century BCE,[4] whose sculpture was placed before the temple of the Wingless Nike in Athens. Fragmentary Egyptian literary sources spread across thousands of years make reconstructing a unitary, comprehensive narrative difficult. Archaeologists have discovered approximately 700 larger-than-life granite statues of Sekhmet dated to the reign of Amenhotep III (18th Dynasty). "In Byzantium small temples in her honour were placed close to the gates of the city. cult site in Lagina. Dogs were also sacrificed to the road. The yew in particular was sacred to Hecate. 39 K), and 358 F; Melanthius, in Athenaeus, 325 B. Plato, Com. [25]Webster's Dictionary of 1866 particularly credits the influence of Shakespeare for the then-predominant disyllabic pronunciation of the name. The one who loves Maat and who detests evil. [Diviners] spin this sphere and make invocations. Principally the Ethiopians which dwell in the Orient, and the Egyptians which are excellent in all kind of ancient doctrine, and by their proper ceremonies accustomed to worship me, do call me Queen Isis. [3], A passage from the Book of the Dead reads, superior to whom the gods cannot be . It was Alkamenes, in my opinion, who first made three images of Hecate attached to one another [in Athens].[88]. Larger Hekataions, often enclosed within small walled areas, were sometimes placed at public crossroads near important sites for example, there was one on the road leading to the Acropolis. 7), dated to the late 3rd or early 4th century CE, Hecate Erschigal is invoked against fear of punishment in the afterlife. 264 f., and notes, 275277, ii. Known sources do not associate her with fertility or sex, and theories presenting her as a "sacred harlot" are regarded as obsolete in modern scholarship due to lack of evidence. The Triple Goddess is a deity or deity archetype revered in many Neopagan religious and spiritual traditions. Mesopotamian Magic Traditions in the Papyri Graecae Magicae", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hecate&oldid=1151338190. In ancient Egyptor Kemet, as it was known to its people at the timeone key concept was the relationship among three deities, Asar, Aset, and Heru. Berg 1974, p. 128: Berg comments on Hecate's endorsement of Roman hegemony in her representation on the pediment at Lagina solemnising a pact between a warrior (Rome) and an. The Athenian Greeks honoured Hecate during the Deipnon. A round stone altar dedicated to the goddess was found in the Delphinion (a temple dedicated to Apollo) at Miletus. Qetesh (also Qadesh, Qedesh, Qetesh, Kadesh, Kedesh, Kade or Qades /kd/) was a goddess who was incorporated into the ancient Egyptian religion in the late Bronze Age. In the New Kingdom funerary literature, Sekhmet is said to defend Ra from Apophis. Sorita d'Este, Avalonia, 2010, "Hecate had a "botanical garden" on the island of Colchis where the following alkaloid plants were kept: Akoniton (. [13] Another Greek word suggested as the origin of the name Hecate is Hekatos, an obscure epithet of Apollo[10] interpreted as "the far reaching one" or "the far-darter". [citation needed], During the Gigantomachy, Hecate fought by the side of the Olympian gods, and slew the giant Clytius using her torches. Rohde, i. Food offerings might include cake or bread, fish, eggs and honey. She was invoked to ward off diseases. Sekhmet is the instrument of divine retribution. Pp. She scorns and insults Artemis, who in retribution eventually brings about the mortal's suicide. [100] The island is the modern Megalos (Great) Reumatiaris.[101]. The crone symbolizes elderly women and the wisdom which comes with aging. [80], Worship of Hecate existed alongside other deities in major public shrines and temples in antiquity, and she had a significant role as household deity. In early portrayals she is shown as a naked woman standing upon a lion. Berg, William, "Hecate: Greek or "Anatolian"? "[28], Apart from traditional hekataia, Hecate's triplicity is depicted in the vast frieze of the great Pergamon Altar, now in Berlin, wherein she is shown with three bodies, taking part in the battle with the Titans. "[30], While Greek anthropomorphic conventions of art generally represented Hecate's triple form as three separate bodies, the iconography of the triple Hecate eventually evolved into representations of the goddess with a single body, but three faces. [13][89] There was an area sacred to Hecate in the precincts of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, where the priests, megabyzi, officiated. She is seated on a throne, with a chaplet around her head; the depiction is otherwise relatively generic. An Exciting Provocation: John F. Millers Apollo, Augustus, and the Poets. Vergilius (1959-) 58 (2012): Wycherley, R. (1970). Sekhmet is believed to have 4000 names that described her many attributes. The Greek Magical Papyri describe Hecate as the holder of the keys to Tartaros. [13] In association with her worship alongside Apollo at Miletus, worshipers used a unique form of offering: they would place stone cubes, often wreathes, known as (gylloi) as protective offerings at the door or gateway. She holds a snake in one hand and a bouquet of lotus or papyrus flowers in the other. Good is she also when men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents. However, there were distinct war gods (Ares), gods of strategy (Athena), and gods of death (Hades). I worship Hekate but have not worked with her personally. Her cult subsequently spread . On the night of the new moon, a meal would be set outside, in a small shrine to Hecate by the front door; as the street in front of the house and the doorway create a crossroads, known to be a place Hecate dwelled. In Sanskrit it's Medha, in Greek Metis, and in Egyptian she is Ma'at herself. "Beyond Erekigal? The yawning gates of Hades were guarded by the monstrous watchdog Cerberus, whose function was to prevent the living from entering the underworld, and the dead from leaving it."[64]. iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order Hecate (Hekate) is a goddess of Greek mythology capable of both good and evil. There was also a shrine to Hecate in Aigina, where she was very popular: Of the gods, the Aiginetans worship most Hecate, in whose honour every year they celebrate mystic rites which, they say, Orpheus the Thrakian established among them. The goddess is carved with a Uraeus raising at her forehead, holding a papyrus scepter (the symbol of lower / north Egypt), and an ankh (giver of fertility and life through the annual flooding of the Nile). Sekhmets father is Ra. Isis, for instance, was a mother goddess in ancient Egypt. Sekhmet brought terrible plagues toon the land. According to a New Kingdom story, as 'Lady of the Sycamore', she heals the eye of Horus with milk from a gazelle. Myths change upon who is writing them, where, and when. Overview. 2. The tale is preserved in the Suda. They have a son named Nefertem. A digital collage showing an image of Qetesh together with hieroglyphs taken from a separate Egyptian relief, Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East, Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archologie, A Reconsideration of the Aphrodite-Ashtart Syncretism, Transformation of a Goddess. She seems to have been born in the Delta region, a place where lions were rarely seen. She was associated with witchcraft, magic, the Moon, doorways, and creatures of the night like hell-hounds and ghosts. [139], Hecate is also referenced in the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia. Inscriptions of many of the statues declare that Sekhmet and Bastet are different aspects of Hathor. [58], It was probably her role as guardian of entrances that led to Hecate's identification by the mid fifth century with Enodia, a Thessalian goddess. Different myths interchangeably call Sekhmet an angry manifestation of Hathor or Hathor and Bastet as docile manifestations of Sekhmet. [173] In Wicca, Hecate has in some cases become identified with the "crone" aspect of the "Triple Goddess".[174]. [99], Hecate's island ( ) also called Psamite (), was an islet in the vicinity of Delos. It is difficult to distinguish Sekhmet from other feline goddesses, especially Bastet. She protected the pharaohs and led them to war. The gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt were an integral part of the people's everyday lives for over 3,000 years. One name was known to Sekhmet and eight associated deities, and; and one name (known only to Sekhmet herself) was the means by which Sekhmet could modify her being or cease to exist. To link to this article in the text of an online publication, please use this URL: 3. [51], Hecate was said to favour offerings of garlic, which was closely associated with her cult. "[27] A 6th century fragment of pottery from Boetia depicts a goddess which may be Hecate in a maternal or fertility mode. [125] Another theory is that Hecate was mainly a household god and humble household worship could have been more pervasive and yet not mentioned as much as temple worship. Here I disclaim all my paternal care" (The Arden Shakespeare, King Lear, Page no.165), In 1929, Lewis Brown, an expert on religious cults, connected the 1920s Blackburn Cult (also known as, "The Cult of the Great Eleven,") with Hecate worship rituals. The priest (waeb Sekhmet) would recite prayers to the goddess along with the practicalities performed by the physician (sunu). [143] She was said to be the daughter of Zeus by either Asteria, according to Musaeus,[144] Hera, thus identified with Angelos,[145] or Pheraea, daughter of Aeolus;[146] the daughter of Aristaeus the son of Paion, according to Pherecydes;[147] the daughter of Nyx, according to Bacchylides;[144] the daughter of Perses, the son of Helios, by an unknown mother, according to Diodorus Siculus;[76] while in Orphic literature, she was said to be the daughter of Demeter[148] or Leto[149] or even Tartarus. She is variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, night, light, magic, protection from witchcraft, the Moon, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, graves, ghosts, necromancy, and sorcery. The lion-headed goddess Sekhmet is the most represented deity in most Egyptian collections worldwide. [10] In what appears to be a 7th-century indication of the survival of cult practices of this general sort, Saint Eligius, in his Sermo warns the sick among his recently converted flock in Flanders against putting "devilish charms at springs or trees or crossroads",[62] and, according to Saint Ouen would urge them "No Christian should make or render any devotion to the deities of the trivium, where three roads meet". From the abundant number of amulets and sculptures of Sekhmet discovered at various archaeological sites, it is evident that the goddess was popular and highly important. Her breath is said to be the hot desert winds. [125], In the Argonautica, a 3rd-century BCE Alexandrian epic based on early material,[129] Jason placates Hecate in a ritual prescribed by Medea, her priestess: bathed at midnight in a stream of flowing water, and dressed in dark robes, Jason is to dig a round pit and over it cut the throat of a ewe, sacrificing it and then burning it whole on a pyre next to the pit as a holocaust. However, there is indeed a definitive Egyptian frog deity in the form of Goddess Heqet. [140], In the earliest written source mentioning Hecate, Hesiod emphasized that she was an only child, the daughter of Perses and Asteria, the sister of Leto (the mother of Artemis and Apollo). The Origin of Hotdogs, The History of Boracay Island in The Philippines. Hecate, goddess accepted at an early date into Greek religion but probably derived from the Carians in southwest Asia Minor. There she was worshipped with her consort Ptah. [7] However, it is clear that the special position given to Hecate by Zeus is upheld throughout her history by depictions found on coins of Hecate on the hand of Zeus[127] as highlighted in more recent research presented by d'Este and Rankine. "[37] The association with dogs, particularly female dogs, could be explained by a metamorphosis myth in Lycophron: the friendly looking female dog accompanying Hecate was originally the Trojan Queen Hecuba, who leapt into the sea after the fall of Troy and was transformed by Hecate into her familiar.[38]. Such deities may sometimes be referred to as threefold, tripled, triplicate, tripartite, triune, triadic, or as a trinity. [12], The arguments presenting Qetesh and Asherah as the same goddess rely on the erroneous notion that Asherah, Astarte and Anat were the only three prominent goddesses in the religion of ancient Levant, and formed a trinity. [63], Thanks to her association with boundaries and the liminal spaces between worlds, Hecate is also recognized as a chthonic (underworld) goddess. Danu was the source of the tribe's common heritage, as well as its nobility, unity, and power. 362, and note, 411413, 424425), whose enthumion, the quasi-technical word designating their longing for vengeance, was much dreaded. She was also the patron of physicians and healers. She was also the divine mother of every pharaoh of Egypt, and ultimately of Egypt itself. "[60] This suggests that Hecate's close association with dogs derived in part from the use of watchdogs, who, particularly at night, raised an alarm when intruders approached. Every culture has esoteric practices, knowledge, and deities to represent both. [28], By the 5th century BCE, Hecate had come to be strongly associated with ghosts, possibly due to conflation with the Thessalian goddess Enodia (meaning "traveller"), who travelled the earth with a retinue of ghosts and was depicted on coinage wearing a leafy crown and holding torches, iconography strongly associated with Hecate. Looking at Egypt, Isis is the only deity that one can conceive of as being esoteric because she brought back her husband from the dead. Mary McMahon Some think this deity is Athirat/Ashratu under her Ugaritic name. [17][18] One of the authors relying on the Anat-Ashtart-Athirat trinity theory is Saul M. Olyan (author of Asherah and the Cult of Yahweh in Israel) who calls the Qudshu-Astarte-Anat plaque "a triple-fusion hypostasis", and considers Qudshu to be an epithet of Athirat by a process of elimination, for Astarte and Anat appear after Qudshu in the inscription. [126] In Athens, Hecate, along with Zeus, Hermes, Athena, Hestia, and Apollo, were very important in daily life as they were the main gods of the household. 22. [13] However, while Ashtart (Astarte) and Anat were closely associated with each other in Ugarit, in Egyptian sources, and elsewhere,[14][15] there is no evidence for conflation of Athirat and Ashtart, nor is Athirat associated closely with Ashtart and Anat in Ugaritic texts. The goddess had many titles and epithets, often overlapping with other deities. [13], R. S. P. Beekes rejected a Greek etymology and suggested a Pre-Greek origin. While many researchers favour the idea that she has Anatolian origins, it has been argued that "Hecate must have been a Greek goddess.
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