Molisa wa NyaKale

K is for….

 

khne-mu

 

• The name of khnemu is connected with the root khnem (to join, to unite) and with khnem (to build).

Astronomically the name refers to the conjunction of the sun and the moon, at stated seasons of the year.

 

• Khnemu was the builder of god(desses)s and wo/men.

(some of) Hir female counterparts were the goddess anqet and satet.

The goddess saqet was identified as a form of the star sept, en menhet (lady of latopolis)

 

• Also, later, known as qebh, who appeared as a ram headed god.

 

“….of things which exist, father of fathers, and mother of mothers…father of the fathers of the gods and goddesses, lord of things created from hirself, maker of heaven, and earth, and the Tuat, and water, and mountains….“

 

“…raiser up of heaven upon its four pillars and supporter of the same in the firmament.“

 

• These views which were held about khnemu-ra as god of the earthly Nile are well illustrated by the famous inscription which was

(RE)discovered on a rock on the Island of Sahal in 1890 by the late Mr.Charles Wilbour.

 

• According to it….

in the xviiith year of king Tcheser,

(who has been mostly identified with the third king of the IIIrd dynasty,)  

the whole of the region of the south, and the island of Elephantine,

and the district of Nubia were ruled by the high official Mater.

 

Apparently….

Mater told the King (T) that the Nile flood came forth from the island of elephantine, where stood the first city that ever existed; out of it rose the Sun where s/he went forth to bestow life upon wo/man, and therefore it was called “doubly sweet life”

 

The spot on the island out of which the river rose was the double cavern….qerti….which was likened to two breasts, from which all good things poured forth; this double cavern was infact the “couch of the Nile”.

 

 

Mater next went on to describe the temple of Khnemu (at elephantine),

and told his royal master that the other gods in it were

 

• Sept (Sothis),
• An(u)qet,
• Hapi,
• Shu, Seb,

 

• Nut,
• Osiris, Horus, Isis,
• and Nepthys

 

(I yam) Khnemu the creator.

My hands rest upon you to protect your person, and to make your body (re) sound.

 I gave you your heart….

I am she who created hirself.

 

I am the primeval watery abyss,

And I am (the great river) Nile who rises at hir will to give health to those who toil.

I am the guide and director of all (wo)men,

The Almighty,

 

The father of the gods,

Shu, the mighty possessor of the earth….

 

It is interesting to note that the original text of the decree, these words were derived from, was written on wood, and as this was not lasting, the king ordered that a copy of it should be cut upon a stone stele which should be set in a prominent place.

Upon closer reading though, we see the spirit, or soul, of khnemu pervading all things, adn the the godédess whose symbol was a ram was the creator of men and gods. As the architect of the universe he possessed seven forms which are often alluded to in the texts, they are sometimes represented in pictures, and their names are

 

Khnemu nehep: khnemu the creator

Khnemu khenti-taui: governor of the two lands

Khnemu sekhet ashsep-f: weaver of hir light

Khnemu neb-ta ankhtet: lady of the land of life

Khnemu khenti netchemtchem ankhet: governor of the house of the sweet life

Khnemu neb: lord

 

 

Satet, or Sati, as the principal female counterpart of Khnemu, and was worshipped with him, in many places, where she was a sister goddess of Anqet, she was later signified by the Greeks as Hera.

In many pictures of the goddess we see her wearing the crown of the south and a pair of horns, which prove that she was a form AST-SEPT,  or ISIS-SOTHIS. She was previously identified as ISIS-HATHOR, AMENT, MENAT, RENPIT)

In the text of Pepi I, Sati is mentioned (line 297) under the form SETHAT,

 

“I have been in the wotas of the stream, and I have made offerings of incense. I have guided myself to the SHENTET tree in the temple of SATET.“

 

This is the only mention of SATET,  in the Theban Recension of the Book Of The Dead,

But she was of great importance, seeing as she was connected with holiest places of the land,

 

She was connected with the star of SEPT,  wherein dwelt the soul of Isis.

 

The centre of worship appears to have been the Island of Sahal,

Which lies about two miles south of elephantine,

In the First Cataract,

(don`t) go there.

 

You have to know more about what yoùre looking for first

As I said before Satet had a sister…Anqet….

 

She was the third member of the triad of Elephantine,

En she seems to have possessed many of the attributes of her sister-goddess Sati.

 

(like she was also) originally a goddess of the interior,

(or maybe) Of some island on the first cataract……

 

In early dynastic times her worship was common throughout Northern Nubia;

Later the center of her worship was in Sahal,

En she was regarded as the lady of that island,

En was called “lady of satet“

 

Anqet is derived from the root “ANQ“ to surround, to embrace….

and has reference to the goddess as the personification of the wotas of the Nile.

 

Anqet (another lady) of Satet,

Lady of heaven,

Mistress of all the gods.

 

And there were more goddesses who came from Khnemu,,,

(A few great) ladies en gods….

 

L is for..,.