Everything about Maahes totally explained
Maahes (also spelled
Mihos,
Miysis,
Mios,
Maihes, and
Mahes) was an ancient
Egyptian lion-headed
god of
war, whose name means "he who is true beside her". He was seen as a lion prince, the son of the goddess
Bast in
Lower Egypt and of
Sekhmet in
Upper Egypt and shared their natures. His father varied according to the current chief male deity of the time and region. He was a deity associated with war and
weather, and was considered the protector of
matrilineality and of the high priests of
Ammon, as well as that of
knives,
lotuses, and
devouring captives. His cult was centred in
Taremu and
Per-Bast.
Origin
He is first mentioned in the
New Kingdom, and some Egyptologists have suggested that Maahes was of foreign origin; indeed there's some evidence that he may have been identical with the lion-god
Apedemak worshipped in
Nubia and Egypt's Western Desert.
As a lion-god and patron, he was considered the son of
Rê and Bast, the feline war goddess and patron of Lower Egypt, or of Sekhmet, the lioness war goddess and patron of Upper Egypt. Since his
cult was centred in Per-Bast (Bubastis in
Greek) or in Taremu (Leontopolis in Greek), he was more usually the son of Bast. As he became a tutelary deity of Egypt, his father was said to be the chief male deity at the time - either
Ptah, or Ra who had by this time already merged with
Atum into Atum-Ra. In his role of son of Ra, Maahes fought the serpent
Apep during Ra's daily night voyage.
Considered to have powerful attributes, feline deities were associated with the
pharaohs, and became patrons of Egypt. The male lion
hieroglyphic was used in words such as "prince", "mashead", "strength", and "power".
Name
His name begins with the hieroglyphs for the male
lion, although in isolation it also means
(one who can) see in front. However, the first glyph also is part of the glyph for
Ma'at, meaning
truth and
order and so it came to be that Maahes was considered to be the
devourer of the guilty and protector of the innocent. Some of the titles of Maahes were
Lord of Slaughter,
Wielder of the Knife, and
The Scarlet Lord. Maahes was rarely called by his name and came to be referred to, somewhat misleadingly, as "Lord of Slaughter." The "Lord of Slaughter" terminology was adopted during the
Persian and later
Roman periods when foreign conquerors met with fierce resistance from
Maahes chiefs and their supporters.
Depictions
He was pictured as a man with the head of a male lion, occasionally holding a knife and wearing the
double crown of Egypt, or the
atef crown. Sometimes Maahes was identified with
Nefertem and was shown with a bouquet of lotuses near him, but he also was depicted as a lion devouring a captive.
Sacred animals
Tame lions were kept in a temple dedicated to Maahes in Taremu, where Bast and Sekhmet were worshipped, his temple was adjacent to that of Bast. The ancient Greek historian
Aelian wrote:
"In Egypt, they worship lions, and there's a city called after them. (...) The lions have temples and numerous spaces in which to roam; the flesh of oxen is supplied to them daily (...) and the lions eat to the accompaniment of song in the Egyptian language", thus the Greek name of the city
Leontopolis was derived.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Maahes'.
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