Menthu-Ra
In connection with the Amen-Ra must be mentioned an important form
of the Sun-god which was called Menthu, or Menthu-Ra, though he was commonly
described as "lord of Thebes," the chief seat of the worship was at
Hermonthis, the Annu-Rest, i.e., "Heliopolis of the South," of the
hieroglyphic texts. Menthu was probably an old local god whose cult was
sufficiently important to make it necessary f 626h713g or the priests of Amen to
incorporate him with the great god of Thebes, and he appears to have been
personification of the destructive heat of the sun. The chief centers of his
worship were Annu of the South, Thebes, Annu of the North, Tchertet, ,
Dendera, and perhaps the temples of the First Cataract,
and his commonest titles are, "Menthu-Ra, lord "of Thebes, king of
the gods, he who is in his throne in Aptet, Merti, mighty one of two-fold
strength, lord of the Thebes of the "North, Sma-taui, Governor of Behutet,
lord of Annu of the South, "prince of Annu of the North," and
"lord of Manu," i.e., the Libyan mountain. Menthu is mentioned in the
pyramid Texts , together with a number of ancient gods, in
such a way that we may be certain that his worship was widespread, even in the
VIth Dynasty. Thus Khepera, and Nu, and Tem and Uash, the son of Seb and
Sekhem, the son of Osiris, are entreated to hearken to the words which the dead
king is about to address to them. Nekhebet of the Temple of Sar, in Heliopolis
is said to protect him, he is identified with the star Apsh, and the gods who
transverse the land of the Thehennu, and who live on the "indestructible
heavens," are besought to allow him to be with them. Five obscure gods are
next mentioned, i.e., Tchent, Kher, Shenthet, Khenu, and Benutch, and then it
is said that "Seb harkeneth to him, Tem 'provideth him with his form,
Thoth heareth to him. Tem "provideth him with his form, Thoth heareth for
him that which "is in the books of the gods. Horus openeth out a path for
him, "Set protecteth him, and Mer-en-Ra riseth in the eastern part of
"heaven even as doth Ra. He hath gone forth from Pe with the "spirits
of Pe, he is Horus and is fortified by the Great "and the Little Companies
of the gods. He riseth in the "condition of a king, he entereth into
heaven like Ap-uat, he hath "received the White Crown and the Green Crown,
"his club is with him, his weapon , "is in his grasp, his
mother is Isis, his nurse is Nepthys, and the "cow Sekhat-Heru giveth him
milk. Net "is behind him, Serqet is on his two hands ....... Let him pass,
"and let his flesh pass, let him pass, and let his apparel pass, "for
he hath gone forth as Menth, he hath gone down "like Ba,
and he hath haunted like Ba-ashem-f. Of the origin and early history of Menthu
nothing is known, but his worship must have been very ancient if we are to
judge by the passage quoted above from the text of king Mer-en-Ra, for,
although mentioned with the two obscure gods Ba
and Ba-ashem-f, it is quite clear that he was a great god and the deceased
hoped to resemble him in the Theban Recension Book of
the Dead, but curiously enough, only as one of the number of gods.
Thus, in Chapter cxl.6, together with Ra, Tem, Uatchet, Shu, Seb, Osiris, Suti,
Horus, Bah, Ra-er-neheh, Tehuti, Naam, Tchetta, Nut, Isis, Set, Nepthys,
Her-khuti, Hathor, Khepera, Amen, etc., who are entreated to bestow a garment
of purity on the deceased. Menthu is usually depicted in the form of a man with
the head of a hawk, whereon he wears a crown formed of the solar disk with the
uraeus an d two high plumes ; as such he is styled "lord of Thebes."
In a figure reproduced by Lanzone he has two hawks' heads, each of which is
provided with the solar disk, two uraei, and two plumes ; in his right hand
Menthu grasps the scimitar, which indicates that he was a god of war. Another
proof of his warlike attributes is a scene in which he is depicted, with a long
spear having a bronze or iron head, in the act of spearing a foe, whose hands
and feet are tied together. In the city of Tchert, Menthu was worshipped under
the form of a man with the head of a bull, but instead of the solar disk,
sometimes with and sometimes without plumes. The warlike character of this
local form of Menthu is indicated by the bow and arrows, and club, and knife
which he was a personification of the fierce, destroying heat of the sun which
warred against the enemies of the Sun-god, and smote them to the death with his
burning rays which were like fiery spears and darts. In the narrative of the
battle of Kadesh we are told that Rameses II. "rose up as up as Ra riseth,
and took the weapons "of father Menthu" and that when he saw the foe
before him "he raged at them like "Bar in his hour," he leaped
into his chariot and drove headlong into the battle, wherein he, of course,
gained a great victory. Elsewhere Menthu is often styled the "mighty
bull," and it is possible that originally this god was nothing but a
personification of the strength and might of the raging bull when fighting a
foe, and that his worship in one form or another existed in predynastic times.
It must, in any case, be very ancient, because when joined to Ra his name comes
first in the compound name and we have "Menthu-Ra instead of Ra-Menthu.
The pictures of the god reproduced by Lanzone prove that the god possessed
other phases which are not at present well understood. Thus he is represented
standing upright, with the head of a hawk, and he holds in the right hand what
appears to be an ear of corn and in his left a vase, as if he were in the act
of making offerings. In another scene the god, hawk-headed and wearing the
solar disk encircled by a uraeus, is seated on a throne and is represented in
the act of embracing a young Horus god who wears on his the solar disk with
plumes, and a tight-fitting cap with a uraeus in front of it, and who stands on
the edge of the throne by the side of the god.
