Harsomtus

Harsomtus
Name in hieroglyphs	or
Major cult center	Edfu and Dendera
Parents	Heru-Behdeti and Hathor

Harsomtus (also known as Harsomptus and Somtus ^[1] ) was an ancient Egyptian child god with main cult places at Dendera ^[2] and Edfu. ^[3] This less-known deity was worshipped from the Old Kingdom period all the way to Graeco-Roman Egypt. Popularity of Harsomtus, along with other child gods, greatly increased in the Graeco-Roman period, with most information coming from that era. ^[2] The connection with Horus had formed early, ^[1] and Harsomtus is considered by researchers to be a form of Ra or Horus. His name translates to "Horus who unites the two lands." ^[4]

Iconography

The so-called Dendera light depicting Harsomtus as a snake emerging from a lotus

Harsomtus usually appears as a naked child sitting on a lotus flower. He can also appear as a snake that emerges from a lotus flower as seen in several reliefs at the temple of Dendera. ^{[5] [6]}

Due to connection with Horus, Harsomtus can appear with a falcon head. ^[1]

Mythology

Harsomtus simultaneously embodies sun, primordial, and creator god: the emergence of the world from the primordial matter is linked to the daily sunrise. ^[2]

Harsomtus is the son of Hathor ^[2] and Horus ^[7] in the form of Heru-Behdeti, with these two gods he formed the Triad of Edfu. Harsomtus is very similar to Ihy because both were child deities that were the son of Hathor and Horus.^{[ citation needed ]}

In Thebes during the late New Kingdom, Harsomtus became the firstborn son of Amun and Hathor-chief-of-Thebes, a local Theban form of the goddess Hathor. He was worshiped in the Mammisi of the Hathor Temple in Deir el-Medina as well as in the Ptah Temple in Karnak. Hathor and Harsomtus were frequently equated with Isis and another childform of Horus named Hariese ("Horus, the son of Isis"). ^[8]

References

1. Gestermann 1984, p. 768.
2. Gestermann 1984, p. 769.
3. Lorton, Claude Traunecker. transl. from the French by David (2001). The gods of Egypt (1st English-language, enhanced and expanded ed.). Ithaca, N.Y [u.a.]: Cornell University Press. pp.  59. ISBN   0-8014-3834-9.
4. Klotz, David (2008). Kneph: The Religion of Roman Thebes. Ann Arbor : ProQuest LLC. pp.302‐304.
5. Waitkus (2002).
6. Waitkus (1997).
7. Bunson 2002.
8. Klotz 2018, pp.302-304.

Sources

• Bunson, Margaret (2002). "Harsomtus". Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc. p. 159. ISBN   0-8160-4563-1.
• Gestermann, Louise (1984). "Hathor, Harsomtus und MnTw-Htp. w II" (PDF). Studien zu Sprache und Religion Ägyptens. Zu Ehren von Wolfhart Westendorf überreicht von seinen Freunden und Schülern (in German). Vol. 2. Göttingen. pp. 763–776.
• Waitkus, Wolfgang (1997). Die Texte in den unteren Krypten des Hathortempels von Dendera: ihre Aussagen zur Funktion und Bedeutung dieser Räume[The texts in the lower crypts of the Hathor temples of Dendera: their statements regarding the function and meaning of these rooms] (in German). ISBN   3-8053-2322-0.
• Waitkus, Wolfgang (2002). "Die Geburt des Harsomtus aus der Blüte — Zur Bedeutung und Funktion einiger Kultgegenstände des Tempels von Dendera" [The birth of Harsomtus from the flower — The meaning and function of some of the cultural objects of the temple of Dendera]. Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur (in German). 30: 373–394. JSTOR   25152877.