Chapter 10 (part 11)

She is depicted in the form of a woman, having upon her head the shuttle or arrows, or she wears the crown and holds arrows, a bow, and a sceptre in her left hand; she also appears in the form of a cow. Sekhet was in Memphis the wife of Ptah, and the mother of Nefer-Tmu and of I-em-hetep. She was the personification of the burning heat of the sun, and as such was the destroyer of the enemies of Ra and Osiris. When Ra determined to punish mankind with death, because they scoffed at him, he sent Sekhet, his "eye," to perform the work of vengeance; illustrative of this aspect of her is a figure wherein she is depicted with the sun's eye for a head. Usually [1. A good set of illustrations of this goddess will be found in Lanzone, op. cit. , tav. 314 f. 2. ###. Recueil de Travaux , t. iv., p. 48 (l. 427). 3. Pleyte, Chapitres supplémentaires du Livre des Morts (Chapp. 162, 162,* 163), p. 26. 4. Recueil de Travaux , t. iv., p. 76 (l. 627). 5. See Lanzone, op. cit. , tav. 177. 6. Ibid. , op. cit. , tav. 364.] she has the head of a lion surmounted by the sun's disk, round which is a uræus; and she generally holds a sceptre, but sometimes a knife. Bast , according to one legend, was the mother of Nefer-Tmu. She was the personification of the gentle and fructifying heat of the sun, as opposed to that personified by Sekhet. The cat was sacred to Bast, and the goddess is usually depicted cat-headed. The most famous seat of her worship was the city of Bubastis, the modern Tell Basta, in the Delta. Nefer-Tmu was the son either of Sekhet or Bast, and he personified some form of the sun's heat. He is usually depicted in the form of a man, with a cluster of lotus flowers upon his head, but sometimes he has the head of a lion; in the little faïence figures of him which are so common, he stands upon the back of a lion. He no doubt represents the sun-god in the legend which made him to burst forth from a lotus, for in the pyramid of Unas the king is said to xaa em, Nefer-Tmu em sessen er sert Ra Rise like Nefer-Tmu from the lotus (lily) to the nostrils of Ra," and to "come forth on the horizon every day." Neheb-ka is the name of a goddess who is usually represented with the head of a serpent, and with whom the deceased identifies himself. Sebak a form of Horus the sun-god, must be distinguished from Sebak the companion of Set, the opponent of Osiris; of each of these gods the crocodile was the sacred animal, and for this reason probably the gods themselves were confounded. Sebak-Ra, the lord of Ombos, is usually depicted in human form with the head of a crocodile, surmounted by ###, ###, or ###, or ###. Amsu or Amsi is one of the most ancient gods of Egypt. He personified the power of generation, or the reproductive force of nature; he was the "father of his own mother," and was identified with "Horus the mighty," or with Horus the avenger of his father Un-nefer or Osiris. The Greeks identified [1.