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Seker
in hieroglyphs
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Seker or Sokar is a falcon god of the Memphite necropolis. Although the meaning of his name remains uncertain the Egyptians themselves in the Pyramid Texts linked his name to the anguished cry of Osiris to Isis 'Sy-k-ri' ('hurry to me')[1], in the underworld. Seker is strongly linked with two other gods, Ptah the chief god of Memphis and Osiris the god of the dead. In later periods this connection was expressed as the triple god Ptah-Seker-Osiris.

Seker was usually depicted as a mummified hawk and sometimes as mound from which the head of a hawk appears. Here he is called 'he who is on his sand'. Sometimes he is shown on his 'hennu barque' which was an elaborate sledge for negotiating the sandy necropolis. One of his titles was 'he of Restau' which means the place of 'openings' or tomb entrances.

In the New Kingdom Book of the Underworld, the Amduat, he is shown standing on the back of a serpent between two spread wings, as an expression of freedom this suggests a connection with resurrection or perhaps a satisfactory transit of the underworld.[2] Despite this the region of the underworld associated with Seker was seen as difficult, sandy terrain called the Imhet (meaning 'filled up' presumably with sand).[3]

Seker, possibly through his association with Ptah, also has a connection with craftsmen. In the Book of the Dead he is said to fashion silver bowls [4] and a silver coffin of Sheshonq II has been discovered at Tanis decorated with the iconography of Seker[5].

Seker's cult centre was in Memphis where festivals in his honour were held in the fourth month of the akhet (spring) season. The god was depicted as assisting in various tasks such as digging ditches and canals. From the New Kingdom a similar festival was held in Thebes.[6]

References[]

  1. The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, George Hart ISBN 0-415-34495-6
  2. The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, George Hart ISBN 0-415-34495-6
  3. The Egyptian Amduat, Erik Hornung and Theodore Abt ISBN 10 3-9522608-4-3
  4. The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, George Hart ISBN 0-415-34495-6
  5. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, Wilkinson ISBN 0-500-05120-8
  6. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, Wilkinson ISBN 0-500-05120-8
Wikipedia
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Seker. The list of authors can be seen in the page history.
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