Khenti-Amentiu
# Khenti-Amentiu

Khentiamentiu :

Egyptian hieroglyphs :

Khenti-Amentiu, also Khentiamentiu, Khenti-Amenti, Kenti-Amentiu and many other spellings, is an ancient Egyptian deity whose name was also used as a title for Osiris and Anubis. The name means "Foremost of the Westerners" or "Chief of the Westerners", where "Westerners" refers to the dead.

Khenti-Amentiu was depicted as a jackal-headed deity at Abydos in Upper Egypt, who stood guard over the city of the dead. Khenti-Amentiu is attested early at Abydos, perhaps even earlier than the unification of Egypt at the start of the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3100–2686 BC). The name appears on the necropolis cylinder seals for the First Dynasty pharaohs Den and Qa'a, naming each of their predecessors with the title "Horus Khenti-Amentiu", starting with "Horus Khenti-Amentiu Narmer". A temple dating to predynastic times was also founded in Abydos for this god. Toby Wilkinson suggests that, even at this early stage, Khenti-Amentiu's name may have been simply an epithet of Osiris.

The roles of Khenti-Amentiu, Osiris, and Anubis underwent considerable changes in the late Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BC). Originally, only Anubis' name appeared in the offering formula that was believed to allow the dead to partake of the offerings they were given to sustain them in the afterlife. In the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2494–2345 BC), many gods started to appear in the formula, including Osiris, whose name does not appear in any texts before the start of the dynasty, and Khenti-Amentiu. In the course of the late Old Kingdom, the Khenti-Amentiu title becomes more clearly connected with Osiris.

The jackal hieroglyph that appears in Khenti-Amentiu's name in the Early Dynastic Period is traditionally seen as a determinative to indicate the god's form, but Terence DuQuesne argued that the jackal glyph represents the name of Anubis and that Khenti-Amentiu was originally an epithet or manifestation of Anubis. If this is the case, Khenti-Amentiu would have only begun to be treated as an independent deity in the Fifth Dynasty, around the same time that Osiris' name first appears. Most inscriptions from that time show Osiris and Khenti-Amentiu were already closely connected. Harold M. Hays asserted that the Pyramid Texts, whose earliest known copy only dates to the end of the Fifth Dynasty, apply the title Khenti-Amentiu to Anubis and not to Osiris, and that the Pyramid Texts reflect the beliefs of an earlier era, when Khenti-Amentiu was not fully independent of Anubis.

Part of a series on :

Ancient Egyptian religion :

Beliefs

Afterlife

Cosmology

Duat

Ma'at

Mythology

Numerology

Philosophy

Soul :

Practices

Funerals

Offerings: Offering formula

Temples

Priestess of Hathor

Pyramids :

Deities (list)Ogdoad

Amun

Amunet

Hauhet

Heh

Kauket

Kek

Naunet

Nu

Ennead

Atum

Geb

Isis

Nephthys

Nut

Osiris

Set

Shu

Tefnut

A

Aati

Aker

Akhty

Amenhotep, son of Hapu

Amesemi

Ammit

Am-heh

Amu-Aa

Anat

Andjety

Anhur

Anput

Anubis

Anuket

Apedemak

Apep

Apis

Apt

Aqen

Arensnuphis

Ash

Assessors

Astarte

Aten

B

Babi

Banebdjedet

Bastet

Bat

Bata

Ba-Pef

Bennu

Bes

Buchis

C

Cavern deities

D

Dedun

Duau (god)

F

Four sons of Horus

G

Gate deities

H

Ha

Hapi

Hauron

Hathor

Hatmehit

Hedetet

Hedjhotep

Heka

Hemen

Hemsut

Henet

Heqet

Hermanubis

Hesat

Horus

Harpocrates

Heryshaf

Hu

I

Iabet

Iah

Iat

Ihy

Ikhemu-sek

Imentet

Imhotep

Ipy

Iunit

Iusaaset

K

Kebechet

Khensit

Khenti-Amentiu

Khenti-kheti

Khepri

Kherty

Khnum

Khonsu

Kothar-wa-Khasis

M

Maahes

Ma'at

Mandulis

Medjed

Mafdet

Mehen

Mehet-Weret

Mehit

Menhit

Meret

Meretseger

Meskhenet

Min

Mnevis

Montu

Mut

N

Nebethetepet

Nebtuwi

Nefertem

Nehebkau

Nehmetawy

Neith

Nemty

Nekhbet

Neper

P

Pakhet

Perit

Petbe

Ptah

Q

Qebui

Qed-her

Qetesh

R

Ra

Raet-Tawy

Rekhyt

Rem

Renenutet

Renpet

Renpetneferet

Repyt

Resheph

S

Sah

Satis

Sebiumeker

Sekhmet

Seker

Serapis

Serket

Seshat

Shai

Shed

Shesmetet

Shezmu

Sia

Sobek

Sopdet

Sopdu

Souls of Pe and Nekhen

T

Tatenen

Taweret

Tayt

Ta-Bitjet

Thoth

Hermes Trismegistus

Tjenenyet

Tutu

U

Unut

W

Wadjet

Wadj-wer

Weneg

Wepset

Wepwawet

Werethekau

Wosret :

Locations

Aaru

Benben

Duat

Land of Manu

The Indestructibles :

Symbols and objects

Aani

Abtu

Ankh

Atef

Atet

Book of Thoth

Cartouche

Corn mummy

Crook and flail

Deshret

Djed

Egyptian obelisk

Egyptian pool

Eye of Horus

Eye of Ra

Griffin

Hedjet

Hemhem crown

Hennu

Hieracosphinx

Hypocephalus

Imiut fetish

Khepresh

Kneph

Matet boat

Medjed

Menat

Nebu

Nemes

Neshmet

Ouroboros

Pschent

Scarab

Seqtet boat

Serekh

Serpopard

Set animal

Shen ring

Sphinx

Tyet

Uraeus

Ushabti

Was-sceptre

Winged sun :

Texts

Funerary texts (Amduat • Books of Breathing • Book of Caverns • Book of the Dead • Book of the Earth • Book of Gates) :

Related religions

Atenism

Hermeticism

Thelema

Kemeticism (Kemetic Orthodoxy • Church of the Most High Goddess) :

Ancient Egypt portal :

vte :

Beginning in the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181–2055 BC), Khenti-Amentiu's temple in Abydos was explicitly dedicated to Osiris and became his major cult center.

