Ancient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Egypt over at least 3,000 years, from the Predynastic Egypt until the adoption of Coptic Christianity in the early centuries Common Era.... , Menhit (also spelt Menchit) was originally a foreign war
War
... goddess. Her name depicts a warrior status, as it means (she who) massacres.
When included among the Egyptian deities, she became the female counterpart of Anhur
Anhur
In early Egyptian mythology, Anhur was originally a foreign god of war, who started being worshipped in the Upper Egypt area of Abydos, Egypt, and particularly in Thinis, during the Eleventh dynasty of Egypt.... . It was said that she had come from Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region in Southern Egypt along the Nile and in what is now northern Sudan. Most of Nubia is situated in Sudan with about a quarter of its territory in Egypt.... with Anhur who had been her counterpart and husband there.
Due to the aggressive attributes possessed by and hunting methods used by lionesses
Lion
The lion is a member of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. With exceptionally large males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger.... , most things connected to warfare in Egypt were depicted as leonine, and Menhit was no exception, being depicted as a lioness
Lion
The lion is a member of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. With exceptionally large males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger.... -goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. Often deities are part of a polytheism system that includes several deities in a pantheon .Common associations of goddesses are the Earth goddess, the Mother Goddess, Love goddess, and the hearth goddess, reflecting historical gender roles.... .
She also was believed to advance ahead of the Egyptian armies and cut down their enemies with fiery arrows, similar to other war deities.
A nome was a subnational administrative division of ancient Egypt. Today's use of the Greek nome rather than the Egyptian language term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic Egypt period.... of Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt
File:Ancient Egypt map-en.svgUpper Egypt is a narrow strip of land that extends from the Cataracts of the Nile section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Asyut is sometimes known as Middle Egypt.... , particularly at Esna
Esna
The Egyptian city of Esna , known to the ancient Egyptians as Egyptian language: Iunyt or Ta-senet; Greek language: or or ; Latin: Lato, is located on the west bank of the Nile, some 55 km south of Luxor, in the modern Qena Governorate.... , Menhit was said to be the wife of Khnum and the mother of Heka
Heka (god)
In Egyptian mythology, Heka was the anthropomorphism of magic , his name being the egyptian language for magic.... .
As the centre of her cult was toward the southern border of Egypt, in Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt
File:Ancient Egypt map-en.svgUpper Egypt is a narrow strip of land that extends from the Cataracts of the Nile section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Asyut is sometimes known as Middle Egypt.... , she became strongly identified with Sekhmet
Sekhmet
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet , was originally the warrior goddess of Upper Egypt. She is depicted as a lion, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians.... , who was originally the lion-goddess of war for Upper Egypt, after unification of the two Egyptian kingdoms, this goddess began to be considered simply another aspect of Sekhmet.
