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Sekhat-Heru

             

            Sekhat-Heru (also written "Sekhathor" or "Sechat-Hor") is a
            Kemetic goddess whose worship goes back at least to the time
            of the Pyramid Texts. She was revered as a guardian of the
            sacred herds and calves and became associated with Het-Hert
            and Aset as a cow goddess.  She acquired a following of her
            own and had a center of worship at Kom el-Hisn <kom.html>
            (Momemphis).

            Her name in Kemetic means "She who remembers Heru," and in
            the Pyramid Texts, she suckles him, emphasizing the
            importance of a mother cow towards her calf. The hieroglyphs
            of her name begin with the symbol for Heru. It is placed
            first because of the practice of "honorific transposition"
            of the god's name, giving it a place of honor in the
            writing. The t-loaf and egg of the glyphs signify that this
            is the name of a goddess.

            sxt-Hr.jpg (6082 bytes)

            Sekhat-Heru is usually represented as a cow, either standing
            or lying. A feather decoration often appears between her
            horns, as well as a sun disk in New Kingdom depictions. She
            is renowned for her milk production. She is the provider of
            milk offered by the king in rituals. She is also listed as
            one of the four sacred cows that accompanies Het-Hert. The
            following text from the Temple of Dendera mentions Her role
            as nourisher of the King:

            "Life to the Good God, the replica of Shu, raised by Tefnut
            on his knees, nourished by the Goddess of the Countryside,
            created by Renenutet, suckled by Sekhat-Heru, the one with
            the beautiful face, master of joy, master of offerings, the
            son of Ra." (Dendera I, 101, 12, my translation)

            Late Period texts state that she is a form of Aset (Isis)
            and Het-Hert ("Het-Hert Nebet Imau"). Besides Heru, the
            sacred Apis bull is also considered her divine offspring.
            Sekhat-Heru was worshipped along with Het-Hert Nebet Imau in
            the 3rd Lower Egyptian Nome at Kom el-Hisn <kom.html>. In
            the same nome was a sanctuary sacred to Wesir, called
            Hut-Sekhat-Heru ("Mansion of Sekhat-Heru," or "Mansion of
            the Cow of Horus"). Het-Hert was honored there as the "Noble
            Lady."

            More information about Het-Hert in her form of a cow is in
            the Symbols and Manifestations section of this website, at
            Cow <cow.htm>.


                      References

            Chassinat, Émile. /Le Temple de Dendara/, 1934.
            Wilson, Penelope."sxAt-Hr,"/ "Hwt-sxAt-Hr" Ptolemaic
            Lexikon/, 1997.
            Rössler-Köhler, Ursula, "Sechat-Hor." /Lexikon der
            Ägyptologie/, Band V, 1984.

            Many thanks to Sandy Green, for calling my attention to this
            goddess and inspiring me to learn more about her.

            Hathorlogobksm.gif (3053 bytes)

            [ Up <linksgoddesses.htm> ] [ Nehemet-awai
            <nehemetawai.htm> ] [ Sekhat-Heru ]

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