| Meretseger | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||
| Name inhieroglyphs |
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| Major cult center | Theban Necropolis,Deir el-Medina | |||||
| Symbol | Cobra snake | |||||
Meretseger (also known asMersegrit[1]' orMertseger) was aThebancobra-goddess inancient Egyptian religion,[2] in charge with guarding and protecting the vastTheban Necropolis — on the west bank of theNile, in front of Thebes — and especially the heavily guardedValley of the Kings.[3][4][5] Her cult was typical of theNew Kingdom of Egypt (1550–1070 BC).[6]
Meretseger's name means "She Who Loves Silence",[7][8] in reference to the silence of thedesert cemetery area she kept[9] or, according to another interpretation, "Beloved of Him Who Makes Silence (Osiris)".[10]
Meretseger was the patron of the artisans and workers of the village ofDeir el-Medina, who built and decorated the great royal and noble tombs.[7] Desecrations of rich royal burials were already in progress from theOld Kingdom of Egypt (27th/22nd century BC), sometimes by the workers themselves: the genesis of Meretseger was the spontaneous need to identify a guardian goddess, both dangerous and merciful,[9] of the tombs of sovereigns and aristocrats. Her cult, also present inEsna (nearLuxor), reached its peak during the18th Dynasty. A royal wife of theMiddle Kingdom pharaohSenusret III (c. 1878–1839 BC) was calledMeretseger; she was the first to bear the titleGreat Royal Wife (which became the standard title for chief wives of Pharaohs) and the first whose name was written in acartouche: however, as there are no contemporary sources relating to the Great Royal Wife Meretseger, this homonym of the goddess is most likely a creation of the New Kingdom.[11]
The goddess Meretseger was worshiped by the workers' guild, who feared her wrath very much. Being a local deity, only small rock temples were dedicated to her (such as the one located on the path leading to theValley of the Queens) and somestelae with prayers and poignant requests for forgiveness,[4] as well as variouscappelletti right at the foot of the hill dedicated to her — which was her embodiment too.[5] She was sometimes associated withHathor: even the latter was considered a protector of the graves in her funerary aspects of "Lady Of The West" and "Lady Of The Necropolis" who opened thegates of the underworld.[12][13] Her close association with the Valley of the Kings prevented her becoming anything more than a local deity, and when the valley ceased being in use (and Thebes was abandoned as a capital), so she also ceased being worshipped (11th/10th century BC).[6]
Meretseger was especially associated with the hill now calledel Qurn "The Horn" (Ancient Egyptian:tꜣ-dhnt "The Peak"[4]), a natural peak, the highest point (420 m) in the Theban Hills, which dramatically overlooks theValley of the Kings.[3][4] It has an almost pyramidal shape when viewed from the entrance to the Valley of the Kings, and therefore someEgyptologists believe it may have been the reason for choosing the location as a royalnecropolis. El Qurn, also believed to be one of the entrances to theDuat (underworld),[14] was sacred to both Meretseger andHathor, but the former was considered its real personification.[5] For this reason, two of Meretseger's many epithets were "Peak of the West" (Dehent-Imentet)[10][9] and "Lady Of The Peak".[15] Many small stelae created by artisans and workers have been found as evidence of devotion to their favorite deities: in addition to Meretseger,Ptah,[16]Amun,[17] Hathor,[18]Thoth[19] and the deifiedpharaohAmenhotep I (c. 1525–1504 BC), whose cult was very popular in Deir el-Medina.[20]
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It was believed that Meretseger punished the workers who committed asacrilege (by stealing something from the royal graves or the building sites —copper instruments were particularly precious — as well as those who failed in an oath)poisoning them with herbite.[22] But she was also considered generous in forgiving those who repented to her and, in this case, would heal him from physical evil.[22] This is the case of the draftsman Neferabu, who would have been cured ofblindness after having begged Meretseger, as he himself was able to attest on alimestone stela (Museo egizio,Turin) dedicated to her:[5]
Giving praise to thePeak of the West, kissing the ground to herka, I give praise, hear (my) call, I was a truthful man on earth! Made by the servant of the Place-of-Truth, Neferabu,justified. (I was) an ignorant man and foolish, who knew not good from evil, I did the transgression against thePeak, and she taught a lesson to me. I was in her hand by night as by day, I sat on bricks like the woman on labor, I called to the wind, it came not to me, I libated to thePeak of the West, great of strength, and to every god and goddess. Behold, I will say to the great and small, who are in the troop: beware thePeak! For there is a lion within her! ThePeak strikes with the stroke of a savage lion, she is after him who offends her! I called upon my Mistress, I found her coming to me as a sweet breeze; she was merciful to me, having made me see her hand. She returned to me appeased, she made my malady forgotten; for thePeak of the West is appeased, if one calls upon her. So says Neferabu, justified. He says: Behold, let hear every ear, that lives upon earth: beware thePeak of the West!
— stela of Neferabu
In relation to the Egyptians with their divinities, the concepts ofsin,repentance andforgiveness were very unusual; these characteristics of Meretseger's cult appear to be aunicum.[22]
Meretseger's rock shrine in Deir el-Medina was formed by a series of caves placed in a semicircle, whose vaults however collapsed due toearthquakes, and on the outer walls still retains many steles, while a large number of fragments have been inventoried and distributed to various museums. It was also dedicated to the most reveredPtah, god of craftsmen and artisans. Overlying the temple there is a rock with the shape of a snake's head.[22] The large amount of material found confirms that the temple was very popular and famous — locally.
Meretseger was sometimes portrayed as a cobra-headed woman, though this iconography is rather rare:[22] in this case she could hold thewas-sceptre[23] as well as having her head surmounted by a feather and being armed with two knives.[15] More commonly, she was depicted as a woman-headed snake orscorpion,[15][24] a cobra-headedsphinx, lion-headed cobra or three-headed (woman, snake andvulture) cobra.[22] On various steles, she wears amodius surmounted by thesolar disk and by two feathers, or the hathoric crown (the solar disk between twobovine horns).[15] Her main artistic depictions are inside lavish royal tombs, for example:
Media related toMeretseger at Wikimedia Commons
