Mehen

Mehen

In Ancient Egypt the name Mehen meaning 'coiled one' refers to a mythological snake-god and to a game.[1]

Contents

Snake god

The earliest references to Mehen occur in the Coffin Texts.[2] Mehen is a protective deity who is depicted as a snake which coils around the sun god Ra during his journey through the night, for instance in the Amduat.[3]

In the German-Egyptian dictionary by R. Hannig[4] it is said that the Mehen (mḥn) or the Mehenet (mḥnt) snake is equivalent to the Ouroboros.

Relationship between snake-god and Mehen game

The precise relationship between the deity and the Mehen game is unknown. For instance it is not known whether the game derives from the mythological character, or the character derives from the game.

It is known that the object known as mehen depicts a game rather than a religious fetish as studies of paintings in tombs and game boards and equipment demonstrate this. The rules and method of playing the game are unknown, although rules have been created in modern times based on assessments of how it may have been played.

References

  1. ^ Discussion of the game byUniversity College London
  2. ^ The Comlpete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt by R. Wilkinson ISBN 0-500-05120-8
  3. ^ The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife by Erik Hornung ISBN 0-8014-8515-0
  4. ^ Hannig, R. 1995. Die Sprache der Pharaonen: Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch-Deutsch

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mehen — La que se enrosca , fue una de las deidades con aspecto de serpiente de la mitología egipcia. A pesar de su aspecto aterrador, se le consideraba un espíritu benévolo y protector de la sagrada barca solar de Ra, en su diario recorrido nocturno por …   Wikipedia Español

  • Mehen — Divinité égyptienne Nom en hiéroglyphes …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Mehen (game) — Mehen is a board game that was played in ancient Egypt. The game was named in reference to Mehen, a serpent god protecting Ra during his night time underworld journey.[1] Nothing else is known about it than that paintings and equipment found… …   Wikipedia

  • Mehen (juego) — Mehen es un juego de mesa que se jugó en el Antiguo Egipto. El nombre del juego proviene de Mehen, una serpiente dios protector Ra, durante su noche de viaje en tiempo Inframundo.[1] Solo hay referencia al juego en pinturas y los historiadores… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Mehen Abo — Mehen Abo, rechter Zufluß des Atbara in Habesch (Afrika) …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Mehen (jeu) — Jeux dans l Égypte antique Cet article fait partie de la série Vie quotidienne dans l Égypte antique Quotidien Alimentation Habitat Exode rural Jeux Agriculture/Jardina …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Mehen —    Serpent which protects Ra, the Egyptian sun god, when voyaging in his celestial boat …   Who’s Who in non-classical mythology

  • Jeux dans l'Égypte antique/Mehen — Jeux dans l Égypte antique Cet article fait partie de la série Vie quotidienne dans l Égypte antique Quotidien Alimentation Habitat Exode rural Jeux Agriculture/Jardina …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Phaistos Disc decipherment claims — There are a large number of claims of decipherment of the Phaistos Disc.The claims may be categorized into linguistic decipherments, identifying the language of the inscription, and non linguistic decipherments. A purely ideographical reading is… …   Wikipedia

  • Jeu des vingt cases — Jeux dans l Égypte antique Cet article fait partie de la série Vie quotidienne dans l Égypte antique Quotidien Alimentation Habitat Exode rural Jeux Agriculture/Jardina …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”