- Seker
:"For the places in Azerbaijan, see
Şəkər .":"Sokar" redirects here. For the Stargate SG-1 character, seeSokar (Stargate) "InEgyptian mythology , Seker (also spelt Sokar, and Sokaris, and in Greek, Socharis) was originally, during theOld Kingdom , the deification of the act of separating the Egyptian soul from theKa , roughly the separation ofsoul from the body, afterdeath . This was said to be enabled by the funerary ceremony of "opening the mouth ", and thus Seker was given his name, meaning "cleaning of the mouth".The "
Ba ", roughly equivalent to the soul, was shown inart , as a human-headed bird fluttering above the "Ka ", roughly equivalent to the now-mummified empty shell of the body. Consequently, Seker became depicted as a mummified human who wasfalcon -headed, and hadgreen skin, symbolising rebirth. The usual depiction of the Ba in this form led to Seker gaining theepithet "great lord with two wings opened". A statue of Seker was often placed in tombs, the bottom of it containing the deceased'sBook of the Dead , to encourage the successful separation and release of the "Ba".In Memphis, Seker was worshipped as the patron god of the
necropolis , and so was known as "(one who is) on the sand"; the necropolis itself, then became known as Sakkara after his name. In Thebes he had a dedicated festival, known as theHenu Festival , in which an image of Seker was carried in a barque, representing the ferry that carried the deceased throughAaru .His name could also be decomposed to mean "adorned one", and so Seker gradually also became associated with the secondary function of being the patron god of
jeweller s,armourer s, and other metal workers. Consequently, during the Middle Kingdom whenPtah became viewed as a god of craftsmen, and a god ofreincarnation , Seker, as a god of a class of craftsmen, and a god involved in starting the process of reincarnation, became closely associated with Ptah. Eventually, Seker's identity was subsumed into that of Ptah, becoming Ptah-Seker. By the start of theNew Kingdom , Ptah-Seker, as a funerary god, had become subsumed into the now much more important god of death,Osiris , becoming Ptah-Seker-Osiris.Egyptian legends say that Seker's domain resided in the ever-shifting sands outside of Memphis. Unlike Osiris' kingdom (which was reserved for the blessed, consisted of fields and flowing water), Seker's domain was reserved for the wicked, and was shrouded in impenetrable blackness. It was populated with terrible serpents and other reptiles of "terrifying aspect". These creatures sometimes had two, or even three heads. They were meant to keep order in Seker's domain and keep his image. This was because Seker did not reside necessarily in his own domain, but in his hidden chambers deep into the earth. He rarely came up, so there was little desire for his cult members to want to reside there.
There is also a company of eight more minor gods in Seker's kingdom. Their job is to consummate the final destruction of the bodies of the damned. They emitted liquid fire from their mouths (destruction by fire was only used for the blessed or important) in order to get rid of the bodies.
Seker's domain could be harbored only in the fourth and fifth hours of night.
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