Menhit

deity sky African single tradition · 6

Menhit was originally a Nubian lion goddess of war in the Kingdom of Kush, regarded as both a tutelary and sun goddess. Her name means either "she who sacrifices" or "she who massacres." She was associated with warfare and solar attributes.

↻ synthesized from 6 sources

When

First attested
3000 BCE
Attested period
-3000 – 2020
Historical notes
Worship attested from the Early Dynastic Period (c. 30th century BCE) through Roman Egypt.

Relationships

parent of
Heka, Shu
allied with
Neith, Khnum, Heka, Nebtu
aspect of
Ra
manifested by
Eye of Ra
syncretized with
Wedjat

Expand to full subgraph →

Sources

Source passages

“Menhit”

#2691 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

“In the 3rd Nome of Upper Egypt, particularly at Esna, Menhit was said to be the wife of Khnum and the mother of Heka. She was also known to be the mother of Shu.”

#11166 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

“Egyptians associated many gods who took felid form with the sun, and many lioness deities, like Sekhmet, Menhit, and Tefnut, were equated with the eye. Bastet was depicted as both a domestic cat and a lioness, and with these two forms she could represent both the peaceful and violent aspects of the eye”

#15871 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“His mother was alternately said to be Nebetu'u (a form of Hathor), lion-headed Menhit, and the cow goddess Mehet-Weret, before settling on Neith, a war and mother goddess.”

#24039 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“His primary consorts are Nebtuwi and Menhit, while Heka is recognized as his eldest son and successor.”

#24293 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001