Akhty (also read Netjer-akhty) was an ancient Egyptian deity. He was seldom mentioned.

Depiction

Akhty was depicted as a

northern bald ibis The northern bald ibis, hermit ibis, or waldrapp (''Geronticus eremita'') is a migratory bird found in barren, semi-desert or rocky habitats, often close to running water. This glossy black ibis, which, unlike many members of the ibis family, i ...

. The bird depiction was often guided by the hieroglyphic sign for "god", ''Netjer''.Eberhard Otto: ''Ach''. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): ''Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ)'', vol. 1. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1975, , p. 49-52.Jan Assmann: ''Tod und Jenseits im Alten Ägypten, Sonderausgabe''. C. H. Beck, München 2003, , p. 116-118. See a picture on the statue of the priest .

Attestations

The earliest mention of this deity appears on stone vessel inscriptions from the reign of the 2nd dynasty Pharaoh

Hotepsekhemwy Hotepsekhemwy is the Horus name of an early Egyptian king who was the founder of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. The exact length of his reign is not known; the Turin canon suggests an improbable 95 yearsAlan H. Gardiner: ''The royal canon of Tur ...

. Egyptologists such as

Wolfgang Helck Hans Wolfgang Helck (16 September 1914 – 27 August 1993) was a German Egyptologist, considered one of the most important Egyptologists of the 20th century. From 1956 until his retirement in 1979 he was a professor at the University of Hamburg. H ...

believe that Akhty was a dynasty deity and ancestor god. Akhty was also depicted (and thus worshipped) under Hotepsekhemwy's successors,

Raneb Nebra or Raneb is the Horus name of the second early Egyptian king of the 2nd Dynasty. The exact length of his reign is unknown since the Turin canon is damaged and the year accounts are lost.Alan H. Gardiner: ''The royal canon of Turin''. G ...

and

Nynetjer Nynetjer (also known as Ninetjer and Banetjer) is the Horus name of the third pharaoh of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. The length of his reign is unknown. The Turin Canon suggests an improbable reign of 96 yearsAlan H. Gardiner: ''The Royal Canon ...

. During the

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...

period, Akhty's name only appears in connection with private names (such as ''

Akhetaa Akhetaa (also written Achtiaa and Aa-Akhti) was an ancient Egyptian high official during the mid to late 3rd Dynasty ( Old Kingdom period). He is mostly known for his tomb inscriptions, which refer to various seldom used titles as well as to the ...

'') and priest titles such as ''Hem-netjer-Akhty'' ("god's servant of Akhty"). In even later times, Akhty's names appears more and more seldom.Wolfgang Helck, Eberhard Otto, Wolfhart Westendorf: ''Lexikon der Ägyptologie'', vol. 2. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977, , p. 430.

Worship

According to

ancient Egyptian mythology Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world around them. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part of ancient Egyptia ...

, the Akh-bird was believed to be the representation of the human spirit (Egyptian: ''Akh''). Most possibly this idea was inspired by the attractive shimmering and glittering of the bird's feathers, which was compared by the Ancient Egyptians to the glittering of the stars in the night sky. A similar belief is known from

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

n Bedouins, who worship the northern bald ibis as a bearer of the deceased's soul. As Akhty's name suggests, he was believed to reside at the evening horizon, guiding the setting sun and carrying the spirit of the deceased safely into the night sky.

References

{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer Egyptian gods Legendary birds Animal gods Psychopomps