Tutu ( Ancient Egyptian: ''twtw'' - meaning "image"; Tithoes in Greek) was an

Egyptian god Ancient Egyptian deities are the gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistory. Deities represented natural fo ...

worshipped by ordinary people all over Egypt during the Late Period.www.globalegyptianmuseum.org retrieved March 18, 2009
/ref> The only known

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

dedicated to Tutu is located in ancient

Kellis Ancient Kellis, now known as Ismant el-Kharab (Ismant the ruined), was a village in Upper Egypt during the Hellenistic Period, Roman Period, and Byzantine period. It was located about east-southeast of present-day Ismant in the Dakhleh Oasis, an ...

. However, reliefs depicting Tutu are seen in other temples, such as the

Temple of Kalabsha The Temple of Kalabsha (also Temple of Mandulis) is an ancient Egyptian temple that was originally located at Bab al-Kalabsha (Gate of Kalabsha), approximately 50 km south of Aswan. In the 1960s the temple was relocated under the Internation ...

. Tutu's title at the Shenhur temple was "Who comes to the one calling him". Other titles of his are "Son of Neith," "the Lion," "Great of Strength", and "Master of the demons of Sekhmet and the wandering demons of Bastet". Tutu MET DP243467

Tutu's iconography is anthropomorphic, consisting of the body of a striding, winged lion, the head of a human, other heads of hawks and crocodiles projecting from the body, and the tail of a serpent. He was the son of

Neith Neith ( grc-koi, Νηΐθ, a borrowing of the Demotic form egy, nt, likely originally to have been nrt "she is the terrifying one"; Coptic: ⲛⲏⲓⲧ; also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit) was an early ancient Egyptian deity. She was said to b ...

, who was considered as a "dangerous goddess". Other goddesses in the same aspect were named as

Mut Mut, also known as Maut and Mout, was a mother goddess worshipped in ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush in present-day North Sudan. In Meroitic, her name was pronounced mata): 𐦨𐦴. Her name means ''mother'' in the ancient Egyptian l ...

Sekhmet In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet ( or Sachmis (), also spelled Sakhmet, Sekhet, Sakhet among other spellings, cop, Ⲥⲁⲭⲙⲓ, Sakhmi), is a warrior goddess as well as goddess of healing. She is depicted as a lioness. Sekhmet is a solar de ...

Nekhbet Nekhbet (; also spelt Nekhebit) is an early predynastic local goddess in Egyptian mythology, who was the patron of the city of Nekheb (her name meaning ''of Nekheb''). Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper Egypt and one of the two patron ...

and

Bastet Bastet or Bast ( egy, bꜣstjt, cop, Ⲟⲩⲃⲁⲥⲧⲉ, Oubaste , Phoenician: 𐤀𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: ’bst, or 𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: bst) was a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (2 ...

. This meant that Tutu is placed in a position of power over demons. It was his role to slay demons sent out by "dangerous goddesses"; other sons of these goddesses performed the same function. These were

Maahes Maahes (also spelled in Greek: Mihos, Miysis, Mios, Maihes, or Mahes) (Greek: Μαχές, Μιχός, Μίυσις, Μίος, or Μάιχες) was an ancient Egyptian lion-headed god of war, whose name means "he who is true beside her". He was s ...

Khonsu Khonsu ( egy, ḫnsw; also transliterated Chonsu, Khensu, Khons, Chons or Khonshu; cop, Ϣⲟⲛⲥ, Shons) is the ancient Egyptian god of the Moon. His name means "traveller", and this may relate to the perceived nightly travel of the Moon ...

and

Nefertem Nefertem (; possibly "beautiful one who closes" or "one who does not close"; also spelled Nefertum or Nefer-temu) was, in Egyptian mythology, originally a lotus flower at the creation of the world, who had arisen from the primal waters.Nefertem ...

. Originally the protector of tombs, Tutu later guarded the sleeping from danger or bad dreams. Tutu was also regarded for ordinary people to worship, offering and rituals were made on portable altars. Offerings included goose and bread, and rituals were for protection from demons and bad dreams. Tutu was stated to have given protection from demons, giving longer life and protecting people from the

Netherworld Netherworld (''nether'', ″beneath, lower″) may refer to: *Underworld, a region thought to be beneath the surface of the world in many religions and mythologies Film and television * ''Netherworld'' (film), a 1992 American horror film *''Nethe ...

References

* Kaper, Olaf E. ( 2003): The Egyptian god Tutu: a study of the sphinx-god and master of demons with a corpus of monuments. Peeters Publishers * Sauneron, JNES 19 (1960) p 285 * Hart, George (2005). ''The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Second Edition''. Routledge.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tutu (Egyptian God) Egyptian gods Late Period of ancient Egypt Lion deities