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 ...

, Onuris (also known as Onouris, Anhur, Anhuret, Han-Her, Inhert) was a god of

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

who was worshipped in the

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

area of Abydos, and particularly in

Thinis Thinis ( Greek: Θίνις ''Thinis'', Θίς ''This'' ; Egyptian: Tjenu; ; ) was the capital city of pre- unification Upper Egypt. Thinis remains undiscovered but is well attested by ancient writers, including the classical historian Manetho ...

. Myths told that he had brought his wife, Mehit, who was his female counterpart, from

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

, and his name reflects this—it means '(one who) leads back the distant one'. One of his titles was ''slayer of enemies''. Onuris was depicted as a bearded man wearing a robe and a headdress with four

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exa ...

s, holding a spear or

lance The English term lance is derived, via Middle English '' launce'' and Old French '' lance'', from the Latin '' lancea'', a generic term meaning a wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear">wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generi ...

, or occasionally as a lion-headed god (representing strength and power). In some depictions, the robe was more similar to a

kilt A kilt ( ) is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill-woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Highland dress for men, it is first r ...

Roles

God of war

Due to his position as a war god, he was patron of the ancient Egyptian army, and the personification of royal warriors. Indeed, at festivals honoring him, mock battles were staged. During the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

was depicted on the walls of Egyptian temples wearing the distinctive four-plumed crown of Onuris. The Greeks equated Onuris to their god of war,

Ares Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...

. In the legend of Olympian gods fleeing from

Typhon Typhon (; , ), also Typhoeus (; ), Typhaon () or Typhos (), was a monstrous serpentine giant and one of the deadliest creatures in Greek mythology. According to Hesiod, Typhon was the son of Gaia and Tartarus. However, one source has Typhon as t ...

and taking animal form in Egypt, Ares was said to have taken the form of a fish as Lepidotus or Onuris.

Sky bearer

Onuris name also could mean 'sky bearer' and, due to the shared headdress, Onuris was later identified with Shu, becoming ''Onuris-Shu''. He is the son of Ra and brother of Tefnut if identified as Shu.

High priests of Onuris

* Amenhotep, from the time of

Thutmose IV Thutmose IV (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis IV, Thothmes in older history works in Latinized Greek; Ancient Egyptian: ''ḏḥwti.msi(.w)'' "Thoth is born") was the 8th Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled in approximately t ...

. Amenhotep's wife Henut was a singer of Onuris. Their sons Hat and Kenna were Chariot Warriors of His Majesty. Known from a stela now in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

(EA 902).''Topographical Bibliography'' Vol. VIII, retrieved fro
Griffith Institute website
May 2010 * Nebwenenef High Priest of Onuris during the reign of

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek language, Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom period, ruling or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and th ...

. Was appointed High Priest of Amun in the beginning of the reign of Ramesses II. * HoriKitchen, K.A., ''Ramesside Inscriptions, Translated & Annotated, Translations'', Volume III, Blackwell Publishers, 1996 * Minmose, son of the High Priest of Onuris Hori and his wife Inty. From the reign of

Ramesses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...

. * Anhurmose, from the time of

Merneptah Merneptah () or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213–2 May 1203 BCE) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. According to contemporary historical records, he ruled Egypt for almost ten y ...

.Porter and Moss Topographical Bibliography; Volume V Upper Egypt Griffith Institute * Sishepset, from the time of

Ramesses III Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt, Twentieth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. Some scholars date his reign from 26 March 1186 to 15 April 1155 BC, and he is considered the last pharaoh of the New K ...

* Harsiese, mentioned on an

ostracon An ostracon (Greek language, Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeology, archaeological or epigraphy, epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer ...

in Abydos

In popular culture

Onuris is a playable character in the

multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of Gamer, players compete on a structured battlefield, each controlling a single Player character, character with distinctive abilit ...

, '' SMITE''. Onuris is a Hunter wielding a spear and bears the title the Slayer of Enemies and is shown in his (anthropomorphic) lion form maintaining his beard, robe, and a crown incorporating four large feathers. Onuris is a chaotic god in the computer game ''

NetHack ''NetHack'' is an open source single-player roguelike video game, first released in 1987 and maintained by the NetHack DevTeam. The game is a fork of the 1984 game ''Hack'', itself inspired by the 1980 game '' Rogue''. The player takes the role ...

''/'' Slash'EM''. Onuris has a minor role in the 2012 fantasy novel '' The Serpent's Shadow'' as a presumed dead god who is revived in order to destroy the Lord of Chaos, Apophis. Onuris is one of the 20 bosses you fight in the video game Boss Rush: Mythology. The American death metal band

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

did two tracks about Onuris in their 2000 album Black Seeds of Vengeance, called ''Masturbating the War God'' and ''Libation Unto the Shades Who Lurk In the Shadows of the Temple of Anhur''.

References

External links

Iconography of Onuris
{{Authority control Ares Egyptian gods Lion gods Nubian gods War gods