The Imiut fetish (''jmy-wt'') is a religious object that has been documented throughout the history of

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

. It was a stuffed, headless animal skin, often of a feline or bull. This fetish was tied by the tail to a pole, terminating in a lotus bud and inserted into a stand. The item was present in ancient Egyptian funerary rites from at least the earliest dynasties. Although its origin and purpose is unknown, the imiut fetish dates as far back as the First Dynasty (3100–2890 BC).

History

The earliest known depiction of the ''jmy-wt'' fetish is on a Predynastic lug handle dating to Naqada IIc-d, which appears to show the procedure by which intestines were extracted from a sacrificial bird and tied to the fetish. In the First Dynasty, the fetish appears on seals and labels during the reigns of kings

Hor-Aha Hor-Aha (or Aha or Horus Aha; ) is considered the second pharaoh of the First Dynasty of Egypt by some Egyptology, Egyptologists, while others consider him the first one and corresponding to Menes. He lived around the 31st century BC and is thoug ...

, Djer, Djet, and Den, where the ''jmy-wt'' is associated with ritual killings of prisoners. Another example found in 1914 by an expedition of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

near the pyramid of

Senusret I Senusret I (Egyptian language, Middle Egyptian: wikt:z-n-wsrt, z-n-wsrt; /suʀ nij ˈwas.ɾiʔ/) also anglicized as Sesostris I and Senwosret I, was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt, Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 ...

(c. 1971-1928 BCE) was placed in a shrine. There are depictions of the imiut fetish on ancient Egyptian temples, and sometimes there were models of it included with the funerary equipment, most notably the two found in the burial chamber of

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen, (; ), was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Born Tutankhaten, he instituted the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of an ...

Howard Carter Howard Carter (9 May 18742 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptology, Egyptologist who Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, discovered Tomb of Tutankhamun, the intact tomb of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty Pharaoh ...

. The fetish was later connected to the god

Anubis Anubis (; ), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian (), is the god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the underworld in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a canine or a man with a canine hea ...

and mummification around the Fourth Dynasty, so it is sometimes called the Anubis fetish.

Meaning

Logan suggests that the ''jmy.wt'' has its origin as a standard associated with kingship and transition, a pole upon which the intestines of a ritual animal sacrifice were hung. This he connects to an etymology ''jmy.wt'' "that which is inside", analogous to ''jmyw'' "tumor". In this scenario, the name was later reanalyzed as a reference to embalming after the association with Anubis.

Notes

{{Authority control 4th-millennium BC establishments Egyptian artefact types Ancient Egyptian symbols Gerzeh culture Anubis