Ancient Egyptian religion Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian culture. It centered on the Egyptians' interactions with many deities believed to be present in, and in control ...

, Medjed is a minor and obscure god mentioned in the ''

Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' ( egy, 𓂋𓏤𓈒𓈒𓈒𓏌𓏤𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓅱𓇳𓏤, ''rw n(y)w prt m hrw(w)'') is an ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom ...

''. His ghost-like portrayal in illustrations on the Greenfield papyrus earned him popularity in modern Japanese culture, including as a character in video games and anime.

Archaeological evidence

The ''Book of the Dead'' refers to a group of

Ancient Egyptian funerary texts The literature that makes up the ancient Egyptian funerary texts is a collection of religious documents that were used in ancient Egypt, usually to help the spirit of the concerned person to be preserved in the afterlife. They evolved over time, ...

generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the

New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

(around 1550 BCE) to around 50 BCE. These texts consist of a number of magic spells, written by priests, intended to assist a dead person's journey through the '' Duat'', or underworld, and into the afterlife. Spell 17 mentions, amongst many other obscure gods, one Medjed (meaning "The Smiter"), in the following line:

E. A. Wallis Budge Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge (27 July 185723 November 1934) was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East. He made numerous trips ...

interpreted the corresponding passage in the New Kingdom Papyri, known as the "Theban Recension of the Book of the Dead" as follows: In the illustration to the spell on sheet 76 of the Greenfield papyrus, a figure thought to be Medjed is depicted as a dome with a pair of eyes and eyebrows, supported by two human-like feet. File:Greenfield papyrus - sheet 12 - vignettes.png, Greenfield papyrus, sheet 12. Medjed is depicted on far-right, with feet facing both directions. File:Greenfield papyrus - sheet 76 - vignettes.png, Greenfield papyrus, sheet 76. Medjed is depicted on centre-left, with both feet facing the right. According to John Taylor of the British Museum, nothing else is known about Medjed.

In popular culture

After the Greenfield papyrus illustrations were exhibited in 2012 at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo and the Fukuoka Museum of Art, Medjed became a sensation on Japanese social media due to the resemblance to a stereotypical

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

costume. The god was embraced by Japanese popular culture. He became an

internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

, as well as a character in video games and in anime (e.g. as the protagonist of ''Kamigami no Ki'', 2016).

Archaeological evidence

In popular culture

See also

References

Notes

Citations

External links