Anti (mythology)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Egyptian mythology, Anti (Antaeus in Greek, but probably not connected to the Antaeus in Greek mythology) was a god whose worship centred at Antaeopolis, in the northern part of Upper Egypt.

His worship is quite ancient, dating from at least the 2nd dynasty, at which point he already had priests dedicated to his cult. Originally, Anti appears to have been the patron of the ancient area around Badari, which was the centre of the cult of Horus. Due to lack of surviving information, it is not very well known what the original function of Anti was, or whether he was more than just a title of Horus referring to some specific function.^[1]

Over time, he became considered simply as the god of ferrymen, and was consequently depicted as a falcon standing on a boat, a reference to Horus, who was originally considered as a falcon. As god of ferrymen, he gained the title Nemty, meaning (one who) travels. His later cult centre Antaeopolis was known as Per-Nemty (House of Nemty).

Anti appears in the tale The Contendings of Horus and Seth which describes the settlement of the inheritance of Osiris, seen as a metaphor for the conquest of Lower Egypt (whose patron was Set) by Upper Egypt, at the beginning of the Old Kingdom. In this tale, one of Set's attempts to gain power consists of his gathering together the gods, and providing good arguments, convincing all of them (in later traditions, all except Thoth). Set fears magical intervention by Isis, Horus' wife (in early Egyptian mythology), and so holds the gathering on an island, instructing Anti not to allow anyone resembling Isis to be ferried there. However, Isis disguises herself as an old woman, and unknowingly Anti takes her across after being paid a gold ring, having rejected the first offer of gruel, resulting in the disruption of the council by her use of magic. Anti is punished for his error, by having his toes cut off, which is more severe than it appears, since as a falcon, he would no longer be able to perch, and thus would not be able to reside on the boat.^[2]

[edit] References

^ Toby A. H. Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, Routledge 1999, ISBN 0415260116, p.315
^ "The Contendings of Horus and Seth" in William Kelly Simpson (ed.), The Literature of Ancient Egypt, 1972