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[Myth] Egyptology can get so confusing...
May. 11th, 2011 06:07 pmSo... you see, this started because my memory of the Taming of Sekhmet is different then the most popular one available on Google.
In *my* Memory, Sekhmet goes around killing a lot of people, Ra takes pity, and while she is drunk, transforms her into Bast. This is the story I grew up with, I was very happy with this story.
Apparently, depending on which version you read, and depending on if Memphis is held esteemed or not, Sekhmet gets transformed into Hathor. Which to me feels wrong.
What is funny is apparently there is another version of the story where Ra doesn't even transform Sekhmet, but just sends Hathor instead to be the destroyer.
....
So what is really going on here? Well... like all things, this ends up being temple politics. We know that Rulership of the Egypt goes through several phases, and as the seat of power moves up and down the Nile, the dieties based on the cities they lived in get assorbed, eliminated, and merged, and ignored.
What is important is that Sekhmet and Hathor are daughters of Ra. No matter which story you go with, that never changes. We know that both temples basically fought for the same position, to be the center of childbirth and medicine. The Purpose is very different, though.
While Sekhmet's worship doesn't look like it dwindled very much in Memphis (although I am not enough of a historian to actually say that), the empire itself seemed to switch from an aggressive war stance to a non-expansive stance. When that happened, Sekhmet would have fallen out of popularity, as War is a horribly unpopular thing no matter what period of time you live in, and Sekhmet is the Mother at War. Hathor, naturally, is right there, the Mother at Peace, and being the one that is about settling down (and beer! Let's not forget Beer), she tended to be the more popular choice.
...
All I really am saying is that my memories aren't wrong, but they are not popular. It is freaking WEIRD to say I have unpopular memories. That shouldn't be right.
In *my* Memory, Sekhmet goes around killing a lot of people, Ra takes pity, and while she is drunk, transforms her into Bast. This is the story I grew up with, I was very happy with this story.
Apparently, depending on which version you read, and depending on if Memphis is held esteemed or not, Sekhmet gets transformed into Hathor. Which to me feels wrong.
What is funny is apparently there is another version of the story where Ra doesn't even transform Sekhmet, but just sends Hathor instead to be the destroyer.
....
So what is really going on here? Well... like all things, this ends up being temple politics. We know that Rulership of the Egypt goes through several phases, and as the seat of power moves up and down the Nile, the dieties based on the cities they lived in get assorbed, eliminated, and merged, and ignored.
What is important is that Sekhmet and Hathor are daughters of Ra. No matter which story you go with, that never changes. We know that both temples basically fought for the same position, to be the center of childbirth and medicine. The Purpose is very different, though.
While Sekhmet's worship doesn't look like it dwindled very much in Memphis (although I am not enough of a historian to actually say that), the empire itself seemed to switch from an aggressive war stance to a non-expansive stance. When that happened, Sekhmet would have fallen out of popularity, as War is a horribly unpopular thing no matter what period of time you live in, and Sekhmet is the Mother at War. Hathor, naturally, is right there, the Mother at Peace, and being the one that is about settling down (and beer! Let's not forget Beer), she tended to be the more popular choice.
...
All I really am saying is that my memories aren't wrong, but they are not popular. It is freaking WEIRD to say I have unpopular memories. That shouldn't be right.
