Min, also known as the Egyptian mnw, is an ancient Egyptian god whose cult began in the predynastic period (4th millennium BC). He is usually depicted in male human form, with his attributes held in his right hand, and a raised left arm holding a flail.
Origins and Cult
The cult of Min began and was centered around Coptos (Koptos) and Akhmim (Panopolis) in Upper Egypt, where great festivals in his honor were celebrated, celebrating his "coming" with a public procession and the presentation of offerings . His other associations include the eastern desert and ties to the god Horus. Two large statues of Min were excavated at Qift by Flinders Petrie, which are now housed in the Ashmolean Museum. Although not mentioned by name, a reference to “he whose arm is raised in the East” in the Pyramid Texts is believed to refer to Min.
Au Middle Kingdom, his importance grew and he became even more closely related to Horus in the form of Min-Horus. Speak New Empire, it was also merged with Amun in the form of Min-Amun, who was also the serpent Irta, a kamutef (the "bull of his mother" - a god who engenders himself with his own mother). Min as an independent deity was also a kamutef ofIsis.
Symbolism and Celebration
As the central deity of fertility and possibly orgiastic rites, Min became identified by the Greeks with the god Pan. One aspect of Min's cult was the prickly wild lettuce Lactuca serriola, which has aphrodisiac and opiate qualities and produces latex when cut, possibly identified with semen.
At the beginning of the harvest season, his image was removed from the temple and taken to the fields during the festival of Min's departure, the feast of Min, where they blessed the harvest, and played naked games in his honor, the most important of these games being the climbing of a huge mast (tent).
Min in Egyptian Art and Culture
In Egyptian art, Min is depicted as an anthropomorphic male deity with a male body, covered in shrouds, wearing a crown with feathers, and often holding his erect penis in his left hand and a flail (referring to his authority , or rather that of the pharaohs) in his right hand turned upwards. Around her forehead, Min wears a red ribbon that falls to the ground, which some claim represents sexual energy. His legs are bandaged because of his chthonic force, in the same way as Ptah and Osiris. His skin was usually painted black, which symbolized the fertile soil of the Nile.
Egyptian women would touch the penises of Min statues in hopes of becoming pregnant, a practice that continues to this day. This shows Min's importance not only as a fertility deity, but also as a protective and beneficial figure for women and family.
Other deities than Min