Anat

**Anat**


 * Other Names:**

Antit, Anit, Anti, Anant, Anath, Anthat, Anta, Anatu, Qetesh, Qadesh


 * Meaning of Name:**

"She Who is Holy"


 * Hieroglyphics:**

or


 * Titles:**

"Mother of the Gods"

“The Destroyer”

"Queen of Heaven"

"Great Cow of Set"

“Strength of Life”

"Mistress of the Sky"

“Lady of the Mountain”


 * Family:**

Anat was considered a daughter of Ra or Ptah. Her husband was Set, Baal, or Reshep, and her child Min.

Anat was a deity originally Semetic or Canaanite in origin who was absorbed into the Egyptian pantheon during the Middle Kingdom. She was worshiped as a goddess of war, fertility, and hunting. Anat was described as a woman who “acts like a warrior, who dresses like a man.” A spell refers to Anat fighting alongside Ra against a troop of wild donkeys representing the forces of chaos. In the New Kingdom, Rameses II made Anat his personal guardian in battle. He also named his dog “Anat-in-vigor” and one of his horses was named “Anat-is-satisfied.” Ramses III claimed that Anat had been his shield against the invading Sea Peoples. A bronze arrowhead dating to 11th-12th century B.C.E. reads "Benanat (Son of Anat), Servant of the Lion Lady."

Anat's iconography varies, but she is usually shown wearing the Atef Crown, the Headdress of Hathor, or a stylized cow's uterus, and a leopard-skin dress. Anat was often pictured carrying cobras, lotus flowers, and one or more weapons such as a lance, battle axe, shield, or a bow and arrows. Often she stands or rides upon on a lion, to empathize her status as a war goddess. Anat was often shown full-face in images (highly unusual by Egyptian artistic conventions). On rare occasions she was pictured as a cow.


 * Egyptian Names Honoring This Deity:**

Bintanat (“Daughter of Anat”) Benanat ("Son of Anat")


 * Outside of Egypt:**

The Elephantine Papyri dating from the late sixth century B.C.E. indicates that Anat was one of the two goddesses worshiped at the Temple of Yahu (Yahweh) by the Jews on the island of Elephantine in the Nile. In Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine the worship of Anat persisted into Christian times (200 C.E.), perhaps much longer in popular religion. Anat may have been worshiped in one or more of the few Egyptian temples that remained open into the early 6th century C.E.

Egyptian Deities - A