Montu

**Montu**


 * Other Names:**

Mentu, Mentju, Minu'thi, Month, Menthu, Mntw


 * Meaning of Name:**

“Nomad”


 * Hieroglyphics:**

or


 * Family:**

Montu was thought to be the son of Amun and Mut, the husband of Satis, and the father of Horus.


 * Titles:**

“Bull of the Mountains of Sunrise and Sunset”

"Lord of Thebes" “Bull of the Mighty Arm”

Montu was the patron of all manner of martial arts and warfare, strength, and masculine virility. A powerful royal god, he inspired kings and warriors on the battlefield. Fighting was said to be the “work of Montu.” He was thought to be the destructive element of the sun's heat – it was said that “his bread is hearts, and his water is blood.” Egypt’s greatest general-kings called themselves “Mighty Bulls,” the sons of Montu. Battleships were decorated with four images of the god, spearing and trampling the enemies of Egypt.

In the famous narrative of the Battle of Kadesh, Rameses II was said to have seen the enemy and “raged at them like Montu, Lord of Thebes.” For a warrior to be talked of as fighting like "Montu in his might" was a supreme compliment. Sometimes Montu was said to slay Ra's enemies from the prow of his barque as the boat traveled through the Duat. Montu was also thought to be a guardian of marriage, and was sometimes mentioned in marriage contracts. One document from Deir el-Medina invokes the rage of a husband to his unfaithful wife with, "It is the abomination of Montu!"

Amulets of Montu, made of faience and bronze, were popular with men. Montu was pictured as a falcon or bull-headed man who wore the sun-disc and the Two Feathers Crown. In his hands he holds various weaponry, including an Ames Scepter, scimitars, bows and arrows, and knives. Montu was associated with the griffin and a white bull with a black face, called Buchis.


 * Feast and Holy Days:**

August 22 (Feast of Montu)


 * Egyptian Names Honoring This Deity:**

Usermontu, Panebmontu, Montuhotep (“Montu is Content”), Montuwoser ("Strength of Montu"), Montuemhat ("He Who is in Front of Montu")


 * Outside of Egypt:**

The Greeks considered Montu to be a form of Ares, their own god of war.

Egyptian Deities - M