Bata appears in Egyptian sources both as a local cult figure of a specific Upper Egyptian nome and as the hero of the Tale of Two Brothers (Papyrus D’Orbiney). Scholarly discussion also proposes that Bata is probably identical with an Old Kingdom death deity known from Saqqara as Bt; this identification is described as probable in the sources but is not presented as proven. The literary tale presents Bata as brother to Anubis (Anpu) and as a figure whose life undergoes betrayal, death or destruction of a 'soul-tree', and a form of continued agency or return signified for his brother.
Iconographic attestations show a shift over time: Bata is attested as represented as a ram in earlier New Kingdom contexts (until the middle of the Eighteenth Dynasty) and later as a bull. In the Tale of Two Brothers he is presented as a human protagonist—brother of Anubis—who is closely associated with oxen and pastoral settings and is described in the tale as understanding the language of oxen.
As a nome deity Bata functions in the role expected of local patron gods—protective and representative of a territorial community—and, through the probable identification with Bt, is linked in scholarship to funerary or necropolis contexts (described as probable rather than certain). In the Tale of Two Brothers Bata displays narrative abilities: foreknowledge or preparation for future events (he prepares his brother to watch for a sign), special rapport with cattle (understands oxen), and motifs of death/transformation and postmortem continuity (the 'soul-tree' motif and the tale's implication that his story continues after apparent death).
Weaknesses
- othernot attested in sources
Wards
- othernot attested in sources
Aani
Aani (ancient Egyptian jꜥnr) is the lexical term for the baboon in ancient Egyptian language and functions in religious contexts as an animal icon and theophoric epithet. Attested repeatedly in Egyptian texts and images, the baboon image is used to represent or denote aspects of gods such as Thoth, Hapy, Khonsu, and Osiris rather than implying the animal itself is an independent deity.
Aker
Aker is an ancient Egyptian personification of the horizon and an earth and underworld deity who is described in surviving summaries as guardian of the eastern (Bakhu) and western (Manu) horizons, marking liminal boundaries between day and night and between the living world and the netherworld.
Akhty
Akhty (also read Netjer-akhty) is an ancient Egyptian deity identified with the northern bald ibis and linked to the akh (the transfigured, luminous human spirit). Attested from early 2nd dynasty inscriptions and in Old Kingdom personal names and priestly titles, Akhty was associated with the evening horizon and believed to guide the setting sun and carry the deceased's spirit into the night sky.
Amaunet (Amunet)
Amaunet (also spelled Amunet, Amonet) is a primordial female deity of ancient Egyptian religion, attested from early religious texts and represented as the feminine counterpart and consort of the god Amun. She is presented in sources as a pre-creation or primeval principle associated with hiddenness; Thebes is recorded as a principal center of her cult into the late dynastic and Ptolemaic periods.
Amenhotep, son of Hapu
Amenhotep, son of Hapu was a historically attested 18th‑Dynasty official who was posthumously venerated and integrated into Egyptian temple cult as a deified, local healing intercessor. His cult appears in Thebes and resurges in the Ptolemaic period, represented in votive reliefs, chapels, and statues.
Ammit
Ammit is an ancient Egyptian funerary guardian-demon of the Duat who stands at the Hall of Two Truths during the weighing of the heart. Feared and not worshipped, she awaits the verdict and consumes hearts judged impure, thereby preventing the deceased from joining the blessed dead.
Ammut
Ammut is an ancient Egyptian chimeric creature associated with the Judgment of the Dead; traditionally described as a composite of lion, hippopotamus, and crocodile, she is said to consume the souls or the symbolic heart of those judged unworthy, preventing admission to the afterlife. Modern artistic and speculative retellings recast Ammut as a large scavenging semi‑aquatic animal whose corpse‑consuming habits inspired funerary beliefs.
Amset (Imsety)
Amset (Egyptian Imsety) is one of the four sons of Horus in ancient Egyptian mortuary religion, a named funerary guardian commonly associated with protection of the liver and represented as the human-headed canopic-jar lid in mummification and afterlife iconography.
Amun
Amun is a major ancient Egyptian deity whose name (imn) means 'the hidden one.' Originating as a local Theban tutelary god, he rose to national prominence and was syncretized with the sun‑god Ra (Amun‑Ra), becoming a transcendent, self‑created creator and king of the gods closely tied to royal legitimation and personal petitionary religion.
Amun-Re
Amun-Re is a major ancient Egyptian state deity formed by syncretism of Amun with the sun-god Re. Attested from the Old Kingdom and rising to prominence as the patron god of Thebes by the 11th Dynasty, Amun-Re is closely tied to pharaonic kingship, temple cult, and oracular activity (notably at Siwa).
Amunet
Amunet (jmnt) is a primordial Egyptian goddess originally one of the female members of the Ogdoad of Hermopolis whose name means ‘The Hidden One.’ In later Theban religion she became a localized consort and cult companion of Amun, serving protective and liturgical roles in royal coronation, Sed festivals, temple liturgies, and funerary invocations.
Ancient Egyptian corkscrew-horned sheep
An extinct ovicaprine form identified in modern scholarship as Ovis longipes palaeoaegyptiacus and depicted in early pharaonic art; its distinctive loosely spiralling horns were adopted as the horn-type for several ram-headed Egyptian deities and persisted in iconography after the animal vanished from the record.
Community Record
- [1]Bata (god) — Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Bata (god)wiki
- [2]Egyptian Stories — Tale of Two Brothers (Papyrus D’Orbiney) — Myth-Folklore Online (retelling/analysis). Myth-Folklore Online: Tale of Two Brothers (Papyrus D’Orbiney) retelling and commentaryliterary
- [3]Egyptian Stories — Tale of Two Brothers (additional page). Myth-Folklore Online: Tale of Two Brothers (related pages)literary