Khonsu

The name ḫnsw (transliterated Khonsu/Chonsu) literally means 'traveller', a reference to the moon's nightly journey across the sky. Khonsu is historically attested as the son in the Theban Triad with Amun (father) and Mut (mother) and appears in early Egyptian funerary literature (Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts) as well as in later temple inscriptions and Ptolemaic-era material.

In Egyptian art Khonsu commonly appears mummiform with the sidelock of childhood and wearing a menat necklace; lunar emblems (a disk and crescent) are placed above or on his head. He is also depicted with a falcon head and in bovine-associated forms (child or young bull imagery linked to the waxing moon and occasional older/bull aspects for other phases). Sources also note rarer two-faced child depictions interpreted as relating to the moon's invisible phase.

Khonsu is associated with the crescent moon and the lunar cycle and is connected to fertility and renewal (texts cite conceptions and cattle fertility linked to his influence). With Thoth he helps mark the passage of time and he is invoked as a protector of those who travel by night and as a healer; the Bentresh stela narrative and royal epithets (e.g., Ptolemy IV calling himself 'Beloved of Khonsu Who Protects His Majesty and Drives Away Evil Spirits') attest to healing and protective cult functions. In funerary literature Khonsu also appears in fierce roles: the Pyramid Texts' Cannibal Hymn and Coffin Texts portray him as a butcherly, devouring or fiery agent who can burn hearts or enable the deceased to appropriate divine powers; tomb inscriptions describe him with the term Wepwety, a category of underworld messengers or death-bringing spirits.