Known in Egyptian mythology as “He Who Opens the Paths,” Wepwawet is the patron deity of Asyut (Assiout), the capital of the Thirteenth Nome in Upper Egypt. Since his major role as the “scout” deity is to protect royal and divine processions from any potential enemies, Wepwawet is often shown at the front of parades. He wields a Was scepter, a staff of hegemony and authority.
Wepwawet in Egyptian Mythology
He is connected to Khenti-Amentiu and Anubis, the canine deities that watch over the locations sacred to the king and the “Sacred Land” of the holy city of Abydos.
He was probably given the name Sed, which means “He with the Tail,” after the animal’s most distinguishing feature, the long, bushy tail that completes its unique profile. The name may also refer to the ancient practice of wearing a dog’s tail as part of a hunter’s clothing.
At times, Wepwawet takes on the persona of Ra and is referred to as Wepwawet-Ra. On occasion, his image takes up Ra’s duties aboard the sunboat. Similar to how Wepwawet is represented in hieroglyphs, Wepwawet-Ra has the solar disk, an emblem of the sun deity.
Wepwawet-Ra has the solar disk, an emblem of the sun deity.
There are almost 600 steles erected as offerings to him. The New Kingdom-era artifacts were uncovered in the Lycopolis (Asyut) tomb of Salakhana.
Wepwawet is traditionally credited as the son of Anubis and, subsequently, Osiris and Isis; nevertheless, Seth and Nephthys are also often named as his parents. He is also the presumed sibling of both Anubis and Horus the Child (Harpocrates).
How Does Wepwawet Look Like?
Animal Depiction
Despite being portrayed as a dog, new genetic research indicates that Wepwawet is really a subspecies of the gray wolf. Asyut was Hellenized by the ancient Greeks as Lycopolis, which means “The City of the Wolf.”
This deity looks identical to the Egyptian god Anubis; however, it is shown standing on its hind legs instead of Anubis’ typical reclining position.
Together, the animal’s legs support a tiny board that is kept up by a diagonal crossbar attached to a pole the animal holds in front of it. Front and center on this shield (symbol) are a thickening (shedshed, a bolstering element) and an uraeus (cobra symbol).
Wepwawet, like Anubis, is represented dozing off on his shield on various Middle Kingdom Abydos votive stele lintels.
Humanoid Depiction
Humanoid depictions of Wepwawet are quite uncommon and often date back to a time period beyond the early dynasties. His canine head is seldom replaced.
Wepwawet has two distinct sides to his character, one representing Upper Egypt and the other Lower Egypt. Thus, he is also known as the “Opener of the Double Land,” as he is symbolic of the joining of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Sometimes he’ll have a female companion named Wepetwawet, which translates to “She Who Opens the Paths.” The only thing she does is provide the deity with a suitable female equivalent.
Wepwawet’s Dynastic Significance
Pre-dynastic cult items, such as palettes, plaques, and seals, often include depictions of Wepwawet, making him one of the first heavenly standards.
Following the traditional dichotomy in ancient Egypt to characterize their area, his emblem is frequently divided into that of Upper Egypt’s Wepwawet and that of Lower Egypt’s Wepwawet. Together, they lead the procession of divine emblems known as the Followers of Horus (Shemsu Hor).
These symbols represent the ancient descendants of King Horus (Predynastic Period/Nagada III), whose name was the cornerstone of the pharaohs’ titulary (the first of five titles).
This is how the idea of royal lineage became linked to Wepwawet.
This is how the idea of royal lineage became linked to Wepwawet. The Souls of Nekhen, anthropomorphic deities with pseudo-jackal heads representing the ancient kings of Upper Egypt, and the Souls of Pe, symmetrical deities to the former with falcon heads representing the royal ancestors of Lower Egypt, are often depicted with Wepwawet as their leader.
In a ritual of monarchic consecration, this celestial double procession is seen flanking and acclaiming the pharaoh enthroned atop the double pavilion during the Sed celebration.
Wepwawet Celebrations
Abydos (city) records indicate that on the 18th day of the month of Thout or Koiak during the Akhet season, an “Exit of Wepwawet” (or “First Exit”) occurred. Osiris’ son Wepwawet would stand atop his shield in front of the neshmet boat to ward off any assaults from the deity Seth. During a parade on the first day of the epagomenal days, Wepwawet makes his way from Lycopolis to the necropolis of Anubis.
Origin of the Jackal Figure on Wepwawet’s Head
The excavations at Egypt’s ancient sites appear to lend credence to the idea that lycaons (African wild dog) were widely used as a framework for organizing Neolithic tribal groups. At a period when human societies were structuring and hierarchizing, giving birth to the concept of chieftainship, the sociable tendencies of these wild canids arranged in highly structured packs and their commensal temperament with people would have been striking.
These canids used a group hunting strategy.
These canids, which are similar to jackals, used a group hunting strategy similar to that used by lions on the savannah, herding prey towards them so that they could all share in the spoils. This uniqueness very certainly piqued the curiosity of other hunting bands that often used the same hunting grounds. It’s possible that they accompanied nomadic hunters on their travels, helping to drive the prized animals while settling for the leftover corpses around the campfires.
Consuming Canids
The two groups worked together at first from a distance, but eventually became close enough to have a cooperative partnership, kicking off a period of non-predatory domestication (with hyena being the only canid consumed throughout the Old Kingdom).
Because of its unique characteristics, the pseudo-jackal became the first canine hunting companion for humans and an ancient symbol of chieftainship and, subsequently, royal authority.
In the ancient era, when the success of hunting was crucial to the continued existence of clans, this canine helper became more identified with the leader, who was often a proficient hunter. It’s possible that the protohistoric and historical material codification of this relationship is the canid symbol of Wepwawet and its hunting features.
Some of the ritualists seen on a bas-relief from the Abu Gorab funeral complex of Pharaoh Nyuserre Ini (Old Kingdom, Fifth Dynasty) are dressed in canid skins. This bizarre outfit, which is unmatched in the Sed festival’s canon of iconography, was probably preserved as a result of a rite linking the power of the canid to that of the chief hunter and eventual pharaoh.
No historical record exists of canids being sacrificed in Egypt or anywhere else in Africa for any reason other than extreme ritual or famine.
Origin of the Sed Festival
There is evidence to suggest that the Sed festival originated in protohistoric and historic periods, when it resembled a qualifying hunt meant to designate the new and youthful head of the tribe, and that a deified hunting dog, maybe called Sed, was the inspiration for the event. After the old chief was sacrificed and buried because he had reached old age and was thus a threat to the continuance of the clan (the corpse of the chief, and subsequently the pharaoh’s, being symbolically connected with the whole area), a younger leader was appointed.
Khonsu is an ancient Egyptian god of the Moon.
Khensu and Khonsu
The god’s symbol is sometimes seen in conjunction with a secondary, more enigmatic symbol. The closeness between the names “Khensu” and “Khonsu” has led to this smaller symbol being associated with the moon deity. Given the claimed origin of the word Khonsu, it might be a stylized depiction of a human placenta, a sack, or a twin bulging vessel. The placenta was considered the human being’s stillborn twin by the ancient Egyptians.
Since the period of the pyramids (think about the claimed function of satellite pyramids), it has been the focus of royal funeral cults. For the Sed festival, which seeks to renew the royal body and is presided over by our god-standard Sed-Wepwawet, the emblem in question (the pseudo-placenta or emblem of Khonsu) should be interpreted as a symbol of gestative or latent regeneration.
Imy-ut and Anubis
Imy-ut (“He Who is in the Place of Embalming”), a type of headless skin (possibly of a canid) sewed onto a shaft and decorated, is connected with Anubis, the second main “jackal” deity.
Similar to the old hunting weapons stated above, the closeness of Wepwawet’s symbol to the pseudo-placenta emblem likely contributes to the semantic change of Wepwawet’s emblem towards a funerary or regenerative meaning.
This is how Wepwawet was accepted into the pantheon of gods in Abydos, Osiris’ sacred city. Wepwawet is commonly shown on the lintels of the steles that decorate the votive chapels of the Middle Kingdom and is included among the deities called by the prayers carved into the steles.
Once again, Wepwawet’s job encompasses territorial symbolism; he and his friend Anubis, with whom he shares the look of a pseudo-jackal and with whom he assimilates through the eons, are charged with guarding the “Sacred Land.” The pseudo-jackal god Khenti-Amentiu, “He Who is at the Head of the Westerners” (which refers to the dead), was Abydos’ initial tutelary deity, which likely aided in the city’s eventual integration.
Name Sed Was Changed to Wepwawet
At the beginning of the historical epoch (about 3200 BC), the name Sed was changed to Wepwawet, which means “He Who Opens the Paths.” This epithet was used on the God Standard that was used to lead the processions of Divine Emblems. The whole jubilee ceremony is still referred to by its original name, Sed.
The significance of Wepwawet as the primary heavenly organizer of the Sed celebration becomes more apparent from that point on. The prehistoric origin of the ritual and Wepwawet’s role gradually became more rigidized until he was relegated to the role of a mere standard displayed at the head of processions, even outside of the Sed festival, as the royal function became more intricate over the centuries.
The End of Wepwawet as a Primary God
Beginning in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150 BC–c. 2686 BC), more complex deities like Horus were worshiped in place of Wepwawet, the protector of the royal person via the chief’s primary earthly job as a hunter.
However, the deity Wepwawet’s role as a royal divinity guarding the pharaoh’s person was always remembered at the Sed festival. The Ptolemaic bas-reliefs show that this practice lasted until the end of paganism.
Wepwawet was elevated to the rank of royal warrior auxiliary because the noble activities of hunting and warfare served similar purposes. His symbol, at the head of military processions, typically accompanied the pharaoh as he marched forth to battle in all the splendor that Egypt had to offer.
His tutelary city, Asyut, played an important strategic role in Middle Egyptian history. The nomarch Djefaihapi (12th Dynasty), who also commanded the Nubian garrison at Kerma, left behind inscriptions indicating that the town acted as a garrison.
Wepwawet’s Role in the Sed Festival: Hunting Symbolism and Agricultural Transition
Wepwawet, formerly known as Sed (literally, “he of the tail”) in the Pyramid Texts, now presides over the ritual of the Sed festival, the Pharaonic jubilee. At this celebration, he joins the king in carrying out important rituals, including some of the oldest ones documented by depictions, such as the competition between two symbolic marks that stand for the reaffirmation of the monarch’s geographical sovereignty over Egypt.
Sekhet means “the field of reeds / the meadow,” indicating the game-rich region between marshes and cultivated fields that was for a long time an excellent hunting zone. Pharaonic authority over Egypt and, at the final rite of archery in the four cardinal directions, over the whole World was symbolized by the presence of this god’s emblem.
An ancient Egyptian palette called the “Hunters Palette” shows a band of archer hunters with fake canine tails affixed to their loincloths. During the historical Sed festival, this artificial tail was fastened to the pharaonic loincloth and transformed into a bull’s tail, representing that the king’s fertility might be rekindled via the jubilee ceremony as Egypt shifted from a hunting economy to a real agricultural kingdom. The king’s caring nature opened the door for agricultural practices and rituals to become a part of the Sed celebration, expanding its original focus on hunting to include other aspects of life.
During the Sed festival, the monarch must sit in the double jubilee pavilion, a symbol of his absolute rule over the land that was formerly the hunting area of the ancient chief Wepwawet.
During the Sed festival, Wepwawet’s holy standard is commonly accompanied by hunting weapons (bows, arrows, clubs, spear throwers, and weapons of the goddess Mafdet), proving this god’s dominance and, perhaps, the actual hunting genesis of the jubilee. The whole jubilee ceremony was given the name of the deity Sed, and the phrase Wepwawet was most likely the original principal epithet of the god that indicated his fundamental duty.
The hunting connotations of the Sed festival grew over time, incorporating not only Wepwawet’s emblem but also other divine entities or symbolic actors who expressed the pharaoh’s physical prowess as a hunter and, by extension, as a warrior by vanquishing the destructive forces of the universe.
Rituals of the Sed Festival
The Sed festival has many significant hunting rituals, including:
- The Sekhet royal family, with their realm marked by metaphorical boundaries (at first, the hunt, and later, Egypt itself).
- Shooting arrows in all four cardinal directions (a symbolic assertion of the pharaoh’s universal authority).
- Ptolemaic-era ritual of bird hunting using nets.
- The hippopotamus is identified with Seth; hence, at the Ptolemaic temple of Horus at Behdet in Edfu, hippopotamuses are shown using harpoons to hunt. The heron deity venerated in the old prehistoric capital of Buto was tied to the harpooning hunting ritual because of his association with the hunting function of Horus of Mesen in the delta, which was also celebrated in Edfu (the Southern Mesen).
Other Names of Wepwawet
Wepwawet is referred to in the Pyramid Texts by five different names:
- Under his actual name, Wepwawet.
- Under his diminutive form, Wepy or Wawi.
- Under the appellation of a jackal.
- Under the appellation of the jackal of the south.
- Under the appellation master of Asyut.
Wepwawet’s primary connotation in these writings is that of spatial elevation. He helps the pharaoh, who has died, go to the afterlife. He gives the pharaoh wings, or more accurately, his identity. When compared to other funeral gods like Khenti-Amentiu and Anubis, this use of a jackal deity, more often associated with the earth or perhaps the underworld, may come as a surprise.
Structures and Places Where Wepwawet Was Worshipped
Abydos, Lycopolis/Asyut, Quban, El-Hargarsa, Memphis, Sais (at the temple of Neith), and Heliopolis are among his most prominent sites of devotion.
No one has ever found or excavated Wepwawet’s main temple at Asyut, Middle Egypt. The old city of the jackal deity has been utterly obliterated by the current metropolis. The renowned burial contracts inscribed on the walls of the tomb of nomarch Djefaihapi (12th Dynasty) at Asyut provide some insight into the internal structure of his clergy, however. Owners of tombs sometimes include guarantees for the services of the god’s clergy in funeral cult contracts.