Tenenet

Tenenet, alts. Tjenenet, Zenenet, Tanenet, Tenenit, Manuel de Codage transliteration Tnn.t, was an ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth and beer. She is mentioned in texts dating from the Ptolemaic period as well as in the Book of the Dead.

Associations with childbirth and beer

Tenenet was associated with childbirth and was invoked as the protector of the uterus for pregnant women.[1] She was depicted wearing a cow uterus on her head, as was the goddess Meskhenet, who is also associated with childbirth.

Tenenet was also the goddess of beer and beer brewing, and her name may have derived from the word "tenemu" meaning beer; because women were customarily tasked with bread-making, the making of beer was also considered to be a woman's task. The making of beer was based on specially made loaves of bread baked with barley and then fermented in jars.[2] In this way, Tenenet was also associated with beer.

Worship

Her cult centre was at Hermonthis. She was a consort of Monthu. She was later merged with Rat-Taui,[3] Isis and Anit.[4] Her shape was human and on her head she wore a symbol similar to Meskhenet's.

References

  1. ↑ Christian Jacq, Les Egyptiennes, Perrin, 1996, ISBN 2-262-01075-7
  2. ↑ Norman Bancroft Hunt, Living in Ancient Egypt, Thalamus Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8160-6338-3
  3. ↑ Manfred Lurker, The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons, Routledge 2004, ISBN 0-415-34018-7, p.208 By
  4. ↑ W. Max Muller, Egyptian Mythology, Kessinger Publishing 2004, ISBN 0-7661-8601-6, p.150

External links