Talk:Sah (god)

Sah as the personification of Orion (solely) is wrong

To begin with, we are indeed talking cosmology here, so yes Sah is the anthropomorphoic representation of a natural phenomena, namely a constellation. But that constellation is not equal to the orion constellation but takes stars that are located in the current constellations lepus and eridanus as well, so it was a very large constellation. Let us remember that Orion is a myth introduced by the greeks to try to explain differently the myth of the "Good Shepherd" in Babylon, and the myth of "Sah" in Egypt. So Sah would be the anthropomorphic representation of today's Orion, Lepus, eridanus and part of the Columba constellations, not Orion alone, and for sure it was not symbolized as a hunter but as a "Merciful Judge" in the mold of the "Good Shepherd".

In the pc program stellarium you can visualize the constellation Sah (if you select Egyptian culture) as a very large one covering three current constellations and a portion of a fourth. The references for this are rather hard as the work done in Stellarium is referenced from abstract pictographic represenations found in walls and not star photographs, and the Egyptians were very abstract. you can check here [1] check the "later egyptian representations of the northern sky" apart.181.56.209.171 (talk) 13:54, 16 June 2018 (UTC)

References have now been added to the article. 181.56.209.171 (talk) 14:23, 16 June 2018 (UTC)

Masepro might disagree with you when you say, "and for sure it was not symbolized as a hunter but as a "Merciful Judge" in the mold of the "Good Shepherd" He says this...

"Sahu and Sopdit, Orion and Sirius, were

the rulers of this mysterious world. Sahu

consisted of fifteen stars, seven large and eight small, so arranged as to

represent a runner darting through

space, while the fairest of them shone above his head, and

marked him out from afar to the admiration of mortals.

With his right hand he flourished the crux ansata, and

turning his head towards Sothis as he beckoned her on

with his left, seemed as though inviting her to follow

him. The goddess, standing scepter in hand, and

crowned with a diadem of tall feathers surmounted by

her most radiant star, answered the call of Sahu with

a gesture, and quietly embarked in pursuit as though in

no anxiety to overtake him. Sometimes she is represented as a cow

lying down in her bark, with three stars

along her back, and Sirius naming from between her horns.

Not content to shine by night only, her bluish

rays, suddenly darted forth in full daylight and without

any warning, often described upon the sky the mystic lines

of the triangle which stood for her name. It was then

that she produced those curious phenomena of the zodiacal

light which other legends attributed to Horus himself.

One, and perhaps the most ancient of the innumerable

accounts of this god and goddess, represented Sahu as a

wild hunter. A world as vast as ours rested upon the

other side of the iron firmament ; like ours, it was dis

tributed into seas, and continents divided by rivers and

canals, but peopled by races unknown to men. Sahu.

traversed it during the day, surrounded by genii who

presided over the lamps forming his constellation. At his

appearing "

the stars prepared themselves for battle, the

heavenly archers rushed forward, the bones of the gods

upon the horizon trembled at the sight of him,& quot; for it

was no common game that he hunted, but the very gods

themselves. One attendant secured the prey with a lasso,

as bulls are caught in the pastures, while another examined

each capture to decide if it were pure and good for food.

This being determined, others bound the divine victim,

cut its throat, disemboweled it, cut up its carcass, cast

the joints into a pot, and superintended their cooking.

Sahu did not devour indifferently all that the fortune of

the chase might bring him, but classified his game in

accordance with his wants. ***He ate the great gods at his

breakfast in the morning, the lesser gods at his dinner

towards noon, and the small ones at his supper ; the old

were rendered more tender by roasting.*** As each god was

assimilated by him, its most precious virtues were transfused

into himself; by the wisdom of the old was his wisdom

strengthened, the youth of the young repaired the daily

waste of his own youth, and all their fires, as they penetrated his

being, served to maintain the perpetual splendor of his light."

-End Quote.

Note between the three ***. That is right out of the Pyramid Text of Unas.

I'm not at all sure who Maspero is referencing or if he is correct.

Source "The History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, Assyria. Vol 1." G. Maspero, Translated by M.L. McClure 1952. Chap 2. The Gods of Egypt. Pages 128-130 Orion and Sothis

Fast link https://ia601307.us.archive.org/33/items/egypt01maspuoft/egypt01maspuoft.pdf

Also foot note 1. on page 47.

"In one of the Pyramid texts, Sahu-Orion, the wild hunter, captures the

gods, slaughters and disembowels them, cooks their joints, their haunches,

their legs, in his burning cauldrons, and feeds on their souls as well as on

their bodies. A god was not limited to a single body and a single soul ; we

know from several texts that Ra had seven souls and fourteen doubles."

Would like some feed back on this if possible. First I heard of this connection with Unas and Sah. Maybe it's in Sethe IDK? Seems all things PT are on a need to know basis. Para59r (talk) 02:21, 29 October 2024 (UTC)