Seker |
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In Egyptian mythology, Seker is a god of craftsmen, and of re-incarnation (and thus of the dead, and of funerals). Later was strongly associated with Ptah, becoming Ptah-Seker, who was married to Sekhmet, and during the Middle Kingdom, he became associated strongly with Osiris as Ptah-Seker-Osiris. Seker is further strongly associated to the sun and the Apis bull at Memphis.
His name means Adorned One. Some of the titles of Seker were He Who is on the Sand and Great Lord With His Two Wings Opened. A god of light, fertility, and the souls of the dead, he signified the freedom of the bonds of death by those resurrected in the afterlife. A very ancient funerary god, Seker predates Osiris by many years. A statue of Seker was often placed in tombs, the bottom of it containing the deceased’s Book of the Dead.
Seker was the patron of the royal cemetery near Memphis, and it is called after him, Sakkara, to this day. Seker was also seen as a patron of craftsmen, specifically of metal workers. His dedicated festival was the Henu Festival, and was held every year in Thebes. The festival celebrated the resurrection of Seker. It involved a huge procession with the image of Seker being carried in a gilded boat. He was pictured as a greenish mummified man with a falcon’s head, or as a cat that walks at night without leaving a trace.
Other names
- Socharis (Greek)
- Sokar
- Sokaris
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