Egyptian mythology
Khentiamentiu
Foremost of the Westerners
Khentiamentiu, whose name means 'Foremost of the Westerners,' was one of Egypt's oldest death gods, a jackal deity who presided over the necropolis at Abydos long before Osiris rose to prominence. He ruled the realm of the dead and led souls westward to the land beyond the setting sun. His gradual absorption by Osiris reveals the living, syncretic nature of Egyptian theology, in which older powers were preserved by being folded into greater ones.
- Mythology
- Egyptian mythology
- Appears in
- Osiris: King of the Dead
Khentiamentiu means Foremost of the Westerners, the dead who have passed into the west where the sun goes down. A jackal god, he ruled the great necropolis of Abydos, one of the holiest burial grounds in Egypt, as master of the cemetery and guide who led the newly dead through the underworld. His cult is older than the Old Kingdom itself. When the worship of Osiris rose and settled at Abydos, the two gods of the dead merged into Osiris-Khentiamentiu, and his name lived on as one of the great king of the dead's most honored titles.
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