Qetesh

Qetesh
heavenly goddess
A digital collage showing an image of Qetesh together with hieroglyphs taken from a separate Egyptian relief
(the 'Triple Goddess stone')
SymbolLion, snake, a bouquet of papyrus or Egyptian lotus, Hathor wig
ParentsPtah or Ra[1]

Qetesh (also Qodesh, Qadesh, Qedesh, Qetesh, Kadesh, Kedesh, Kadeš or Qades /ˈkɑːdɛʃ/) was a goddess who was incorporated into the ancient Egyptian religion in the late Bronze Age. Her name was likely developed by the Egyptians based on the Semitic root Q-D-Š meaning 'holy' or 'blessed,'[2] attested as a title of El and possibly Athirat and a further independent deity in texts from Ugarit.[3]

Due to lack of clear references to Qetesh as a distinct deity in Ugaritic and other Syro-Palestinian sources, she is considered an Egyptian deity influenced by religion and iconography of Canaan by many modern researchers, rather than merely a Canaanite deity adopted by the Egyptians (examples of which include Reshef and Anat)[4][5]

  1. ^ I. Cornelius, Qudshu, Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East (electronic pre-publication), p. 1, 4
  2. ^ Ch. Zivie-Choche, Foreign Deities in Egypt [in:] J. Dieleman, W. Wendrich (eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, 2011, p. 5-6
  3. ^ M. Krebernik, Qdš [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 11, 2008, p. 176
  4. ^ S. L. Budin, A Reconsideration of the Aphrodite-Ashtart Syncretism, Numen vol. 51, no. 2, 2004, p. 100
  5. ^ I. Cornelius, Qudshu, Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East (electronic pre-publication), p. 1: "a goddess by the name of Q. is not known in the Ugaritic or any other Syro–Palestinian texts"

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