Important Netjeri

(Am-mut) - "Dead-Swallower" Stationed just to the side of the scales in the Hall of Double Truth [see Ma'at], Ammit's function is to await the postmortem judgment of a soul (envisioned as the deceased's heart being weighed on a scale against the feather of Ma'at) and then, if the soul fails the test, Ammit snatches up the heart and devours it, causing the soul to cease to exist. As the ultimate punishment of the wicked, Ammit is depicted as a hideous composite of the animals Kemet's people feared most: crocodile snout and head, feline claws and front, and a hippopotamus body and back legs. Ammit is also sometimes referred to as "Great of Death," and papyri depict Her patiently watching Yinepu weighing a man's heart against the feather of Ma'at.

(GR Apophis) - (actual translation unclear; the Romans believed it to mean "He Who Is Spat Out") While outside of the creation of Tem and thus technically not a part of Netjer, Apep is yet a part of the universe; that part which constantly seeks its dissolution and destruction. Apep is characterized as an "evil serpent"in some texts, but it must be remembered that for Kemetics this is not a personalized evil, such as the Christian or Islamic concepts of "devil." Apep's birthday and New Year's day are marked by the performance of execration rituals to stave off "random acts of Apep" during the subsequent year. It is stated in more than one text that "Apep" is not Its actual Name, but while many other names are given for Apep, none is acknowledged to be the "true" one, possibly to avoid attracting the attention of this extremely powerful Presence.

(Tuamutef) - "Praising his mother" One of the "Four Sons of Heru" depicted in funerary literature as protecting the throne of Wesir in the Underworld, Duamutef is depicted as a jackal-headed mummified human on funerary furniture and especially the "canopic" jars which held the organs of the deceased (Duamutef's jar held the stomach). Later Hermetic philosophers would equate Duamutef with the element of earth because of his association with the funerary protectress Nit and the direction of north.

See Duamutef, Hapy, Imset, and Qebshenef.

"Runner" One of the "Four Sons of Heru" depicted in funerary literature as protecting the throne of Wesir in the Underworld, Hapy is depicted as a baboon-headed mummified human on funerary furniture and especially the "canopic" jars which held the organs of the deceased (Hapy's jar held the lungs). Later Hermetic philosophers would equate Hapy with the element of air because of his association with the funerary protectress Nebt-het and the direction of east.

(G/R Harmachis) - "Heru-in-the-Horizon" Heru-em-Akhet is not truly a Name of Netjer, but a divinized persona specifically applied to the great Sphinx stationed before the second pyramid (Khafre) at modern-day Giza. As protector of the Old Kingdom necropolis, Heru-em-Akhet sits facing the dawn and the Nile, watching that no one disturbs the rest of his masters, with his human head and lion body on a much grander scale than any other sphinx known to Kemet. The name also alludes to the presence of the king (Heru) inside the pyramid (more often than not called a horizon, symbolizing the death implicit in sunset and the rebirth implicit in sunrise).

(Amset; WB Meshtha) "The Kindly One" One of the "Four Sons of Heru" depicted in funerary literature as protecting the throne of Wesir in the Underworld, Imset is depicted as a mummified human wearing the "nemes" headcloth on funerary furniture and especially the "canopic" jars which held the organs of the deceased (Imset's jar held the liver). Later Hermetic philosophers would equate Imset with the element of water because of his association with the funerary protectress Aset and the direction of west.

"Cooling his brother (with water)" One of the "Four Sons of Heru" depicted in funerary literature as protecting the throne of Wesir in the Underworld, Qebshenef is depicted as a hawk-headed mummified human on funerary furniture and especially the "canopic" jars which held the organs of the deceased (Qebshenef's jar held the intestines). Later Hermetic philosophers would equate Qebshenef with the element of fire because of his association with the funerary protectress Serqet and the direction of south.

"Prosperous, Sound, Whole" The Eye of Ra or Heru, symbolically depicted with the long tail and brows which are the markings of a hawk. The Udjat is not itself a Name of Netjer, but one of the most important icons of the Kemetic religion.