An Egyptologist from Belgium has discovered the oldest depiction of ancient Egyptian demons. Such a find shows that thoughts of demonic entities filled the imagination of the ancient Egyptians 4000 years ago.
In pictures recently presented at an international conference on ancient Egyptian demonology at Swansea University, evil creatures grab their victims and cut off their heads. Bloody scenes.
Wael Sherbiny, a scholar specializing in ancient Egyptian religious texts, discovered images of two demons in two tombs of the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, which are more than 4000 years old.
The third was described in a 4,000-year-old leather package that was previously found by a researcher on the shelves of an Egyptian museum in Cairo, where no one remembered it for over 70 years. It was the oldest and longest Egyptian leather manuscript.
“These three demons were already familiar to scholars through ancient texts. However, the description of two of them was still unknown, says Sherbini in an interview with Discovery News.
Two demons - one In-tep in the form of a baboon dog and Chery-benut in the form of an undefined figure with a human head - are represented as guards at the entrance to the building. Perhaps it is a kind of temple that contains several rooms guarded by other demonic entities.
The scientist noted that apart from their names, there are no accompanying textual elements for demons explaining the goals of these two evil creatures.
"The name of the first demon - In-tep - may indicate that he will cut off the head as punishment for any violator of the sacred place," says Sherbini.
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The third demon, Ikenty, was the guardian of the fiery gates that lead to a forbidden place that hides a divine image. It is noted that the image of the demon was already well known to Egyptologists and was encountered more than once by scientists studying the culture of Ancient Egypt. So, he was depicted on the tomb of the Middle Kingdom (1870-1830 BC) in the form of a bird with a black cat's head.
But interestingly, Sherbini discovered the same demon, but in a slightly different "form", in a much older Cairo leather scroll. In fact, this drawing is the oldest image of Ikenti. “The texts indicate that this demon attacked with lightning speed and inevitably took prisoner whom he saw,” adds Sherbini.
People who lived in Ancient Egypt believed that the world was inhabited by a huge number of creatures with super powers. They could be both good and evil spirits. “And they played a role in different situations affecting different areas of human life, and also had the opportunity to influence a person after his death,” explains Sherbini.
Images of Ying-tepa, Cheri-benuta, and Ikenti show that the intricate and multicolored drawings of demonic entities in the New Kingdom (about 3,500 years ago) have much more ancient roots than previously thought.
The Egyptologist will publish images of demons in an upcoming article about his extensive research, which includes a comprehensive analysis of the contexts in which the description of demons appears.