Welcome to the Temple District. The principle deities honored on the island of Abu are Khnum and Satet. The ram-headed Khnum (Khnemu) may have originally been a Nubian god, and indeed one alternate name for the island was Kom, derived from the importance of this deity to the region. Khnum, it is said, created the animals and people. As the “Great Potter”, he formed them out of the clay brought by the Inundation to the banks of the sacred river. He is referred to in the Pyramid Texts. His wife was the lioness Menhit, “the Slaughterer”, a warrior goddess, and their son was Hike, a patron of healing. Together, they were termed the Esna Triad.

To the north of the Temple of Khnum is the Temple of Satet (Satis, Sati), smaller in scale than the former. The District image is of this temple. She was a consort of Khnum’s. The temple was built, again, by Queen Hatshepsut, but below this building, nestled towards the granite of the cataracts, are the remains of at least one shrine dating from the early dynasties, which may have been hers. Votive offerings indicate that women would come to the shrine in hopes of a good childbirth, or perhaps for the health of their young infants. References to the pharaohs Pepi I, Pepi II and Merenre (6th Dynasty) have been found here. During the 11th Dynasty (Middle Kingdom), a new shrine was built here, mostly out of mudbrick, which was then replaced in the 12th Dynasty (Middle Kingdom) with a stone shrine. Hatshepsut built her temple over the old one, leaving in an interior set of stairs that lead down to the older world below.

Anqet (Anuket, Anket, Anukis) was the third deity of importance on Abu. She was “Nourisher of the Fields”, and was most likely originally a Nubian deity. Later dynasties associated her with Nepthys. Anqet means embrace and may refer to the Inundation embracing the shorelines with its all-sustaining enriched muds. She is represented as a woman with a crown of reeds and feathers, often accompanied by a gazelle.

Here, in the Temple District, see the temples as they looked during the 11th Dynasty. Explore the side streets, and take advantage of the priestly services. Perhaps you will live here. Here, we have priests and priestesses of Khnum, Satet, and Anquet. We have singers and musicians, who give honor to the gods. We have those who provide support services, and we have those skilled in the ways of childbirth and physicks.

Welcome to District Hewet-Netjer, the soul, or ka if you will, of Abu!