Child gods were special members of the ancient Egyptian pantheon whose cults culminated during the Greco-Roman period. Many temples across Egypt, but especially in the Theban sacred landscape, housed a local child deity. This article sets out to present two of them, namely, Harpara and Horus-Shu, who both were closely associated with Montu, the primeval god par excellence of the 4th Upper Egyptian Nome. Their cults—similarly to that of Montu—concentrate in four places of the Thebaid: Medamud, North Karnak, Armant, and Tod. Beyond the discussion of the theological roles of these child deities, this study aims at presenting a number of private sources by which their cultic significance in Greco-Roman Thebes can be revealed.
Child gods; Harpara; Horus-Shu; Montu; Theban cults; Greco-Roman period
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