The ḫꜣ.tyw, otherwise known as the Slaughterers, Knife-bearers, and Plague-bringers within academic literature, are a group of liminal deities attested in the written record from the Old Kingdom to the Greco-Roman Period. They posed a significant danger in both the terrestrial and secular realms, to the living and the dead, to the gods and mankind alike. This paper presents a preliminary discussion of the etymology and orthography of the designation ḫꜣ.tyw, the group’s form and appearance, and their position within the hierarchy of the Egyptian pantheon.
Book of Caverns; Coffin Texts; ḫꜣ.tyw (demons); Knive-bearers (demons); orthography; demons, forms of; Papyrus Jumilhac; Plague-bringers (demons); Sekhmet; Slaughterers (demons); Temple of Edfu
(icon) = Open Access (icon) = Subscription Access
Download Full Text(Pages 181-200)