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In Egyptian mythology,
Seker (also spelt Sokar, and Sokaris, and in Greek, Socharis)
was originally, during the Old Kingdom, the deification of
the act of separating the Ba from the Ka, roughly the separation
of soul from the body, after death. This was said to be enabled
by the funerary ceremony of opening the mouth, and thus Seker
was given his name, meaning cleaning of the mouth.
The Ba, roughly equivalent to the soul, was shown in art,
as a human-headed bird fluttering above the Ka, roughly equivalent
to the, now mummified, empty shell of the body. Consequently,
Seker became depicted as a mummified human who was falcon-headed,
and had green skin, symbolising decay. The usual depiction
of the Ba in this form lead to Seker gaining the epithet great
lord with two wings opened. A statue of Seker was often placed
in tombs, the bottom of it containing the deceased's Book
of the Dead, to encourage the successful separation and
release of the Ba.
In Memphis, Seker was worshipped as the patron god of the
necropolis, and was so was known as (one who is) on the sand,
the necropolis itself became known as Sakkara after his name.
In Thebes he had a dedicated festival, known as the Henu Festival,
in which an image of Seker was carried in a barque, representing
the ferry that carried the deceased through Aaru.
His name could also be decomposed to mean adorned one, and
so Seker gradually also became associated with the secondary
function of being the patron god of jewellers, armourers,
and other metal workers. Consequently, during the Middle Kingdom
when Ptah became viewed as god of craftsmen,
and god of reincarnation, Seker, as god of a class of craftsmen,
and god involved in starting the process of reincarnation,
became closely associated him. Eventually, Seker's identity
was subsumed into that of Ptah, becoming
Ptah-Seker. By the start of the New Kingdom, Ptah-Seker, as
a funerary god, had become subsumed into the now much more
important god of death, Osiris, becoming
Ptah-Seker-Osiris.
Gods
and Goddesses Menu
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