Iconography

In his zoomorphic form Sopdu was depicted as a falcon crouching on a standard with two tall plumes on its head and a ritual flail held over its shoulder. This is the symbol of the Lower Egyptian nome over which the god presided, but it is found in a number of representations of the god including a fine example of gilded wood from the tomb of Tutankhamun. In anthropomorphic form, as god of the eastern desert regions, Sopdu appears as a Bedouin warrior with long hair and a pointed beard. He wears a crown of two tall feathers and a tas-selled or beaded shemset girdle, the Egyptian name of which is perhaps related to the mineral malachite. Sopdu may carry a spear or tall was sceptre in one hand and an axe and ankh sign in the other.

Worship

As the god of the 20th Lower Egyptian nome, Sopdu’s main cult centre was at Per Sopdu (the modern Saft el-Henna) in the eastern Delta. However, priests of the god are attested at a number of Egjq3tian sites from Old Kingdom times and he was also venerated in many eastern desert outposts such as the site of Serabit el-Khadim in the Sinai Peninsula where he was worshipped along with Hathor and certain other deities.

(Left) Gilded wooden image of the god Sopdu as a falcon on a stai'idard From the tomb of Tutankhamun, 18th dynasty. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Sokar, ‘Ix)rd of the ’iiysterious region [of the nethenvorld]’. 18th dynasty. Detail, wallpainling, tomb of Tuthmosis UI, Valley of the Kings, western Thebes.

Avian Deities

Avian Deities

(Below) Tltegrey heron or Benu bird with characteristic twin plumes. Vignette from funerary papyrus, 21st dynasty. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

(Right) The god Berm in hybrid avian-anthropomorphic form. Rarely represented in this manner, this deity was usually depicted in fully avian form.

OTHER AVIAN DEITIES

It is not clear why some avian species came to represent deities in the Egyptian pantheon and others did not, and among those birds that did receive veneration there are few common characteristics. The heron, goose, vulture and ibis were the most important of these species, though other birds played occasional roles in Egyptian mythology.