Wepwawet | The Celestial Jackal Who Defied Expectations

A standard bearing an image of the god Wepwawet, between 722 and 332 BCE, Egyptian Museum of Turin.
A standard bearing an image of the god Wepwawet, between 722 and 332 BCE, Egyptian Museum of Turin.

Wepwawet | The God Who Opens the Paths

Wepwawet, also known as Oupouaout, whose name means “The One Who Opens the Paths,” is a deity in Egyptian mythology and the tutelary god of the city of Asyut (Lycopolis), the capital of the 13th Nome of Upper Egypt.

He is most often depicted at the head of processions of standards, as his role as a “scout god” is to symbolically clear away any hostile forces from the path of royal or divine processions.

Wepwawet is associated with the protection of the royal person and, by extension, the “Sacred Land” of the holy city of Abydos. He is also linked to other canine deities who guard sacred spaces, such as Khenty-Imentiu and Anubis.

An ivory jar label depicting Pharaoh Den striking down an enemy of Egypt. Before him stands a large pavilion of Wepwawet.
An ivory jar label depicting Pharaoh Den striking down an enemy of Egypt. Before him stands a large pavilion of Wepwawet.

His original name was likely Sed(y), meaning “The One with the Tail,” a reference to the most distinctive physical characteristic of the animal he represents. This trait not only defines his unique silhouette but also alludes to the use of the canine’s tail in hunting costumes during prehistoric and predynastic times.

Wepwawet is sometimes referred to as Wepwawet-Re when he assumes the role of the sun god Re in specific contexts or locations. In these instances, he is depicted in the solar barque, taking on the functions of Re.

In hieroglyphs, Wepwawet-Re is written similarly to Wepwawet but with the addition of the solar disk, the symbol of the sun god.

Over six hundred votive steles dedicated to Wepwawet have been discovered in the tomb of Salakhana at Lycopolis. These steles date back to the New Kingdom and highlight his significance in Egyptian religious practices.

In terms of his lineage, Wepwawet is sometimes said to be the son of Anubis, and later, Osiris and Isis are also mentioned as his parents. In other traditions, he is attributed to Seth and Nephthys. He is also considered the brother of Horus the Child and Anubis, further solidifying his place within the complex family tree of Egyptian deities.

Read more:

The Symbolism and Depictions of Wepwawet

The Wolf God of Ancient Egypt

First Symbol of Royal Ancestors

The god Wepwawet, depicted in his anthropomorphic form accompanying the god Horus and Ramesses II at Abydos, is one of the oldest standard deities represented on predynastic cult objects (palettes, plaques, and seals).

His emblem, often duplicated into the Wepwawet of Upper Egypt and the Wepwawet of Lower Egypt, following the usual dichotomy used by the ancient Egyptians to describe their land, leads the procession of divine standards known as the Followers of Horus (Shemsu-Hor).

These standards designate the ancient successors of a prestigious Horus king (Predynastic Period/Naqada III), whose name was used to establish the titulature of pharaohs (the first of the five names in the royal titulature).

The God Wepwawet Depicted in His Anthropomorphic Form Accompanying the God Horus and Ramesses II at Abydos.
The God Wepwawet Depicted in His Anthropomorphic Form Accompanying the God Horus and Ramesses II at Abydos.

Wepwawet was thus associated with the concept of royal ancestry. He is frequently seen presiding over the double procession of the Souls of Nekhen, anthropomorphic deities with pseudo-jackal heads symbolizing the ancient kings of the prehistoric kingdom of Upper Egypt, and the Souls of Buto, symmetrical deities with falcon heads representing the royal ancestors of Lower Egypt.

This double divine procession is depicted surrounding and acclaiming the enthroned pharaoh on the double kiosk of the Sed festival, in a sort of monarchical consecration rite.

Festivals in Honor of Wepwawet

A “Procession of Wepwawet” (or “First Procession”) is attested at Abydos, likely on the 18th day of the month of Thoth or Khoiak during the Akhet season. Wepwawet would then stand on his pavilion before the barque of his father Osiris and repel the attacks of the god Seth.

On the first epagomenal day, a procession would take place where Wepwawet traveled from Lycopolis to Anubis of Ro-Qereret (the necropolis of the same city).

Wepwawet, First Tutelary God of Royalty?

The earliest inhabitants of the Nile Valley were undoubtedly struck by the gregarious behavior of these wild canids, organized into highly structured packs, and their commensal relationship with humans at a time when human groups were organizing and hierarchizing, giving rise to the concept of chieftainship.

In the wild, these canids, akin to jackals, practice a collective hunting technique in the savannah, driving prey toward lionesses to share the remains of the feast left by the latter. This peculiarity likely sparked the growing interest of hunter-gatherer groups with whom they shared the same hunting grounds.

One can imagine that they followed nomadic hunters in their wanderings, driving coveted game for them and contenting themselves with the carcasses left near their camps.

Gradually, distant collaboration gave way to an increasingly close and likely consensual relationship, initiating a non-predatory domestication process (the consumption of canid meat being limited, in the Old Kingdom, to that of hyenas).

It is likely this specificity that made this pseudo-jackal the first hunting auxiliary of humans and the archaic emblem of chieftainship and, later, royal power itself. In the prehistoric period, when the survival of clans depended closely on the spoils of the hunt, this canine auxiliary became progressively associated with the person and function of the chief, an eminent hunter by nature.

The emblem of Wepwawet and its hunting attributes may be the protohistoric and historic material codification of this association.

On a fragmentary bas-relief from the funerary complex of Pharaoh Nyuserre at Abusir (Old Kingdom, Fifth Dynasty), some ritualists are depicted wearing canid pelts.

This entirely unusual costume, constituting a unique example in the entire iconographic corpus of the Sed festival, is likely the material survival of an ancient prehistoric ritual associating the potential strength of the canid with the physical person of the hunting chief, the future pharaoh.

This element confirms the archaic nature of the jubilee ritual. Indeed, in the historic period, the canid never appears as a sacrificial victim in Egypt or across the African continent, where the sacrifice of a dog is taboo unless exceptionally motivated and never for food purposes.

Numerous clues reinforce the hypothesis that a very ancient deified hunting dog, perhaps named Sed, was at the origin of the future Sed festival of protohistoric and historic times, at a remote period when it resembled a qualification hunt intended to designate the new and young chief of the tribe.

After sacrificing and burying the old chief, who had become too aged and whose aging symbolically compromised the clan’s survival—the chief’s body, and later the pharaoh’s, being symbolically identified with the entire territory—the young replacement was thus chosen.

Wepwawet’s emblem is very frequently associated with another, smaller and more mysterious one, which it surmounts. This smaller emblem is generally attributed to the moon god Khonsu, by analogy to the name given to this emblem, “Khenes,” with the name “Khonsu”.

It represents a sort of bag, or double-bellied flask, or more likely a highly stylized human placenta, if one refers to the supposed etymology of Khonsu’s name. The Egyptians considered the placenta the stillborn twin of every human.

It was the object of royal funerary worship as early as the pyramid era (see the supposed role of satellite pyramids).

The moon itself being the stillborn nocturnal twin of the Sun, the emblem in question (pseudo-placenta/emblem of Khonsu) should be interpreted as a symbol of gestational or latent regeneration, highly useful for the Sed festival intended for the renewal of the royal body, over which our standard god Sed-Wepwawet presides.

Anubis, the other great “jackal” god, is also associated with a very archaic gestational fetish, the Imy-ut, a sort of headless skin (of a canid?) sewn onto a pole and adorned.

The semantic shift of Wepwawet’s emblem toward a funerary/regenerative meaning likely stems from this proximity to the pseudo-placenta emblem, to the point that it becomes an attribute of the god, alongside the ancient hunting weapons mentioned above.

The Dignitary Minnakht Praying to Wepwawet Depicted in the Form of Anubis

Thus, Wepwawet took his place among the gods of Abydos, the holy city of the god Osiris. Wepwawet is frequently depicted on the lintels of stelae adorning votive chapels of the Middle Kingdom and cited in the enumeration of deities invoked in the prayers inscribed there.

His role again covers a territorial symbolism, Wepwawet being charged with protecting “The Sacred Land” (ta-djeser) alongside his companion Anubis, with whom he shares the appearance of a pseudo-jackal and with whom he assimilates over the ages.

This assimilation was facilitated by the fact that the primitive tutelary god of Abydos was himself a pseudo-jackal, Khenty-imentiou, “He Who is at the Head of the Westerners (= the deceased).”

The Dignitary Minnakht Praying to Wepwawet Depicted in the Form of Anubis.
The Dignitary Minnakht Praying to Wepwawet Depicted in the Form of Anubis.

At the dawn of the historic period (circa 3200 BCE), the name Sed was replaced by the primary epithet of the standard god leading the processions of divine emblems: Wep(y)-wawet, “He Who Opens the Ways.” The name Sed survived solely to designate the entire jubilee ritual.

From then on, it becomes clearer why Wepwawet remained throughout the history of pharaonic Egypt the principal divine organizer of the Sed festival, itself originally a symbolic qualification hunt ritualized and enriched with complex theological additions over the centuries, as the royal function grew increasingly complex, obscuring the prehistoric origin of the ritual and rigidifying Wepwawet’s role to the point of relegating him to the rank of a mere standard displayed at the head of processions, even outside the Sed festival.

Wepwawet, guardian of the royal person through the primal hunting function—and thus terrestrial—of the clan chief, was dethroned from the Thinite period onward by more sophisticated deities, such as Horus, more in harmony with a celestial and universal conception of sovereignty.

But the Sed festival always retained the memory of the god Wepwawet as a royal deity protecting the pharaoh’s person of paramount importance, until the end of paganism, as evidenced by Ptolemaic bas-reliefs.

By functional kinship between hunting and war, an aristocratic prerogative, Wepwawet also became a royal warrior auxiliary. His emblem, at the head of military processions, often opens the way for the pharaoh setting out to wage war for the glory of Egypt.

Assiout, of which he was the tutelary god, long held a strategic role in Middle Egypt. It was a garrison city, as evidenced by the contents of tombs unearthed there and the inscriptions of the nomarch Hapydjefai (Twelfth Dynasty), who also commanded the Nubian garrison at Kerma.

Role of Wepwawet in the Sed Festival

Originally associated with the royal hunting function, particularly in the Pyramid Texts under the name Sed (lit. “the one of the tail”), Wepwawet presides over the ceremonial of the same name, the Sed festival, that is, the pharaonic jubilee.

Here, he accompanies the king in the performance of major rites, often the most anciently attested in representations, such as the race between two markers symbolizing the territorial possession of Egypt by the king, regenerated through the ritual.

A standard bearing an image of the god Wepwawet, between 722 and 332 BCE, Egyptian Museum of Turin.

This race takes place in a location called Sekhet (“the field of reeds / the meadow”), evoking this game-rich space situated between marshes and cultivated fields, which long served as an ideal hunting territory.

The presence of Wepwawet’s emblem here underscores the territorial dimension of pharaonic power over Egypt and, during the final rite of archery in the four cardinal directions, over the entire world.

The predynastic palette known as the “Hunting Palette” depicts a group of archer hunters wearing a false canine tail attached to the back of their loincloths.

In the historic period, this false tail reappears attached to the pharaoh’s loincloth during the Sed festival, but transformed into a bull’s tail, symbolizing the fertilizing power of the king regenerated by the jubilee ritual in an Egypt that had transitioned from a hunting economy to a full-fledged agricultural empire.

The king’s nourishing function allowed the incorporation of agrarian elements and rites into the Sed festival, expanding its initial strictly hunting-related domain.

It is thus natural that Wepwawet’s emblem frames the double jubilee kiosk where the regenerated pharaoh sits enthroned, an essential rite of the Sed festival expressing the king’s dominion over his kingdom, originally the hunting territory of the prehistoric chief.

Hunting weapons (bow, arrows, club, spear-thrower, and weapons of the sauroctonous goddess Mafdet) often accompany Wepwawet’s divine standard, particularly during the Sed festival, confirming the primacy of this god and, likely, the hunting origin of the jubilee itself.

The very name of the god Sed was given to the entire jubilee ritual, with the term Wepwawet probably originating as the primary epithet of the god designating his main function.

Over time, the Sed festival incorporated episodes with derived hunting connotations, involving not only the tutelage of Wepwawet’s emblem but also that of other divine entities or symbolic actors expressing the pharaoh’s physical power as a hunter vanquishing the destructive forces of the universe and, by extension, as a warrior.

Among the hunting-related rites, some more or less directly connected to the Sed festival, we can cite:

  • The royal race in the Sekhet, marked by symbolic territorial boundaries (initially of hunting grounds and later of Egypt itself);
  • Archery in the four cardinal directions (symbolic possession of the universe by the regenerated pharaoh);
  • Bird hunting with nets (a late rite from the Ptolemaic period);
  • Hippopotamus hunting with a harpoon (at the Ptolemaic temple of Horus of Behedet in Edfu, where the hippopotamus is associated with Seth). The harpooning ritual is also linked to the personality of a heron god harpooning fish, venerated in the ancient prehistoric capital of Buto and later associated with the hunting function of Horus of Mesen in the Delta, also honored at Edfu (the Southern Mesen).

Role of Wepwawet in the Pyramid Texts

The god appears under five names:

  1. Under his own name, Wepwawet (Wp-wȝwt);
  2. Under his diminutive, Wepiu (Wpiw);
  3. Under the designation of “jackal” (sȝb);
  4. Under the designation of “jackal of the south” (sȝb smˁw);
  5. Under the designation of “master of Asyut” (nb Sȝwt).

Wepwawet is primarily associated with the concept of elevation in space. He assists the deceased pharaoh in his ascent to the sky. To achieve this, he helps the pharaoh take flight or lends him his identity.

This use may seem surprising for a jackal god, a terrestrial or even chthonic animal, as seen in the cases of the funerary gods Khenty-imentiou and Anubis.

One might have expected an aerial animal hypostasis—a bird—to be invoked. However, apart from the etymology of the verb wp(i), at the root of Wepwawet’s name , it is important to note that aerial projectile weapons are associated with him: the bow, arrows, and spear-thrower.

Thus, he willingly lends his assistance to divine entities embodied by birds (cf. Pyr.126 b-c / W.187 [the egret called Sdȝ]; Pyr.1900 c / N.870 and Pyr.1979 a-b / N.762 [the falcon Horus]) or to the god Shu, symbol of the aerial space itself (Pyr.1066 c, p. 220).

Mentions of Wepwawet Under His Own Name, Wepwawet

Below, “Pyr.” abbreviates Pyramid Texts.

  • Pyr.126 b-c (W.187): Wepwawet is paralleled with the mythical bird Sdȝ, a marsh egret and source of terror (for the pharaoh’s enemies). The metaphor expresses the new and irresistible power of the deceased king as he ascends to the sky.
  • Pyr.463 a (W.571): Wepwawet serves as a celestial vector for the royal ba. The Shed-shed (a protuberance at the front of the god’s standard) designates the point where the celestial vault separates from the earth, that is, the aerial space itself (the verb wp(i), at the root of Wepwawet’s name, means “to separate by cutting”).
  • Pyr.1066 c (p. 220): Wepwawet associates with the god of air, Shu, and his consort, the goddess of moisture, Tefnut, to protect the deceased pharaoh in his celestial ascent.
  • Pyr.1090 a-d (p. 257): Wepwawet associates with Shu and the “Souls of Heliopolis” (a collective solar entity representing the royal ancestors of the deceased king) to build a staircase for the king’s celestial ascent (the infrastructure of Old Kingdom pyramids often adopts a stepped profile, with the pyramid itself compared to a giant staircase enabling the symbolic ascent of the pharaoh’s soul to the sky).
  • Pyr.1099 c (N.870): This passage from Osirian verse 482 shows the avenged pharaoh, like Osiris, led to the sky by Horus. He is transformed into Wepwawet to express the irresistible and victorious nature of this ascent. Verse 670 provides a somewhat altered version in Pyr.1979 a-b (N.762).
  • Pyr.455 a (W.564): The deceased pharaoh rises (to the sky) like Wepwawet’s standard.
  • Pyr.953 c (M.299): Wepwawet associates with the circumpolar stars (dȝtyw) and the god Re to elevate the deceased king to the sky. The king’s soul dwelling among the circumpolar stars refers to an early stage (protohistoric, Thinite, and Third Dynasty) of funerary beliefs dominated by a stellar conception of the afterlife, before a solar conception (symbolized here by Re) emerged at the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty. This passage reflects both.
  • Pyr.1011 a (p. 204+3): The deceased king’s soul is placed at its highest point of celestial elevation and is identified with Wepwawet; cf. also Pyr.1374 a-c (M780-781), Pyr.1638 b (M.171), and Pyr.1379 c (p. 616).
  • Pyr.769 d (N.30): Wepwawet lends his face (his “living face”) to the deceased king, granting him enhanced being; cf. Pyr.1304 c-d (p. 565), Pyr.1287 b-c (p. 541-542), and Pyr.2262 a (JP II, 1055 + 74). In these variants, Wepwawet may lend his entire image to the deceased king, sometimes in association with Anubis.
  • Pyr.2031-2032 a-b (N.878-882): Wepwawet is paralleled with Horus as the “son of the Great One” (i.e., the eldest son of Osiris), assimilated to the deceased pharaoh. He is tasked with opening the vital flow (or fluid) of Osiris, the source of resurrection.

Mentions of Wepwawet Under His Diminutive, Wepiu

  • Pyr.1927 c (N.751): Wepwawet, under his diminutive Wepiu, lends his identity to the deceased king as he passes through the double gate of the sky and the Kbhw. The god embodies the concept of the ba-soul, the celestial counterpart to the terrestrial power shm; cf. a chiastic variant in Pyr.1913 b-c (N.719 + 28).

Mentions of Wepwawet Under the Designation of “Jackal”

  • Pyr.1235 a (p. 451): The face (hr) of the deceased king is identified with that of the “jackal” (Wepwawet).
  • Pyr.865 b (M.183): The torso (hȝt) of the deceased king is identified with that of the “jackal” (Wepwawet).
  • Pyr.1380 c-d (p. 617): The legs and arms of the deceased are identified with those of the “jackal” (Wepwawet).

Mentions of Wepwawet Under the Designation of “Jackal of the South”

  • Pyr.1015 c (M.332): The “jackal of the south” (Wepwawet) is part of the divine entourage surrounding the deceased pharaoh.
  • Pyr.727 b (T.356): The deceased king descends from the sky as the “jackal of the south” (Wepwawet) after passing through the double gate; cf. a variant in Pyr.1867 b (N.661): the royal descent generally announces the arrival of the deceased pharaoh in his celestial abode and the restoration of his sovereignty among the gods. His appearance as the “jackal of the south” / Wepwawet and the mention of the protodynastic sanctuary of Upper Egypt (Pr-wr) refer to the Hierakonpolitan origins of the Thinite Egyptian monarchy.

Mention of Wepwawet Under His Designation of “Master of Asyut”

  • Pyr.630 a-b (T.275): Wepwawet is called “master of Asyut,” the city of which he is the patron deity, in this Osirian passage. The connection between Asyut and this Osirian resurrection text is based on the wordplay between the verb sȝi (to guard) and the Egyptian name for Asyut, Sȝwt, as well as the city’s strategic role as the guardian of access to the holy city of Abydos, dedicated to the cult of Osiris.

Main Cult Centers of Wepwawet

His main cult centers include Abydos, Lycopolis (Asyut), Quban, El-Hargarsa, Memphis, Sais (in the temple of Neith), and Heliopolis.

The principal sanctuary of the god at Asyut in Middle Egypt has never been discovered or excavated, as the modern city completely covers the remains of the ancient city of the jackal god.

However, some knowledge of his clergy’s organization comes from the famous funerary contracts inscribed on the walls of the tomb of the nomarch Djefaihapy III (Twelfth Dynasty) at Asyut, in which the tomb owner outlines the clauses guaranteeing the services of the god’s clergy for his funerary cult.

FAQ

1. What is Wepwawet?
Wepwawet is an ancient Egyptian deity often associated with war, death, and the afterlife. Known as the “Opener of the Ways,” Wepwawet was believed to guide souls through the underworld and assist in their journey to the afterlife. He is frequently depicted as a wolf or a man with a wolf’s head.

2. How is Wepwawet different from Anubis?
While both Wepwawet and Anubis are associated with death and the afterlife, they serve different roles. Anubis is primarily known as the god of mummification and the protector of graves, while Wepwawet is seen as a guide who opens the paths for the deceased and leads them through the underworld.

3. What does the name “Wepwawet” mean?
The name “Wepwawet” translates to “Opener of the Ways” or “One Who Opens the Paths.” This reflects his role in guiding souls through the afterlife and clearing obstacles in both the physical and spiritual realms.

4. Where was Wepwawet worshipped?
Wepwawet was primarily worshipped in the city of Asyut (also known as Lykopolis), located in Upper Egypt. Temples and shrines dedicated to Wepwawet were built there, and he was often invoked in rituals and ceremonies related to death and warfare.

5. What symbols are associated with Wepwawet?
Wepwawet is commonly depicted with a wolf or jackal head, symbolizing his connection to the desert and the afterlife. He is also often shown carrying a scepter or a bow, emphasizing his role as a warrior and protector.

6. Was Wepwawet associated with any specific rituals?
Yes, Wepwawet was often invoked in military campaigns and funerary rituals. Ancient Egyptians believed that he would lead their armies to victory and guide the deceased safely through the underworld. He was also associated with the “Opening of the Mouth” ceremony, which was performed to restore the senses of the deceased in the afterlife.

7. Is Wepwawet still worshipped today?
While Wepwawet is not actively worshipped in modern times, he remains a significant figure in the study of ancient Egyptian religion and mythology. Historians and enthusiasts continue to explore his role and symbolism in ancient Egyptian culture.

8. How can I learn more about Wepwawet?
To learn more about Wepwawet, you can explore ancient Egyptian texts, visit museums with Egyptian artifacts, or read scholarly articles and books on Egyptian mythology. Our blog post on Wepwawet also provides a detailed overview of his history and significance.

9. Why is Wepwawet important in Egyptian mythology?
Wepwawet holds a unique place in Egyptian mythology as a guide and protector. His role in opening the paths for the deceased and assisting in warfare highlights the ancient Egyptians’ beliefs in the interconnectedness of life, death, and the divine.

10. Can I use Wepwawet as inspiration for modern creative works?
Absolutely! Wepwawet’s rich symbolism and intriguing mythology make him a fascinating subject for creative projects, including literature, art, and even modern spiritual practices. Just be sure to respect the cultural and historical context of his origins.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply