Anhur | ||||||||||
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![]() Anhur was depicted wearing a headdress of two or four tall feathers.[1] | ||||||||||
Name in hieroglyphs |
or
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Major cult center | Thinis | |||||||||
Symbol | ostrich plumes, lion, spear | |||||||||
Genealogy | ||||||||||
Parents | Ra | |||||||||
Siblings | Tefnut, Shu, Bastet | |||||||||
Consort | Mehit | |||||||||
Equivalents | ||||||||||
Greek equivalent | Ares |
In early Egyptian mythology, Anhur (also spelled Onuris, Onouris, An-Her, Anhuret, Han-Her, Inhert) was a god of war who was worshipped in the Egyptian area of Abydos, and particularly in Thinis. Myths told that he had brought his wife, Mehit, who was his female counterpart, from Nubia, and his name reflects this—it means '(one who) leads back the distant one'.[2]
One of his titles was slayer of enemies. Anhur was depicted as a bearded man wearing a robe and a headdress with four feathers, holding a spear or lance, or occasionally as a lion-headed god (representing strength and power). In some depictions, the robe was more similar to a kilt.[3]