Shai - Egyptian God

SHAI

Interesting Facts

8. When the people of Alexandria spoke about Shai himself, they called him Psais or Psois.

9. He was most often shown in funerary papyri, near his female partners.

10. The Turkish word "kismet" can closely describe the concept of the god Shai.

6. In the temple of Opet, Ramesses II is mentioned as "Shai of all the gods."

7. In the Instructions of Amenemope, the scribe suggests that no one could ever ignore Shai.

- "Do not set your heart upon seeking riches, for there is no one who can ignore Shai; do not set your thought on external matters: for every man there is his appointed time."

1. He was considered to be a form of the creator and sun god.

2. The Egyptians believed that he would follow a person from the moment of their birth to the judgment in the afterlife.

3. An interesting Egyptian greeting was "Shai and Renenutet are with you."

-Renenutet was one of the goddesses Shai partnered with.

She was the goddess that would give a child their "true

name."

4. The Greeks often depicted Shai as a pig with the head of a serpent because Shai is also another word for pig and his father, Agathodaimon was a serpent god.

God of Fate and Destiny

5. Shai was often depicted as a man, a cobra, or a man with the head of a snake.

Role

His presence could be that of helping or hindering the deceased.

Shai was the master of people's fate. His role was to decree how long a person would live, and who would be with them when they passed.

Shai first appeared in the 18th Dynasty and continued through under the reign of Akenaten.

Parents & Birth

Meskhenet

The people of Alexandria linked Shai to Agathodai-

mon, the god of fortune telling.

She was the goddess of childbirth and fate.

Shai was also linked to Set, or otherwise known as Seth, the god of wind.

His mother and how he was born is unknown.

Together with Shai and Renenutut, she stayed near the scale where the hearts of people would be weighed against the feather of Ma'at.

Renenutet

As the creator of the Ka, she was connected to Shai.

The goddess who would give a child his/her true name.

Renenutet and Shai were often depicted with Thoth and sometimes called, "the hands of Thoth."

Background

She gave each newborn baby a secret name along with its mother's milk.

3 Links

Shepset

Works Cited

Culture

A hippopotamus goddess of childbirth.

Seawright, Caroline. "Shai, God of Fate and Destiny." Shai, God of Fate and Destiny. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.

The name "Shai" comes from the ancient Egyptian word meaning "appoint" or "command."

"Shai." Gods of Ancient Egypt;. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.

A benign minor goddess worshiped mostly in Memphis.

"Shai." The Global Egyptian Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.

The Egyptians believed that he was born with each individual but yet he was also a god.

"Egyptian Gods: Meskhenet." Egyptian Gods and Goddesses RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

"Egypt: Shay - Personified Destiny." Egypt: Shay - Personified Destiny. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

Shai seemed to have a cult of his own as there was a second priest of Shai in the 18th Dynasty.