title: Khenti-Amentiu
text: # Khenti-Amentiu
  
  Khentiamentiu :
  
  Egyptian hieroglyphs :
  
  Khenti-Amentiu, also Khentiamentiu, Khenti-Amenti, Kenti-Amentiu and many other spellings, is an ancient Egyptian deity whose name was also used as a title for Osiris and Anubis. The name means "Foremost of the Westerners" or "Chief of the Westerners", where "Westerners" refers to the dead.
  
  Khenti-Amentiu was depicted as a jackal-headed deity at Abydos in Upper Egypt, who stood guard over the city of the dead. Khenti-Amentiu is attested early at Abydos, perhaps even earlier than the unification of Egypt at the start of the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3100–2686 BC). The name appears on the necropolis cylinder seals for the First Dynasty pharaohs Den and Qa'a, naming each of their predecessors with the title "Horus Khenti-Amentiu", starting with "Horus Khenti-Amentiu Narmer". A temple dating to predynastic times was also founded in Abydos for this god. Toby Wilkinson suggests that, even at this early stage, Khenti-Amentiu's name may have been simply an epithet of Osiris.
  
  The roles of Khenti-Amentiu, Osiris, and Anubis underwent considerable changes in the late Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BC). Originally, only Anubis' name appeared in the offering formula that was believed to allow the dead to partake of the offerings they were given to sustain them in the afterlife. In the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2494–2345 BC), many gods started to appear in the formula, including Osiris, whose name does not appear in any texts before the start of the dynasty, and Khenti-Amentiu. In the course of the late Old Kingdom, the Khenti-Amentiu title becomes more clearly connected with Osiris.
  
  The jackal hieroglyph that appears in Khenti-Amentiu's name in the Early Dynastic Period is traditionally seen as a determinative to indicate the god's form, but Terence DuQuesne argued that the jackal glyph represents the name of Anubis and that Khenti-Amentiu was originally an epithet or manifestation of Anubis. If this is the case, Khenti-Amentiu would have only begun to be treated as an independent deity in the Fifth Dynasty, around the same time that Osiris' name first appears. Most inscriptions from that time show Osiris and Khenti-Amentiu were already closely connected. Harold M. Hays asserted that the Pyramid Texts, whose earliest known copy only dates to the end of the Fifth Dynasty, apply the title Khenti-Amentiu to Anubis and not to Osiris, and that the Pyramid Texts reflect the beliefs of an earlier era, when Khenti-Amentiu was not fully independent of Anubis.
  
  Part of a series on :
  
  Ancient Egyptian religion :
  
  Beliefs
  
  Afterlife
  
  Cosmology
  
  Duat
  
  Ma'at
  
  Mythology
  
  Numerology
  
  Philosophy
  
  Soul :
  
  Practices
  
  Funerals
  
  Offerings: Offering formula
  
  Temples
  
  Priestess of Hathor
  
  Pyramids :
  
  Deities (list)Ogdoad
  
  Amun
  
  Amunet
  
  Hauhet
  
  Heh
  
  Kauket
  
  Kek
  
  Naunet
  
  Nu
  
  Ennead
  
  Atum
  
  Geb
  
  Isis
  
  Nephthys
  
  Nut
  
  Osiris
  
  Set
  
  Shu
  
  Tefnut
  
  A
  
  Aati
  
  Aker
  
  Akhty
  
  Amenhotep, son of Hapu
  
  Amesemi
  
  Ammit
  
  Am-heh
  
  Amu-Aa
  
  Anat
  
  Andjety
  
  Anhur
  
  Anput
  
  Anubis
  
  Anuket
  
  Apedemak
  
  Apep
  
  Apis
  
  Apt
  
  Aqen
  
  Arensnuphis
  
  Ash
  
  Assessors
  
  Astarte
  
  Aten
  
  B
  
  Babi
  
  Banebdjedet
  
  Bastet
  
  Bat
  
  Bata
  
  Ba-Pef
  
  Bennu
  
  Bes
  
  Buchis
  
  C
  
  Cavern deities
  
  D
  
  Dedun
  
  Duau (god)
  
  F
  
  Four sons of Horus
  
  G
  
  Gate deities
  
  H
  
  Ha
  
  Hapi
  
  Hauron
  
  Hathor
  
  Hatmehit
  
  Hedetet
  
  Hedjhotep
  
  Heka
  
  Hemen
  
  Hemsut
  
  Henet
  
  Heqet
  
  Hermanubis
  
  Hesat
  
  Horus
  
  Harpocrates
  
  Heryshaf
  
  Hu
  
  I
  
  Iabet
  
  Iah
  
  Iat
  
  Ihy
  
  Ikhemu-sek
  
  Imentet
  
  Imhotep
  
  Ipy
  
  Iunit
  
  Iusaaset
  
  K
  
  Kebechet
  
  Khensit
  
  Khenti-Amentiu
  
  Khenti-kheti
  
  Khepri
  
  Kherty
  
  Khnum
  
  Khonsu
  
  Kothar-wa-Khasis
  
  M
  
  Maahes
  
  Ma'at
  
  Mandulis
  
  Medjed
  
  Mafdet
  
  Mehen
  
  Mehet-Weret
  
  Mehit
  
  Menhit
  
  Meret
  
  Meretseger
  
  Meskhenet
  
  Min
  
  Mnevis
  
  Montu
  
  Mut
  
  N
  
  Nebethetepet
  
  Nebtuwi
  
  Nefertem
  
  Nehebkau
  
  Nehmetawy
  
  Neith
  
  Nemty
  
  Nekhbet
  
  Neper
  
  P
  
  Pakhet
  
  Perit
  
  Petbe
  
  Ptah
  
  Q
  
  Qebui
  
  Qed-her
  
  Qetesh
  
  R
  
  Ra
  
  Raet-Tawy
  
  Rekhyt
  
  Rem
  
  Renenutet
  
  Renpet
  
  Renpetneferet
  
  Repyt
  
  Resheph
  
  S
  
  Sah
  
  Satis
  
  Sebiumeker
  
  Sekhmet
  
  Seker
  
  Serapis
  
  Serket
  
  Seshat
  
  Shai
  
  Shed
  
  Shesmetet
  
  Shezmu
  
  Sia
  
  Sobek
  
  Sopdet
  
  Sopdu
  
  Souls of Pe and Nekhen
  
  T
  
  Tatenen
  
  Taweret
  
  Tayt
  
  Ta-Bitjet
  
  Thoth
  
  Hermes Trismegistus
  
  Tjenenyet
  
  Tutu
  
  U
  
  Unut
  
  W
  
  Wadjet
  
  Wadj-wer
  
  Weneg
  
  Wepset
  
  Wepwawet
  
  Werethekau
  
  Wosret :
  
  Locations
  
  Aaru
  
  Benben
  
  Duat
  
  Land of Manu
  
  The Indestructibles :
  
  Symbols and objects
  
  Aani
  
  Abtu
  
  Ankh
  
  Atef
  
  Atet
  
  Book of Thoth
  
  Cartouche
  
  Corn mummy
  
  Crook and flail
  
  Deshret
  
  Djed
  
  Egyptian obelisk
  
  Egyptian pool
  
  Eye of Horus
  
  Eye of Ra
  
  Griffin
  
  Hedjet
  
  Hemhem crown
  
  Hennu
  
  Hieracosphinx
  
  Hypocephalus
  
  Imiut fetish
  
  Khepresh
  
  Kneph
  
  Matet boat
  
  Medjed
  
  Menat
  
  Nebu
  
  Nemes
  
  Neshmet
  
  Ouroboros
  
  Pschent
  
  Scarab
  
  Seqtet boat
  
  Serekh
  
  Serpopard
  
  Set animal
  
  Shen ring
  
  Sphinx
  
  Tyet
  
  Uraeus
  
  Ushabti
  
  Was-sceptre
  
  Winged sun :
  
  Texts
  
  Funerary texts (Amduat • Books of Breathing • Book of Caverns • Book of the Dead • Book of the Earth • Book of Gates) :
  
  Related religions
  
  Atenism
  
  Hermeticism
  
  Thelema
  
  Kemeticism (Kemetic Orthodoxy • Church of the Most High Goddess) :
  
  Ancient Egypt portal :
  
  vte :
  
  Beginning in the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181–2055 BC), Khenti-Amentiu's temple in Abydos was explicitly dedicated to Osiris and became his major cult center.
  
  