Ihy- Egyptian GodDeity"Child of the Sistrum"
Also known as: Ihi, Ahy, and Ihy-wer
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Symbols
Description
When priestesses shook the sistrum in Hathor's temple, they channeled the divine child Ihy. Son of Hathor and Horus at Dendera, he was the boy-god whose sacred music calmed the rage of Sekhmet and pleased the gods into benevolence.
Mythology & Lore
The Festival of Beautiful Reunion
Once a year, priests carried Hathor's cult statue south by river from Dendera to the temple of Horus at Edfu. When she arrived, the temples celebrated the divine couple's reunion and the birth of their son Ihy. At the mammisi, the birth house in Dendera's temple precinct, priests reenacted the god's nativity. On its walls, Ihy appears as a nude boy with the sidelock of youth, shaking a sistrum before his mother. The temple at Dendera is covered with his image: always young, always playing.
The Pharaoh and the Sistrum
The sistrum's rhythmic shaking calmed dangerous deities. When Hathor turned wrathful as Sekhmet, the sound drew her back. Priestesses of Hathor shook sistra during temple ceremonies. The sound they made was Ihy's sound.
Pharaohs played the sistrum too. Texts at Dendera describe the king as "Ihy, son of Hathor" when he shakes the instrument in her temple. For that moment, the king was the divine child, and his music carried a god's power to calm and to please.
Relationships
- Family