In ancient Egyptian mythology, Kebechet (also known as Qebehet, Kebhut, Kebehut, Qebehut, and Kabechet) the goddess of freshness. She was the daughter of Anubis (Anpu) and his consort Anput and was thought to assist her father in his role as the god of embalming. She was particularly associated with embalming fluid used during the mummification process.
Her name includes the root of the ancient Egyptian word "kbch" which means "to offer libations" or "to purify" and the root of the word "wt" which refers to the place of embalming (and appears in Anubis´ epithet "imy wt" - he who is in the place of embalming). However, her name also resembles the word "qebeshu", which means "cold water". As a result, her name is usually translated as"cooling water". Kebechet was often depicted as a snake, sometimes with a body of stars. She was also depicted as a woman with the head of a snake. Occasionally she takes the form of an ostrich, linking her to the goddess of Ma'at who represented justice or balance and was involved in the judgement of the dead.
Was the place Ben was judged the ancient area where the embalming of the dead happened? The mummification and purification process maybe?
I also mention the mural because a few things interested me about it. Specifically the dark figure at the top right..I wonder if this is the front of the statue. If one was to paint anubis front on could he not look like that dark figure. The nose meaning to be elongated and the mouth similar to a snout, the ears indicating the width and breadth of anubis jackal ears. Also the rays around the sun in the mural have a similar likeness to the zig zag of smokey in the wall carving.
More to ponder.
Last edited by dylan_1200; 04-09-2009 at 08:43 AM.
Thats a good find with the daughter but there is so many egyptian this and that its all hard to take in. Do you think its literal? I would expand it more to explain the monster myself. I find the water thing interesting, maybe summoning it required the water to be used. That room was efinitely used for something in ancient times and I think a purification type ritual room maybe to do with ones burial sounds about right.
And woah!! on the mural. Im going to spend some time looking at that one tonight, the zig zag definitely looks more monsterish to me now and im trying to figure out who the female person might be.
Do you think its literal? I would expand it more to explain the monster myself.
No I dont think its literal. I think in ancient times scribes interpreted what they saw by relating it to gods or whatever they could percieve. For example smokey can be snakelike and as we saw it coming out of the holes it had sparks like electricity coursing through it. Now go back 4 thousand years and try to descibe it...electric sparks become stars and smokey tendril thing becomes snake...as it shows you memories of your past so you interpret that as judgment and purification. You build rituals around this and presto you have your interpretaion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Horse
That is some interesting information, especially since this episode was all about death. Even the title focused on it.
Death is becoming ever more present it seems...this place is death, life and death of Jeremy Bentham, Dead is Dead, the island is littered with the dead or proxys of the dead and now a dead man ressurected...we even have a guy who can talk to the dead lol.
No I dont think its literal. Now go back 4 thousand years and try to descibe it...electric sparks become stars and smokey tendril thing becomes snake...as it shows you memories of your past so you interpret that as judgment and purification. You build rituals around this and presto you have your interpretaion.
Yep thats what i was thinking or at least partly. The monster could be the translation of the greeks cerberus or the chinese version of the underworld god. But I do find it interesting that the hieroglyphs show anubis and the monster as two different beings, this is where im trying to piece together the idea the monster is possibly anubis daughter theres not a lot of information i can find on her.
Well im not saying smokey is exactly this keshebet. What im saying is, is it the correct interpretation from the egyptians pov. If I considered Kesh is the correct interpretation I would look at how they relate water to her/it and try to apply a more modern scientific take on that.
I actually think smokey probably falls under both the terms of ma'at and kesh but the 2 were seperated over different egyptian periods. Both serve a purpose to Anubis in judging and purifying the soul. So is Anubis represented by the island or Jacob or something we havent seen yet? I dont really know but I do think the two are seperate but smokey is much like the calculator Locke used at his box factory (with the similar sounds) just a tool used to protect, judge and purify.
Great find, great stuff to ponder. This all just makes me anticipate the final reveal all the more...
I meant to also ask, does anyone know the Egyptian goddess of fertility?
Last edited by iklimon; 04-09-2009 at 02:58 PM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
Tawaret is egyptian goddess of fertility(Nile inundation and the harvest that depended on it) and viewed as deity of protection in maternity and childbirth. Some people think the statue is of her, and if you look back at those threads their are some web links that portray her with the 'pillbox' headpiece quite similar to that seen on the statue. Wiki entry includes an ancient statuette of her in her animal form. Many others think the statue is of Anubis, which seems also to be protrayed in the mural in Smoky's lair. Personally I think all religious references ( the Ourobouros pin and Double Dorge pin worn by Mrs. Hawking for example) are symbolic references to foreshadow or underscore complex, interlinked themes expanding in 'Lost'---Time,consciousness,reality,balance. I think the hieroglyphics are meant to stimulate us thinking on these themes rather than just specifically or literally Egyptian beliefs. but of course I could be quite wrong.
Spoiler:
I do find it interesting though that a future eppy name may be another Egyptian thematic reference. Some like it Hoth, I think is a play on words referencing the egyptian god Thoth who was also reputed to have been a god of measuring time.
He is credited with making the calculations for the establishment of the heavens, stars, Earth, and everything in them (the Universe). … his feminine counterpart, Ma'at (balance) was the force which maintained the Universe.
Last edited by Starrox; 04-13-2009 at 07:23 AM.
Reason: More spoiler font
When I was in Egypt, fwiw, I was told, by Egyptians, that Bast/Bastet, a cat-like figure, was the goddess of fertility. (I feel it is very unlikely she is the statue. When not shown as a cat, she is depicted as a cat's head on a woman's body, always in a long dress)
It would seem to conflict with the info found on Tawret though (or at least curiously mirror it), so I don't know.
ETA: After doing a bit of "netsearch" on Bast/Bastet I found that her role-identity evolved quite a bit over the ages. She was a daughter of Ra, the sun god, and related to Anubis and Apep. She was seen as a "protector" goddess, with both a fierce side and a docile side. She was the protector of pregnant women, among other things, but also seen as a fertility goddess--many women wore Bast fertility amulets indicating their desired number of children. Interestingly, also considered the goddess of ointments and perfumes, she also figured, conversely, into the grouping of gods associated with the preparation of the dead.
I remain curious about the crossover roles of these two deities, Bast and Tawret.
Finally, by far the BEST article I've read regarding the statue and the imagery in "Dead is Dead" is called "Egyptologists Decode LOST’s Symbolisms" and can be found at docarzt.com, or at popularmechanics.com as "Lost Channels Ancient Egyptian Legend to Explain Smoke Monster."
In speaking of the statue, or "colossus," the Professor of Egyptology suggests that, rather than a depiction of one or the other specifically, "it’s actually more of a hybrid of Anubis and Taweret, the demon-wife of the Apep, the Egyptian’s original god of evil."
In ancient Egyptian mythology, Kebechet (also known as Qebehet, Kebhut, Kebehut, Qebehut, and Kabechet) the goddess of freshness. She was the daughter of Anubis (Anpu) and his consort Anput and was thought to assist her father in his role as the god of embalming. She was particularly associated with embalming fluid used during the mummification process.
Her name includes the root of the ancient Egyptian word "kbch" which means "to offer libations" or "to purify" and the root of the word "wt" which refers to the place of embalming (and appears in Anubis´ epithet "imy wt" - he who is in the place of embalming). However, her name also resembles the word "qebeshu", which means "cold water". As a result, her name is usually translated as"cooling water". Kebechet was often depicted as a snake, sometimes with a body of stars. She was also depicted as a woman with the head of a snake. Occasionally she takes the form of an ostrich, linking her to the goddess of Ma'at who represented justice or balance and was involved in the judgement of the dead.
Was the place Ben was judged the ancient area where the embalming of the dead happened? The mummification and purification process maybe?
I also mention the mural because a few things interested me about it. Specifically the dark figure at the top right..I wonder if this is the front of the statue. If one was to paint anubis front on could he not look like that dark figure. The nose meaning to be elongated and the mouth similar to a snout, the ears indicating the width and breadth of anubis jackal ears. Also the rays around the sun in the mural have a similar likeness to the zig zag of smokey in the wall carving.
More to ponder.
I think that is supposed to be eko or his brother, isn't there a priest's collar on him?
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