Visitors to Egypt cannot help but notice depictions of the ancient god Min, even if they do not initially know who he is. Min was one of the oldest Egyptian gods, associated with the primordial force of male sexual fertility. Min was typically shown standing upright in a fully anthropomorphic form, as a wrapped, or mummified, ithyphallic man. He wears a cap, or crown, to which long streamers are attached, and which is also topped with two tall plumes. In this form, Min’s legs are usually held tightly together, often bound by bandages. However, Min’s arms are typically free, with the left hand shown holding his erect penis, and the right hand held aloft, which may be a protective gesture, or possibly a smiting pose (he frequently holds a flail in his right hand). Min is often depicted as a syncretised god, particularly during the New Kingdom when he was associated with the Theban god Amun.
In coloured artworks, Min is often shown with black-coloured skin, thought to represent the fertility of the ‘Black Land’ of Nile floodplain silt. From the Sixth Dynasty to Roman times, depictions of sacrifices to Min on pots or offering tables consisted of lettuce, since its white sap is reminiscent of semen, symbolising male fertility. The main sites for the cult of Min were Coptos/Gebtu (modern Qift) and Khent-Min (the Shrine of Min; modern Akhmim), which was called Panopolis by the Greeks. While the origin of the name ‘Menu’ (Min) is unknown, Plutarch claimed it meant ‘that which is seen’, due to the similarity with the Egyptian verb ‘to see’. Although Min is not mentioned in the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts by name, there is maybe reference to him as he ‘who raises his arm in the east’, thereby alluding to his long association with the Eastern Desert.
Lord of the Foreign Lands
Worship of Min may have originated with the Medjay desert nomads. It is suggested that Min may have been an important deity in the Eastern Desert since the Naqada II Period (c.3500-3200 BC), since rock carvings showing an ithyphallic figure with a feathered headdress are known from Wadi Gash and Wadi Umm Salam. The two feathered headdresses of the deities Mut and Amun are thought to denote foreignness. Similarly, Min was called the ‘Lord of the Foreign Lands’, and this may also explain his popularity with respect to trade missions. It is thought that the first chapels in the Eastern Desert devoted to Min were the rounded platforms that date to the Middle Kingdom, discovered at Mersa Gawasis. Their association with Min was proposed because many fragments of Lambis lambis (spider conch) shell occasionally linked with the god were found there. Subsequently, in the New Kingdom, sanctuaries took the form of rock shelters. This form may explain Min’s patronage of mining activities. Furthermore, travellers using rock shelters as refuges from the elements may have shown their gratitude to the local deity Min by dedicating these refuges as his sacred spaces.
