Slaughterers, knife-bearers and plague-bringers: a study of the role and significance of the ḫ϶.tyw in ancient Egyptian thought

This project aims to produce a systematic and comprehensive study on a particular group of ambivalent beings that are conceptualised in ancient Egyptian thought as belonging to the world of the divine. These beings are identified in the written record by the designaton ḫ϶.tyw in the first three phases of the Egyptian language (Old, Middle and Late Egyptian) or as ḫṱ.w in the fourth stage known as Demotic. Through a systematic methodological approach, that is philological, archaeological and iconographic in nature, this project seeks to establish the orthography and etymology of the designation ḫ϶.tyw, the form and appearance of ḫ϶.tyw, the position of ḫ϶.tyw in the hierarchy of the pantheon and the extent of their subordination, the celestial nature of the ḫ϶.tyw, and finally the role of ḫ϶.tyw as bearers of disease. The compilation of information pertaining to these factors will contribute to a greater understanding of the agency of this type of divine being at both state and personal levels of religion, which will in turn further scholars understanding of Egyptian world-view and society as a whole due to the dualistic nature of the hA.tyw that encompasses components of both ma’at and isfet.