Polycephaly – Some Remarks on the Multi-Headed Nature of Late Egyptian Polymorphic Deities

Abstract

One of the most intriguing motifs of Egyptian religious iconography is the representation of ‘pantheos’, a composite deity with additional animal heads and other animal attributes, as well as magical and religious symbols. This group is commonly described in Egyptology as pantheistic, although the new definition of ‘polymorphic’ has recently been proposed. This term does not lean towards any particular area of interpretation, but simply refers to a single visual aspect of the motif.The group of Late Egyptian, Ptolemaic and Roman objects with this type of representation consists of statuettes, magical stelae, amulets, illustrations on papyri and gems. The main feature of polymorphic deities is their additional animal elements, which are attached to the basic corpus. These elements are mostly heads, wings and other parts of the animal’s body, although polymorphic depictions also sometimes contain ithyphallic or androgynous elements. The most important element of polymorphic iconography and its interpretation is the multi-headed nature of the images. This suggests both that complicated thought processes created the composition of the depictions and that they had a close relationship to magic and religion. A polymorphic representation was not a simple visualisation of just one religious idea or god, but was testament to the diverse thinking behind popular and official beliefs in ancient Egypt in the second half of the 1st millennium BC and in later times. The debate on polymorphism centres either on the possible search for a personal, universal god with a solar, hidden aspect or focuses on the magical, practical dimension, which provided protection for the people from evil powers and dangers.