(urth) Soldier of Sidon

[David Duffy]

This list seems to have been a bit quiet lately on Soldier, so I'll add in 
some half digested thoughts about the scroll.  A few spoilers




















The prophecy that Latro is given from the temple of Ap-uat says he (as
death's hero) is to receive the shield of Hemuset.

Thotmaktef says that Hemuset is the goddess of fate, a minor goddess who
decrees the fate of the person at birth.  She carries a small shield with an
arrow on it.  The shield is often worn on her head, and reflects a man's entire
life.

I read, however, the following in the description of an Egyptian painting:

"At a first glance the supporting goddesses seem to
  Neith and Selket who frequently appear together in the Egyptian
  religion as protective deities (e.g. on sarcophagi or canopic chests).
  The just discernible shield with the crossed arrows on the head can
  point to Neith as well as to Hemuset (s). Brunner described Hemusets as
  female geniuses, the counterparts of the male Kas, who are involved in
  procreation or keeping-up life. According to the accompanying texts the
  figures represent Hemusets."

Neith carries a shield and crossed arrows, and by Roman times was said to 
be an *upper Egyptian* creator-goddess who had settled in Sais, where her 
temple received revenue from the Greek trading settlement at Naukratis. 
She was also worshipped as a "Great Cow", and thus is confused/overlaps 
with Hathor (who wears a sun disk on her head).

The most critical details, I think, are that Neith is/was a consort of 
Set, and the Greeks identified her with Athena.  (They identified Set as 
Typhon BTW).

So does the scroll involve a relationship between Neith and Set?  Is he 
collecting old love letters?  Who is the old god guarding the scroll then? 
The best match I could find was Hapy.  He is the god of the inundation, 
and is a pot-bellied bearded man with pendulous breasts.  That doesn't 
make much sense to me.

David Duffy.