Harsomtus
Template:Short description Template:Infobox deity Harsomtus (also known as Harsomptus and SomtusTemplate:Sfn) was an ancient Egyptian child god with main cult places at DenderaTemplate:Sfn and Edfu.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This less-known deity was worshipped from the Old Kingdom period all the way to Graeco-Roman Egypt. Popularity of Harsomtus, along with other child gods, greatly increased in the Graeco-Roman period, with most information coming from that era.Template:Sfn The connection with Horus had formed early,Template:Sfn and Harsomtus is considered by researchers to be a form of Ra or Horus. His name translates to "Horus who unites the two lands."<ref>Klotz, David (2008). Kneph: The Religion of Roman Thebes. Ann Arbor : ProQuest LLC. pp.302‐304.</ref>
Iconography
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Harsomtus usually appears as a naked child sitting on a lotus flower. He can also appear as a snake that emerges from a lotus flower as seen in several reliefs at the temple of Dendera.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
Due to connection with Horus, Harsomtus can appear with a falcon head. Template:Sfn
Mythology
[edit]Harsomtus simultaneously embodies sun, primordial, and creator god: the emergence of the world from the primordial matter is linked to the daily sunrise.Template:Sfn
Harsomtus is the son of HathorTemplate:Sfn and HorusTemplate:Sfn in the form of Heru-Behdeti, with these two gods he formed the Triad of Edfu. Harsomtus is very similar to Ihy because both were child deities that were the son of Hathor and Horus.Template:Cn
In Thebes during the late New Kingdom, Harsomtus became the firstborn son of Amun and Hathor-chief-of-Thebes, a local Theban form of the goddess Hathor. He was worshiped in the Mammisi of the Hathor Temple in Deir el-Medina as well as in the Ptah Temple in Karnak. Hathor and Harsomtus were frequently equated with Isis and another childform of Horus named Hariese ("Horus, the son of Isis").<ref>Klotz 2018, pp.302-304.</ref>