Editing Imiut fetish

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian religious object}}
{{Hiero|jmy-wt|<hiero>Z11-m-w-t:Aa2</hiero>|align=right}}[[Image:Imiut fetish.svg|thumb|The imiut fetish]]
The '''Imiut fetish''' (''jmy-wt'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://projetrosette.info/popup.php?Id=1012&idObjet=697|title=Projet Rosette - Dictionary detail|website=projetrosette.info|language=en|access-date=2017-09-20}}</ref> is a religious object that has been documented throughout the history of [[ancient Egypt]]. It was a stuffed, headless animal skin, often of a feline or bull. This fetish was tied by the tail to a pole, terminating in a [[lotus (plant)|lotus]] bud and inserted into a stand. The item was present in [[ancient Egyptian funerary practices|ancient Egyptian funerary rites]] from at least the earliest dynasties. Although its origin and purpose is unknown, the imiut fetish dates as far back as the [[First dynasty of Egypt|First Dynasty]] (3100–2890 BC).

==History==
The earliest known depiction of the ''jmy-wt'' fetish is on a [[Prehistoric Egypt|Predynastic]] [[Lug (knob)|lug handle]] dating to [[Gerzeh culture|Naqada IIc-d]], which appears to show the procedure by which intestines were extracted from a sacrificial bird and tied to the fetish.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Logan|first=Thomas J.|date=1990|title=The Origins of the Jmy-wt Fetish|jstor=40000074|journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt|volume=27|pages=61–69|doi=10.2307/40000074}}</ref> In the [[First Dynasty of Egypt|First Dynasty]], the fetish appears on seals and labels during the reigns of kings [[Hor-Aha]], [[Djer]], [[Djet]], and Den, where the ''jmy-wt'' is associated with ritual killings of prisoners. Another example found in 1914 by an expedition of the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] near the pyramid of [[Senusret I]] (c. 1971-1928 BCE) was placed in a shrine.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Treasures of Tutankhamun|last=Edwards|first=I.E.S.|date=1972|publisher=Viking Press|location=New York|pages=#24|id=SBN 670-72723-7}}</ref>

There are depictions of the imiut fetish on ancient Egyptian temples, and sometimes there were models of it included with the funerary equipment, most notably the two found in the burial chamber of [[Tutankhamun]] by [[Howard Carter (archaeologist)|Howard Carter]]. The fetish was later connected to the god [[Anubis]] and mummification around the [[Fourth Dynasty of Egypt|Fourth Dynasty]], so it is sometimes called the '''Anubis fetish'''.

== Meaning ==
Logan suggests that the ''jmy.wt'' has its origin as a standard associated with kingship and transition, a pole upon which the intestines of a ritual animal sacrifice were hung. This he connects to an etymology ''jmy.wt'' "that which is inside", analogous to ''jmyw'' "tumor".<ref name=":0" /> In this scenario, the name was later reanalyzed as a reference to embalming after the association with Anubis.

==Notes==
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[[Category:4th-millennium BC establishments]]
[[Category:Egyptian artefact types]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian symbols]]
[[Category:Gerzeh culture]]
[[Category:Anubis]]

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