Editing Sokar

{{short description|Ancient Egyptian deity}}
{{for multi|the Stargate SG-1 character|Sokar (Stargate)|The luxury yacht|Sokar (yacht)}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Egyptian
| name = Sokar
| image = Seker.svg
| cult_center = [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]
| caption = Sokar was depicted as a falcon-headed man wearing an Atef crown
| hiero = <hiero>z:k:r-P3</hiero>or <hiero>z:k:r</hiero>or <hiero>z:k:r-A41</hiero>or<hiero>z:k:r-G10-</hiero>
}}
[[File:Sokar-Osiris.svg|thumb|The syncretized god Sokar-Osiris. His iconography combines that of Osiris (atef-crown, crook and flail) and Sokar (hawk head, was-sceptre).]]
'''Sokar''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɛ|k|ər}}; also spelled '''Seker''', and in [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]], '''Sokaris''' or '''Socharis''') is a [[hawk]] or [[falcon]] god of the [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphite]] [[necropolis]] in the [[Ancient Egyptian religion]], who was known as a patron of the living, as well as a god of the dead.{{fact|date=February 2023}} He is also in some accounts a solar deity as for The Temple of Sokar in Memphis.

== Name ==
Although the meaning of his name remains uncertain, the Egyptians in the [[Pyramid Texts]] linked his name to the anguished cry of [[Osiris]] to [[Isis]] 'Sy-k-ri' ('hurry to me'),<ref name="rout415">The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, George Hart {{ISBN|0-415-34495-6}}</ref> or possibly ''skr,'' meaning "cleaning the mouth".<ref name="Sokar">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/sokar.html|title=Sokar|website=ancientegyptonline.co.uk|access-date=2016-10-24}}</ref> In the [[underworld]], Sokar is strongly linked with two other gods, [[Ptah]] the Creator god and chief god of [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], and Osiris [[Duat|the god of the dead]]. In later periods, this connection was expressed as the [[triple god]] '''Ptah-Sokar-Osiris'''.{{fact|date=February 2023}}

The [[Fayyumic Coptic|Faiyumic Coptic]] form ⲥⲓⲭⲟⲗ is possibly preserved in a personal name ⲥⲉⲛⲥⲓⲭⲟⲗ, "daughter of Sokar".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heuser |first=Gustav |title=Die Personennamen der Kopten |pages=62 }}</ref>

== Appearance ==
[[File:Painting of Sokar.jpg|left|thumb|Painting of Sokar from the tomb of [[Seti I]] ([[KV17]])]]
Sokar was usually depicted as a mummified [[hawk]] and sometimes as a mound from which the head of a hawk appears. Here he is called 'he who is on his [[Sand|sand']]. Sometimes, he is shown on his ''hennu'' barque which was an elaborate sledge for negotiating the sandy necropolis. One of his titles was 'He of Restau' which means the place of 'openings' or tomb entrances. Like many other gods, he was often depicted with a [[Was-sceptre|''Was''-scepter]].{{fact|date=February 2023}}

In the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] ''Book of the Underworld'', the ''[[Amduat]]'', he is shown standing on the back of a serpent between two spread wings; as an expression of freedom this suggests a connection with resurrection or perhaps a satisfactory transit of the underworld.<ref name="rout415" /> Despite this, the region of the underworld associated with Sokar was seen as difficult, sandy terrain called the '''Imhet''' (also called '''Amhet''', '''Ammahet''', or '''Ammehet'''; meaning 'filled up').<ref>''The Egyptian Amduat'', [[Erik Hornung]] and [[Theodore Abt]] {{ISBN|3-9522608-4-3}}</ref><ref>Budge, E.A. Wallis. ''An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, vol. I''. London, 1920.; pgs. 54-55.</ref>

== Roles and cults ==
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}

Sokar, possibly through his association with Ptah, has a connection with [[artisan]]s. In the ''[[Book of the Dead]]'', he is said to fashion [[silver]] bowls<ref name="rout415" /> and at [[Tanis, Egypt|Tanis]] a silver [[coffin]] of [[Sheshonq II]] has been discovered decorated with the iconography of Sokar.<ref name="tcggoae">The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, Wilkinson {{ISBN|0-500-05120-8}}</ref>

Sokar's cult centre was in Memphis, and festivals in his honor were held there on the 26th day of the fourth month of the akhet (spring) season. While these festivals took place, devotees would hoe and till the ground, and drive cattle, which suggests that Sokar could have had agricultural aspects about him.<ref name="Sokar"/>

Sokar is mentioned in ''The Journey of Ra'': the myth used to explain what happens during the night when Ra travels through the Underworld. According to the myth, Sokar rules the Fifth Kingdom of Night,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Ancient Egyptian Legends: XI: The Regions of Night and Thick Darkness |url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ael/ael14.htm |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref> which is called "Hidden",<ref name=":0" /> and is tasked with punishing the souls of evildoers by throwing them into a boiling lake.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Ancient Egyptian Legends: XI: The Regions of Night and Thick Darkness |url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ael/ael14.htm |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref>

As part of the festivals in akhet, his followers wore strings of onions around their necks, showing the [[Underworld]] aspect of him. Onions were used in embalming people - sometimes the skin, sometimes the entire onion. When just the skin was used, it would be placed on the eyes and inside the ears to mask the smell.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gods & Myths of Ancient Egypt|last=Gahlin|first=Lucia|publisher=Southwater|year=2014|isbn=9781780193328|pages=46}}</ref>

Also, the god was depicted as assisting in various tasks such as digging ditches and canals. From the New Kingdom a similar festival was held in Thebes, which rivaled the  great [[Opet Festival]].<ref name="Sokar"/><ref name="tcggoae" />

Other events during the festival including floating a statue of the god on a Henu barque, which was a boat with a high prow shaped like an oryx.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/sokar.html|title=sokar|website=ancientegyptonline.co.uk|access-date=2016-10-24}}</ref>

==Popular culture==
In the film ''[[The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments]]'' (1956), the [[Pharaoh]] [[Rameses II]] invokes the same deity to bring his deceased firstborn son back to life, while wearing a dark blue robe with a silver bow.{{fact|date=February 2023}}

In the show ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', the Goa'uld villain Sokar is named after Him. Sokar appears as a powerful and sadistic Goa'uld who chose the role of the Devil rather than a god like the rest of his species. He is killed when the moon he uses as his own personal version of Hell is blown up, destroying Sokar's ship in orbit and Sokar himself.{{fact|date=February 2023}}

American technical death metal band [[Nile (Band)|Nile]] wrote the title track of their album “[[Annihilation of the Wicked]]” about the domain, occupation, and appearance of Sokar. Curiously, the lyrics seem to describe Sokar in the form of Sokar-Osiris, not Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, deliberately excluding the aspects of Ptah. The lyrics call him "ancient and dead", a trait held by Osiris, but also describe him as being “shunned by Ra,” which would place the Sokar they describe in the context of Heliopolis rather than Memphis.{{fact|date=February 2023}}

The fantasy role playing game "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" includes Sokar in its 1st edition, "Deities and Demigods", and the "Legends and Lore" rulebooks.  In this setting, Sokar is described as the Egyptian lesser god of light and, among other details, he casts rays of light from his hands which destroy all undead.  His Alignment is given as Neutral Good, and it is noted he protects Egyptian souls of the same Alignment after their death.  No specific mention is made of the later triple persona, though his symbol is given as a hawk-headed mummy holding an ankh, which does at least indirectly suggest the connection.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ward|first=James, with Rob Kuntz|title=Legends and Lore|publisher=TSR Inc.|year=1984|isbn=0-935696-22-9|pages=48}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:BD Sokar-Osiris.jpg|Facsimile of a vignette from the [[Papyrus of Ani]], depicting Sokar-Osiris standing in a shrine.
<!-- Deleted image removed: File:Sokar gold statue.jpg|Gold statue of Sokar -->
File:Sokar Sokaris.jpg|Relief depicting Sokar, Chapel of the High Priest of Ptah Sheshonq, [[Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt|twenty-second Dynasty]], [[Egyptian Museum|Cairo Museum]]
File:Statuette of the god Sokar.jpg|Gold statue of Sokar
File:Sokar Hypocephalus Scene.svg|Sokar with outstretched wings; scene from the [[Joseph Smith Hypocephalus]]
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Sokar (Stargate)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|1}}

==Bibliography==
*Graindorge, Catherine (1994). ''Le Dieu Sokar a Thebes Au Nouvel Empire'' (in French). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. {{ISBN|3447034769}}.
*Mikhail, Louis B. (1984). "The Festival of Sokar: An Episode of the Osirian Khoiak Festival". ''Göttinger Miszellen'' '''82'''.

==External links==

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[[Category:Egyptian death gods]]
[[Category:Smithing gods]]
[[Category:Underworld gods]]
[[Category:Falcon deities]]
[[Category:Epithets of Ptah]]