Anhur, also known as Onuris among other names, was a very ancient Egyptian god of war whose worship started at Abydos, especially Thinis, in the southern regions of Egypt, and gained wider importance. He was known as the “slayer of enemies” and appeared as a heroic male figure with a beard and headdress with four feathers, holding a spear or lance in one hand and an ankh in the other.
The main myth about the god explains how he brought his wife Mehit, from Nubia to Egypt, expressing early contact between the peoples. It may also reflect a period when it was believed that the Nubians carried off the Eye of Ra, and Anhur retrieved it.
While he was an ancient god, he was still relevant near the end of the ancient Egyptian period. In the 1st century CE, the Roman emperor Tiberius was depicted on the walls of the temple at Kom Ombo wearing the four-feathered headdress of Anhur.
Anhur was principally a god of war, considered a great warrior pharaoh whose great deeds earned him a place among the gods. Rituals honoring him sometimes involved staged battles. Records show that Amenhotep’s wife Henut was among the singers of Anur, and that their sons Hat and Kenna were chariot warriors in his games.
His name actually means “sky bearer,” suggesting that, like many important Egyptian deities, such a Ra and Horus, he was also associated with the sky. He was sometimes considered the son of Ra, with Hathor, and helped him defend his sun barge. In the New Kingdom, he became associated with Horus as Horus-Anhur, who was the perfect warrior and the savior of those in battle.
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