In Egyptian mythology

Egyptian mythology

Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals which were an integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It centered on the Egyptians' interaction with a multitude of deities who were believed to be present in, and in control of, the forces and elements of nature...

, Hemen was a falcon

Falcon

A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....

–god

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

.

Places of worship

Often worshipped as a divine entity unified with Horus

Horus

Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...

,as Horus-Hemen lord of Asphynis or Horakhte-Hemen of Hefat  W. M. Flinders Petrie refers to Hemen as a god of Tuphium

Tuphium

Tuphium was a place which existed in the time of Ancient Egypt. This place is now lying in ruins.-From W. M. Flinders Petrie:Quote from Flinders Petrie:...

. Hemen is also used for the name of a town of ancient Egypt (as mentioned by Flinders Petrie during his studies of Abydos).

Some examples of artifacts containing references to Hemen

Hemen is mentioned in a limited number of inscriptions and texts. Some of these include:

• Ankhtifi
  Ankhtifi
  Ankhtifi was the nomarch of Hierakonpolis and a supporter of the Herakleopolitan based 10th dynasty which was locked in conflict with the Theban based 11th Dynasty kingdom for control of Egypt. Hence, Ankhtifi was a rival to the Theban rulers Mentuhotep I and Intef I...
  
  , a monarch dated to the first intermediate period, is shown inspecting a fleet, killing a hippopotamus in Hefat during festivities and offering the hippopotamus to Hemen.
• A round topped stela from the 13th dynasty
  Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt
  The thirteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom. Other writers separate it from these dynasties and join it to Dynasties XIV through XVII as part of the Second Intermediate Period...
  
   invokes Ptah-Sokari-Osiris and Horus-Hemen lord of Asphynis. The stela was formerly in the V. Golenishchev collection, but is now in Moscow, in the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.
• The chief sculptor Userhat who lived at the end of the 18th dyansty / beginning 19th dynasty mentions "causing cult statues to rest in their shrine". Hemen of Hefat is one of the gods listed among those Userhat was responsible for.
• Statue from the time of Amenhotep III
  Amenhotep III
  Amenhotep III also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC after his father Thutmose IV died...
  
  ; Now in Avignon, Musée Calvet.
• In the 22nd dynasty Hemen of Hefat is mentioned as an oracle. A man named Ikeni appears before Hemen in Hefat and the god says "Ikeni is right! He paid (etc.)".
• Taharqa
  Taharqa
  Taharqa was a pharaoh of the Ancient Egyptian 25th dynasty and king of the Kingdom of Kush, which was located in Northern Sudan.Taharqa was the son of Piye, the Nubian king of Napata who had first conquered Egypt. Taharqa was also the cousin and successor of Shebitku. The successful campaigns of...
  
   is shown before the god Hemen in a statue which is now in the Louvre
  Louvre
  The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
  
  .
• In ca 300 BC Hemen's cult is still active as attested by an inscription of an official named Hornefer.
• In the Griffiths Institute listing: A stone object with Hemen possibly hawk-headed showing text of Amenophis III‘beloved of Hemen lord of the sed-festival’.