(Monthis, Mont, Menthu, Mentu, Month, Menthu-Ra, Menthi)
"Nomad"
"Lord of Thebes"
Titles:
- Menthu-Ra, lord of Thebes, king of the gods, he who is in his throne in Aptet
- Sma-taui
- Merti, mighty one of two-fold strength
- Governor of Behutet
- Lord of Annu of the South
- Prince of Annu of the North
- Lord of Manu (the Libyan mountain)
Montu was an Egyptian sun-god (associated with Ra) and god of war who personified the destructive heat of the sun. He was the patron god of warfare, martial arts, strength, vengeance and masculinity. He acted both in deciding the outcome of war and the fates of soldiers, as well as an oracle consulted before fighting. He would be invoked by people going to war because of his skill in leading armies. General-kings often called themselves ‘sons of Montu’. He acted as the tutelary deity to the Theban monarchs. The Greeks considered this god a form of Ares.
This deity was depicted as a human with either the head of a bull or the head of a falcon. Montu wore a crown with the solar disk, a uraeus and two tall feathered plumes. Montu was shown either sitting or standing, holding an ear of corn in one hand and a vase in the other, as if he were making offerings. At other times he was shown holding a bow and arrow, a club or a knife. Montu was occasionally shown seated on a throne embracing a young Horus.
Montu’s sacred animal was the white bull with a black face called Buchis. When the bulls died, they were buried in a necropolis known as the Bucheum. The bulls were considered the reincarnation of the god himself, and they were kept at the temple. Montu’s wife was Rat-Taui.
This deity was the main god of Thebes until superceded by the cult of Amen. His worship began in Thebes and then spread throughout Egypt as Theban rulers expanded borders around 2000 BC. The chief seat of the worship of Montu was at Hermonthis, called the Annu-Rest.
Sources:
http://www.mythhome.org/egyptian.html
http://www.kemet.org/glossary/montu.html
http://interoz.com/egypt/amenment.htm
http://members.iinet.net.au/~wayland/page60.htm