# Seker

Seker (/ˈsɛkər/; also spelled Sokar, and in Greek, Sokaris or Socharis) is a hawk or falcon god of the Memphite necropolis in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was known as a patron of the living, as well as a god of the dead. He is also in some accounts a solar deity as for The Temple of Seker 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'), or possibly skr, meaning "cleaning the mouth". In the underworld, Seker is strongly linked with two other gods, Ptah the Creator god and chief god of Memphis, and Osiris the god of the dead. In later periods, this connection was expressed as the triple god Ptah-Seker-Osiris.
The Faiyumic Coptic form ⲥⲓⲭⲟⲗ is possibly preserved in a personal name ⲥⲉⲛⲥⲓⲭⲟⲗ, "daughter of Sokar".

## Appearance

Seker 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'. 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-scepter.
In the 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. Despite this, the region of the underworld associated with Seker was seen as difficult, sandy terrain called the Imhet (also called Amhet, Ammahet, or Ammehet; meaning 'filled up').

## Roles and cults

Part of a series on :
Ancient Egyptian religion :
Beliefs
Afterlife
Creation myths
Isfet
Maat
Maa Kheru
Mythology
Numerology
Osiris myth
Philosophy
Soul :
Practices
Canopic jars
Embalming ritual
Funerals
Mortuary temples
Offering formula
Opening of the mouth
Pyramids
Temples
Veneration of the dead :
Deities (list)Ogdoad
Amun and Amunet
Heh and Hauhet
Kek and Kauket
Nu and Naunet
Ennead
Atum
Geb
Isis
Nephthys
Nut
Osiris
Set
Shu
Tefnut
Triads
Theban Triad
Elephantine Triad
A
Aani
Aati
Abtu
Ahmose-Nefertari
Aker
Akhty
Amenhotep I
Amenhotep, son of Hapu
Amesemi
Am-heh
Ammit
Amu-Aa
Anat
Andjety
Anhur
Anput
Anubis
Anuket
Apedemak
Apep
Apesh
Apis
Aqen
Arensnuphis
Ash
Assessors of Maat
Astarte
Aten
B
Baal
Baalat Gebal
Babi
Banebdjedet
Ba-Pef
Bastet
Bat
Bata
Bennu
Bes
Beset
Buchis
C
Cavern deities of the underworld
D
Dedun
Dionysus-Osiris
Djed
Djedefhor
Duamutef
Duau
G
Gate deities of the underworld
Gengen-Wer
H
Ha
Hapi
Hapy
Harmachis
Harpocrates
Harsomtus
Hathor
Hatmehit
Hauron
Hedetet
Hedjhotep
Heka
Hemen
Hemsut
Henet
Heqaib
Heqet
Hermanubis
Hermes Trismegistus
Heru-ur
Heryshaf
Hesat
Horus
Hu
I
Iabet
Iah
Iat
Igai
Ihy
Ikhemu-sek
Imentet
Imhotep
Imsety
Ipy
Irer
Ishtar
Iunit
Iusaaset
J
Jupiter Ammon
K
Kagemni I
Kebechet
Khensit
Khenti-Amentiu
Khenti-kheti
Khepri
Khereduankh
Kherty
Khnum
Khonsu
Kneph
Kolanthes
Kothar-wa-Khasis
M
Maahes
Maat
Mafdet
Mandulis
Medjed
Mehen
Mehet-Weret
Mehit
Menhit
Meret
Meretseger
Meskhenet
Min
Mnevis
Montu
Mut
N
Nebethetepet
Nebtuwi
Nefertem
Nehebkau
Nehmetawy
Neith
Nekhbet
Nemty
Neper
Nepit
P
Pakhet
Perit
Petbe
Ptah
Ptahhotep
Q
Qebehsenuef
Qebui
Qed-her
Qetesh
R
Ra
Raet-Tawy
Rekhyt
Rem
Renenutet
Renpet
Renpetneferet
Repyt
Resheph
S
Sah
Satis
Sebiumeker
Sedjem
Seker
Sekhmet
Serapis
Serket
Seshat
Shai
Shed
Shesmetet
Shezmu
Sia
Sobek
Sopdet
Sopdu
Souls of Pe and Nekhen
T
Ta-Bitjet
Tatenen
Taweret
Tayt
Teka-her
Thoth
Tjenenyet
Tutu
U
Unut
W
Wadjet
Wadj-wer
Weneg
Wepset
Wepwawet
Werethekau
Wosret
Y
Yam :
Creatures
Akhekh
Criosphinx
Griffin
Hieracosphinx
Medjed
Serpopard
Set animal
Sphinx
Uraeus :
Characters
Dedi
Djadjaemankh
Rededjet
Ubaoner :
Locations
Aaru
Akhet
Benben
Duat
Land of Manu
The Indestructibles :
Symbols and objects
Ankh
Anra scarab
Atef
Cartouche
Cowroid
Corn mummy
Crook and flail
Crown of justification
Deshret
Djed
Egyptian obelisk
Egyptian pool
Eye of Horus
Eye of Ra
Hedjet
Hemhem crown
Hennu
Horus on the Crocodiles
Hypocephalus
Imiut fetish
Khepresh
Kneph
Menat
Modius
Nebu
Nemes
Neshmet
Ouroboros
Pschent
Scarab
Seqtet boat
Serekh
Shen ring
Solar barque
Tyet
Ushabti
Vulture crown
Was-sceptre
Winged sun :
Writings
Amduat
Books of Breathing
Book of Caverns
Book of the Dead
Book of the Earth
Book of Gates
Book of the Heavenly Cow
Book of Traversing Eternity
Coffin Texts
The Contendings of Horus and Seth
Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld
Festival Songs of Isis and Nephthys
Great Hymn to the Aten
Litany of the Eye of Horus
Litany of Re
Pyramid Texts
Spell of the Twelve Caves :
Festivals
Beautiful Festival of the Valley
Cattle count
Coronation of the pharaoh
Min festival
Mysteries of Osiris
Opet Festival
Sed festival :
Related religions
Atenism
Church of the Most High Goddess
Gnosticism
Hermeticism
Kemetic Orthodoxy
Kemetism
Mysteries of Isis
Temple of Set
Thelema :
Ancient Egypt portal :
vte :
Seker, possibly through his association with Ptah, has a connection with artisans. In the Book of the Dead, he is said to fashion silver bowls and at Tanis a silver coffin of Sheshonq II has been discovered decorated with the iconography of Seker.
Seker'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 Seker could have had agricultural aspects about him.
Seker 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, Seker rules the Fifth Kingdom of Night, which is called "Hidden", and is tasked with punishing the souls of evildoers by throwing them into a boiling lake.
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.
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.
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.

## Popular culture

In the 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.
In the show Stargate SG-1, the Goa'uld villain Sokar is named after Seker. 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.
American technical death metal band Nile wrote the title track of their album “Annihilation of the Wicked” about the domain, occupation, and appearance of Seker. Curiously, the lyrics seem to describe Seker in the form of Seker-Osiris, not Ptah-Seker-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 Seker they describe in the context of Heliopolis rather than Memphis.
The fantasy role playing game "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" includes Seker in its 1st edition, "Deities and Demigods", and the "Legends and Lore" rulebooks. In this setting, Seker 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.

## Gallery

* Facsimile of a vignette from the Papyrus of Ani, depicting Seker-Osiris standing in a shrine.
* Relief depicting Seker, Chapel of the High Priest of Ptah Sheshonq, twenty-second Dynasty, Cairo Museum
* Gold statue of Seker
* Seker with outstretched wings; scene from the Joseph Smith Hypocephalus