Ash

(Sha) A God of the western desert region, including its fertile oases and their produce, especially wine, Ash is depicted with the head of the same animal as the God Seth, or with a falcon head, sometimes wearing an ostrich plume on his head. A late depiction of him, however, depicts Ash with the heads of a lion, a vulture, and a snake who wears the crown of Upper Egypt, and is captioned “Ash of the many faces” (A. Shorter, JEA 11 (1925) pp. 78-9). His early cult center was Nubet or Ombos, which also belonged to Seth, and Ash may lay behind certain references to Seth where he is simply called ‘the Ombite’. The name of Ash is often rendered ‘Sha’ by metathesis. The Seth-animal itself is called the sha; P. E. Newberry has argued that this animal was a type of wild pig (JEA 14 (1928) pp. 211-225). CT spell 107, “Recitation for going out into the day,” states on behalf of the deceased that “Sha guards me in company with the Lords of Upper Egypt.” In BD spell 95, for “being beside Thoth,” the operator states that “Ash cools off opponents for me,” in which it seems that Ash is to share in the characteristic function of Thoth of calming wrathful deities, perhaps because of Ash’s association with wine.

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