Well documented. Several independent sources across different periods. In the record from the very beginning.
Qebehsenuef qbḥ-snw-f
the hawk-headed one, west
Part of the Four Sons of Horus.
Overview
Qebehsenuef is the hawk of the four, and he takes the west — the direction of sunset, and of the cemetery.
He protects the liver and gall bladder [budge-1904]. His name is usually read "he who refreshes his brothers," which if right is the only name in the group that refers to the group.
The hawk head matters structurally: the hawk is horus's own bird, so of the four sons, this is the one drawn in his father's likeness.
Attestation history
Old Kingdom. Budge's roster of gods named in the Pyramid Texts gives Qebhsennuf at Teta 60 [budge-1904]. He is one of the four "children of Horus" of that corpus; at Pepi I l. 672 the deceased becomes one of them [budge-1904].
Book of the Dead. In the judgment scene: "the fourth, Qebhsennuf, the head of a hawk" [budge-1904]. Budge notes the four standing on a lotus before the enthroned Osiris, "the lotus on which these gods stand… seen to have its roots in a lake, or stream, of water, which flows from under the throne of Osiris" [budge-1904].
He appears in the list of gods to whom twenty-nine funerary boats were dedicated, and among the figures placed beneath the bier of Osiris [budge-1904].
With Serqet. The scorpion goddess is his counterpart: "I employ each day in making protection for Qebhsennuf who is in me" [budge-1904].
The Souls of Nekhen. "The Souls of the city of Nekhen were Horus, Tuamutef, and Qebhsennuf" (Book of the Dead ch. cxiii) [budge-1904]. See the Souls of Pe and Nekhen.
What the texts say
The four are one system, and it is unusually tidy. Each son takes a cardinal point, a set of organs, a head, and a protecting goddess:
| Son | Direction | Organs | Head | Goddess |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imsety (Mestha) | south | stomach, large intestines | man | Isis |
| Hapy | north | small viscera | ape | Nephthys |
| Duamutef (Tuamutef) | east | heart and lungs | jackal | Neith |
| Qebehsenuef | west | liver, gall bladder | hawk | Serqet |
Budge gives the directions and organs in vol. I and the heads from the judgment scene of the Papyrus of Ani in vol. II [budge-1904].
A leg. Budge: "his two legs [were identified] with Amset and Qebhsennuf; and when he went into the Sekhet-Aaru they were his guides and went in with him, two on each side" [budge-1904]. Qebehsenuef is one of the legs the dead walk in on.
The four are also the sovereign chiefs at the Balance. Budge identifies the "sovereign chiefs" attending the weighing as "Mestha, Hapi, Tuamutef, and Qebhsennuf, the children of Horus" [budge-1904]. They are not only jar-lids; they sit on the court.
Serqet is the least documented of the four goddesses, and she has no entry in this corpus — see open threads. That the scorpion goddess guards the liver is not explained anywhere in the archived sources.
Iconography
A mummiform figure with a hawk's head [budge-1904]. Canopic jar lid; on the lotus in the judgment scene; beneath the bier of Osiris; among the four heads carried by the seventh-hour serpent.
Cult and practice
No temple. The canopic jar, the funerary boats, the images under the bier [budge-1904].
The record
Every claim above traces to a row here. Source, exact place in that source, and what it actually supports.
| Source | Locus | Attests |
|---|---|---|
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, Pyramid Texts god-list, Teta 60 | Qebhsennuf among the gods of the Pyramid Texts |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, citing Pepi I l. 672 | the deceased becoming one of the four children of Horus |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, on the Four Children | Qebhsennuf represents the west; protects the liver and gall bladder; identified with a leg of the deceased |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, on the four protecting goddesses | Serqet: "I employ each day in making protection for Qebhsennuf who is in me" |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, Book of the Dead ch. cxiii | the Souls of Nekhen: Horus, Tuamutef and Qebhsennuf |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* II, judgment scene, Papyrus of Ani | "the fourth, Qebhsennuf, the head of a hawk"; the four on a lotus rooted beneath Osiris's throne |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* II, on the Balance | the four children of Horus as the "sovereign chiefs" at the weighing |
Sources
[budge-1904]— Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians (1904), vols I–II. Public domain, archived insources-texts/. Budge caveat applies (04-BIBLIOGRAPHY.md). The Pyramid Text line numbers, Book of the Dead chapters and the organ assignments are transcription and reporting, which is where Budge is most reliable.[sethe-1908]— Sethe, Die altägyptischen Pyramidentexte (1908–22). Public domain. Verify the Teta and Pepi I loci.[wilkinson-2003]— Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses. In copyright; cited only.
Open questions
- Serqet has no entry in this corpus and is not on the 497-name census. She is one of the four canopic goddesses and appears in Budge in her own right. Confirm the census omission and add her — a genuine gap, unlike the Ogdoad case.
- Verify the "he who refreshes his brothers" reading of qbḥ-snw-f; if correct it is the only self-referential name in the group and worth remarking on.
- Verify Teta 60 and Pepi I 672 against Sethe.
- Explain the scorpion–liver pairing if any source can. Unexplained here.
- Get a museum reference for a hawk-headed canopic lid with a secure date.
Cite this entry
Research grade: ●full — Multiple attestations across periods.
"Qebehsenuef", The Egyptian God Corpus,
graded full, retrieved 2026-08-10.