Real, but the surviving record is thin or comes from one period only. Arrives with the Book of the Dead.
Seshsha
the one who calls out to the stars
Part of the Akhemu-seku.
Overview
Seshsha is a herald, and his audience is the stars.
Budge's translation of his caption: "The god who is in this picture crieth out to the stars concerning the births of this great god, and he goeth on his way with them" [budge-1905-gates].
He is drawn man-headed with a star of his own above him — one of the star-marked gods of the tenth-division register — and what he does is tell the other stars that the sun is being born.
Attestation history
The register. In the lower register of the tenth division, Budge lists [budge-1905-gates]:
1. Twelve male beings, each carrying a paddle — "gods who never diminish" 2. Twelve female beings, each grasping a rope, a star above each head — "the hours who tow along the boat of Ra" 3. Banti, cynocephalus-ape-headed, holding a sceptre 4. Seshsha, man-headed, a star above him, holding a sceptre 5. Ka-Amenti, bull-headed, holding a sceptre 6. Renen-sbau, man-headed, a star above him, holding a sceptre 7. A monkey with a star over his head, called "the god of Rethenu" 8. A bracket, on which rests the Utchat 9. Her-nest-f, holding a sceptre
Budge assigns the four descriptions to Banti, Seshsha, Ka-Amenti and Renen-sbau by position, noting that the remaining figures "remain without descriptions" [budge-1905-gates]. The attribution is his inference, and this entry keeps the caveat.
What the texts say
"The births of this great god" — plural. The tenth hour is close to dawn, and the sun is not born once. It is born every morning, and the register's language is consistently plural about it: the Akhemu-seku "come into being at the seasons when Ra is born in Nut," and Ra tells them "your births take place when my births take place" [budge-1905-gates].
Seshsha announces a repeating event to an audience that also repeats. Nothing here happens once.
The star above the head is a classification, not decoration. Two of the four named gods carry it — Seshsha and Renen-sbau — as do the twelve towing goddesses and the monkey called the god of Rethenu. It marks the bearer as a celestial body, which is the whole subject of this register.
Iconography
Man-headed, with a star above him, holding a sceptre [budge-1905-gates].
Cult and practice
None.
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-1905-gates] | *Book of Gates* II, tenth division, lower register | Seshsha, man-headed, star above him, holding a sceptre |
[budge-1905-gates] | *Book of Gates* II, tenth division, second of four descriptions | "crieth out to the stars concerning the births of this great god" — attribution is Budge's inference |
Sources
[budge-1905-gates]— Budge, The Egyptian Heaven and Hell / The Book of Gates (1905), vol. II, tenth division of the Tuat, pp. 273–278. Public domain, archived insources-texts/. Budge caveat applies (04-BIBLIOGRAPHY.md); this is scene description and translated caption, his most reliable register.[budge-1904]— Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians (1904), vol. I, on the beings of Sekhet-Aaru. Public domain, archived insources-texts/.[wilkinson-2003]— Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses. In copyright; cited only.
Open questions
- Confirm Budge's positional attribution of the four descriptions against the hieroglyphic text.
- Establish the meaning of the name; Budge transliterates without translating.
- Determine what the star determinative signifies precisely — celestial body, imperishable star, or something narrower. It recurs across this register and is currently read by inference.
- Get the Ramesses VI version of the scene.
Cite this entry
Research grade: ◐partial — Genuinely attested, but the record is thin or single-period.
"Seshsha", The Egyptian God Corpus,
graded partial, retrieved 2026-08-10.