Real, but the surviving record is thin or comes from one period only. Arrives with the Book of the Dead.
Ermen-ta
one of the two in the corridor
Part of the Aai.
Overview
Ermen-ta guards a corridor.
Specifically, the corridor of the ninth division of the underworld, behind the pylon that Ab-ta guards — and he does it with a partner, Anhefta. Budge states it in one clause and never returns to him: "the guardians of the corridor are Anhefta and Ermen-ta" [budge-1904].
That single clause is the entirety of the attestation. The grade is ◐ partial because the attestation is real and secure, and because there is nothing else.
Attestation history
Budge, on the ninth division: "The pylon of the Ninth Division or Ninth Hour is called Aat-shefsheft; the serpent which guards it is Ab-ta; and the guardians of the corridor are Anhefta, and Ermen-ta. The wall is guarded by nine gods in mummied forms" [budge-1904].
He is indexed in the same volume at i. 194 — one page, one mention.
He is not part of a trio. The census groups Ab-ta, Anhefta and Ermen-ta as "three guardian deities," which flattens what the source actually describes: a serpent at the gate, and two beings further in. See the Aai.
What the texts say
The ninth division is staffed in depth. Read the sentence as a layout and it describes a fortified entrance: a serpent on the pylon, two guardians in the corridor behind it, and nine mummiform gods along the wall. Twelve beings on one gate.
What this entry cannot tell you. There is no iconography, no epithet, no speech, no function beyond the post, and no indication of what Ermen-ta looked like or what distinguished him from his partner. The name contains ta, "earth" or "land," as does Ab-ta's — possibly meaningful, possibly not, and untested.
Naming him is the point of him. Egyptian gate-passing works by knowing what the guardian is called, and a corridor guardian with no attributes and a recorded name is functionally complete for that purpose.
Iconography
None recorded. Budge names him without describing him.
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-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, ninth division of the Tuat | Ermen-ta as one of the two guardians of the corridor, with Anhefta |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, index | Ermen-ta, i. 194 |
Sources
[budge-1904]— Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians (1904), vol. I, on the ninth division of the Tuat (p. 194). Public domain, archived insources-texts/. Budge caveat applies (04-BIBLIOGRAPHY.md).[budge-1905-gates]— Budge, The Egyptian Heaven and Hell / The Book of Gates (1905), vol. II, ninth division. Public domain, archived insources-texts/.[wilkinson-2003]— Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses. In copyright; cited only.
Open questions
- Find him in the Book of Gates plates. Budge's 1905 volumes illustrate the ninth division; if the corridor guardians are drawn there, this entry gains its only iconography.
- Test whether the shared -ta element in Ab-ta and Ermen-ta is meaningful.
- Establish whether Ermen-ta and Anhefta are differentiated anywhere, or are a matched pair like so many Egyptian doorkeepers.
- Check the Amduat for a corresponding ninth-hour corridor guardian.
Cite this entry
Research grade: ◐partial — Genuinely attested, but the record is thin or single-period.
"Ermen-ta", The Egyptian God Corpus,
graded partial, retrieved 2026-08-10.