Moon Knight: An Egyptologist’s Guide to a Disney+ Original

Official Moon Knight logo. Image from: Wiki Commons. Copyright 2022 Marvel Studios.

Beware: Slight Spoilers Ahead!

After its release on Disney+ with over a million views in the first week alone, Marvel Comic’s Moon Knight follows protagonist Steven Grant who is later revealed to be Marc Spector, a mercenary with Dissociative Identity Disorder who shares his body with Steven Grant and Jake Lockley. After the ancient Egyptian god Khonsu saves Marc from death, Marc becomes the Moon’s Knight (First of Khonsu) and seeks to redeem his past life of violence by protecting and avenging the innocent. This Disney+ original series grapples with the themes of justice, mental health, identity, and belonging all through the lens of ancient Egyptian mythology. Though the comics and the show do an excellent job at making the mythos accessible and comprehensible to a modern day audience, this article will expand a bit more on what you need to know about ancient Egyptian mythology before watching Moon Knight.

The Mythology Behind Moon Knight

Hieroglyphic Papyrus Book of the Dead; Late Period, 2nd Cent. BC; from Thebes. Image: Gary Todd.

Moon Knight centers around the theme of justice through the judgment of one’s soul which the ancient Egyptians believed was made up of various parts such as the Ka (one’s double/essence) and Ba (one’s identity/personality). This would lead to one of ancient Egypt’s most famous mythologies; the judgment before Osiris - commonly referred to as the weighing of the heart ceremony. This ceremony took place within Duat (the Underworld) inside what the ancient Egyptians called The Hall of Two Truths.

Presided over by the god Anubis (guide to the dead), this ritual saw the deceased’s heart placed upon the scales of justice, weighing it against the feather of Ma’at (goddess of truth, justice, and order). If the heart was equal to Ma’at, the deceased was allowed to travel into A'Aru (the Field of Reeds); an afterlife and idealized version of one’s previous existence. However, if the heart was heavier than Ma’at, the deceased’s soul was devoured by the goddess Ammit who was depicted with the forequarters of a lion, the hindquarters of a hippopotamus, and the head of a crocodile - the three deadliest animals known to the ancient Egyptians.

The Gods and Goddesses of Moon Knight

There are many gods and goddesses depicted in Moon Knight though the majority of them are presented either in the forms of an Avatar (a person who has been picked to carry out the will of a particular god/ goddess) or a Shabti (in the show this is a type of prison for a god/ goddess but more on those later). Since we don’t have room to discuss all of them, below we go into more details surrounding our protagonist god Khonsu and antagonist goddess Ammit.

Khonsu Falcon Representation. Image: WikiCommons (left). Khonsu Human Representation. Image: WikiCommons.

Khonsu (ḫnsw):

Khonsu’s (pictured above) role in mythology shifted throughout ancient Egypt’s history. First seen in “The Pyramid Texts: The Cannibal Hymn” (located in the Pyramid of Unas dating to the end of the Fifth Dynasty ~ 2465-2323 BCE), Khonsu helped the King capture and kill the gods so that the King could cook and devour them to absorb their powers. Later depictions however see Khonsu as the god of the moon, the protector of travelers, and along with the god Thoth, the one who controlled the passage of time. Though in the show Khonsu is depicted as a mummified humanoid with the skull head of a falcon, in ancient Egyptian iconography,

Khonsu has two forms; 1.) a falcon wearing a moon disk and crescent (Picture no 1) and 2.) a mummified god, entirely human in form, with a sidelock of youth (think a Star Wars Padawan hair tail of sorts) and a lunar headpiece (picture no 2).

Khonsu Moon Knight Concept Art. Copyright 2022 marvel Studios.

Ammit (ꜥm-mwt):

Ammit (pictured above) was a goddess with various titles; 1.) "Devourer of the Dead", 2.) "Eater of Hearts", and 3.) "Great of Death.” In mythology, Ammit is described as living near the Scales of Justice - sometimes near a lake of fire - where she would devour impure souls ultimately sealing their fate to be restless forever which the ancient Egyptians called “to die a second time.” In Moon Knight, Ammit is an anthropomorphic crocodile who’s braided hair blends into the creation of their crocodile tail but traditionally, Ammit is depicted as an amalgamation of the three largest man-eating animals known to the ancient Egyptians; a lion, a hippopotamus, and a crocodile.

Ammit Moon Knight Concept Art. Copyright 2022 Marvel Studios (left). Ammit depicted in the Book of the Dead from the Late Period, ca 2nd Cent. BCE; Thebes, Egypt. Ammit depicted in the Book of the Dead from the Late Period, ca 2nd Cent. BCE; Thebes, Egypt (right).

Shabti / Ushabti (šwbtj / wšbtj):

Though shabtis are represented in Moon Knight as prisons for Gods/ Goddesses, in essence trapping them within a small figurine in their likeness, real-life shabtis (later called ushabtis in ancient Egyptian history) were far from this and in fact were beneficial, not harmful, to their user. Originating in the Old Kingdom (2600 - 2100 BCE), Ushabtis were traditionally used as grave goods, created in the likeness of the deceased to answer the gods’ summons to work - because in the afterlife you were expected to work for and serve the gods. The figurines frequently carried farming equipment such as hoes and baskets in order to equip the ushabtis with the necessary tools to carry out the will of the gods in the deceased's stead. On their legs, hieroglyphic writing would further this by providing inscriptions stating the figurines ability to aid the deceased in the afterlife.

Final thoughts

Moon Knight is an extraordinary show that brings ancient Egyptian mythology to life while re-envisioning it through a 21st century lens. The trials and tribulations faced by the characters and the ethical and moral dilemmas presented to the audience are perfectly represented and explored throughout this 6 episode series. Regardless if you are new to Moon Knight or you are watching it for the 5th time already, we here at MENAM hope this mini-guide helps you further explore ancient Egyptian mythology the next time you tune into Disney+.