Anti

In Egyptian mythology, Anti was a god whose worship centered at Antaeopolis in the northern part of Upper Egypt.

His worship is quite ancient, dating from at least the 2nd dynasty, at which point he already had priests dedicated to his cult. Originally, Anti appears to have bene the patron of the ancient area around Badari, which was the center of the cult of Horus. Due to lack of surviving information, it is not very well known what the originally function of Anti was, or whether he was more than just a title of Horus referring ton some specific function.

Over time, he became considered as the god of ferrymen and was consequently depicted as a falcon standing on a boat, a reference to Horus, who was originally consindered as a falcon. As god of ferrymen, he gained the title Nemty, meaning "(one who) travels". His later cult center Antaeopolis was known as House of Nemty.

Anti appears in the tale The Contendings of Horus and Seth which describes the settlement of the inheritance of Osiris, seen as a metaphor for the conquest of Lower Egypt by Upper Egypt, at the beginning of the Old Kingdom. In this tale, one of Set's attempts to gain power consists of his gathering together the gods and providing good arguments, convincing them all. Set fears magical intervention by Isis, Horus' wife, and so holds the gathering on an island, instructing Anti not to allow anyone resembling Isis to be ferried there. However, Isis disguises herself as an old woman and, unknowingly, Anti takes her across after being paid a rold ring, having rejected the first offer of gruel, resulting in the disruption of the council by her use of magic. Anti is punished for his error by having his toes cut off, which is more severe than it appears since, as a falcon, he would no longer be able to perch and, thus, would not be able to reside on the boat.