Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 25, 2026

Shemanefer

Shemanefer was a crocodile god worshipped in Esna in the Greco-Roman period of Ancient Egypt. He had an ambiguous identity, being identified with, or sometimes considered the brother of, Sobek or Tutu. Furthermore, Thomas Gamelin observes that the exact nature of his identification was often based on the crown he was wearing: he functioned similarly to Sobek-Heru with the hemhem crown, Sobek-Geb with the tjeni crown, and Sobek-Ra with the solar disc. In his solar form, he also took on aspects of Osiris.

Last revised
Jun 25, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
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Shemanefer
Various forms of Shemanefer all with crocadile heads but wearing different crowns.
Name in hieroglyphs
S
M		 D54
O29		 nfrI3
Major cult centerEsna
SymbolCrocodile
Genealogy
ParentsNeith
Siblings(in some myths) Sobek and Tutu

Shemanefer (also represented in Greek as Samanouphis) was a crocodile god worshipped in Esna in the Greco-Roman period of Ancient Egypt.1 He had an ambiguous identity, being identified with, or sometimes considered the brother of, Sobek or Tutu. Furthermore, Thomas Gamelin observes that the exact nature of his identification was often based on the crown he was wearing: he functioned similarly to Sobek-Heru with the hemhem crown, Sobek-Geb with the tjeni crown, and Sobek-Ra with the solar disc.1 In his solar form, he also took on aspects of Osiris.1

References

References

  1. Gamelin, Thomas (2019). "Le dieu Chemânefer. Un support théologique multiple au temple d'Esna". ENiM (in French). 12: 25–42.