(West Asian mythology)
A chthonic deity worshipped at the cities of Panopolis and Coptos in Lower Egypt. The Egyptian Priapus, Min was normally shown as a man wearing a head-dress from which rose two plumes, holding a sceptre in the form of a whip, and with his sexual member firmly erect. Min was the tutelary god of nomads and hunters and his domain was the eastern desert. In his special character as a god of virility and generation, the cult of Min was widespread. Several ‘comings forth of Min’ were celebrated throughout Egypt, the most important festivals taking place at the beginning of harvest. Among the lower classes these festivals must have served as a pretext for riotous behaviour, and it is quite possible that he was as popular as the other widely worshipped deity, Osiris.
