A moon deity of Egypt, also called A’oh in some records, identified before c. 3000 B.C.E., when NARMER attacked the north to unite the Upper and Lower Kingdoms. A’ah was associated with the popular god THOTH, the divinity of wisdom, who was a patron of the rites of the dead. In the period of the Fifth Dynasty (2465–2323 B.C.E.) A’ah was absorbed into the cult of OSIRIS, the god of the dead. A’ah is depicted in The LAMENTATIONS OF ISIS AND NEPHTHYS, a document of Osirian devotion, as sailing in Osiris’s ma’atet boat, a spiritual vessel of power. In some versions of the BOOK OF THE DEAD (the spells and prayers provided to deceased Egyptians to aid them in their journeys through the Underworld), Osiris is praised as the god who shines forth in the splendor of A’ah, the Moon.
A’ah was also included in the religious ceremonies honoring the god HORUS, the son of ISIS and Osiris. The moon was believed to serve as a final resting place for all “just” Egyptians. Some of the more pious or holy deceased went to A’ah’s domain, while others became polar stars.
