Originally the Canaanite god of lightning and plague, Reshef became an Egyptian god of war during the New Kingdom. Ramses III wrote at Medinet Habu about his army:
... The officers (znn) are mighty like Reshep, when they see ten thousand likewise. [///] /// /// like Montu.
J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Four, § 40
Later he became a popular protective deity who listened to pleas. On his Upper Egyptian crown he wore the head of a gazelle, an animal of the desert belonging to Seth, instead of a uraeus, and in his hand he held a shield and a spear or some other weapon. He was often considered the consort of the goddess Qadshu.
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