The third member of the great triad of Thebes was Khensu, who described to be the son of Amen-Ra and Mut, and who was worshipped with great honor at Thebes. According to Dr. Brugsch, the name "Khensu" is derived from the root khens, "to travel, to move about, to run," and the like, and Signor Lanzone renders the name by "il fugatore, il persecutore' ; for both groups of meanings there is authority in the texts, but the translations proposed by the former scholar represent the commonest meaning of the word. Khensu was, in fact the "traveler," and as he was a form of Thoth and was identified by the Thebans with the Moon-god the epithet was appropriate. As far back as the time of Unas the motion of Thoth as the Moon-god in the sky was indicated by the Thebans with the Moon-god the epithet was appropriate. As far back as the time of Unas the motion of Thoth as the Moon-god in the sky was indicated by the word khens, for in line 194 we read, "Unas goeth round about heaven like Ra, and travelleth "through heaven like Thoth." In the passage of the text of the of the same king {line 510} which describes how he haunted, and killed, and ate the gods, mention is made of the god "Khensu the slaughter," who cut their throats for "the king, and drew out their intestines for him," and he is described as the "messenger whom he sent out to meet them." Khensu the slaughter and the messenger can, then, be no other than Khensu the Moon-god of later times, and thus we see that, under the early Empire, Khensu occupied a very important position in the mythology of the period as the "messenger" of the great gods, and the "traveler" who journeyed through the sky.

WORSHIP OF KHENSU
KHENSU NEFER-HETEP