Brother Campbell

Season: 3, Episodes: 1, Faction: The Others

Overview

Brother Campbell is the leader of the Eddington Monastery in Scotland.

Fertility (Water)

Underworld

Death

Evil (Darkness)

3×17 – Catch-22

Campbell offered work for a distraught Desmond (who briefly attended this monastery).

However, one night Campbell discovered Desmond drunk on wine the monastery makes. As a result, he fired him. He gave Desmond one last job — to load wine into Penny’s car, introducing them to each other.

Campbell’s desk has a framed photograph of himself with Daniel Faraday’s mother, Eloise Hawking outside the monastery. (“Catch-22”)

6×05 – Lighthouse

In the lighthouse, “Campbell” was listed as candidate # 129. (“Lighthouse”)

Related Character Images

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Decoded Season 2 Characters

Desmond Hume

Penelope Hume

Decoded Season 3 Characters

Brother Martin

Derek

Eloise Hawking

Juliet Burke

Key Episode(s) to Decoding the Character

3x17 "Catch 22"

(Shezmu) Shesmu is closely associated with the presses used in the production of wine and oils; hence he is often simply referred to in Egyptological literature as ‘the Wine-Press God’. His function in Egyptian theology involves, first, the use of such presses in the production of perfumes and unguents used in the cults of all the Gods, and second, the symbolism of the press, which was drawn upon in afterlife literature to express the processing, so to speak, of the dead who cannot achieve resurrection. Thirdly, Shesmu is the divine butcher, with the attendant ambivalence of being a supplier of food as well as a mutilator of living flesh. The extremes of Shesmu’s nature are expressed by a difference in iconography: as ointment-maker, in which role Shesmu is known as “lord of the laboratory” (nb iswy), he is depicted as lion-headed, while as butcher he is depicted anthropomorphically.

In PT utterance 273-4, the “lords” who are slain by Khonsu are cut up and cooked by Shesmu so that the deceased king may assimilate their “magic” and their “spirits”. In PT utterance 334 the deceased king compares a crossing he makes to that of “Shesmu who is in his oil-press bark,” perhaps to convey the idea that he is crushing any resistance in his path. In PT utterance 581, Shesmu is described as bearing grape-juice to the deceased king, identified with Osiris. In a scene of the grape harvest from the Saqqara mastaba of Ptahhotep a group of youths are throwing darts during a harvest game or ritual, the scene labelled “Shooting for Shesmu” (Ciccarello 44 and n. 5). In CT spell 34, among the sights which the Goddess “the beautiful West,” Amentet, the personification of the land of the setting sun and hence of the dead, offers to show the deceased, “for the young God [Horus] is like you,” is “Shesmu with his knives in his shape of Slaughterer.” In CT spell 205, one of the ways in which the deceased signals his resurrection is cackling as a goose of Shesmu, or cackling as a goose like Shesmu. Similarly, CT spell 253, “To become the scribe of Atum,” invokes Shesmu in some avian form: “O Shesmu in your nest, I will act on behalf of my lord…”. Shesmu features regularly in CT spells 473-480, spells for avoiding the “nets” and “fish-traps” in the netherworld, in which he is performing exactly the same role as in PT 273-4 against the anonymous “lords”, only in the spells from the Coffin Texts, the viewpoint from which his activities are being described is reversed. In these spells, escaping from the netherworld fishermen is a matter of being able to identify them, their ship and their equipment; thus in spell 273, e.g., Shesmu is present with his knife and cauldron, gutting and cooking the “fish”, i.e., captured souls. Interestingly, his cauldron is referred to as a ‘woman’: “[You shall not catch me in your nets] because I know the name of the woman in which he [Shesmu] cooks it [the ‘fish’ or soul]; it is the cauldron in the hand of Shesmu.” In CT spell 571, for building and supplying a “mansion among the waters,” Shesmu is involved in the distribution of offerings, presumably from out of the produce of the mansion, to the Gods and to the “patricians,” i.e., the other righteous dead, and similarly in CT spell 720, the deceased is to receive his/her rightful portion from the slaughterhouse operated by Shesmu, meat continuing to be supplied in the afterlife just as on earth. In CT spell 1028, Shesmu, just as in the passages from the Pyramid Texts, slaughters for the deceased certain high-status persons, here “the elders of the sky,” the spell being titled, intriguingly, “To show the path to acclaim.” CT spell 944 contains the formula “My heart is Shesmu.” In BD spell 17 Shesmu is described as the “mutilator” on behalf of Osiris. BD spell 153 contains a version of the ‘fish-net’ spells from the Coffin Texts, with references to Shesmu’s participation, but differs from the Coffin Texts version in not only allowing the deceased to escape being caught by the ‘fishermen’, but indeed to become one of them. In BD spell 170, Shesmu provides for the deceased “the best of fowl”. The constant shifting of Shesmu’s role from executioner to provisioner indicates that the netherworld operates, like this world, as a closed metabolism, in which one eating implies some other being eaten.

In the New Kingdom Shesmu is increasingly either ointment-maker or butcher and no longer associated with wine. On the east staircase at Dendera, Shesmu is depicted both as lion-headed, carrying jars of ointment and called “Shesmu, lord of the laboratory,” and also as human-headed, carrying cuts of meat, labelled “Shesmu, lord of the slaughterhouse of Horus, chief of the slaughterblock, who hacks up the oryx, wild of countenance, who overthrows enemies, who slays all the beasts of the desert, mighty in his arm, who strikes down the rebel, who propitiates the heart of Hathor with what she likes,” (Ciccarello 51; Mariette, Denderah IV, Pls. V, VII, XIV, XVI). Shesmu “who overthrows his enemies” is also one of the guardian deities invoked in the “Book of the Protection of the Body” from the temple of Horus at Edfu (Chassinat, Temple d’Edfou VI, 301), as well as the guardian of the twelfth hour of the night at Edfu, Dendera and Philae.

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Further Info

Shesmu (Shezmu, Shesemu, Shezmou, Shesmou, Sezmu, Sesmu, Schesmu, Schezemu) was an ancient Egyptian demon-god of the underworld. He was a slaughtering demon, god of precious oils for beauty and embalming and a god of the wine press. He was thought to be a helper of the justified dead, offering them alcoholic red wine to drink. Yet he was also seen to be a demon who would tear off the head of a wrongdoer, throwing the head into the wine press to squeeze out the blood as if it was grape juice.

Shesmu’s dual personality was evident from the texts in the Pyramid of Unas and the Book of the Dead. Throughout Egyptian history, from the early dynastic times through to the Roman period he was seen as both a kind benefactor to the good and a cruel dispatcher of those who deserved it.

The Egyptians depicted him as a full man, a lion-headed man or as a hawk. On the list of Decans (star groups into which the night sky was divided, with each group appearing for ten days annually) at the temple of Hathor at Dendera, Shesmu appeared as a man on a boat with a uraeus on top of his head, between two stars. When writing about the Shesmu Decan, the star hieroglyph was added to his name.

Writing was invented in ancient Egypt about 3200 BC. Wine had been manufactured earlier than this date because the wine press served as one of the first hieroglyphs. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs used specialised terms for grapes, specifically: (yrp), raisins (wnsy), grapevines (yarrt), and wine press (smw).

— Reading 11 – Wine (Part 1), Louis E. Grivetti

Shesmu’s name includes the word ‘wine press’ which could be spelled out as smw or as the hieroglyph of the wine press which is also read as smw.

The connection between wine and blood, and thus between helper god and punishing demon, came from the red wine the Egyptians drank. The white variety of wine appeared in the Middle Kingdom, and was a favourite of the Greeks. It was this red wine – or blood – that Shesmu offers the pharaoh in the Pyramid Texts and the deceased in their travels.

…”As concerning ‘the night when the sentences of doom are promulgated,’ it is the night of the burning of the damned, and of the overthrow of the wicked at the Block, and of the slaughter of souls.”

Who is this [slaughterer of souls]?

“It is Shesmu, the headsman of Osiris.

“[Concerning the invisible god] some say that he is Apep when he riseth up with a head bearing upon it [the feather of] Ma’at (Truth). But others say that he is Horus when he riseth up with two heads, whereon one beareth [the feather of] Ma’at, and the other [the symbol of] wickedness. He bestoweth wickedness on him that worketh wickedness, and right and truth upon him that followeth righteousness and truth.

“Others say that he is Heru-ur (the Old Horus), who dwelleth in Sekhem; others say that he is Thoth; others say that he is Nefertem; and others say that he is Sept who doth bring to nought the acts of the foes of Nebertcher.

— The Book of the Dead

During the New Kingdom, his more beneficial side was preferred, and Shesmu was revered as a god of the oil press who produced unguents, fragrant oils and perfumes. For wine, the grapes were emptied into large vats, and crushed by feet. The juice would flow out of a hole in the side of the large vat, into a smaller vat. Secondary pressing was done to separate the rest of the juice form the stems, seeds and skin. This pulp was put into a sack that was stretched either on a frame or between two poles. The sack was then twisted with either one or both poles, and the juice falling from the sack was caught in a large vessel. Oil production was done in a very similar way, with olives rather than with grapes.

The Egyptians also used sesame, moringa, pine kernel, almond and castor oils. Some were used for moisturising the body in the harsh Egyptian climate, others were used as deodorisers and insect repellents, and others still were used for perfumes and for temple rituals. Oils had been used for both beautification and protection since predynastic times.

On the sarcophagus of Ankhnsneferybra of the 26th Dynasty the inscription says that Shesmu was the manufacturer of the Oil of Ra. He was thought to be the Master of Perfumes because of the way the Egyptians infused oil to create their perfumes.

It was in his role as a god of perfume that he was linked to the mortuary cult. Not just a god of the underworld, he was also a god who provided the sacred oils for the embalming process. It was believed that he prevented the putrefaction and decay of the flesh after death with his unguents and special oils.

After the deceased had died, it was he who caught the sinful ones for punishment. In Chapter 175 of The Book of the Dead Shesmu was known as “Lord of the Blood”. It was under the orders of Osiris, that he would chop up the evil ones, take their heads and toss them into a wine press, treating the heads as if they were grapes to create blood wine.

The blood wine – and the bodies – turned into sustenance for Unas, giving him power and strength:

…Behold, Shesmu has cut them up for Unas, he has boiled pieces of them in his blazing cauldrons. Unas has eaten their words of power, he has eaten their spirits.

— The Cannibal Hymn

He was also linked with the setting of the sun – because of its red colour – and with the enemy of Ra, the evil serpent Apep. He was also linked to Herishef under his title of “Lord of the Blood”, to the hawk god Horus while in his hawk form and to the god of wisdom, Thoth. As a god of perfume, he was connected to Nefertem.

Being “Fierce of Face”, Shesmu’s lion-headed form was linked with Nefertem, who was sometimes given the head of a lion. Perfume and unguent bottles that have the form of a lion are usually depicting Shesmu, Nefertem or Mihos (son of Bast). These gods were often substituted for each other because they all had a very similar function in this area.

Shesmu had a priesthood from early times, and his cult was especially strong at the Faiyum. He was worshiped at Edfu and Dendera. He was a god found in the stars and a god of the dead. He was the headsman of Osiris, beheader of the condemned who turned their blood into deep red wine. His blood wine went to nourish the pharaoh to give him strength, his wine to quench the thirst of the dear departed. The oil from his oil presses went to protect the body of the dead, to preserve it for eternity. His oil was used in daily life for perfumes and unguents and beautification of the living body. The “Lord of the Blood” was both worshiped and feared by those who followed him throughout Egypt’s history, who lived and died under his influence.

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Wiki Info

Shezmu (also known as Shesmu, Schezemu, Schesmu, Shesemu, Shezmou, Shesmou, Sezmu and Sesmu) is the ancient Egyptian demonic god of execution, slaughter, blood, oil and wine. Like many of the gods of Ancient Egypt, Shezmu was of a complex nature. He had qualities of both light and darkness, but this was not the reason that he was known as a ‘demon’. To the Egyptians, demons were not necessarily evil in nature. Often they were quite helpful. Instead, the term “demon” was given to Shezmu because he was one of the lesser deities, and due to his relation to the underworld.

Role

Shezmu was the demonic god of red wine, slaughter, and sometimes perfumes or oils. The link between blood and the crimson color of wine is clear. Shezmu was known to destroy wrongdoers, gruesomely putting their heads in winepresses to remove the blood. He was known as the ‘Executioner of Osiris‘. Shezmu followed the commands of The God of The Dead, and therefore was sometimes given the title ‘Slaughterer of Souls’. He initially seems to be a fierce underworld deity, but Shezmu was quite helpful to the dead. Although he was a harsh executioner of the wicked, he was also a great protector of the virtuous. Shezmu offered red wine to those who had passed on. Other than wine, he was in charge of earthly objects such as embalming oils, and perfumes.

Among the gods, his job was to use the bodies and blood of the dead to create sustenance for Unas. Osiris was the one who ordered the use of the wicked one’s blood to be turned to wine. He was sometimes given the title ‘Demon of the Wine Press’. On a darker note, Shezmu’s affinity with the color red linked him to evil. Crimson was a feared and hated color among the Egyptians. Not only is it the universal color of blood, and therefore death, but it was the color of the god of chaos, Seth. Since it was also the color of the setting sun, red was associated with the coming darkness and the reign of Apophis the serpent demon.

He appeared to have the head of a lion, fangs and main drenched in blood. It is said he wore human skulls around his waist like a belt.

Depiction and worship

Like many other Egyptian deities, Shezmu was sometimes depicted as a man or a man with the head of a falcon. To link him further with blood and destruction, he took the form of a man with a leonine head. This perhaps was a bridge between him and Sekhmet, the goddess of vengeance. Furthermore, he is associated with Nefertem through both his appearance and the connection with perfumes.

Shezmu seemed to be both represented as a great evil and an entity of good. In many places he is held in high regards by the god Osiris, and is worshipped as a protector god. However, he was also feared as the unyielding punisher of the damned. His greatest cult was centered in Faiyum, but his worshippers were also widely distributed in Dendera and Edfu.

Changes

Due to its colour, red wine became strongly identified with blood, and thus Shezmu was identified as lord of blood. Since wine was seen as a good thing, his association with blood was considered one of righteousness, making him considered an executioner of the unrighteous, being the slaughterer of souls. When the main form of execution was by beheading, it was said that Shezmu ripped off the heads of those who were wicked, and threw them into a wine press, to be crushed into red wine, which was given to the righteous dead. Beheading was commonly carried out by the victim resting their head on a wooden block, and so Shezmu was referred to as Overthrower of the Wicked at the Block. This violent aspect lead to depiction, in art, as a lion-headed man, thus being known as fierce of face. In later times, Egyptians used the wine press for producing oils instead of wine, which was produced by crushing under foot instead. Consequently, Shezmu became associated with unguents and embalming oils, and thus the preservation of the body, and of beauty.

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