Werethekau (
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
: ''wrt-hk3w'' "great one of magic, great enchantress"; alternately Urthekau, Weret Hekau) was an
ancient Egyptian
deity
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
. She served as the personification of supernatural powers.
[Barbara S. Lesko, The great goddesses of Egypt, University of Oklahoma Press, 1999, p 74]
In myth
As a deity dedicated to protection, she often appeared on funerary objects, particularly weapons, to allow the deceased to protect him or herself against the dangers of the
underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
...
. She also was placed on ivory knives as a charm to protect pregnant and nursing mothers.
Her power was one of the inherent qualities of the
Crowns of Egypt
The Egyptian civilization used a number of different crowns throughout its existence. Some were used to show authority, while others were used for religious ceremonies. Each crown was worn by different pharaohs or deities, and each crown had its ow ...
. As goddess of the crowns she was a snake or a lion-headed woman and dwelt in the state sanctuary. As the wife of
Ra-Horakhty
Ra (; egy, wikt:rꜥ, rꜥ; also transliterated ; cuneiform: ''ri-a'' or ''ri-ia''; Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤓𐤏,Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum, CIS I 3778 romanized: rʿ) or Re (; cop, ⲣⲏ, translit=Rē) was the ancient ...
she is depicted with his solar disk on her head. Werethekau was an epithet frequently conferred on Isis,
Sekhmet
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet ( or Sachmis (), also spelled Sakhmet, Sekhet, Sakhet among other spellings, cop, Ⲥⲁⲭⲙⲓ, Sakhmi), is a warrior goddess as well as goddess of healing. She is depicted as a lioness.
Sekhmet is a solar de ...
,
Mut
Mut, also known as Maut and Mout, was a mother goddess worshipped in ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush in present-day North Sudan. In Meroitic, her name was pronounced mata): 𐦨𐦴. Her name means ''mother'' in the ancient Egyptian la ...
,
[Carol A. R. Andrews, ''Amulets of Ancient Egypt'', University of Texas Press 1994, , p.37] and others.
See also
*
Eye of Horus
The Eye of Horus, ''wedjat'' eye or ''udjat'' eye is a concept and symbol in ancient Egyptian religion that represents well-being, healing, and protection. It derives from the mythical conflict between the god Horus with his rival Set, in wh ...
References
{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer, collapsed
Egyptian goddesses
Magic goddesses