Neith
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Neith (, a borrowing of the
Demotic Demotic may refer to: * Demotic Greek, the modern vernacular form of the Greek language * Demotic (Egyptian), an ancient Egyptian script and version of the language * Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ) is a logographic writing system formerly used t ...
form , also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit) was an ancient Egyptian deity, possibly of Libyan origin. She was connected with warfare, as indicated by her emblem of two crossed bows, and with motherhood, as shown by texts that call her the mother of particular deities, such as the sun god Ra and the crocodile god
Sobek Sobek (), also known as Suchus (), was an ancient Egyptian deities, ancient Egyptian deity with a complex and elastic history and nature. He is associated with the Nile crocodile and is often represented as a crocodile-headed humanoid, if not a ...
. As a mother goddess, she was sometimes said to be the creator of the world. She also had a presence in funerary religion, and this aspect of her character grew over time: she became one of the four goddesses who protected the coffin and
internal organs In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to a ...
of the deceased. Neith is one of the earliest Egyptian deities to appear in the archaeological record; the earliest signs of her worship date to the Naqada II period ( 3600–3350 BC). Her main cult center was the city of Sais in Lower Egypt, near the western edge of the
Nile Delta The Nile Delta (, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the eas ...
, and some Egyptologists have suggested that she originated among the Libyan peoples who lived nearby. She was the most important goddess in the Early Dynastic Period ( 3100–2686 BC) and had a significant shrine at the capital, Memphis. In subsequent eras she lost her preeminence to other goddesses, such as
Hathor Hathor (, , , Meroitic language, Meroitic: ') was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky god Horus and the sun god R ...
, but she remained important, particularly during the
Twenty-sixth Dynasty The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXVI, alternatively 26th Dynasty or Dynasty 26) was the last native dynasty of ancient Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC (although other brief periods of rule by Egyptians followed). T ...
(664–525 BC), when Sais was Egypt's capital. She was worshipped in many temples during the
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
periods of Egyptian history, most significantly
Esna Esna (  , or ; ''Snē'' from ''tꜣ-snt''; ''Latópolis'' or (''Pólis Látōn'') or (''Lattōn''); Latin: ''Lato'') is a city of Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile some south of Luxor. The city was formerly part of the ...
in
Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...
, and the Greeks identified her with their goddess
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
.


Symbolism

In her usual representations, she is portrayed as a fierce deity, a woman wearing the Red Crown, with a bow, occasionally holding or using two arrows. Her symbolism depicted most often is of a goddess of war and of hunting. According to Wilkinson, her hieroglyphic symbol consists of two bows crossed over a shield. The hieroglyphs of her name usually are followed by a determinative containing the archery elements. According to Fleming & Lothian, the symbol of her name is a shield symbol explained with either double bows (facing one another), intersected by two arrows (usually lashed to the bows), or, by other imagery associated with her worship. As she is connected with weaving, the symbol is sometimes suggested to be a shuttle. However, according to scholar
Arthur Evans Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. The first excavations at the Minoan palace of Knossos on the List of islands of Greece, Gree ...
, the bow of Neith in her symbol represented two bows in a sheath, and it was "convincingly" explained over the shuttle hypothesis, by Egyptologist
Margaret Murray Margaret Alice Murray (13 July 1863 – 13 November 1963) was an Anglo-Indian Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, and folklorist. The first woman to be appointed as a lecturer in archaeology in the United Kingdom, sh ...
. Further, in a research project assessing fidelity of unpainted hieroglyphic symbols with their polychrome hieroglyphic counterparts, scholar David Nunn found another object's virtually identically positioned right triangles "certainly difficult to see ..as conical cakes though still positively identified the foreground object with the two bows as "a package concluding: "No conclusion can be reached as to tsexact nature." Her symbol also identified the city of Sais. This symbol was displayed on top of her head in Egyptian art. In her form as a goddess of war, she was said to make the weapons of warriors and to guard their bodies when they died. As a deity, Neith is normally shown carrying the was scepter (symbol of rule and power) and the ankh (symbol of life). She is associated with Mehet-Weret, as a cow who gives birth to the sun daily, whose name means "Great Flood." In these forms, she is associated with the creation of both the primeval time and the daily "re-creation". As protectress of Ra or the king, she is represented as a uraeus. In time, this led to her being considered as the
personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...
of the primordial waters of creation. Neith is one of the most ancient deities associated with ancient Egyptian culture.
Flinders Petrie Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Sir Flinders Petrie, was an English people, English Egyptology, Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. ...
noted the earliest depictions of her standards were known in predynastic periods, as can be seen from a representation of a barque bearing her crossed arrow standards in the Predynastic Period, as is displayed in the
Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...
, Oxford. Her first anthropomorphic representations occur in the early dynastic period, on a diorite vase of King Ny-Netjer of the Second Dynasty. The vase was found in the Step Pyramid of Djoser (Third Dynasty) at Saqqara. That her worship predominated the early dynastic periods is demonstrated by a preponderance of theophoric names (personal names that incorporate the name of a deity) within which Neith appears as an element. Predominance of Neith's name in nearly forty percent of early dynastic names, and particularly in the names of four royal women of the First Dynasty, clearly emphasizes the importance of this goddess in relation to the early society of Egypt, with special emphasis on association with the Royal House. In the very early periods of Egyptian history, the main iconographic representations of this goddess appear to have been limited to her hunting and war characteristics, although there is no Egyptian mythological reference to support the concept that this was her primary function as a deity. It has been theorized that Neith's primary cult point in the Old Kingdom was established in Saïs (modern Sa el-Hagar) by
Hor-Aha Hor-Aha (or Aha or Horus Aha; ) is considered the second pharaoh of the First Dynasty of Egypt by some Egyptology, Egyptologists, while others consider him the first one and corresponding to Menes. He lived around the 31st century BC and is thoug ...
of the First Dynasty, in an effort to placate the residents of Lower Egypt by the ruler of the unified country. Textual and iconographic evidence indicates that she was a national goddess for Old Kingdom Egypt, with her own sanctuary in Memphis, indicating the high regard held for her. There, she was known as "North of her Wall", as counterpoise to
Ptah Ptah ( ; , ; ; ; ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a creator god, and a patron deity of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the husband of Sekhmet and the father of Nefertem. He was also regarded as the father of the ...
's "South of his Wall" epithet. While Neith is generally regarded as a deity of Lower Egypt, her worship was not consistently located in that delta region. Her cult reached its height in Saïs and apparently in Memphis in the Old Kingdom. and remained important, although to a lesser extent, through the Middle and New Kingdom. Her cult regained cultural prominence again during the
Twenty-sixth Dynasty The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXVI, alternatively 26th Dynasty or Dynasty 26) was the last native dynasty of ancient Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC (although other brief periods of rule by Egyptians followed). T ...
when worship at Saïs flourished again, as well as at Esna in Upper Egypt. Neith's symbol and part of her
hieroglyph Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters. ...
also bore a resemblance to a
loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...
, and so in later syncretisation of Egyptian myths by the Greek ruling class of that time she was conflated with
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
, a Greek deity of war and weaving. Sometimes Neith was pictured as a woman
nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...
a baby crocodile, and she then was addressed with the title, "Nurse of Crocodiles", reflecting a southern provincial mythology in Upper Egypt that she served as the mother of the crocodile god, Sobek. As the mother of Ra, in her Mehet-Weret form, she was sometimes described as the "Great Cow who gave birth to Ra". As a maternal figure (beyond being the birth-mother of the sun-god Ra), Neith is associated with Sobek as her son (as early as the Pyramid Texts), but in later religious conventions that paired deities, no male deity is consistently identified with her in a pair and so, she often is represented without one. Later triad associations made with her have little or no religious or mythological supporting references, appearing to have been made by political or regional associations only. Some modern writers assert that they may interpret that as her being '
androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in humans, it often r ...
', since Neith is the creator capable of giving birth without a partner ( asexually) and without association of creation with sexual imagery, as seen in the myths of Atum and other creator deities; which in turn led to her being accredited as the creator of birth itself. However, her name always appears as feminine. Erik Hornung interprets that in the Eleventh Hour of the Amduat, Neith's name appears written with a phallus. In reference to Neith's function as creator with both male and female characteristics, Peter Kaplony has said in the ''Lexikon der Ägyptologie'': "Die Deutung von Neith als ''Njt'' "Verneinung" ist sekundär. Neith ist die weibliche Entsprechung zu ''Nw(w''), dem Gott der Urflut (Nun and Naunet)." She was considered to be eldest of the Ancient Egyptian deities. Neith is said to have been "born the first, in the time when as yet there had been no birth". In the Pyramid Texts, Neith is paired with the goddess Selket as the two braces for the sky, which places these goddesses as the supports for the heavens (see PT 1040a-d, following J. Gwyn Griffths, ''The Conflict of Horus and Seth'', (London, 1961) p. 1). This ties in with the vignette in The Contendings of Horus and Seth when, as the most ancient among them, Neith is asked by the deities to decide who should rule. She was appealed to as an arbiter in the dispute between Horus and Seth. In her message of reply, Neith selects Horus, and says she will "cause the sky to crash to the earth" if he is not selected. The
click beetle Elateridae or click beetles (or "typical click beetles" to distinguish them from the related families Cerophytidae and Eucnemidae, which are also capable of clicking) are a family (biology), family of beetles. Other names include elaters, sna ...
(likely specifically ''agrypnus notodonta'') is one of the beetles depicted in ancient Egyptian art. The shape of the beetle resembles the shape of some ancient Egyptian shields, and necklaces with beads shaped like the beetle have been found. Additionally, the beetles have been found depicted as part of a symbol of Neith. This association appears as early as the Protodynastic period, and may be the origin of one of Neith's stylized cult signs. The imagery of the beetle in association with Neith may have morphed over time into that of a shield.


Attributes

An analysis of her attributes shows Neith was a goddess with many roles. From predynastic and early dynasty periods, she was referred to as an "Opener of the Ways" (same as Wepwawet), which may have referred, not only to her leadership in hunting and war but also as a psychopomp in cosmic and underworld pathways, escorting souls. References to Neith as the "Opener of Paths" occurs in Dynasty Four through Dynasty Six, and Neith is seen in the titles of women serving as priestesses of the goddess. Such epithets include: "''Priestess of Neith who opens all the (path)ways''", "''Priestess of Neith who opens the good pathways''", "''Priestess of Neith who opens the way in all her places''". (el-Sayed, I: 67-69). el-Sayed asserts his belief that Neith should be seen as a parallel to Wepwawet, the ancient jackal god of Upper Egypt, who was associated in that southern region with both royalty in victory and as a psychopomp for the dead. The main imagery of Neith as ''Wepwawet'' was as the deity of the unseen and limitless sky, as opposed to representations of Nut and Hathor, who respectively represented the manifested night and day skies. Neith's epithet as the "Opener of the Sun's paths in all her stations" refers to how the sun is reborn (due to seasonal changes) at various points in the sky, under Neith's control of all beyond the visible world, of which only a glimpse is revealed prior to dawn and after sunset. It is at these changing points that Neith reigns as a form of sky goddess, where the sun rises and sets daily, or at its 'first appearance' to the sky above and below. It is at these points, beyond the sky that is seen, that Neith's true power as the deity who creates life is manifested. Georges St. Clair noted that Neith is represented at times as a cow goddess with a line of stars across her back (as opposed to representations of Nut with stars across the belly) ee el-Sayed, II, Doc. 644 and maintained this indicated that Neith represents the full ecliptic circle around the sky (above and below), and is seen iconographically in ancient texts as both the regular and the inverted determinative for the heavenly vault, indicating the cosmos below the horizon. St. Clair maintained it was this realm that Neith personified, for she is the complete sky that surrounds the upper (Nut) and lower (Nunet?) sky, and who exists beyond the horizon, and thereby, beyond the skies themselves. Neith, then, is that portion of the cosmos that is not seen, and in which the sun is reborn daily, below the horizon (which may reflect the statement assigned to Neith as "I come at dawn and at sunset daily"). Since Neith also was goddess of war, she thus had an additional association with death: in this function, she shot her arrows into the enemies of the dead, and thus she began to be viewed as a protector of the dead, often appearing as a uraeus snake to drive off intruders and those who would harm the deceased (in this form she is represented in the tomb of
Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen, (; ), was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Born Tutankhaten, he instituted the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of an ...
). She also is shown as the protectress of one of the
Four sons of Horus The four sons of Horus were a group of four ancient Egyptian deities, deities in ancient Egyptian religion who were believed to protect deceased people in the ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs, afterlife. Beginning in the First Intermediate Peri ...
, specifically Duamutef, the god who protected the stomach. Through her role as a goddess of weaving, she was associated with the wrappings of mummies. Neith appears sporadically in the Pyramid texts, usually in association with the goddesses Isis, Nepthys, and Selket. These four initially appear as protectors of royal remains, or in other cases attendant to Osiris, Neith later would later appear in the funerary practices of commoners as well. The Coffin Texts portray Neith as involved in the judgement of the dead, and in her role as a patron goddess for weavers she is associated with the wrappings of mummies.


Mythology

In some
ancient Egyptian creation myths Ancient Egyptian creation myths are the ancient Egyptian accounts of the creation of the world. The Pyramid Texts, tomb wall decorations, and writings, dating back to the Old Kingdom (c. 2700–2200 BC) have provided the majority of informati ...
, Neith was identified as the mother of Ra and
Apep Apophis (; ), also known as Apep () or Aphoph (, ) Erman, Adolf, and Hermann Grapow, eds. 1926–1953. ''Wörterbuch der aegyptischen Sprache im Auftrage der deutschen Akademien''. 6 vols. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'schen Buchhandlungen. (Re ...
. When she was identified as a water goddess, she was viewed as the mother of
Sobek Sobek (), also known as Suchus (), was an ancient Egyptian deities, ancient Egyptian deity with a complex and elastic history and nature. He is associated with the Nile crocodile and is often represented as a crocodile-headed humanoid, if not a ...
, the
crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...
. It was because of this association with water, i.e. the
Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
, that during pairing of deities she sometimes was considered the wife of
Khnum Khnum, also romanised Khnemu (; , ), was one of the earliest-known Egyptian deities in Upper Egypt, originally associated with the Nile cataract. He held the responsibility of regulating the annual inundation of the river, emanating from the ca ...
and sometimes was associated with the source of the River Nile. In that cult center, she also was associated with the
Nile Perch The Nile perch (''Lates niloticus''), also known as the African snook, Goliath perch, African barramundi, Goliath barramundi, Giant lates or the Victoria perch, is a species of freshwater fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. It is wides ...
as well as being the goddess of the triad. As the goddess of creation and weaving, she was said to reweave the world on her loom daily. An interior wall of the
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
at
Esna Esna (  , or ; ''Snē'' from ''tꜣ-snt''; ''Latópolis'' or (''Pólis Látōn'') or (''Lattōn''); Latin: ''Lato'') is a city of Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile some south of Luxor. The city was formerly part of the ...
records an account of creation in which Neith brings forth the
Nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
, the first land, from the primeval waters. All that she conceived in her heart comes into being, including all thirty deities. Having no husband she has been described as "Virgin Mother Goddess":
Proclus Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor (, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers of late antiquity. He set forth one of th ...
(412–485 AD) wrote that the adyton of the temple of Neith in Sais (of which nothing now remains) carried the following inscription: It was said that at the request of Thoth, Neith interceded in the kingly war between
Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...
and
Set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...
, over the Egyptian
throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign (or viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory ...
, recommending that Horus rule. A great festival, called the ''Feast of Lamps'', was held annually in honor of Neith and, according to the Greek historian
Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...
, her devotees burned a multitude of lights in the open air all night during the celebration.


Syncretic relationships

The Greek historian
Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...
() noted that the Egyptian citizens of Sais in Egypt worshipped Neith. In his
dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...
'' Timaeus'', the Greek philosopher
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
has
Critias Critias (; , ''Kritias''; – 403 BC) was an ancient Athenian poet, philosopher and political leader. He is known today for being a student of Socrates, a writer of some regard, and for becoming the leader of the Thirty Tyrants, who ruled Athens ...
say that the Greek name of Neith is Athena. The English Egyptologist
E. A. Wallis Budge Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge (27 July 185723 November 1934) was an English Egyptology, Egyptologist, Orientalism, Orientalist, and Philology, philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient ...
suggested that the Christian biblical account of the
flight into Egypt The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:13–Matthew 2:23, 23) and in New Testament apocrypha. Soon after the Biblical Magi, visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Saint Joseph, Joseph in a dream telling ...
as recorded in the
apocryphal gospels Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...
was directly influenced by stories about
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
and Horus; Budge argued that the writers of these gospels ascribed to
Mary, the mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
, many peculiarities which, at the time of the rise of Christianity, were perceived as belonging to both Isis and Neith, for example, the
parthenogenesis Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek + ) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which the embryo develops directly from an egg without need for fertilization. In animals, parthenogenesis means the development of an embryo from an unfertiliz ...
concept shared by both Neith and Mary. Neith has been speculated by some scholars, such as J. Gwyn Griffiths and
Jan Assmann Johann Christoph "Jan" Assmann (7 July 1938 – 19 February 2024) was a German Egyptologist, cultural historian, and religion scholar. Life and works Assmann studied Egyptology and classical archaeology in Munich, Heidelberg, Paris, and Göt ...
, to be the actual goddess depicted in the first and second century Greek historian
Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
's description of the Veil of Isis in his ''On Isis and Osiris.'' The veiled Isis is a motif which associates her with mystery and
ceremonial magic Ceremonial magic (also known as magick, ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of Magic (supernatural), magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories t ...
. Plutarch described the statue of a seated and veiled goddess in the Egyptian city of Sais. He identified the goddess as "Athena, whom he Egyptiansconsider to be Isis." However, Sais was the cult center of the goddess Neith, whom the Greeks compared to their goddess
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
, and could have been the goddess that Plutarch spoke of. More than 300 years after Plutarch, the
Neoplatonist Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...
philosopher
Proclus Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor (, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers of late antiquity. He set forth one of th ...
wrote of the same statue in Book I of his ''Commentaries on Plato's "Timaeus"''. In this version, a statement is added: "The fruit of my womb was the sun", which could further be associated with Neith, due to her being the mother of the Sun god Ra.


See also

* Neith (hypothetical moon) of
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
People named after Neith: * Neithhotep, wife of the first king of a unified Ancient Egypt,
Narmer Narmer (, may mean "painful catfish", "stinging catfish", "harsh catfish", or "fierce catfish"; ) was an ancient Egyptian king of the Early Dynastic Period, whose reign began at the end of the 4th millennium BC. He was the successor to the Prot ...
or of
Hor-Aha Hor-Aha (or Aha or Horus Aha; ) is considered the second pharaoh of the First Dynasty of Egypt by some Egyptology, Egyptologists, while others consider him the first one and corresponding to Menes. He lived around the 31st century BC and is thoug ...
, the mother of and co-ruler with
Djer Djer (or Zer or Sekhty; ) is considered the third pharaoh of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the mid 31st century BC and reigned for c. 40 years. A mummified forearm of Djer or his wife was discovered by ...
, and who may have ruled in her own right during the first dynasty * Merneith, a woman who served as consort and regent of Ancient Egypt and who may have ruled in her own right during the first dynasty * Neith (wife of Pepi II) and the mother of another king of Ancient Egypt, perhaps Nemtyemsaf II * Meryneith, official and priest of the New Kingdom


Notes


References


Citations


Works cited

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * Altenmüller, Hartwig. "Zum Ursprung Von Isis Und Nephthys." Studien Zur Altägyptischen Kultur 27 (1999): 1-26. Accessed June 15, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/25152793. * El Sayed, Ramadan. "Les Rôles Attribués à La Déesse Neith Dans Certains Des Textes Des Cercueils." Orientalia, NOVA SERIES, 43 (1974): 275-94. Accessed June 15, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/43074608. * Hendrickx, Stan. "Two Protodynastic Objects in Brussels and the Origin of the Bilobate Cult-Sign of Neith." The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 82 (1996): 23-42. Accessed June 15, 2020. doi:10.2307/3822112.


External links

{{Authority control Chaos (cosmogony) Childhood goddesses Creator goddesses Death goddesses Egyptian goddesses Hunting goddesses Nile Delta Sea and river goddesses Sky and weather goddesses Time and fate goddesses Tutelary deities War goddesses Wisdom goddesses Textiles in folklore Cattle deities