Nekhbet

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Nekhbet
Nekhbet with staff and shen ring.
Nekhbet
in hieroglyphs
Nekhbet (/nkbt/; also spelt Nekhebit) was an early predynastic local goddess in Egyptian mythology who was
the patron of the city of Nekheb, her name meaning of Nekheb. Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper Egypt
and one of the two patron deities for all of Ancient Egypt when it was unified.
[1]
Mythology
Egypts oldest oracle was the shrine of Nekhbet at Nekheb, the original necropolis or city of the dead. It was the
companion city to Nekhen, the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of the Predynastic period (c.
3200 3100 BC) and probably, also during the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3100 2686 BC). The original settlement on
the Nekhen site dates from Naqada I or the late Badarian cultures. At its height, from about 3400 BC, Nekhen had at
least 5,000 and possibly as many as 10,000 inhabitants.
The priestesses of Nekhbet were called muu (mothers) and wore robes of Egyptian vulture feathers.
Nekhbet was the tutelary deity of Upper Egypt. Nekhbet and her Lower Egyptian counterpart Wadjet often appeared
together as the "Two Ladies". One of the titles of each ruler was the Nebty name, which began with the hieroglyphs
for [s/he] of the Two Ladies....
In art, Nekhbet was depicted as a vulture. Alan Gardiner identified the vulture that was used in divine iconography as
a griffon vulture. Arielle P. Kozloff, however, argues that the vultures in New Kingdom art, with their blue-tipped
beaks and loose skin, better resemble the lappet-faced vulture.
[2]
In New Kingdom times, the vulture appeared alongside the uraeus on the headdresses with which kings were buried.
The uraeus and vulture are traditionally interpreted as Wadjet and Nekhbet, but Edna R. Russmann has suggested
that in this context they represent Isis and Nephthys, two major funerary goddesses, instead.
[3]
Nekhbet usually was depicted hovering, with her wings spread above the royal image, clutching a shen symbol
(representing infinity, all, or everything), frequently in her claws. As patron of the pharaoh, she was sometimes seen
Nekhbet
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to be the mother of the divine aspect of the pharaoh, and it was in this capacity that she was Mother of Mothers, and
the Great White Cow of Nekheb.
In some late texts of the Book of the Dead, Nekhbet is referred to as Father of Fathers, Mother of Mothers, who hath
existed from the Beginning, and is Creatrix of this World.
References
[1] Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. pp. 213 214
[2] Bailleul-LeSuer, Rozenn (ed), Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. pp.
61 62, 138
[3] Robins, Gay, Review of The Animal World of the Pharaohs and Choice Cuts:Meat Production in Ancient Egypt. Journal of the American
Oriental Society, vol. 119, no. 1, (January March 1999)
Hans Bonnet: Nechbet. In: Lexikon der gyptischen Religionsgeschichte. Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN
3-937872-08-6, S. 507f.
Wolfgang Helck, Eberhard Otto: Nechbet. In: Kleines Lexikon der gyptologie. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1999,
ISBN 3-447-04027-0, S. 199.
Alexandra von Lieven: Grundriss des Laufes der Sterne Das sogenannte Nutbuch. The Carsten Niebuhr
Institute of Ancient Eastern Studies (u.a.), Kopenhagen 2007, ISBN 978-87-635-0406-5.
Alexandra von Lieven: Der Himmel ber Esna Eine Fallstudie zur religisen Astronomie in gypten am
Beispiel der kosmologischen Decken- und Architravinschriften im Tempel von Esna. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden
2000, ISBN 3-447-04324-5.
M. Werbrouck: Fouilles de El Kab II. 1940, S. 46ff.
Article Sources and Contributors
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Article Sources and Contributors
Nekhbet Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=592833266 Contributors: -Ril-, 83d40m, A. Parrot, Andre Engels, Apepch7, AvicAWB, Cronos, Deflective, Deror avi, Dougweller,
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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
Image:Egypt.Nekhbet.01.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Egypt.Nekhbet.01.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 Generic Contributors:
Aoineko, Hajor, JMCC1, Mmcannis
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